Fiction books to excite, provoke and spark a conversation. Debut authors, award winners, bestsellers & lost gems - our range of fiction titles will leave you spoilt for choice.
Fiction Books
Little, Brown Book Group Beneath the Stands
Book SynopsisFrom Sunday Times bestselling author Emily McIntire comes an angsty, best friend''s brother, second chance romance and the second interconnected standalone in the Sugarlake series. Elliot Carson left Sugarlake and has never looked back. Revered as the next big thing in basketball, Eli''s a star until an injury ends his career, sending him spiralling with no direction.But he won''t go home.He can''t.Instead, he accepts a coaching gig at Florida Coast University, determined to leave his past behind. But fate has other plans when Becca, his sister''s best friend, shows up as a student and, even worse, becomes the new team manager.Rebecca Sanger is the preacher''s daughter and the town''s disappointment. When she ignores her family''s demands to come home, she''s cut off and needs a job so she can stay enrolled at FCU. She thought she had everything figured out, until Eli Carson - the person she hates more than anything in the world - ends up being her new boss.Forced together, Becca and Eli''s hatred turns to heat, and they start an affair. But disaster quickly strikes, ripping them apart.Years pass, and Becca''s back home, under her parent''s thumb, and living a mundane life. When Eli shows up out of the blue with a fiancée in tow, Becca is tasked with planning their wedding.There''s only one problem.Becca still loves Eli.And he hates her.For the second time in their lives, they''re forced together, and they''ll find out just how thin the line is between hate . . . and a love that lasts a lifetime.******Beneath the Stands is the second interconnected standalone in the Sugarlake series and contains mature content. It can be read alone, but it''s recommended to start with Beneath the Stars for a full reading experience. Full list of TW can be found on author''s website.*
£9.49
Cornerstone Riotous Assembly
Book SynopsisTom Sharpe was born in 1928 and educated at Lancing College and Pembroke College, Cambridge. He did his national service in the Marines before moving to South Africa in 1951, where he did social work before teaching in Natal. He had a photographic studio in Pietermaritzburg from 1957 until 1961, and from 1963 to 1972 he was a lecturer in History at the Cambridge College of Arts and Technology.He is the author of sixteen bestselling novels, including Porterhouse Blue and Blott on the Landscape, which were serialised on television, and Wilt, which was made into a film. In 1986 he was awarded the XXIIIème Grand Prix de l'Humour Noir Xavier Forneret, and in 2010 he was awarded the inaugural BBK La Risa de Bilbao Prize. Tom Sharpe died in June 2013 at his home in northern Spain.Trade ReviewThe funniest writer now working in the English language . . . His humour has bite and an angry underside that puts him in the great tradition of English satirists -- Stephen KingRiotous Assembly is a masterpiece of black farce, and makes me suppose that there is a true comic genius here -- Auberon Waugh * Spectator *Savagely hilarious * Sunday Mirror *Riotous Assembly has done to the South African police what Catch-22 did to the American Air Force -- Piers Brendon * Books & Bookmen *
£9.49
Vintage Publishing The Innocent
Book SynopsisIan McEwan is the critically acclaimed author of nineteen novels and two short story collections. His first published work, a collection of short stories, First Love, Last Rites, won the Somerset Maugham Award. His novels include The Child in Time, which won the 1987 Whitbread Novel of the Year Award; The Cement Garden; Enduring Love; Amsterdam, which won the 1998 Booker Prize; Atonement; Saturday; On Chesil Beach; Solar; Sweet Tooth; The Children Act; Nutshell; Machines Like Me; and Lessons. Atonement, Enduring Love, The Children Act and On Chesil Beach have all been adapted for the big screen.Trade ReviewPowerful and disturbing...a tour de force * New York Times *To call The Innocent a spy novel would be like calling Lord of the Flies a boy's adventure yarn...it ensure McEwan's major status * Sunday Times *The sheer cleverness of the book is dazzling, and only fully to be appreciated as you turn the last page * London Review of Books *It's the most tightly plotted of Ian McEwan's novels, and to argue properly for its excellence would involve showing how the political and emotional themes are inseparable from its narrative ingenuity, the patterns of revelation and about-turn which mark its final pages * Guardian *Generous in scale, simple in its hideous impact... Ironically, he has celebrated the obsequies of the East-West spy thriller by writing one of the subtlest * Mail on Sunday *
£9.49
Cornerstone The Agony And The Ecstasy
Book SynopsisIrving Stone was born in San Francisco in 1903 and received his B. A. from the University of California, Berkeley in 1923 and his Master's degree from the University of Southern California in 1924. He wrote plays and supported himself by writing detective stories until the publication of Lust for Life, his first novel, in 1934, Stone called his work 'bio-history' and based his novels on meticulous and extensive research into the lives of the historical characters at the heart of his novels. He married his editor, Jean Factor, in 1934. He founded the Academy of American Poets in 1962. He died in Los Angeles in 1989.
£10.44
Little, Brown & Company Bungo Stray Dogs Vol. 4
Book SynopsisThe American group of ability users known as the''Guild'' appears, led by the wealthy Francis Scott Fitzgerald, who has his sightsset on the Armed Detective Agency! Can Agency president Fukuzawa stop him...!?Not if Guild member Lucy Montgomery and can help it!
£10.44
HarperCollins Publishers Inc Warriors Manga Tigerstar and Sasha 3 Return to
Book Synopsis
£7.59
Little, Brown Book Group Fortunes Rocks
Book SynopsisSet 100 years ago in Boston, Fortune''s Rocks is a classic of literary and romantic storytelling. Fourteen-year-old Olympic Biddeford is spending the summer with her parents at their seasonal house at Fortune''s Rocks. Her father handles her education himself and is in fact a publisher of mildly liberal literature. One author he admires, who also practises as a physician, comes to visit the house. 40 years old, married with four children, he still embarks on an affair with the adolescent girl. They have a swift, passionate summer, torn apart when they are discovered together during Olympic''s fifteenth birthday party. She is taken back to Boston, her parents are mortified and remove themselves from society. When Olympic is delivered of a baby boy nine months later, he is taken from her and she finds herself in exile at a ladies college and then as a governess. She decides she must get her child back, which means returning to Fortune''s Rocks... This sensuality of a girl''s rite of paTrade ReviewExceptionally fine ... Shreve writes with power and passion DAILY EXPRESS A powerful portrait of that dangerous limbo of a girl's adolescence when she is no longer a child but not yet a woman LITERARY REVIEW A quiet but highly charged novel in which intense emotion is counterpointed with an evocation of landscape Elizabeth Buchan, THE TIMES It seems like a mighty poem. FORTUNE'S ROCKS, you know, will prove much more than a place name OBSERVER
£9.49
Galley Beggar Press All My Precious Madness
Book Synopsis
£10.44
Seven Seas Entertainment, LLC The Big Apple Vol. 3
Book Synopsis
£16.99
Simon & Schuster When Angels Speak of Love
Book SynopsisFeminist icon bell hooks reminds us of the full spectrum of feeling we spend in love through her inspiring collection of love poetry, with a new introduction by Cole Arthur Riley, author of Black Liturgies.Written from the heart, When Angels Speak of Love is a book of fifty love poems by bell hooks, one our most beloved public intellectuals, and author of over twenty books, including the bestselling All About Love. Poem after poem, hooks challenges our views and experiences with love—tracing the links between seduction and surrender, the intensity of desire, and the anguish of death. “Love must clean house, choose memories to keep, and memories to let go,” she writes. These verses are expansive yet accessible—encompassing romantic love, to love of family, friends, or oneself. In any iteration, these poems remind us of both the beauty and possibility of love.
£10.44
Hodder & Stoughton A Drop of Corruption
Book SynopsisThe second adventure in the Shadow of the Leviathan series, in which the brilliant detective Ana Dolabra may have finally met her match...from the bestselling author of The Founders Trilogy.
£19.80
Penguin Books Ltd The Man Who Was Thursday
Book SynopsisG.K. Chesterton''s The Man Who Was Thursday is a thrilling novel of deception, subterfuge, double-crossing and secret identities, and this Penguin Classics edition is edited with an introduction by Matthew Beaumont.The Central Anarchist Council is a secret society sworn to destroy the world. The council is governed by seven men, who hide their identities behind the names of the days of the week. Yet one of their number - Thursday - is not the revolutionary he claims to be, but a Scotland Yard detective named Gabriel Syme, sworn to infiltrate the organisation and bring the architects of chaos to justice. But when he discovers another undercover policeman on the Council, Syme begins to question his role in their operations. And as a desperate chase across Europe begins, his confusion grows, as well as his confidence in his ability to outwit his enemies, unravelling the mysteries of human behaviour and belief in a thrilling contest of wits. But he has still to face the greatest terror that the Council has: a man named Sunday, whose true nature is worse than Syme could ever have imagined ...In his introduction, Matthew Beaumont examines the book''s themes of identity and confrontation, and explores its intriguing title. This edition also contains a chronology, notes and suggested further reading.G.K. Chesterton (1874-1938) attended the Slade School of Art, where he appears to have suffered a nervous breakdown, before turning his hand to journalism. A prolific writer throughout his life, his best-known books include The Napoleon of Notting Hill (1904), The Man Who Knew Too Much (1922) and the Father Brown stories. Chesterton converted to Roman Catholicism in 1922 and died in 1938. If you enjoyed The Man Who Was Thursday, you might enjoy Joseph Conrad''s The Secret Agent, also available in Penguin Classics.''The most thrilling book I have ever read''Kingsley Amis, author of Lucky JimTrade Review"A powerful picture of the loneliness and bewilderment which each of us encounters in his single-handed struggle with the universe."--C. S. Lewis
£9.25
Penguin Random House Group Murder by Cheesecake
Book Synopsis
£13.59
Little, Brown & Company High School DXD Vol. 15 Light Novel
Book SynopsisFinally, the spotlight shines on Yuuto Kiba. Just how did ne and Rias meet? How did he become a demon? The ban finally lifts on this forbidden episode, and Yuuto and Rias's past is revealed!
£14.40
Atlantic Books I Cheerfully Refuse
Book SynopsisBarnes & Noble''s April Book Club PickAn Amazon Top 10 Editors'' PickA Most Anticipated Book of 2024 from Literary HubSet in a not-too-distant America, I Cheerfully Refuse is the tale of a bereaved musician taking to Lake Superior in search of his departed, deeply beloved bookselling wife. Encountering lunatic storms and rising corpses from the warming depths, Rainy finds on land an increasingly desperate and illiterate people, a malignant billionaire ruling class, crumbled infrastructure and a lawless society. Amid the Gulliver-like challenges of life at sea, Rainy is lifted by physical beauty, surprising humour, generous strangers and an unexpected companion in a young girl who comes aboard. As his essentially guileless nature begins to make an inadvertent rebel of him, Rainy''s private quest for the love of his life grows into something wider and wilder, sweeping up friends and foes alike in his strengthening wake.A rollicking narrative in the most evocative of settings, I Cheerfully Refuse is a symphony against despair and a rallying cry for the future.
£9.49
Little, Brown & Company Cheerful Amnesia Vol. 5
Book SynopsisThe wedding ceremony is finally here, and Mari and Arisa are about to seal their vows with a kissuntil a certain sight causes Arisa's memories to come flooding back! From Arisa's student days to the inspiration behind Mari's careernot to mention how the two grew closerthe pair's relationship before Arisa's amnesia finally comes to light!
£10.44
Profile England is Mine
Book SynopsisLONGLISTED FOR THE 2025 GORDON BURN PRIZE 'Nicolas Padamsee's subtle, satirical debut smartly explores the reasons frightened teenage boys become dangerous men' Financial Times'A politically engaged, urgently plotted coming-of-age thriller with a wicked satirical streak' Observer 'Darkly humorous and highly topical' Spectator'A brilliant dissection of race, identity, masculinity and extremism' Monica Ali'Heart-breaking . . . captures modern times in the UK perceptively' Peter Doherty, The LibertinesDavid hates school, where he has been bullied, and has reached sixth form without any friends. Music is the only thing that keeps him going. Inspired by his hero, Karl Williams, he becomes vegan, wears eyeliner and writes song lyrics. But one night onstage Karl Williams accuses Muslims of homophobia and is cancelled. Conflicted by his feelings for his favourite artist and compelled by the conversations he has while playing Call of Duty, David becomes more and more fascinated by the far right's narratives of masculinity in conflict with liberal society.Living in the same East London borough as David, Hassan has his own problems. He is drifting apart from his childhood friends, Mo and Ibrahim, who drink, blaze skunk and mock him for hanging out at the Muslim youth centre, where he is older than everyone else. Determined to make something of himself, he volunteers for his local mosque and works hard to try to get the grades he needs to go to university.As these second-generation immigrants struggle for a sense of identity and belonging - amid a wave of online radicalisation and extremism - their fates become inextricably, catastrophically entwined.
£9.49
Usborne Publishing Alex Neptune Dragon Champion
Book SynopsisAlex Neptune is back for his most epic adventure in this fifth and final instalment of the action-packed series - perfect for fans of Percy Jackson and Dragon Realm! Brineblood the pirate is back on the high seas with a dastardly plan - he's going to steal every drop of sea magic and use it to raise an all-powerful monster from the bottom of the ocean. If Alex, Zoey and Anil can't stop him, the monster could flood the entire world. Teaming up with the water dragon, they use a home-made submarine to journey deep into places no human has been before. But they have one crucial problem: Alex has lost his magic. Can he still lead his crew to victory? Or will Haven Bay - and the rest of the world - be lost for good?
£7.59
HarperCollins Publishers Inc Counterattacks at Thirty
Book SynopsisFrom the bestselling author of Almond, The Devil Wears Prada meets The Office in this witty, humane, and ultimately transformative story of a group of young workers who rebel against the status quo. Jihye is an ordinary woman who has never been extraordinary. In her administrative job at the Academy, she silently tolerates office politics and the absurdities of Korean bureaucracy. Forever only one misplaced email away from career catastrophe, she effectively becomes a master of the silent eye-roll and the tactical coffee run. But all her efforts to endure her superiors and the semi-hostile work environment they create are upended when a new intern, Gyuok Lee, arrives. Like a pacifist version of V in V for Vendetta, Gyuok recruits a trio of office allies to carry out plans for minor revenge. Together, these four rebels commit tiny protests against those in more powerful positions through spraying graffiti, throwing eggs, and writing anonymous exposés. But as their attacks increase, the initial joy they felt at the release becomes something more and Jihye and the others will discover the beauty of friendship and the extraordinary power of unity against adversity.
£15.29
Drawn and Quarterly Moomin Deluxe Anniversary Edition: Volume Two
Book SynopsisSince the first Moomin comic strip appeared in the London Evening News, Tove Jansson s creations have become an international sensation, inspiring TV shows, cafes, a museum, an opera, and even an amusement park. And now in this new deluxe anniversary edition are hundreds of pages of Moomin comics, starring Moominmamma, Snorkmaiden, Sniff, Mrs. Fillyjonk, and many more familiar faces. Collected in this volume are the comics created by Lars Jansson, when his sister, Tove, grew tired of drawing a daily strip after half a decade. Her brother Lars had long been involved in the creation of the Moomin strips he translated them into English for publication. Though he had little knowledge of drawing, Lars took over the daily comic strip. Tove taught him, and after two years of sibling collaboration, Lars authored the strips independently for fourteen years. By the mid-1970s, when the strip was at its height of popularity, the tales of Moominvalley were being syndicated in forty papers worldwide, just as absorbing to adult readers as they were to children. Even today, the stories remain uniquely resonant with readers for more than just their quirky, outlandish appearances. With silly humour, the Moominvalley characters emphasize the importance of community and respecting one s environment to readers young and old. Moomin: The Deluxe Anniversary Edition collects Lars Jansson s contributions to the series alongside rare ephemera and tributes by cartoonists and writers. Sumptuously designed, it is a must for any fan of Moominvalley.
£45.00
Transworld Publishers Ltd A Desirable Residence
Book SynopsisSophie Kinsella is an international bestselling writer and former financial journalist. She is the author of the number one bestsellers Can You Keep A Secret?, The Undomestic Goddess, Remember Me? and Twenties Girl, as well as the hugely popular Shopaholic novels, the first of which is now the hit Hollywood movie Confessions of a Shopaholic.As Madeleine Wickham she has written seven bestselling novels. She lives in London with her husband and children.Trade ReviewWitty and wise * Daily Telegraph *Wonderfully entertaining * Daily Telegraph *
£9.49
Faber & Faber Collected Poems of Samuel Beckett
Book SynopsisIt was as a poet that Samuel Beckett launched himself in the little reviews of 1930s Paris, and as a poet that he ended his career.The Collected Poems is the most complete edition of Beckett''s poetry and verse translations ever to be published, as well as the first critical edition. It establishes a significant new canon, and the commentary draws on a wide range of published sources, manuscripts and Beckett''s extensive correspondence. The notes place each poem in context, detailing the history and circumstances of its composition; they indicate significant variants and help explain obscure turns of phrase and allusions (frequently sourced to Beckett''s notebooks); they also identify resonances between poems and across Beckett''s work as a whole. The commentary is written in a lively and engaging style and is intended equally for the general reader, the student of modernism and the Beckett specialist.
£21.25
Faber & Faber W B Yeats 80th Anniversary Collection
Book SynopsisW. B. Yeats (1865-1939) was not only Ireland''s greatest poet but one of the most influential voices in world literature in the twentieth century. His extraordinary work, in the words of this volume''s editor Seamus Heaney, encourages us ''to be more resolutely and abundantly alive, whatever the conditions.''Other volumes in this series: Auden, Betjemen, Eliot, Hughes and Plath
£12.34
Faber & Faber Be Near Me
Book SynopsisFrom the author of Mayflies ''There is no page on which there is not something surprising or quotable or pleasurable of thought-provoking.'' Hilary Mantel''One of the few truly essential works of fiction to emerge from this country during the past 20 years or more.'' John Burnside, Daily TelegraphLonglisted for the Booker Prize, Be Near Me is a brilliantly moving story of art and politics, love and change, and the way we live now.When an English priest takes over a small Scottish parish, not everyone is ready to accept him. He makes friends with two local youths, Mark and Lisa, and clashes with a world he can barely understand. The town seems to grow darker each night. Fate comes calling, and before the summer is out his quiet life is the focus of public hysteria. Meanwhile a religious war is unfolding on his doorstep . . .Trade Review"'One of the few truly essential works of fiction to emerge from this country during the past 20 years or more.' John Burnside, Daily Telegraph"
£9.49
Quercus Publishing Let the Old Dreams Die
Book SynopsisThe follow-up collection to the international vampire bestseller Let the Right One In**Includes the short story Border, now a major film**Whatever happened to Oskar and Eli? And what became of the beleaguered families in Handling the Undead? Find out in Let the Old Dreams Die. In other tales from this collection, a woman finds a dead body and decides to keep it for herself, a customs officer has a mysterious gift that enables her to see what others hide, and a man believes he knows how to deceive death. These are the stories of John Ajvide Lindqvist''s rich imagination. They are about love and death, and what we do when the two collide and the monsters emerge.Table of ContentsBorder. Village on the hill. Equinox. Can't see it! It doesn't exist! Substitute. Eternal / love. Let the old dreams die. To hold you while the music plays. Majken. Paper walls. The final processing. Afterword to the Swedish edition of 'Let the Old Dreams Die'. Afterword.
£9.49
Pearson Education Limited Our Sister Killjoy
Book SynopsisAidoo's first novel explores the thoughts and experiences of a Ghanaian girl on her travels in Europe
£15.47
Viz Media, Subs. of Shogakukan Inc Dragon Ball, Vol. 6
Book SynopsisEath's greatest hero...is from outerspace!Dragon Ball introduces a young monkey-tailed boy named Goku (a wry update of the classic Chinese "Monkey King" legend), whose quiet life changes when he meets a girl named Bulma who is on a quest to collect seven "Dragon Balls." If she gathers them all, an incredibly powerful dragon will appear and grant her one wish. But the precious orbs are scattered all over the world, and Bulma could use the help of a certain super-strong boy... (In Japan, Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z were originally a single 42-volume series. VIZ Media's Dragon Ball contains vols. 1-16 of the original Japanese Dragon Ball, from the beginning of the series to the climax of Goku's last fight with Piccolo.)In the frozen north, Goku's one-man fight against the Red Ribbon Army continues as he storms the perilous Muscle Tower! Can he defeat General White's squad of ninjas, cyborgs, and worse, and save the peaceful people of Jingle Village from their oppressors? Then, Gorku travels to the City of the West to visit his old friend Bulma, who joins him on his quest, bringing her latest inventions. Their quest for the next Dragon Ball takes them around the world to a jungle island in the South Seas...but to get THIS Dragon Ball they'll have to go through General Blue!
£7.99
HarperCollins Publishers The Crystal World
Book SynopsisFrom J. G. Ballard, author of Crash' and Cocaine Nights' comes his extraordinary vision of an African forest that turns all in its path to crystal.Through a leaking' of time, the West African jungle starts to crystallize. Trees metamorphose into enormous jewels. Crocodiles encased in second glittering skins lurch down the river. Pythons with huge blind gemstone eyes rear in heraldic poses. Most flee the area in terror, afraid to face a catastrophe they cannot understand.But some, dazzled and strangely entranced, remain to drift through this dreamworld forest: a doctor in pursuit of his ex-mistress, an enigmatic Jesuit wielding a crystal cross and a tribe of lepers searching for Paradise.In this tour de force of the imagination, Ballard transports the reader into one of his most unforgettable landscapes.This edition is part of a new commemorative series of Ballard's works, featuring introductions from a number of his admirers (including James Lever, Ali Smith, Hari Kunzru and Martin AmiTrade Review‘Something magical and not to be missed’ Guardian ‘Beautifully rendered … Ballard the poet in full ecstatic blast’Anthony Burgess ‘Of all the unknown regions Ballard’s imagination has opened up, this crystalline forest is the most haunting’ Guardian ‘A haunting vision of diseased beauty … Ballard sustains it with extraordinary intensity’ Observer ‘Ballard transports us once more into his own mystical, glittering and poetic universe’ Sunday Telegraph ‘The terrifying thing about Ballard is his logic; is this science fiction or history written ahead of its time?’ Len Deighton
£9.49
Profile Books Ltd They Shoot Horses, Don't They?
Book SynopsisThe Great Depression led people to take desperate measures to survive. The marathon dance craze, which flourished at that time, seemed a simple way for people to earn extra money, dancing the hours away for cash, for weeks at a time. But the underside of that craze was a competition and violence unknown to most ballrooms. A lurid tale of dancing and desperation, Horace McCoy's classic American novel captures the dark side of the 1930s.Trade ReviewAn extraordinary achievement and every bit as shocking and moving today as it must have been for its original readers. The characters are both more, and less, than human, the writing is tersely perfect, and the ending almost unbearably moving. * Guardian *The first existentialist novel to have appeared in America -- Simone de BeauvoirA classic novel about hardscrabble survival in 1930s Depression-era America * The Times *A heartbreaking existentialist fable about a gruelling marathon dance contest [that] assumes the weight of Greek tragedy ... a masterpiece. * Independent on Sunday *Sordid, pathetic, senselessly exciting ... has the immediacy and the significance of a nerve-shattering explosion * New Republic *Were it not in its physical details so carefully documented, it would be lurid beyond itself * Nation *Language is not minced in this short novel which presents life in its most brutal aspect * Saturday Review of Literature *A brilliant, bitter, wonderful portrait of mother and daughter, artist and lover * Kirkus *Horace McCoy shoots words like bullets * Time *A spare, bleak parable about American life, which McCoy pictured as a Los Angeles dance marathon in the early thirties ... full of the kind of apocalyptic detail that both he and Nathanael West saw in life as lived on the Hollywood fringe * New York Times *Captures the survivalist barbarity in this bizarre convention, and becomes a metaphor for life itself: the last couple on their feet gets the prize * Independent *I was moved, then shaken by the beauty and genius of Horace McCoy's metaphor * Village Voice *It's the unanswerable nature of the whydunnit that ensures the book's durability * booklit.com *Takes the reader into one of America's darkest corners ... The story has resonance for contemporary America and the current craze for reality television. How far are we from staging a dance marathon for television? * readywhenyouarecb.com *This almost sadistically frank pulp fiction from 1935 will cure anyone of the delusion that earlier generations didn't know the score. With murder, incest, abortion, and the like generously added to a plot about people entertaining themselves by watching the misery of others, it's like one of these eliminationist "reality" television shows (Survivor, Big Brother, etc.) as conceived by the creative team of Thomas Hobbes and Charles Darwin. These lives are indeed nasty, brutish, and short. It doesn't make for a pretty story, but you have to admire the zeal and energy with which Horace McCoy drives his point home * Brothersjudd.com *A sharply-honed novella... Brilliant -- Val Hennessy * Daily Mail *America's first existential novel * Evening Standard *And finally, showing the modern writers how it's done... the 1930s existentialist noir classic... it's a breathtaking piece of storytelling that is still thrillingly relevant today. -- Doug Johnstone * Big Issue *The brutality of the story is offset by the poetic beauty and precision of the narrative... In our world of fleeting reality TV stardom, this stark, urgent novel feels more timely than ever. -- Anita Sethi * Observer *
£9.49
HarperCollins Publishers The Bird in the Bamboo Cage
Book SynopsisInspired by true events… ‘Moving and authentic’ Dinah Jefferies‘Vivid, heart-rending and so, so beautiful’ Jenny Ashcroft'A beautiful, tender and fascinating story' Sinead MoriartyTrade Review‘Deeply moving. Be prepared — have handkerchiefs on standby at the end’ Antonia Senior, The Times 'A great read … beautifully written, with the alternative perspectives of child and adult giving a great depth of characterisation…That it is based on real events only serves to make the tale more powerful. Highly recommended' Liz Trenow, bestselling author of Under a Wartime Sky ‘A moving and authentic account of a neglected part of WW2 history. I empathised with the plight of the characters … and felt as if I were there’ Dinah Jefferies ‘I’ve been completely swept away … Set in wartime China, it transported me utterly – vivid, heart-rending and so, so beautiful. I loved it ’ Jenny Ashcroft 'Stunning … Based on an incredible true story, The Bird in the Bamboo Cage is immersive, moving and utterly unforgettable' Catherine Ryan Howard, Irish Times bestselling author of The Nothing Man 'A beautiful, tender & fascinating story of a group of young British schoolchildren interned by the Japanese during WWII…a gem' Sinead Moriarty, Irish Times bestselling author of Seven Letters 'Above all this is a novel about human courage, generosity of spirit, and the power of friendship. I was hooked from first to last page' Gill Paul, USA Today bestselling author of The Secret Wife 'A little-known corner of the war – absolutely fascinating. Beautiful descriptions of the seasons changing over China and characters who had me rooting for them all the way.' Tracy Rees, bestselling author of Amy Snow
£7.59
DC Comics Batman Vol. 4 Zero Year Secret City The New 52
Book SynopsisStill dealing with the death of his son and the aftermath of Death of the Family, Batman must stop a robbery by Bruce Wayne? Twists and turns are around every corner as Bruce must clear his name and stop this mysterious perpetrator, all leading to the epic "Zero Year."Trade ReviewPraise for Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo's BATMAN: "This is a book you need to read. Whether you're a fan of comics or not."—Huffington Post"One of the best Batman runs in the history of the character."—IGN"A+. The hero's got personality (and is unafraid to release a quip as sharp as a Batarang), a horde of supervillains, gumption to spare and a whole host of high-tech gadgetry to suitably impress longtime fans and those new to the Dark Knight."—USA Today"Brilliant. This is a modernization of Silver Age optimism replacing camp with today's dialogue expectations of introspection and smart wit. Pure comic gold."—Ain't it Cool News
£13.49
Walker Books Ltd Bravo Mr William Shakespeare See Seven of
Book SynopsisSeven classic Shakespeare plays presented in an accessible comic strip format.The Globe Theatre is delighted to announce a new season of Mr. William Shakespeare''s plays! Prithee take your place once more for a performance of seven of the Bard''s finest tales. See As You Like It, Antony and Cleopatra, Richard III, Twelfth Night, King Lear, The Merchant of Venice and Much Ado About Nothing each brilliantly presented in dramatic comic-strip form, including Mr Shakespeare''s own dialogue and the riotous remarks of the audience. Bravo!Trade Review...marvellously concise and bright * . School Librarian *Another batch of the bard's work presented in Williams's inimical comic strip fashion, embellished with the usual marginal, caustic asides from the audience. Immensely satisfying. * Achuka *…these editions in Williams’ comic strip style are perfect for introducing young children to the plays while sharing the excitement of live performance. * Books for Keeps *
£8.54
Fairlight Books Dirty Geese: The gripping AI Political Thriller
Book SynopsisWHAT CAN SEE WATCHES, WHAT CAN HEAR LISTENS - the gripping first instalment of the Kanha and Colbey Thriller series. When Chief Whip Esme Kanha learns of the sudden death of the Minister for Personal Information, she bitterly regrets missing his desperate calls the previous evening. Unconvinced by the verdict of suicide, and suspicious that corrupt colleagues played some part in the man's death, she decides to investigate - but she must tread carefully in a near-future world dominated by technology, where 'what can see watches, what can hear listens, and what can be followed is tracked'. Meanwhile, Big Tech executive Henri Lauvaux arrives in London. His mission: to ensure the new minister, Harry Colbey, will not prove as problematic as the last. As the West inexorably slides towards an Orwellian 'Big Brother' future, Harry Colbey and Esme Kanha join forces in a deadly cat-and-mouse game against political corruption - at great cost to themselves.Trade Review'I love books that show me behind the closed doors of the corridors of power. And this book does it brilliantly. Read and enjoy!' -Her Honour Wendy Joseph KC, author of 'Unlawful Killings: Life, Love and Murder: Trials at the Old Bailey'; 'From a stunning opening, through twists and turns of political and commercial intrigue, the page turning tension of this chilling near-future thriller never lets up' -G.D Sanders, author of 'The Taken Girls'; 'Dirty Geese is a taut thriller for our times. In a backstabbing Westminster, chief whip Esme Kanha and new minister Harry Colbey must pick their way through a political landscape mined by AI and patrolled by a wolfish, dissolute PM. Lou Gilmond expertly conjures up a shiny, fake tech future that is becoming more jarringly real by the day' -Martin Hickman, author of 'Dial M for Murdoch'; 'This book grabbed me from the very start. A tense, clever, suspenseful page-turner with characters that jump off the page, and a chilling and plausible contemporary premise' -Aliya Ali-Afzal, author of 'Would I Lie To You?'
£9.49
Orion Publishing Co The Cornish House
Book SynopsisA sweeping, romantic debut set in Cornwall, reminiscent of Rosamunde Pilcher.When artist Maddie inherits a house in Cornwall shortly after the death of her husband, she hopes it will be the fresh start she and her step-daughter desperately need. Trevenen is beautiful but neglected, and as Maddie discovers the stories of generations of women who''ve lived there before, she begins to feel her life is somehow intertwined within its walls.But Maddie''s dream of a calm life in the countryside is far from the reality she faces - and as she pulls at the seams of Trevenen''s past, the house reveals secrets that have lain hidden for generations.Trade ReviewTHE CORNISH HOUSE is an escapist and often emotional book, in which relationships are put to the test * STAR MAGAZINE *Totally absorbing, a delightful debut novel * TELEGRAPH & ARGUS *A heart tugging story of loss and recovery. -- Fanny Blake * WOMAN & HOME *This is a book about loss, misguided decisions, heartbreak and change, but it's also about hope, long held secrets and friendships formed between the unlikeliest of people ... [it] made me laugh out loud and cry a few times. I loved it -- Debs Carr * NOVELICIOUS *... the story is beautifully told with characters who reach out to you * SIDMOUTH HERALD *THE CORNISH HOUSE is an escapist and often emotional book, in which relationships are put to the test. * STAR MAGAZINE *Totally absorbing, a delightful debut novel * TELEGRAPH & ARGUS *
£9.49
Vintage Publishing Sag Harbor
Book SynopsisFrom the author of the Man Booker longlisted The Underground RailroadBenji spends most of the year as one of the only black kids at an elite prep school in Manhattan, going to roller disco bar mitzvahs, desperately trying to find his place in the social hierarchy. Then he spends his summers in the African-American community of Sag Harbor on Long Island, and is just as confused. He''s way behind on the latest handshakes, baffled by new slang, and his attempts to be cool and meet girls are constantly thwarted by his extremely awkward inner geek, braces and a badly cut Afro.It''s the summer of 1985 and Benji is determined that this is the summer when things will change and he''ll fit in. For starters, he''ll be reinvented as ''Ben''. When that doesn''t catch on, it''s another summer of the perpetual mortification that is teenage existence.Trade ReviewThe ultimate coming of age tale -- Nikesh ShuklaA universal tale of adolescent angst -- Adrian Turpin * Financial Times *Whitehead proves himself, among other things, a poet of the American summer and its aspirations...remarkable * Guardian *it is impossible not to like Sag Harbor and its genuinely empathetic, intelligent tone -- Neel Mukherjee * The Times *Whitehead has tapped the most classic summer-novel activity of al: nostalgia * Time *
£999.99
Hodder & Stoughton Goodbye Mr Chips
Book Synopsis'A tiny, catch-in-the-throat story . . . perfectly done' New Yorker 'One of the most endearing creations of modern fiction' Telegraph Mr Chipping is a quiet, unassuming teacher at Brookfield Grammar School. Wholly conventional, he never veers from his established routines. Until, that is, he meets Katherine, who charms him and his students and teaches Mr Chipping that education is about more than just the hours spent in the schoolroom. As his love for Katherine blooms, Mr Chipping develops a sense of humour and a broad view of his role as a teacher and a friend to his students, becoming the beloved 'Mr Chips' to generations of schoolboys. Sweeping across four decades, Goodbye, Mr Chips features an extraordinary period of history, from the Franco-Prussian War of the 1870s to Hitler's rise to power in the 1930s, and demonstrates that, through it all, love and a good sense of humour can make all the diffTrade Review'Here is the triumphant proof that a little book can be a great book. Mr. Chips deserves a place in the gallery of English characters. Never have I known more beautifully rendered a man at peace with life, a finer setting forth of what happy dreams may come when you are old and grey and full of sleep. * Howard Spring, The Evening Standard *One lays down the book with the satisfaction that comes from contemplation of a piece of work supremely well done. This is too good a book to be borrowed . . . it should be bought * Punch *
£9.49
Penguin Books Ltd Far from the Madding Crowd
Book SynopsisIndependent and spirited Bathsheba Everdene has come to Weatherbury to take up her position as a farmer on the largest estate in the area. Her bold presence draws three very different suitors: the gentleman-farmer Boldwood, soldier-seducer Sergeant Troy and the devoted shepherd Gabriel Oak.Trade Review“Far from the Madding Crowd is the first of Thomas Hardy’s great novels, and the first to sound the tragic note for which his fiction is best remembered.”-Margaret Drabble
£7.99
HarperCollins Publishers Virgin Earth
Book SynopsisSequel to the outstanding historical novel Earthly Joys, and written by the bestselling Philippa Gregory, the author of The Other Boleyn Girl and The Virgin's Lover.John Tradescant the Younger has inherited his father's unique collection of plants along with his unerring ability to nurture them. But as gardener to Charles I, he confronts an unbearable dilemma when England descends into Civil War. Fleeing from the chaos, John travels to the Royalist colony of Virginia in America. But the virgin land is not uninhabited. John's plant hunting brings him to live with the native people, and he learns to love and respect their way of life just as it is threatened by the colonial settlers.In the new world and the old, the established order is breaking down and every family has to find its own way of surviving. For the Tradescants, through the upheavals of the Commonwealth and the Restoration, this means consolidating their reputations as the greatest gardeners in the country.Trade ReviewPraise for Philppa Gregory: ‘Subtle and exciting.’ Daily Express ‘Written from instinct, not out of calculation, and it shows.’Peter Ackroyd, The Times ‘For sheer pace and percussive drama it will take a lot of beating.’ Sunday Times ‘One of Gregory's great strengths as a novelist is her ability to take familiar historical figures and flesh them into living breathing human beings. The Constant Princess is a worthy successor to her previous novels about the Tudors.’ Daily Express
£9.89
Penguin Books Ltd The ThirtyNine Steps
Book SynopsisRichard Hannay has just returned to England after years in South Africa and is thoroughly bored with his life in London. But then a murder is committed in his flat, just days after a chance encounter with an American who had told him about an assassination plot which could have dire international consequences. An obvious suspect for the police and an easy target for the killers, Hannay goes on the run in his native Scotland where he will need all his courage and ingenuity to stay one step ahead of his pursuers.
£7.59
Atlantic Books Dark Eden
Book SynopsisYou live in Eden. You are a member of the Family, one of 532 descendants of Angela and Tommy. You shelter beneath the Forest's lantern trees. Beyond the forest lie mountains so forbidding that no one has ever crossed them. The Oldest recount legends of a time when men and women made boats that could travel between worlds. One day, they will come back for you. You live in Eden. You are a member of the Family, one of 532 descendants of two marooned explorers. You huddle, slowly starving, in the warmth of geothermal trees, confined to one barely habitable valley of an alien, sunless world.You are John Redlantern. You will break the laws of Eden, shatter the Family and change history. You will be the first to kill another, the first to venture into the Dark and the first to discover the truth about Eden.Trade ReviewA classic theme, beautifully told * Sunday Telegraph *This is a world I'm desperate to return to -- Alison Flood * Guardian *There's no justice if Dark Eden, with its beautiful, terrifying planet, slowly revealed, fails to bring Beckett awards * Sunday Times *A captivating and haunting book * Daily Mail *A dazzlingly inventive science-fiction writer -- A. N WilsonDark Eden is stunningly written * SciFiNow *Dark Eden is an incredible novel * SFBooks *Beckett should be on the radar of anyone who professes concern for science fiction as a literary form -- Alastair Reynolds
£9.49
HarperCollins Publishers The Poisoned Crown
Book SynopsisThis was the original game of thrones' George R.R. MartinNo man is impervious to the poisons of the crownHaving murdered his wife and exiled his mistress, King Louis X of France becomes besotted with Princess Clemence of Hungary and makes her his new Queen.However, though the matter of the succession should be assured, it is far from so, as Louis embarks on an ill-fated war against Flanders.Where his father, Philip IV, was strong, Louis is weak, and the ambitions of his proud, profligate barons threaten his power and the future of a kingdom once ruled by an Iron King.Trade Review‘Iron kings and strangled queens, battles and betrayals, lies and lust, the curse of the Templars, the doom of a great dynasty – and all of it (well, most of it) straight from the pages of history, and believe me, the Starks and the Lannisters have nothing on the Capets and Plantagenets. Whether you are a history buff or a fantasy fan, Druon's epic will keep you turning pages. This was the original game of thrones’GEORGE R.R. MARTIN ‘Blood-curdling tale of intrigue, murder, corruption and sexual passion’SUNDAY TIMES ‘Barbaric, sensual, teeming with life, based in wide reading and sound scholarship…among the best historical novels’ TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT
£9.49
HarperCollins Publishers You Had Me At Hello The laughoutloud rom com from
Book SynopsisWhat happens when the one that got away comes back? Find out in this sparkling comedy from #1 bestseller Mhairi McFarlaneThink of the great duos of history. We''re just like them.'You mean like Kylie and Jason? Torvill and Dean? Sonny and Cher?'I think you've missed the point, Rachel.'Rachel and Ben. Ben and Rachel. It was them against the world. Until it all fell apart. It's been a decade since they last spoke, but when Rachel bumps into Ben one rainy day, the years melt away.They'd been partners in crime and the best of friends. But life has moved on: Ben is married. Rachel is not. Yet in that split second, Rachel feels the old friendship return. And along with it, the broken heart she's never been able to mend.Hilarious, heartbreaking and everything in between, you'll be hooked from their first hello'.Very very witty and funny. Left me in awe a total gem' Marian KeyesThe funniest, most romantic book I''ve read since One Day' Lisa JewellTrade Review‘Very very witty and funny. Left me in awe … a total gem’ Marian Keyes ‘The funniest, most romantic book I've read since One Day’ Lisa Jewell ‘I loved this book. It made me laugh and reminded me that anything's possible in love – and in everything else for that matter’ Minnie Driver ‘I loved this: an original, genuinely funny, genuinely moving, modern love story’ Katy Regan ‘Mhairi is darkly funny and quite, quite rude … You Had Me at Hello is a breath of tart, Northern air’ Sarra Manning ‘Bitingly sharp and achingly funny … guaranteed to have you bent double. I absolutely loved it!’ Claudia Carroll
£9.49
Penguin Books Ltd Passing Penguin Classics
Book SynopsisA NETFLIX BOOK CLUB PICKNella Larsen's powerful, thrilling, and tragic tale about the fluidity of racial identity that continues to resonate today. A New York Times Editors’ Choice. Now a major motion picture starring Tessa Thompson and Alexander Skarsgård One of The Atlantic’s Great American Novels of the Past 100 Years Clare Kendry is living on the edge. Light-skinned, elegant, and ambitious, she is married to a racist white man unaware of her African American heritage, and has severed all ties to her past after deciding to “pass” as a white woman. Clare’s childhood friend, Irene Redfield, just as light-skinned, has chosen to remain within the African American community, and is simultaneously allured and repelled by Clare’s risky decision to engage in racial masquerade for personal and societal gain. After frequenting African American-centric gatherings together in Harlem, Clare&rTrade ReviewIt is a tragic story rooted in inescapable facts of American life: that whiteness conferred an almost universal unearned advantage, and that loyalty to a black racial identity was not only an act of pride but also one of courage * The New York Times *Table of ContentsIntroductionSuggestions for Further ReadingA Note on the Text Part One: Encounter Part Two: Re-Encounter Part Three: FinaleExplanatory Notes
£9.49
Vintage Publishing Our Ancestors
Book SynopsisItalo Calvino (Author, Introducer) Italo Calvino was born in Cuba in 1923 and grew up in Italy. He was an essayist and journalist and a member of the editorial staff of Einaudi in Turin. One of the most respected writers of the twentieth century, his best-known works of fiction include Invisible Cities, If on a Winter's Night a Traveller, Marcovaldo and Mr Palomar. In 1973 he won the prestigious Premio Feltrinelli. He died in 1985. A collection of Calvino's posthumous personal writings, The Hermit in Paris, was published in 2003.Trade ReviewCalvino's refusal to be glum set him apart from other modernists. His marvellous Fifties trilogy, Our Ancestors, brought us allegorical fables about a cloven viscount, a non-existent knight and a baron who swings from the trees * Guardian *Calvino's genius lies not so much in this tantalising conceit, but the brilliance and ingenuity with which he pulls it off...A dazzling display of literary fireworks * Independent *The writing is just breathtaking and the final story, 'The Non-Existent Knight', still sends a shiver up my spineItalo Calvino has advanced far beyond his American and English contemporaries, as they continue to look for the place where the spiders make their nests, Calvino has not only found that special place but learnt how himself to make fantastic webs of prose to which all things adhereReading Calvino, you're constantly assailed by the notion that he is writing down what you have always known, except that you've never thought of it before.This is highly unnerving: fortunately you're usually too busy laughing to go mad... I can think of no finer writer to have beside me while Italy explodes, Britain burns, while the world ends
£10.44
Vintage Publishing Lullaby
Book SynopsisChuck Palahniuk is the bestselling author of fifteen fictional works, including Fight Club, Invisible Monsters, Survivor, Choke, Lullaby, Diary, Haunted, Rant, Pygmy, Tell-All, Damned, Doomed, Beautiful You, and most recently Make Something Up. He lives in the Pacific Northwest.Trade ReviewThere are more plot ideas in Chuck Palahniuk’s Lullaby than some writers manage in a whole book * Independent *Palahniuk starts with a throwaway thought - "what if words could hurt?" - and stretches it until it snaps * Arena *A black comic cauldron bubbling with contagious ideas * Time Out *Mr. Palahniuk further refines his ability to create parables that are as substantial as they are off-the-wall * New York Times *This is vintage Palahniuk: weird, creepy, twisted, upsetting, and ultimately a great read * Library Journal *
£9.49
Vintage Publishing The Pier Falls
Book SynopsisThe first collection of stories from the author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and The Porpoise.'Terrifically compelling' GuardianA seaside pier collapses. An expedition to Mars goes terribly wrong. A thirty-stone man is confined to his living room. One woman is abandoned on a tiny island in the middle of the ocean. Another woman is saved from drowning. Two boys discover a gun in a shoebox. A group of explorers find a cave of unimaginable size deep in the Amazon jungle. A man shoots a stranger in the chest on Christmas Eve.'The real redemption in these superbly gripping stories comes from their canny human detail, and the vivid, unsettling clarity they bring to our lives’ Sunday TimesTrade ReviewA superb collection of stand-out stories… The Pier Falls is unique in that every story is brilliant… It is, simply, and ultimately, an absolute pleasure to read * Irish Independent *This is a top-notch collection… It veers into unexpected territory, and the evolving surprises are mesmerizing… 'The Pier Falls' leads the collection. It is a perfectly controlled little masterpiece… So chilling that one imagines its author could carve out a second career as a horror film scriptwriter. -- Lionel Shriver * Financial Times *Brilliant collection… Seamless prose… It feels as though Haddon is leading you into the deepest underworld of human endeavor and behavior, yet holding your hand gently as he guides you into the labyrinth. Outstanding. -- Imogen Lycett Green * Daily Mail *The real redemption in these superbly gripping stories comes from their canny human detail, and the vivid, unsettling clarity they bring to our brief lives. -- Phil Baker * Sunday Times *He writes with the craft of Julian Barnes or, even, Truman Capote. -- Andrew Billen * The Times *
£9.49
Penguin Books Ltd The Valley of Fear
Book Synopsis''There should be no combination of events for which the wit of man cannot conceive an explanation.''In this tale drawn from the note books of Dr Watson, the deadly hand of Professor Moriarty once more reaches out to commit a vile and ingenious crime. However, a mole in Moriarty''s frightening criminal organization alerts Sherlock Holmes of the evil deed by means of a cipher. When Holmes and Watson arrive at a Sussex manor house they appear to be too late. The discovery of a body suggests that Moriarty''s henchmen have been at their work. But there is much more to this tale of murder than at first meets the eye and Sherlock Holmes is determined to get to the bottom of it.Trade ReviewHolmes has taken on a life of his own in the hearts and minds of a modern world * The Times *
£8.54
Wordsworth Editions Ltd The Diamond as Big as the Ritz & Other Stories
Book SynopsisWith an Introduction and Notes by Stuart Hutchinson, University of Kent at Canterbury. The Diamond as Big as the Ritz is an ominous fable about the pursuit of great wealth. Readers will be transported to a fabulous fantasy land of such opulence that its very existence has to remain a jealously guarded secret. Fatal consequences lie in store for 'bona fide' guests and uninvited visitors alike, while the sybaritic luxury of the place is evoked in an effortless prose style which is quintessentially F. Scott Fitzgerald. Also featured in this volume are The Cut-Glass Bowl, May Day, The Rich Boy, Crazy Sunday, An Alcoholic Case, The Lees of Happiness, The Lost Decade and Babylon Revisited.
£6.23
