Crime & Thriller

Eminent scientist Dr Ralph Padley is dying - and he knows it's time to finally tell the truth. Padley has a dark secret, which, if it got out, would have deadly consequences. But there are powerful men who will stop at nothing to silence him.FBI Special Agent Reilly has an agenda of his own. For months he has sought the man who kidnapped and brainwashed his five-year-old son. But that man is a ghost - a highly protected CIA official with no name and no identity, and who may have links to Reilly's own father.Watched, manipulated, and framed for crimes he didn't commit, Reilly becomes a fugitive, making it next to impossible for him to uncover the truth about his past while protecting the family he loves. He's left with no choice but to risk everything to unearth secrets that would shake the country to its core - if he's ever allowed to get that far.

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First book in the Matt Rix Thrillers.Afghanistan, 2010, Matt Rix is the commander of Yankee Platoon, an Australian Special Forces Unit operating within the badlands of Uruzghan Provence. At the beginning of its six-month deployment, one of the platoon's vehicles is destroyed by a huge roadside bomb and a popular member of the platoon is killed. Objective Rapier, a shadowy Taliban commander, is identified as the most likely culprit, and Rix vows to pursue him across the troubled country until he is neutralised. But things are not at all what they seem. Rapier is always two steps ahead of Rix, who must first battle his own command's bureaucracy; contend with deceit from those who should be supporting him; and identify the betrayal that lead to Rapier targeting his platoon in the first place. In the end Rix is left with only one choice, follow the rules and survive Afghanistan, or gamble everything in an effort to beat Rapier at his own game.

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Grantchester Mysteries 2 _______________ 'Runcie is emerging as Grantchester’s answer to Alexander McCall Smith. The book brings a dollop of Midsomer Murders to the Church of England, together with a literate charm of its own: civilized entertainment, with dog-collars' - Spectator 'A perfect accompaniment to a sunny afternoon, a hammock and a glass of Pimm's' - Guardian 'Totally English, beautifully written, perfectly in period and wryly funny. More, please!' - Leslie Geddes Brown, Country Life _______________ Grantchester is now a major, prime-time six-part series for ITV 1955. Canon Sidney Chambers, loveable priest and part-time detective, is back. Accompanied by his faithful Labrador, Dickens, and the increasingly exasperated Inspector Geordie Keating, Sidney is called to investigate the unexpected fall of a Cambridge don from the roof of King's College Chapel, a case of arson at a glamour photographer's studio and the poisoning of Zafar Ali, Grantchester's finest spin bowler. Alongside his sleuthing, Sidney has other problems. Can he decide between his dear friend, the glamorous socialite Amanda Kendall and Hildegard Staunton, the beguiling German widow? To make up his mind Sidney takes a trip abroad, only to find himself trapped in a web of international espionage just as the Berlin Wall is going up. _______________ 'The series has a charming quaintness and deftly turning plot twists but what renders it unique as detective fiction is its overtly Christian content' - Arifa Akbar, Independent 'It takes a first-class writer to put together a convincing storyline for such unlikely circumstances. James Runcie does it admirably … He is a good man in an imperfect world and we should welcome him to the ranks of classic detectives' - Daily Mail

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Ten guests travel to an island at the invitation of someone named U.N. Owen. All are strangers, but they have two things in common: they have all been responsible for someone's death, and none will leave the island alive. Over the next two days and nights, each of the guests is killed off in a different manner in keeping with the nursery rhyme, 'Ten Little Soldier Boys'. As they are picked off one by one, who could possibly be responsible? The killers are forced to turn detective so they can find the unknown murderer, but one by one they become victims... Billed as 'the famous detective story without a detective', And Then There Were None is one of Agatha Christie's darkest and most enduring tales.2 CDs. 1 hr 30 mins.

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To catch an enemy with nothing to lose, MI5 Intelligence Officer Liz Carlyle must venture into dangerous waters. When pirates attack a cargo ship off the Somalian coast and one of them is found to be a British-born Pakistani, alarm bells start ringing at London's Thames House. MI5 Intelligence Officer Liz Carlyle is brought in to establish how and why a young British Muslim could go missing from his well-to-do family in Birmingham and end up onboard a pirate skiff in the Indian Ocean, armed with a Kalashnikov. After an undercover operative connected to the case turns up dead in the shipping office of an NGO in Athens it looks like piracy may be the least of the Service's problems. Liz and her team must unravel the connections between Pakistan, Greece and Somalia, relying on their wits - and the judicious use of force - to get to the truth. And they don't have long, as trouble is brewing closer to home: the kind of explosive trouble that MI5 could do without ... In this tense and heart-stopping spy thriller, the secrets are deep, the stakes are high and the enemy is always just out of sight... THE DEVIL'S BARGAIN, the brand-new thriller from Stella Rimington, is out now.

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Bob Howard is an IT specialist and field agent for the Laundry, the branch of Her Majesty's secret service that deals with occult threats. Overworked and underpaid, Bob is used to his two jobs overflowing from a strict nine to five and, since his wife Mo has a very similar job description, he understands that work will sometimes follow her home, too. But when 'work' involves zombie assassins and minions of a mad god's cult, he realises things are spinning out of control. When a top-secret dossier goes missing and his boss Angleton is implicated, Bob must contend with suspiciously helpful Russian intelligence operatives and an unscrupulous apocalyptic cult before confronting the decades-old secret that lies at the heart of the Laundry: what is so important about the missing Fuller Memorandum? And why are all the people who know dying . . . ?

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'Crais just gets better and better . . . Crais's novels are as appealing as chocolate eclairs and just as satisfying. Trouble is, like cream cakes, I want to eat them all at once' INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY'A nerve-racking, switchbacking tale of guilt and redemption...so good it gives you goosebumps' EVENING STANDARDJoe Pike is out for revenge and no cop, no bad guy, no one alive, is going to stop him.Frank Meyer had got out of 'the life' safely. He had put an end to his mercenary days, turned over a new leaf and settled down with his wife and children. It had been a hard decision but, encouraged by his boss and friend Joe Pike, he had walked away.Ten years later, a group of armed men break into his Los Angeles home and brutally gun down him and his family. It's a vicious, cold and professional job. The crew leave no trace behind except the bodies.But they have made one catastrophic, and almost certainly terminal, mistake - Joe Pike. Because Pike is now determined to hunt down and eliminate everyone involved in the attack, one by one. And it doesn't matter that, as he starts to investigate, he discovers that these criminals are bigger and better organised than he ever could have imagined, because they are about to learn the first rule:Don't make Joe Pike mad...

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The horror has just begun... A brilliant thriller from the No.1 bestselling author of A SONG FOR THE DARK TIMES.'No one writes more gripping stories than Rankin' TLSIt begins with a phone call. Gordon Reeve's brother has been found dead in his car in San Diego. The car was locked from the inside, a gun was in his hand. In the US to identify the body Gordon realises that his brother has been murdered. What's more, it's soon obvious that his own life is in danger.Once back in Scotland he finds out his home has been bugged by professionals. But Reeve is a professional too. Ex-SAS, he was half of a two-man unit with someone he came to fear, then to hate. It looks like his nemesis is back...

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Hoke Moseley is the star of the modern South Florida crime novel, birthed by Charles Willeford, whose forebear is John D. MacDonald and who, in his turn, has inspired Carl Hiaasen and Quentin Tarantino. Through Moseley we are witness to a Miami in transition, from lush retirement haven to capital of 1980s glamour, drugs and weird crime. Willeford's four Miami novels present a hero rather the worse for wear. Hoke sucks at life; in his mid-forties, with false teeth and an aching body, a bad divorce has left him with the cheap work and the care of two teenage daughters. His offbeat humour, brilliant writing and quirky sense of fashion have assured Charles Willeford a permanent place alongside the greats of modern crime fiction.

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The first in the Nick Stefanos trilogy from one of the acclaimed writers of THE WIRE.Advertising director Nick Stefanos is well acquainted with the seedy side of the electronics business - blow-out sales and shady deals were his life on the shop floor. So when a stockboy disappears, it's not news. Just another metalhead off chasing a dream of big money and easy living.But the boy's grandfather asks Nick for help, and as Nick starts digging, he quickly uncovers a much darker and more violent truth. One that will lead him to the alcohol-soaked and drug-riddled underbelly of Washington DC.

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From the bestselling author of THE LAST TEMPLAR, an action-packed adventure thriller of an ancient mystery and its deadly impact on the present.Siberia, 1916. A mine turns into a bloodbath when its miners attack each other, savagely and ferociously. Minutes later, two men - a horrified scientist and infamous Russian mystic Rasputin - hit a detonator, blowing up the mine to conceal all evidence of the carnage.New York, present day. FBI agent Sean Reilly is tasked with a new, disturbing case. A Russian embassy attaché seems to have committed suicide by jumping out of a fourth-floor window. The apartment's owners have gone missing, while a faceless killer roams New York City, leaving a trail of death in his wake.Reilly's investigation uncovers a deadly search for a mysterious device whose origins reach back to the darkest days of the Cold War and to Imperial Russia and which, in the wrong hands, could have a devastating impact on the modern world.

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Official, original James Bond from a writer described by Len Deighton as a 'master storyteller'.She is beautiful. She is Russian. And she is very, very dangerous. Once Xenia worked for the KGB. But her new master is Janus, a powerful and ambitious Russian leader who no longer cares about ideology. Janus's ambitions are money and power: his normal business methods include theft and murder. And he has just acquired Goldeneye, a piece of high-tech space technology with the power to destroy or corrupt the West's financial markets. But Janus has underestimated his most determined enemy: James Bond.

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It all began with that awful business about my mother...Flavia de Luce's world is turned upside down when she is banished to Miss Bodycote's Female Academy in Canada - her mother Harriet's old boarding school. With its forbidding headmistress, intimidating teachers and bizarre rules, adapting to Miss Bodycote's could be a matter of life and death.But Flavia is soon on familiar ground when she is presented with a gruesome puzzle to solve. And the mystery of a withered corpse is only the beginning. Girls have been disappearing from Miss Bodycote's, leading Flavia to wonder what exactly the academy's true purpose is, and why were her father and Aunt Felicity so keen that she enrol?Praise for the historical Flavia de Luce mysteries: 'The Flavia de Luce novels are now a cult favourite' Mail on Sunday 'A cross between Dodie Smith's I Capture The Castle and the Addams family...delightfully entertaining' Guardian Fans of M. C. Beaton's Agatha Raisin, Frances Brody and Alexander McCall Smith will enjoy the Flavia de Luce mysteries: 1. Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie 2. The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag 3. A Red Herring Without Mustard 4. I Am Half Sick of Shadows 5. Speaking From Among the Bones 6. The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches 7. As Chimney Sweepers Come To Dust 8. Thrice the Brinded Cat Hath Mew'd 9. The Grave's a Fine and Private Place If you're looking for a cosy crime series to keep you hooked then look no further than the Flavia de Luce mysteries. * Each Flavia de Luce mystery can be read as a standalone or in series order *

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The stunning crime thriller from one of the writers of THE WIRE.Washington, D.C., 1972. Derek Strange has left the police department and set up shop as a private investigator. His former partner, Frank 'Hound Dog' Vaughn, is still on the force. When a young woman comes to Strange asking for his help recovering a cheap ring she claims has sentimental value, the case leads him onto Vaughn's turf, where a local drug addict's been murdered, shot point-blank in his apartment. Soon both men are on the trail of a ruthless killer: Red Fury, so called for his looks and the car his girlfriend drives, but a name that fits his personality all too well. Red Fury doesn't have a retirement plan, as Vaughn points out - he doesn't care who he has to cross, or kill, to get what he wants. As the violence escalates and the stakes get higher, Strange and Vaughn know the only way to catch their man is to do it their own way.Rich with details of place and time - the cars, the music, the clothes - and fuelled by non-stop action, this is Pelecanos writing in the hard-boiled noir style that won him his earliest fans and placed him firmly in the ranks of the top crime writers in America.

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BOOK 2 OF 3It began with Broken Promise. Now the mystery deepens in the second of the Promise Falls trilogy.A freak accident has killed Lucy Brighton's father. And when she goes to his house, she's convinced that someone has broken in. She asks private investigator Cal Weaver to look into it - but isn't prepared for what he'll find. Cal discovers a secret 'playroom' in the basement, complete with video equipment, and it looks as though there's a missing recording. How does the stolen DVD connect to the other disturbing events that are happening in the town? As Cal investigates further, and more people start dying in mysterious circumstances, it's clear that someone is targeting Promise Falls. But who - and how far will they go?***Praise for Linwood Barclay'Nothing is more satisfying than tucking into a new Linwood Barclay novel' Shari Lapena, author of The Couple Next Door'A suspense master' Stephen King'One of the best thriller writers in the world' Mark Billingham'Seamless, breathless and relentlessly paced' Mirror

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A must-read mystery from the bestselling author of the Sookie Stackhouse series.A Lily Bard Mystery: 3Lily Bard has worked hard to leave her old life behind. So she's uneasy about returning to her home town for her sister's Christmas Eve wedding. And with good reason. Violence waits in Bartley - the town's doctor and nurse have been bludgeoned to death - and Lily's detective boyfriend finds himself in Bartley on the heels of an eight-year-old kidnapping case. It just might have something to do with the murders...or Lily's sister's fiancé.With only three days to the wedding, Lily must move fast to solve the case. Before her sister promises to love, honour and obey a cold-blooded killer.

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A crime thriller to take you on a terrifying journey into London's dark side.Beautiful Alyshia D'Cruz has grown up in London and Mumbai wanting for nothing. But one night she takes the wrong cab home.Charles Boxer, expert in high-stakes kidnap resolution, teams up with his ex-partner, investigative cop Mercy Danquah, who's battling with their rebellious teenage daughter.Alyshia's father hires Boxer, who knows all about the tycoon's colourful career, which has made him plenty of enemies. But despite the vast D'Cruz fortune, the kidnappers don't want cash, instead favouring a cruel and lethal game . . . To save Alyshia, Boxer must dodge religious fanatics, Indian mobsters and London's home-grown crime lords.CAPITAL PUNISHMENT is a journey to the dark side of people and places that lie just out of view, waiting for the moment to tear a life apart.

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'Want to read a great whodunnit? Anthony Horowitz has one for you: MAGPIE MURDERS. It's as good as an Agatha Christie. Better, in some ways. Cleverer.' Stephen King'The finest crime novel of the year' Daily Mail***** Seven for a mystery that needs to be solved . . . Editor Susan Ryland has worked with bestselling crime writer Alan Conway for years. Readers love his detective, Atticus Pünd, a celebrated solver of crimes in the sleepy English villages of the 1950s.But Conway's latest tale of murder at Pye Hall is not quite what it seems. Yes, there are dead bodies and a host of intriguing suspects, but hidden in the pages of the manuscript lies another story: a tale written between the very words on the page, telling of real-life jealousy, greed, ruthless ambition and murder.From the creator of Midsomer Murders comes a fiendish mystery perfect for fans of Agatha Christie's Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot.*****Praise for Magpie Murders - the gripping Sunday Times bestselling crime thriller:'Ingenious' Sunday Times'Thrilling and compelling with a stunning twist' Daily Mail'A stylish thriller' Sunday Mirror'A cunning reinvention of the thriller' Mail on Sunday

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Before Jack Reacher . . . there was Mike Hammer'The king of hard-boiled crime fiction' USA TODAYClassic pulp crime fiction from an author who has sold over 200 million copies worldwide.When Jack Williams is discovered shot dead, the investigating cop Pat Chambers calls his acquaintance, and Jack's closest friend, PI Mike Hammer. Back when they fought in the Marines together, Jack took a Japanese bayonet, losing his arm, to save Hammer. Hammer vows to identify the killer ahead of the police, and to exact fatal revenge. His starting point is the list of guests at a party at Jack's apartment the night he died: Jack's fiancée, a recovering dope addict, a beautiful psychiatrist, twin socialite sisters, a college student and a mobster. But as he tracks them down, so too does the killer, and soon it's not only Jack who is dead . . . And now Hammer is firmly in the killer's sights.

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THEY TAUGHT HIM TO KILL. NOW THEY WANT HIM DEAD.'One of the best new series characters since Jack Reacher' Lisa Gardner*It's been five years since Carter Blake parted ways with top-secret government operation Winterlong. They brokered a deal at the time: he'd keep quiet about what they were doing, and in return he'd be left alone.But news that one of Blake's old allies, a man who agreed the same deal, is dead means only one thing - something has changed and Winterlong is coming for him.Emma Faraday, newly appointed head of the secret unit, is determined to tie up loose ends. And Blake is a very loose end. He's been evading them for years, but finally they've picked up his trace. Blake may be the best there is at tracking down people who don't want to be found, but Winterlong taught him everything he knows. If there's anyone who can find him - and kill him - it's them.It's time for Carter Blake to up his game.*High-stakes action, blistering tension and a deadly game of cat and mouse, THE TIME TO KILL is the must-read new thriller from Mason Cross:'Terrific stuff!' Ian Rankin'Mason Cross is a thriller writer for the future who produces the kind of fast-paced, high octane thrillers that I love to read.' Simon Kernick'So pacy I'm exhausted! Definitely one to read if you like your thrillers thrilling.' Emma Kavanagh'One of the most interesting 'loner' heroes to have arrived in recent years . . . Told with pace and vigour by a writer who seems to have a natural aptitude for thrillers, it is not to be missed.' Daily Mail'My kind of book.' Lee Child*If you like Lee Child's Jack Reacher, you will LOVE the race-against-time Carter Blake series:1. The Killing Season2. The Samaritan3. The Time To Kill4. Don't Look for Me5. Presumed Dead* Each Carter Blake thriller can be read as a standalone or in series order *

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'Superb new series with great characters and amazing scenery' reviewer, 5 stars* * * * *AN ATMOSPHERIC NEW CRIME SERIES SET IN THE CHANNEL ISLANDS FOR READERS WHO ENJOY JOY ELLIS, FAITH MARTIN AND ANN CLEEVESFollowing a traumatic incident in London, Jennifer Dorey has returned to her childhood home in Guernsey, taking a job as a reporter at the local newspaper. After the discovery of a drowned woman on a beach, she uncovers a pattern of similar deaths that have taken place over the past fifty years.Together with DCI Michael Gilbert, an officer on the verge of retirement, they follow a dark trail of island myths and folklore to 'Fritz', the illegitimate son of a Nazi soldier. His work, painstakingly executed, has so far gone undetected. But with his identity about to be uncovered, the killer now has Jennifer in his sights.* * * * *'Enthralling, compelling, mysterious.' Lisa Hall, author of Tell Me No Lies 'Atmospheric and tense. Superb!' Isabel Ashdown, author of Little Sister'Dark, haunting and full of twists.' Chris Whitaker, author of All The Wicked Girls'A gripping thriller set in Guernsey. I loved it!' Karen Hamilton, author of The Perfect Girlfriend'A dark, thrilling murder mystery in a richly-realised setting - the best debut I've read this year.' Mason Cross* * * * * What readers have to say about The Devil's Claw:'Really gripping'. Goodreads'A hauntingly good thriller.' Goodreads'A lovely twisty tale with a haunting setting.' Goodreads'Superb murder mystery. I couldn't put it down.' Amazon'Enjoyed this book immensely - found it very gripping and could not put it down.' Amazon

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When 16-year-old Weldon Avery Holland encounters the notorious Bonnie and Clyde in his Texas hometown, the course of his young life is altered forever. He dedicates himself to fighting evil wherever he finds it.But it's the 1930s and evil is sweeping the globe as the Nazis rise. When war breaks out, Holland finds himself in Germany, irrevocably scarred by scenes of death and destruction.Peacetime brings apparent bliss, and Holland is offered a path to wealth and luxury by the enigmatic 'Wayfaring Stranger'. But soon, he discovers that the greed, violence and ruthlessness of war are nothing compared to the depths of human cruelty at play here.

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Official, original James Bond from a writer described by Len Deighton as a 'master storyteller'.When the body of a mysterious woman is found to be carrying the phone number of James Bond, Bond is called in by M to help the investigation. But before he can even reach headquarters he is nearly run off the road in a high-speed motorway chase. Someone wants Bond dead.Then Bond discovers that the woman was a member of a cult society known as "The Meek Ones", with murky links to a wealthy arms dealer. Soon, hideous acts of terrorism begin to roll out across Britain and Bond finds himself in a race against time to track down the faceless criminal behind the horror ...

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Hardened by battle, seasoned by war, four adventurers caught in the path of one of history's most enigmatic leaders.1571. At the great naval battle of Lepanto the Ottoman Empire is finally defeated, and it seems that Europe is safe.But then Nicholas Ingoldsby is summoned to London by the Queen herself and sent on a diplomatic mission to Constantinople, the heart of the old enemy - and then onward, to a little-known but rising power called Muscovy, ruled by a deranged but cunning czar - Ivan the Terrible.The rise of Muscovy has also caught the attention of the Ottomans; and their allies, the wild Tatar horsemen of the Asiatic steppes, Russia's ancient enemy. Soon Nicholas and his fellow travellers are caught up in their most dangerous adventure yet, trapped in a doomed Muscovy with a vast army of Tatar tribesmen riding down upon them, vowed to burn the city to the ground and extinguish Russia for ever...

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Scrawled in a pool of blood is one name the world wanted to forget - Jason Bourne...The second, brilliant Bourne novel from worldwide bestselling author Robert Ludlum.'A killer of a thriller' USA Today'Watch your back 007 - Bourne is out to get you' Sunday TimesWashington, Hong Kong and Peking - terror sweeps the globe. The Vice-Premier of the People's Republic has been brutally murdered by a legendary assassin, and everyone is asking the same fearful questions: why has Bourne come back? Who is paying him? Who is next on his death list? But US officials know the shocking truth: there is no Jason Bourne. There never was. But someone has resurrected the name, and if he is not stopped, the world will pay a devastating price.Jason Bourne must live again. He must utilise his murderous skills. But this time the will to survive is not enough. This time Bourne must reign supreme...

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The Matarese are back. But has the only man with the power to stop them already run out of time?Twenty years ago, KGB and CIA agents worked together to bring down The Matarese, a dynasty of killers who threatened the world. But the terrifying group has regained its power. CIA officer Cameron Pryce is hot on the trail of the new Matarese alliance. His only chance to terminate its ruthless activities is to follow the trail of blood money and stone-cold killers. Then he gets a lucky break. One of the Matarese victims lives long enough to whisper dying words that will blow the case wide open: the code name for legendary CIA agent Brandon Scofield - the only man to infiltrate the Matarese circle, and survive.

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A heart-stopping adventure from the NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author of MAP OF BONES and THE DOOMSDAY KEY.High in the Andes, Dr Henry Conklin discovers a 500-year-old mummy that should not be there. While deep in the South American jungle, Conklin's nephew, Sam, stumbles upon a remarkable site nestled between two towering peaks, a place hidden from human eyes for thousands of years. Ingenious traps have been laid to ensnare the careless and unsuspecting, and wealth beyond imagining could be the reward for those with the courage to face the terrible unknown. But where the perilous journey inward ends - in the cold, shrouded heart of a breathtaking necropolis - something else is waiting for Sam Conklin and his exploratory party. A thing created by Man, yet not humanly possible. Something wondrous...something terrifying.

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A superb thriller from the acclaimed author of A QUIET BELIEF IN ANGELS.Orphaned by an act of senseless violence that took their mother from them, half-brothers Clarence Luckman and Elliott Danziger have been raised in state institutions, unaware of any world outside. But their lives take a sudden turn when they are seized as hostages by a convicted killer en route to death row. Earl Sheridan is a psychopath of the worst kind, but he has the potential to change the boys' lives for ever. As the trio set off on a frenetic escape from the law through California and Texas, the two brothers must come to terms with the ever-growing tide of violence that follows in their wake - something that forces them to make a choice about their lives, and their relationship to one another.

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A thrilling Covert-One novel, from the world's No. 1 bestselling international author.In the increasingly turbulent atmosphere of international politics, a once grassroots anti-globalisation movement has been slowly taken over by an underground radical anti-technology group fronted by a mysterious figure known only as Lazarus. All attempts to infiltrate the group have failed, and the intelligence agents involved have disappeared without trace. Now Lazarus is preparing to make his boldest move yet. Lt Col. Jon Smith is activated by Covert-One to bring his skills to bear in uncovering the truth behind the terrorists. For, unbeknown to the world at large, the Lazarus Movement is on the brink of setting in motion a deadly scheme that will risk the lives of billions and for ever change the nature of the world.

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The most famous of all locked-room mysteries - a classic in the crime genre.'The first deadly walking of the hollow man took place when the side streets of London were quiet with snow and the three coffins of the prophecy were filled at last...'The murderer of Dr Grimauld walked through a locked door, shot his victim and vanished. He killed his second victim in the middle of an empty street, with watchers at each end, yet nobody saw him, and he left no footprints in the snow.And so it is up to the irrepressible, larger-than-life Dr Gideon Fell to solve this most famous and taxing of locked-room mysteries.

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'Dashiell Hammett is an original. He is a master of the detective novel, yes, but also one hell of a writer' BOSTON GLOBEDashiell Hammett's Continental Op was the prototype for generations of tough-guy detectives. Short, squat and as stubborn as a mule, the Op's only enthusiasm was doing his job. In the stories in THE BIG KNOCKOVER, the job means solving the bank heist to end all bank heists, taking on a gang of freebooters, cleaning up a vice-ridden hell in the desert and dealing with assorted colourful grifters like the Dis-and-Dat Kid, Alphabet Shorty McCoy and Bluepoint Vance.

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'Packed with whiplash plot twists and taut dialogue...THE WATCHMAN is as good a psychological test case as it is a thriller' ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLYA long time ago, Joe Pike asked for help. In return, he would, one day, be called upon to return the favour, no questions asked. That day has come.Joe Pike is asked to protect the life of Larkin Conner Barkley, a spoiled rich girl who happens to be a federal witness in a major case. But someone is leaking information about their whereabouts, and the killers are getting all too close. So Pike hatches a plan: disappear into the anonymous underbelly of Los Angeles, turn the tables, and hunt down the hunters.Enlisting the help of Elvis Cole, Pike uncovers a web of lies and betrayals; even the cops aren't who they seem. But as the body count rises, it becomes clear that Pike's biggest threat may be the girl herself - an edgy, yet intensely vulnerable soul determined to destroy herself, unless Joe can fill the void in her bruised heart.

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A savage murder with no apparent motive - DS Morrow's most challenging case brings her work and home lives dangerously close... From the two-time winner of the prestigious Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award.When wealthy Sarah Erroll dies a violent death at her home in a posh part of Glasgow, the local community is stunned by what appears to be a truly gratuitous act. Heavily pregnant with desperately wanted twins, DS Alex Morrow is called in to investigate and soon discovers that there is more to Sarah's murder than it first seems.On the other side of town, Thomas Anderson is called into the headmaster's office at his boarding school to be told that his tyrannical father - a banker responsible for the loss of many livelihoods in the recession - has committed suicide by hanging himself from the old oak tree on the lawn of their home. Thomas returns to the family home to find his mother and sister in a state of numb shock. The head of the household is dead, yet their initial reaction is not that of grief, but relief.As Alex Morrow slowly unravels the connections between the two cases, she faces her greatest challenge yet as her work and home lives collide with potentially disastrous consequences.

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A hanged man. A stolen painting. An impossible crime.A marine engineer is found hanged in a locked apartment. Some artwork is stolen, then mysteriously returned. And a security guard is found dead at the base of a Welsh cliff.When Fiona Griffiths is tasked to look through a stackload of cold cases, her bosses don't expect her to find anything of interest. But then she discovers that an impossible robbery really happened. That the supposed suicide was anything but. That the dead security guard was almost certainly murdered.Before long, Fiona is embroiled in what will become the most terrifying case of her career so far - one that forces her to enter the heart of darkness, and a journey that will test her mental toughness to its very limits.Praise for the Fiona Griffiths mystery series: 'A stunner with precision plotting, an unusual setting, and a deeply complex protagonist' The Seattle Times'This cleverly plotted police procedural introduces a likeable, maverick detective destined for a bestseller following' Choice'Compelling...a new crime talent to treasure' Daily Mail 'Gritty, compelling...a procedural unlike any other you are likely to read this year' USA Today 'An original and complex character; a different kind of policewoman. Fiona Griffiths is a truly fascinating character' ShotsFans of Angela Marsons, Peter James and Ann Cleeves will be gripped by the other titles in the Fiona Griffiths mystery series: 1. Talking to the Dead2. Love Story, With Murders3. The Strange Death of Fiona Griffiths4. This Thing of Darkness5. The Dead House 6. The Deepest Grave (coming soon!)If you're looking for a crime thriller series to keep you hooked, then go no further: you've just found it.** Each Fiona Griffiths thriller can be read as a standalone or in series order **

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'Chilling, atmospheric and so gripping it hurts. The Dead House is a masterpiece. You won't read a better crime novel this year' MARK EDWARDSOn a wild October night, the body of a young woman is found in a remote country churchyard. She's wearing nothing but a thin, white dress. There are no marks of violence and no obvious cause of death. Who is the victim? Why is she here? But another young woman went missing from the area a few years back, and DC Fiona Griffiths soon suspects a crime even more chilling than she first imagined. Will she unlock the secrets of the dead house? Or will she become its next victim?Praise for the Fiona Griffiths mystery series:'One of the most interesting and complicated protagonists in current UK crime fiction. Truly unforgettable' Mick Herron'In a word - brilliant. One of the most enjoyable crime novels I've read in a while' James Oswald'This cleverly plotted police procedural introduces a likeable, maverick detective destined for a bestseller following' Choice'Compelling...a new crime talent to treasure' Daily Mail 'Gritty, compelling...a procedural unlike any other you are likely to read this year' USA Today Fans of Angela Marsons, Peter James and Ann Cleeves will be gripped by the other titles in the Fiona Griffiths mystery series: 1. Talking to the Dead2. Love Story, With Murders3. The Strange Death of Fiona Griffiths4. This Thing of Darkness5. The Dead House 6. The Deepest Grave (coming soon!)If you're looking for a crime thriller series to keep you hooked, then go no further: you've just found it.** Each Fiona Griffiths thriller can be read as a standalone or in series order **

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'Be warned: once started, you'll have to cancel all engagements until you finish it' Independent on Sunday'The action in THE SENTRY is intense and the body count high but what is more memorable is the manner in which Crais cracks open the door into the enigmatic Pike's emotions' L A TimesAfter the nightmare of Hurricane Katrina, Dru Rayne and her uncle relocated to Los Angeles. Five years later, their struggling restaurant faces a different danger. When Joe Pike witnesses Dru's uncle beaten by a neighbourhood gang, he offers his own brand of protection, but neither Dru nor her uncle want his help. And neither do the federal agents mysteriously watching their store . . .But Pike is falling for Dru, and won't back away whether she wants his help or not. As the violence escalates, Joe discovers Dru and her uncle are not who they seem - and now a vengeful, murderous force from their past is catching up with them...

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London at the dawn of 1918 and Ireland's most famous literary figure, WB Yeats, is immersed in supernatural investigations at his Bloomsbury rooms. Haunted by the restless spirit of an Irish girl whose body is mysteriously washed ashore in a coffin, Yeats undertakes a perilous journey back to Ireland with his apprentice ghost-catcher Charles Adams to piece together the killer's identity. Surrounded by spies, occultists and Irish rebels, the two are led on a gripping journey along Ireland's wild Atlantic coast, through the ruins of its abandoned estates, and into its darkest, most haunted corners. Falling under the spell of dark forces, Yeats and his novice ghost-catcher come dangerously close to crossing the invisible line that divides the living from the dead.

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A No. 1 New York Times bestseller and winner of the 1986 Locus Award for Best Collection, SKELETON CREW is a classic collection of riveting stories from the outer limits of one of the greatest imaginations of our time, now with a stunning new cover look.Features 'The Mist', adapted into both a feature film directed by Frank Darabont and a 2017 Netflix series.Hold tight. We are going into a number of dark places, but I think I know the way. Just don't let go of my arm . . . Unrivalled master of suspense Stephen King takes the unsuspecting reader on a fantastic journey through the dark shadows of our innermost fears. Do the dead sing? In this bumper collection of chilling tales, we meet: a woman who has never crossed The Reach, the water dividing her from the mainland; a gramma who only wants to hug little George, even after she is dead; an innocent looking toy with sinister powers; and a primeval sea creature with an insatiable appetite.This 'wonderfully gruesome' collection (The New York Times Book Review) includes:-The Mist-Here There Be Tygers-The Monkey-Cain Rose Up-Mrs. Todd's Shortcut-The Jaunt-The Wedding Gig-Paranoid: A Chant-The Raft - Word Processor of the Gods-The Man Who Would Not Shake Hands-Beachworld-The Reaper's Image-Nona-For Owen-Survivor Type-Uncle Otto's Truck-Morning Deliveries (Milkman No. 1)-Big Wheels: a Tale of the Laundry Game (Milkman No. 2)-Gramma-The Ballad of the Flexible Bullet-The Reach

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Iraq 2005Seven mercenaries journey deep into the desert in search of Saddam's gold. They form an unlikely crew of battle-scarred privateers, killers and thieves, veterans of a dozen war zones, each of them anxious to make one last score before their luck runs out.They will soon find themselves marooned among ancient ruins, caught in a desperate battle for their lives, confronted by greed, betrayal, and an army that won't stay dead...

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From the author of Thirteen Hours - A Sunday Times '100 best crime novels and thrillers since 1945' pickI'll shoot a policeman every day until you arrest the murderer of Hanneke Sloet.Shortly after the South African Police Services receive this threatening email, a policeman is shot by a sniper and recovering alcoholic Benny Griessel is ordered to reopen the Sloet case.Hanneke Sloet was a sensual and ambitious lawyer. At the time of her murder she was working on one of the biggest Black Empowerment deals in South African history. She was found dead in her luxury Cape Town apartment, a single stab wound to her chest.After forty days, the trail has gone cold. The first investigation could find no motive and no leads, only a set of nude photographs, an ex-boyfriend with a rock-solid alibi, conniving attorneys and financial double-dealing.Benny has to deal with immense pressure from his superiors, the media and the unfathomable sniper, whose emails keep coming and who won't stop shooting. And then there's Benny's love interest, former pop sensation Alexa Barnard, who is also trying to rebuild her life after the ravages of alcohol, and Benny has to make sure she stays sober for her comeback.At the same time, Benny's feisty colleague, Captain Mbali Kaleni, is hunting the shooter, trying desperately to find what connects him to Hanneke Sloet.Both Benny and Mbali are about to endure seven days of hell.

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EVIL TAKES MANY FORMS.PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR CHARLIE PARKER HUNTS THEM ALL.Still raw from the murder of his wife and daughter, and the events surrounding the capture of their killer, The Travelling Man, Charlie Parker retreats to the wintry Maine landscape of his childhood. By following in the steps of his beloved grandfather, Parker hopes to heal his spirit and get through the bitter first anniversary.But the echoes of the past that await him are not all benign. In a gruesome re-enactment of Parker's own nightmares, another young woman is killed with her child and his brief involvement in their lives impels Parker to hunt their vicious murderer. As the death toll mounts, Parker comes to realise that the true answer to the puzzle lies thirty years in the past, in a tree with strange fruit, in his own grandfather's history, and in the perverted desires of a monster incarnate - Caleb Kyle.From the number one Sunday Times and multi-million-copy bestselling author John Connolly comes a mesmerising and chilling thriller described as 'classic American detective fiction . . . and of a very high order' by Bernard Cornwell.The Charlie Parker novels can be read and enjoyed in any order. Dark Hollow is the second book in this globally bestselling series.

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EVIL TAKES MANY FORMS. PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR CHARLIE PARKER HUNTS THEM ALL.In South Carolina, a young man faces the death penalty for the killing of Marianne Larousse, daughter of one of the wealthiest men in the state. It's a case that nobody wants to touch, a case with its roots in old evil - and old evil is private detective Charlie Parker's speciality. But Parker is about to make a descent into the abyss, a confrontation with dark forces that threaten all that Parker holds dear: his lover, his unborn child, even his soul. . . For in a prison cell, a fanatical preacher is about to take his revenge, as is a strange, hunched creature that keeps its own secrets buried by a riverbank: the undiscovered killer Cyrus Nairn. Soon, all of these figures will face a final reckoning in southern swamps and northern forests, in distant locations linked by a single thread, a place where the paths of the living and the dead converge. A place known only as the White Road.From the number one Sunday Times and multi-million-copy bestselling author John Connolly comes the most compelling and unsettling Charlie Parker thriller yet.'A cracking read from an excellent and highly original writer' Sunday IndependentThe Charlie Parker novels can be read and enjoyed in any order. The White Road is the fourth book in this globally bestselling series.

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The tense, twisty murder mystery which will have you on the edge of your seat, from the author of Madam, Will You Talk? /font size> 'Mary Stewart is magic' New York Times Following a heart-breaking divorce, Gianetta retreats to the Isle of Skye hoping to find tranquillity in the island's savage beauty. But shortly before her arrival a girl's body is found on the craggy slopes of the looming Blue Mountain, and with the murderer still on the loose, there's nothing to stop him from setting his sights on Gianetta next . . .Praise for Mary Stewart:'There are few to equal Mary Stewart' Daily Telegraph'One of the great British storytellers of the 20th century' Independent'A natural successor to Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte' Guardian'Total heaven. I'd rather read her than most other authors' Harriet Evans'She set the benchmark for pace, suspense and romance - with a great dollop of escapism as the icing' Elizabeth BuchanWhat readers have said about Wildfire at Midnight:'Could not put the book down, from start to finish! Absolutely brilliant! A great writer. Thank you Mary Stewart''I've read and re-read it countless times . . . wonderful setting for the plot, evocative and captivating writing, I love this book''If you like a beautiful heroine with pluck, a handsome hero, danger and strong descriptive passages this is a book for you''A fabulous fast paced read . . . Stewart keeps you guessing to the very end with a doozy of a nail-biting finish set amongst the swirling mists, shifting bogs and the rocky crags of the Cuillin'

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From the original queen of the page-turner and author of Madam, Will You Talk? comes a thrilling tale set in a France as beautiful as it is deadly, perfect for fans of Agatha Christie and Barbara Pym. 'Mary Stewart is magic' New York Times 'One of the great British storytellers of the 20th century' Independent'There are few to equal Mary Stewart' Daily TelegraphHigh in the rugged Pyrenees lies the Valley of the Storms, where a tiny convent clings to the beautiful but lonely mountainside. Jenny Silver arrives seeking her missing cousin, and is devastated when she learns of Gillian's death following a terrible car accident. But Jenny's suspicions are aroused when she's told the blue flowers ornamenting her cousin's grave were Gillian's favourite. Jenny knows Gillian was colour-blind - and so starts her mission to uncover what really happened to her.The growl and roar of thunder rolled an re-echoed from the mountains and the sword of the lightning stabbed down, and stabbed again, as if searching through the depths of the cringing woods for whatever sheltered there.'A comfortable chair and a Mary Stewart: total heaven. I'd rather read her than most other authors.' Harriet Evans'She built the bridge between classic literature and modern popular fiction. She did it first and she did it best.' Herald''One of the most stupendously successful authors ever' Sunday Express

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Florence, October 1966. The rain is never-ending. When a young boy vanishes on his way home from school the police fear the worst, and Inspector Bordelli begins an increasingly desperate investigation.Then the flood hits. During the night of 4th November the swollen River Arno, already lapping the arches of the Ponte Vecchio, breaks its banks and overwhelms the city. Streets become rushing torrents, the force of the water sweeping away cars and trees, doors, shutters and anything else in its wake.In the aftermath of this unimaginable tragedy the mystery of the child's disappearance seems destined to go unsolved. But obstinate as ever, Bordelli is not prepared to give up.

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The electrifying new Cotton Malone thriller by international bestseller Steve Berry.People say the Cold War is coming back.For some, it never went away.Shot down over Siberia in what was to be a simple meet-and-greet mission, ex-Justice Department agent Cotton Malone is forced into a fight for survival against Aleksandr Zorin, whose loyalty to the former Soviet Union has festered for decades into an intense hatred of the United States.Before escaping, Malone learns that Zorin is headed for North America to join another long-term sleeper embedded in the West. Armed with a Soviet weapon long thought to be just a myth, Zorin is aided by a shocking secret hidden in the archives of America's oldest fraternal organization, the Society of Cincinnati. Past presidents used this group's military offensive - including advice on the invasion of what was to be America's 14th Colony - Canada.Inauguration Day for a new President of the U.S.A. is only hours away. Zorin's deadly plan is timed to bring about political chaos.In a race against the clock from Russia to the White House itself, Malone must not only battle Zorin, he must also confront his deepest fear, a crippling weakness that he's long denied but one that now jeopardizes everything. Steve Berry's trademark mix of fact, fiction, history and speculation is all here in this fast-paced and utterly compelling new thriller.

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'Absolutely mesmerising' Gillian Flynn, author of Sharp Objects and Gone GirlThe photo shows a boy who was murdered a year ago.The caption says, 'I KNOW WHO KILLED HIM'.Detective Stephen Moran hasn't seen Holly Mackey since she was a nine-year-old witness to the events of Faithful Place. Now she's sixteen and she's shown up outside his squad room, with a photograph and a story.Even in her exclusive boarding school, in the graceful golden world that Stephen has always longed for, bad things happen and people have secrets. The previous year, Christopher Harper, from the neighbouring boys' school, was found murdered on the grounds. And today, in the Secret Place - the school noticeboard where girls can pin up their secrets anonymously - Holly found the card.Solving this case could take Stephen onto the Murder squad. But to get that solved, he will have to work with Detective Antoinette Conway - tough, prickly, an outsider, everything Stephen doesn't want in a partner. And he will have to find a way into the strange, charged, mysterious world that Holly and her three closest friends inhabit and disentangle the truth from their knot of secrets, even as he starts to suspect that the truth might be something he doesn't want to hear.

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Beautiful, seductive and extremely dangerous, Franca Tantardini is one of Italy's most ruthless political extremists. When she is captured in a shoot-out, her fanatical young lover, Giancarlo Battestini, vows to set her free and, with quiet watchfulness, waits for the moment to strike.In Rome, a British businessman, Geoffery Harrison, has been taken hostage by a ruthless organised crime syndicate - kidnap is, after all, a growth industry. The British Government are adamant that they will not pay the two-million-dollar ransom and discharge responsibility to the Italian police. As political wrangling takes hold, Battestini sees a weakness and realises that the only way to secure the release of his beloved Franca is to capture Harrison and bargain his life for hers.The authorities are confronted with a terrible choice. Should they release a woman who has masterminded the murder of so many or let an innocent man die?

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