Search results for ""quercus publishing""

'A full throttle, adrenaline-laced espionage page-turner . . . Get ready to blast off and enjoy the ride!' Jack Carr, former Navy SEAL Sniper and #1 New York Times bestselling author of the James Reece Terminal List series'Continuous action, Mach-speed mayhem, sharp intrigue, and well-rounded characters - what more could you want from a thriller?' Steve Berry, New York Times bestselling author of The 9th Man and the Cotton Malone seriesIsrael, late 1973. As the Yom Kippur War flares into life, a state-of-the-art Soviet MIG fighter is racing at breakneck speed over the arid scrublands below . . . and promptly disappears.NASA Flight Controller and former US Navy test pilot Kaz Zemeckis watches the scene from the ground - and is quickly pulled into a dizzying, high-stakes game of spies, lies and a possible high-level defection that plays out across three continents. The prize is beyond value: the secrets of the Soviets' mythical 'Foxbat' MiG-25, the fastest, highest-flying fighter plane in the world and the key to Cold War air supremacy. But every defection is double-edged with risk, and Kaz must tread a careful line between trust and suspicion. Ultimately, he must invite the fox into the henhouse - bringing the defector into the heart of the United States' most secret test site - and hope that, with skill and cunning, the game plays out his way. For Chris Hadfield's second heart-stopping thriller, we move from Space to another rich and exciting part of Chris's CV: his time as a top test pilot in both the US Air Force and the US Navy, and as an RCAF fighter pilot intercepting armed Soviet bombers in North American airspace. Full of insider detail, excitement and political intrigue drawn from real events, The Defector brings us the nerve-shredding rush of aerial combat, as told by one of the world's best fighter pilots.Praise for The Apollo Murders'A nail-biting Cold War thriller' James Cameron'An exciting journey to an alternate past' Andy Weir 'Not to be missed' Frederick Forsyth 'Explosive' Gregg Hurwitz 'Exciting, authentic' Linwood Barclay

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In the Nightside, that nightmarish realm hidden deep beneath London, it is forever 3 a.m. Here inhuman creatures walk beside mythic gods. And John Taylor, private detective with a difference, is back, working this secret supernatural heart of London to find an item of inestimable value.The Unholy Grail is missing . . . and everyone wants its corrosive power.This time he must use his unique gifts to locate the cup from which Judas drank at the Last Supper; before it falls into the wrong hands. Anyone who touches the cup will gain tremendous power - but they will also be corrupted.Angels, demons, sinners and saints are all determined to find the Unholy Grail, no matter what the cost. And it isn't long before they realise exactly who can lead them to it . . .Agents of Light and Darkness is the sequel to Something From the Nightside and the second title in Simon R. Green's New York Times bestselling Nightside series.

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A powerful tale of honour, prejudice and the twentieth century's most maltreated hero, by the acclaimed author of THE GIRL IN THE SPIDER'S WEB.June 8, 1954. Alan Turing, the visionary mathematician, is found dead at his home in sleepy Wilmslow, dispatched by a poisoned apple. Taking the case, Detective Constable Leonard Corell quickly learns Turing is a convicted homosexual. Confident it's a suicide, he is nonetheless confounded by official secrecy over Turing's war record. What is more, Turing's sexuality appears to be causing alarm among the intelligence services - could he have been blackmailed by Soviet spies? Stumbling across evidence of Turing's genius, and sensing an escape from a narrow life, Corell soon becomes captivated by Turing's brilliant and revolutionary work, and begins to dig deeper. But in the febrile atmosphere of the Cold War, loose cannons cannot be tolerated. As his innocent curiosity takes him far out of his depth, Corell realises he has much to learn about the dangers of forbidden knowledge.

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Your partner of ten years, and the father of your children, receives a text. You happen to see it. 'Start living a different kind of life ... P :-) xxx'. You don't know anyone with the initial P, so what's with the smiley face and the kisses? Narrated by Susie, her partner Alex and the mysterious 'P', Separate Lives is an achingly funny, moving and honest portrayal of marriage and adultery. These characters are never less than totally human. You'll have met people like them. They might even be you.

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A romantic comedy about love and learning to let go. Perfect for fans of Sarra Manning, Ellie Adams and Rosie Blake.Grace Surtees has everything carefully under control - her work life, her home life and her love life - especially her love life. But then her boss hires Tate Saunders, a brash American, to spice up the gallery tours his company provides. Messy and fond of breaking rules, Tate explodes into her tidy existence like a paintball, and Grace hates everything about him... doesn't she? Because, for Grace, the alternative would be simply too terrifying to contemplate: to love Tate rather than hate him would mean leaping out of her comfort zone, and Grace's devotion to order hides some long-kept secrets... secrets she's sure someone like Tate Saunders could never accept or understand.Discover Hazel Osmond's other novels, Who's Afraid of Mr Wolfe?, The Mysterious Miss Mayhew and The First Time I Saw Your Face.

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In a narrative beginning almost 1.5 million years ago with the emergence of Homo erectus, Frank Welsh takes the reader from the Middle Ages to the Enlightenment, from the Industrial Revolution to the age of terrorism. Using his masterly storytelling skills, he recounts the epic story of human growth, survival and achievement across all continents and ages. Providing insight into the lives of ordinary people in every corner of the globe, this comprehensive book is the perfect introduction to the human history of our planet.

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THE 12 MILLION COPY BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE LEWIS TRILOGY, THE ENZO FILES AND THE CHINA THRILLERSAWARD WINNING AUTHOR OF THE CWA DAGGER IN THE LIBRARY 2021'Peter May is one of the most accomplished novelists writing today.' Undiscovered Scotland'No one can create a more eloquently written suspense novel than Peter May.' New York Journal of BooksFIVE DREAMS OF FAMEGlasgow, 1965. Jack Mackay dares not imagine a life of predictability and routine. The headstrong seventeen-year-old has one thing on his mind - London - and successfully convinces his four friends, and fellow band mates, to join him in abandoning their homes to pursue a goal of musical stardom.FIVE DECADES OF FEARGlasgow, 2015. Jack Mackay dares not look back on a life of failure and mediocrity. The heavy-hearted sixty-seven-year old is still haunted by the cruel fate that befell him and his friends some fifty years before, and how he did and did not act when it mattered most - a memory he has run from all his adult life.London, 2015. A man lies dead in a bedsit. His killer looks on, remorseless. What started with five teenagers five decades before will now be finished.LOVED ENTRY ISLAND? Read the first book in Peter May's acclaimed Lewis Trilogy, THE BLACKHOUSELOVE PETER MAY? Buy his new thriller, THE NIGHT GATE

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Brighton, 1950. When a girl's body is found, cut into three, Detective Inspector Edgar Stephens is reminded of a magic trick, the Zig Zag Girl. The inventor of the trick, Max Mephisto, is an old friend of Edgar's. They served together in the war as part of a shadowy unit called the Magic Men. Max is still on the circuit, touring seaside towns in the company of ventriloquists, sword-swallowers and dancing girls. Changing times mean that variety is not what it once was, yet Max is reluctant to leave this world to help Edgar investigate. But when the dead girl turns out to be known to him, Max changes his mind. Another death, another magic trick: Edgar and Max become convinced that the answer to the murders lies in their army days. When Edgar receives a letter warning of another 'trick', the Wolf Trap, he knows that they are all in the killer's sights...

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'ONE OF MY FAVOURITE CURRENT CRIME SERIES' Val McDermid'A FIVE-STAR THRILLER' Daily Express'GOOD WRITING AND CLEVER CHARACTERISATION' Red MagazineBoiled human bones have been found in Norwich's web of underground tunnels. When Dr Ruth Galloway discovers they were recently buried, DCI Nelson has a murder inquiry on his hands. The boiling might have been just a medieval curiosity - now it suggests a much more sinister purpose.Meanwhile, DS Judy Johnson is investigating the disappearance of a local rough sleeper. The only trace of her is the rumour that she's gone 'underground'. This might be a figure of speech, but with the discovery of the bones and the rumours both Ruth and the police have heard that the network of old chalk-mining tunnels under Norwich is home to a vast community of rough sleepers, the clues point in only one direction. Local academic Martin Kellerman knows all about the tunnels and their history - but can his assertions of cannibalism and ritual killing possibly be true?As the weather gets hotter, tensions rise. A local woman goes missing and the police are under attack. Ruth and Nelson must unravel the dark secrets of The Underground and discover just what gruesome secrets lurk at its heart - before it claims another victim.

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'Wonderful history, adventure and a heart-breaking love story are brought thrillingly to life' - Kate Mosse 'A dramatic read from the very outset' - Simon Scarrow DESTINY, INHERITANCE, THE WORLD SHIFTING FROM EAST TO WEST. THIS IS AN EPIC NOVEL SET IN AN AGE OF DRAMATIC CHANGE. Siward, scion of a great dynasty, commands the Varangian Guard and has vowed to defend the Roman Empire to the last. Makkim, renowned general to Ottoman rule, has vowed to destroy it.They are enemies in war, but unknown to them, they are also rivals to inherit one of Europe's greatest fortunes. Even worse, they are competing for the love of the same woman.Their vast inheritance lies in Venice, as does the famous courtesan they both love. She is the reason they will find themselves fighting on the walls of Constantinople, in one of the most dramatic sieges in history.

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WINNER OF THE 2016 CWA DAGGER IN THE LIBRARY. Halloween night, and the dead are closer than ever for Dr Ruth Galloway. She is used to long-dead bodies, but a fresh corpse in the middle of a museum is a new challenge. The fourth beguiling Dr Ruth Galloway mystery.'A wonderfully rich mix of ancient and contemporary' GuardianIt is Halloween in King's Lynn, and forensic archaeologist Dr Ruth Galloway is attending a strange event at the local history museum - the opening of a coffin containing the bones of a medieval bishop. But then Ruth finds the body of the museum's curator lying beside the coffin. Soon the museum's wealthy owner lies dead in his stables too. These two deaths could be from natural causes but DCI Harry Nelson isn't convinced, and it is only a matter of time before Ruth and Nelson cross paths once more. When threatening letters come to light, events take an even more sinister turn. But as Ruth's friends become involved, where will her loyalties lie? As her convictions are tested, she and Nelson must discover how Aboriginal skulls, drug smuggling and the Aboriginal ritual of The Dreaming may hold the answer to these deaths - and be the key to their own survival.

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'Elizabeth Gill is a born storyteller' Trisha AshleyWhen hope is lost, can she rebuild her home?After her daughter Arabella passes away, leaving a poor, motherless child in her wake, Nell Almond doesn't think her life can get any worse. But then tragedy strikes a second time and she finds herself widowed, with her husband's quarry to manage.But it's baby Frederick, her grandson, who troubles her most. Being cared for by one of the local families, he lives in hand-me-down clothes in a cramped and unrefined home. Nell desperately wants him to return to his rightful place, as heir to the quarry, but should she put all her hopes in one child? From the bestselling author of Miss Appleby's Academy and Nobody's Child comes the next book in the beloved Weardale Sagas, continuing the story begun in The Guardian Angel.

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The world's great fables, sagas and legends dramatically retold.Myths are the greatest stories ever told. Passed down over millennia, they are the templates for all our stories, with their eternal themes of creation and destruction, fate and cunning, heroism and cruelty, sensuality and war. Retold here are nearly 200 myths - from Prometheus defying Zeus to create man to the destruction of Troy; and from valiant battles against Frost Giants and Cyclopes to the heroic quests for the Golden Fleece and Holy Grail - including a commentary on their origins, common themes and meanings. Compellingly written, concise and with each myth illustrated with an iconic image, Myths in Minutes is the perfect way to understand and enjoy the world's major fables. Includes the great Ancient Greek, Roman and Egyptian legends: The Labours of Heracles; The Gods of Olympus; Zeus defeats the Titans; Hades and the Underworld; Theseus and the Minotaur; The Gorgons; Perseus and Andromeda; Oedipus and the Sphinx; The Judgment of Paris; The Trojan Horse; The Odyssey; Jason and The Golden Fleece; Romulus, Remus and the Founding of Rome; Mars, the God of War; The Eye of Ra; The Murder and Resurrection of Osiris; and more.The best of Celtic, Norse, Eastern, American, Oceanic and African myths: Gilgamesh and the Great Flood; Odin's Great Sacrifice; Thor's Adventures in the Land of the Giants; The Treachery of Loki; Ragnarok - The Last Battle; The Eight Immortals; The War Between the Sun and the Stars; Quetzalcoatl, The Plumed Serpent; Ganesh, the Elephant-headed; Ananse and the Sky God; King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table; the age-old stories of the Aboriginal Dreaming; and many; many more.

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Ever look at your life and find yourself wondering: how did this happen?When Claire discovers the list she wrote as a teenager entitled '20 Years From Now', she realises how far removed her life is from the one she'd imagined. Divorced. Stuck in a dead-end job. Dating a man who is desperate to settle down to a future she doesn't want . . . it's time for Claire to put her life back on track, before it's too late.From the bestselling author of While My Eyes Were Closed comes a poignant novel about what could have been . . .WHAT READERS ARE SAYING ABOUT THINGS I WISH I'D KNOWN'Heart-warming and real' *****'Took me back to my own teenage years and all that raw emotion and lure of first love' *****'Absorbing, thought-provoking must-read!' *****Also available from Linda Green:After I've GoneAnd Then It HappenedWhile My Eyes Were ClosedI Did a Bad ThingTen Reasons Not to Fall in LoveThe Last Thing She Told Me***

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'Raw, passionate, hallucinatory. Reading All Rivers Run Free was to be lured by an edgy siren voice of fierce womanhood' Rachel HolmesA woman on the edge of the sea finds a girl on the edge of life. Brittle but not yet broken, Ia Pendilly ekes out a fierce life in a caravan on the coast of Cornwall. In years of living with Bran - her embattled, battering cousin and common law husband - she's never yet had her own baby. So when she discovers the waif washed up on the shore, Ia takes the risk and rescues her. And the girl, in turn, will rescue something in Ia - bringing back a memory she's lost, giving her the strength to escape, and leading her on a journey downriver.It will take her into the fringes of a society she's shunned, collapsed around its own isolation. It will take her through a valley ravaged by floods, into a world not too far from reckoning. It will take her in search of her sister, and the dark remembrance of their parting. It will take her, break her, remake her, in the shapes of freedom.Natasha Carthew is a startling new voice from beyond the limits of common urban experience. She tells a tale of marginalisation and motherhood in prose that crashes like waves on rocks; rough, breathless and beautiful.

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Three women. Two bodies. One big lie...'Shocking and scandalous' Cosmopolitan, Best Books of 2022'Dark and compelling' Liv Constantine'An edgy, addictive read about the lengths people go to in the name of love' Heather Gudenkauf'Clever and brilliantly written' Karen HamiltonAt an elite private school nestled in the Colorado mountains, a tangled web of lies draws together three vastly different women. Natalie, a young office assistant, dreams of having a life like the school moms she deals with every day. Women like Brooke-a gorgeous heiress, ferociously loving mother and serial cheater-and Asha, an overachieving and overprotective mom who suspects her husband of having an affair.Their fates are bound by their relationships with the handsome, charming assistant athletic director Nicholas, who Natalie loves, Brooke wants and Asha needs. But when two bodies are carried out of the school early one morning, it seems the jealousy between mothers and daughters, rival lovers and the haves and have-nots has shattered the surface of this isolated, affluent town-a town where people will stop at nothing to get what they want.Set in a world of vast ranches, chalet-style apartments and mountain mansions, The Lying Club is a juicy thriller of revenge, murder and a shocking conspiracy-one in which the victims aren't who you might think.

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When Mary's father, the miller, leaves his family and runs away with another woman, Mary and her siblings are left to weather the storm. But when their mother dies soon after, the children, alone and unwanted, are sent to the Foundling School for Girls to start a new life.When the miller learns of his wife's death and what has happened to his children, he tracks them down and brings them to be a part of his new family, safe at last. But the miller is desperate for a son, and when Mary's newest sibling turns out to be a girl, he begins to court a vulnerable and lonely young woman called Isabel.After Isabel gives birth to a boy, the miller believes that the son he has been waiting for is finally here. But when rumours abound that the miller may not be the father of Isabel's child, he begins to lose control. The miller will stop at nothing to keep his son.Will Isabel escape with her child, or will the miller's wrath destroy everyone in his life, including his daughter...?

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Dozens of further filthy animal facts and falsehoods: the follow-through to the international bestselling sensation Does it Fart? How many spiders do you eat in your sleep? What does the ice-cream you eat have to do with the back end of a beaver? Do komodo dragons have toxic slobber? Is it true that a scorpion that sheds its tail dies of constipation? How far actually are you from the nearest rat? Can you get high from licking toads, or is that...fake newts?All this and far, far more can be found in True or Poo, a guide to the wonders of the natural world: and a manual for disgusting and one-upping your friends and enemies for years to come.

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**THE THRILLING SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER**'If only all history mysteries could be as good as The Midnight Hour' The TimesAn old man lies dead and it looks like poison, but his wife isn't the only one who had reason to kill him. Brighton, 1965When theatrical impresario Bert Billington is found dead in his retirement home, no one suspects foul play. But when the postmortem reveals that he was poisoned, suspicion falls on his wife, eccentric ex-Music Hall star Verity Malone. Frustrated by the police response to Bert's death and determined to prove her innocence, Verity calls in private detective duo Emma Holmes and Sam Collins. This is their first real case, but as luck would have it they have a friend on the inside: Max Mephisto is filming a remake of Dracula, starring Seth Billington, Bert's son. But when they question Max, they feel he isn't telling them the whole story.Emma and Sam must vie with the police to untangle the case and bring the killer to justice. They're sure the answers must lie in Bert's dark past and in the glamorous, occasionally deadly, days of Music Hall. But the closer they get to the truth, the more danger they find themselves in...***********PRAISE FOR THE MIDNIGHT HOUR 'An intricately plotted whodunnit' Daily Mail 'Griffiths writes with verve and wit' Irish Times'An entertaining period murder mystery' Irish Independent'Layered with a gripping plot' Belfast TelegraphA Sunday Times bestseller w/c 24/04/2022

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Otto Witte was once many things. But now, sitting in his caravan, drinking what's left of his coffee (dust), listening to the Allies rain their bombs on his city, he is simply scared. And so he's decided to write the story of his life. It is an extraordinary story, a story about how, with the help of his friends (and a camel), an acrobat of Hamburg became the King of Albania, and fell in love along the way.

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THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING SEQUEL TO THE BLACKHOUSEBOOK TWO IN THE MILLION-SELLING LEWIS TRILOGY'One of the best regarded crime series of recent years' IndependentA MAN WITH NO NAMEAn unidentified corpse is recovered from a Lewis peat bog; the only clue to its identity being a DNA sibling match to a local farmer.A MAN WITH NO MEMORYBut this islander, Tormod Macdonald - now an elderly man suffering from dementia - has always claimed to be an only child.A MAN WITH NO CHOICEWhen Tormod's family approach Fin Macleod for help, Fin feels duty-bound to solve the mystery.LOVED THE LEWIS MAN? Read book 3 in the Lewis trilogy, THE CHESSMENLOVE PETER MAY? Buy his latest frontlist thriller, A SILENT DEATH

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River Surveyor Tom Pascoe of the Marine Police finds the bodies of two men entombed in the crew cabin of a sunken lugger. Suspicion falls on a third member of the crew seen fleeing the scene. He had a known motive for murder. Against the background of a nation at war with Napoleon, Tom Pascoe finds his own life under threat as he digs deeper into the case. He uncovers the existence of French agents whose task is to undermine England's ability to continue the war. Tom's job is further complicated by the presence of a new member of the police crew with a shocking secret of his own...

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LONGLISTED FOR THE CWA INTERNATIONAL DAGGER 2018Antoine is twelve years old. His parents are divorced and he lives with his mother in Beauval, a small, backwater town surrounded by forests, where everyone knows everyone's business, and nothing much ever happens. But in the last days of 1999, a series of events unfolds, culminating in the shocking vanishing without trace of a young child. The adults of the town are at a loss to explain the disappearance, but for Antoine, it all begins with the violent death of his neighbour's dog. From that one brutal act, his fate and the fate of his neighbour's six year old son are bound forever.In the years following Rémi's disappearance, Antoine wrestles with the role his actions played. As a seemingly inescapable net begins to tighten, breaking free from the suffocating environs of Beauval becomes a gnawing obsession. But how far does he have to run, and how long will it take before his past catches up with him again?Translated from the French by Frank Wynne

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A masterpiece of literary craft and concision; sparse, beautiful and hugely affecting - Daily MailSince the liberation of the Netherlands, Emma Verweij has been living in Rotterdam, in a street which became a stronghold of friendships for its inhabitants during the Second World War. She marries Bruno, they have two sons, and she determines to block out the years she spent in Nazi Berlin during the war, with her first husband Carl. But now, ninety-six years old and on the eve of her death, long- forgotten memories crowd again into her consciousness, flashbacks of happier years, and the tragedy of the war, of Carl, of her father, and of the friends she has lost. In The Longest Night, his impressive, reflective new novel after News from Berlin, Otto de Kat deftly distils momentous events of 20th-century history into the lives of his characters. In Emma, the past and the present coincide in limpid fragments of rare, melancholy beauty.Translated from the Dutch by Laura Watkinson

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***********************Lisbeth Salander returns to take her revenge in the most explosive novel of the series - 100 million copies of the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo series sold worldwide"Complex, satisfying, clever, moral . . . a grown-up novel for grown-up readers . . . Rightly a publishing phenomenon all over the world" Kate MosseSalander is plotting her revenge - against the man who tried to kill her, and against the government institutions that very nearly destroyed her life. But it is not going to be a straightforward campaign. After taking a bullet to the head, Salander is under close supervision in Intensive Care, and is set to face trial for three murders and one attempted murder on her eventual release. With the help of journalist Mikael Blomkvist and his researchers at Millennium magazine, Salander must not only prove her innocence, but identify and denounce the corrupt politicians that have allowed the vulnerable to become victims of abuse and violence. Once a victim herself, Salander is now ready to fight back.Stieg Larsson's phenomenal trilogy is continued in The Girl in the Spider's Web and The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye by David Lagercrantz.Stieg Larsson's groundbreaking trilogy is continued in The Girl in the Spider's Web, The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye and The Girl Who Lived Twice by David Lagercrantz

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'Belissimo' - Daily Mail 'an amusing and charming read...Ross is the champion of the impulsive adventurer...If you are interested in Italy, in travel writing and the tales of a decent raconteur then this is for you.' - Paul Burke, NB Magazine Where do you go to when you only have a pittance for a home away from home for a huge family? Ian Ross realises that his small inheritance won't get him a place in France or even Spain, so he heads for southern Italy where he remembers the Blue Guide describing long empty sandy beaches in southern Calabria. When he arrives in Southern Italy he finds the house prices are encouragingly low. Why does no one go there? It's inaccessible and it's beloved of the Mafia. Not to be put off Ross stumes on the perfect beach on a crystal-clear bay in the deeply southern province of Reggio Calabria, an area he is soon advised is 'Bandit Country'. And the fact that there is a house right on the beach big enough for all the family at a price he can afford overcomes all fears and to a large extent all common sense. Buying it was only the beginning. Beached in Calabria catalogues the things that can go wrong in southern Italy for this English fish-out-of-waterman; he's out of his depth in a whirlpool of incomprehensible rules and regulations, family systems, conflicting advice and linguistic conundrums. Disaster follows disaster, but this travelogue encompasses tales of the friendships Ross makes on the way in this forgotten corner of Old Italy where the food and the 326 days of sunshine a year make for a perfect setting to a triumphant escapade.

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Olivia is thirty-two and living back home with her mother in Caprock, small-town Texas. Her therapist is a girl she went to high school with; her promising career in journalism has dwindled to nothing, and she spends her days hawking jewellery in a Mall following a favour from a friend. Life is back on an even-keel after her descent into drug abuse, but it's a far cry from the one she imagined ...Then, under pressure to take up a hobby, she decides to try urban exploration. Soon she's poking through derelict homes, churches and schools across North Texas. But Olivia knows her therapist would disapprove. What began as a harmless distraction soon becomes a lucrative business as she collects and sells antique fittings and fixtures online.Her new-found freedom starts to spiral out of control. Victimless trespass is fast evolving into criminal behaviour, and the path her rehabilitation is taking leads Olivia to question her own moral code. She's not supposed to withhold information from her therapist - yet she does.Nor is she supposed to be stashing money in a secret account when she owes so much to so many - and although she's supposedly prohibited from communicating with people from her past, old friends keep showing up, making demands and threats. To add to it all, her baby sister has turned up pregnant, the question of their absent fathers has once more been unearthed, and her prescribed medication is inducing an unnatural detachment that makes her feel as though she's not present in her own life.Tackling difficult subjects with a warmth and humour, and creating an unforgettable protagonist, Jen Waldo brings an electrifying tone to fiction - she is an astonishing new American voice who will stop you in her tracks.

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DI Joni Pax, a London homicide detective wounded in a disastrous raid, has been transferrred to the newly formed Police Force of North East England. Her boss, DCI Hector Rutherford is recently back at work after cancer treatment. Between them they are responsible for major crime in rural Northumberland and County Durham. Joni, the daughter of a black American and a white hippy, is a loner struggling to regain her self confidence. Heck is happily married, but his illness has left him fearful. Based in Corham, a town with Roman, medieval and industrial heritage, Paz and Rutherford investigate a murder at a brothel run by the Albanian mafia. In a series of breathtaking plot twists, the author demonstrates the corruption that underpins the beautiful northern English countryside as well as hinting at a mysterious world beyond the horizon. Carnal Acts explores abuse of many kinds sexual, psychological, economic taking the police procedural to places it has never been before.

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Starting in the ramshackle but romantic capital of Havana, Peter Millar travels with ordinary Cubans, sharing anecdotes, life stories and political opinions to the far end of the island, the Guantanamo naval base and detention camp.

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In the ruins of Gaza, the war-torn Palestinian city that has been a metropolis since the time of the Pharaohs, a plucky young female archaeologist has made a remarkable find: possibly the earliest known image of the Virgin Mary, created during her lifetime. But before she can reveal it to the world, it is stolen from her amidst the chaos of an Israeli airstrike. Who has stolen it and why? And what hidden secret does it conceal? 'A truly compelling, globetrotting thriller...Look out, Dan Brown, make way for Millar.' - Jeffery Deaver

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One night, two men waving guns and knives break and enter their Paris hotel room, terrorizing Russell and his much older companion, a famous American poet named Edward Cannon. The intruders, not finding what they seemingly expected, leave without further incident. But the baffling, traumatic events overwhelm Cannon who dies in his sleep later that night. Now Russell is left to ponder the meaning of the attack, what to do with the poet's unfinished, problematic memoir and, perhaps most importantly, how to reconstruct and move forward with his own life.Hearing of the disturbing circumstances of Cannon's death, an Italian writer, Marina Vezzoli, invites Russell to recuperate at her villa in Tuscany. But what at first seems like a generous invitation slowly reveals itself to be a calculated offer. As Russell's stay in Italy lengthens, he begins to realize that the people in his life are using or manipulating him, most of all the poet's New York publishers who, against the dying poet's wishes, are trying to acquire his unfinished manuscript. Looming over everything is the long and fascinating legacy of Villa Guidi, where during Word War II a Jewish family hid in the subterranean floors, later undergoing a conversion to Catholicism. In an echo of this dramatic history, Russell is forced to undergo a conversion of his own in order to find redemption and meaning in his life.

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This is an edge-of-your-seat Brock and Kolla mystery set within a radical artists' community in London where three children have been abducted in a matter of weeks. The most recent is six-year-old Tracey Rudd, daughter of the infamous Turner Prize winner Gabriel Rudd. After his wife's suicide five years ago, Tracey's grandparents laid the blame with the self-absorbed Rudd, and now hint at his complicity in this newest tragedy. Unbelievably, he begins almost immediately to exploit Tracey's abduction as inspiration for a major and controversial new artwork, in the full glare of media attention. The superb duo DCI David Brock and DS Kathy Kolla are embroiled in their most compelling case yet, conducting an intensive hunt for the missing children and their kidnappers, who appear to be connected to an eccentric and suspicious community of artists, dealers and collectors, all of whom are under suspicion.

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Henry Cage seemed to have it all. A successful business career, considerable wealth, and a reputation for being a just and principled man. But public virtues can conceal private failings, and as Henry faces retirement, his well-ordered life begins to unravel. On the eve of the new millennium he is the victim of a random act of violence which soon escalates into a prolonged persecution, with tragic consequences. Family secrets are revealed, and when his ex-wife Nessa summons Henry to Palm Beach, he realises that there is little time to redress the mistakes of the past. The Upright Piano Player explores with a tender, yet unflinching eye the small but devastating flaws in human nature that can shape our destinies.

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Pittsburgh was too small for Beryl Wexler. Barely out of high school, she changed her name to Buzz and set off for the bright lights of London. She never looked back. Now she's at the top of her game in the music PR business, looking after the coolest groups on the planet. And for a woman who was forty-two last birthday she certainly keeps up the pace. But her life is about to change. Some twenty-year-old has been given the new Japanese girl band predicted to go stellar, and Buzz is being sidelined. Instead, Buzz gets to tour with the Gorni Grannies, Bulgarian singers of a certain age. These ladies may not be the tantrum-throwing celebs Buzz is used to, but they present other challenges. How to stop Lubka straining yogurt through her knee highs? How to dissuade Kichka from stealing everything not nailed to the floor? Fuelled by copious shots of home-brewed plum rakia, Buzz and Lubka address life's ups and down, until the world tilts and a different future beckons.

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Olivia Harker grew up in Depression-era Kentucky. Ignored by her own mother, her black neighbours became her friends and playmates; their parents her guardian angels. Now, she runs a ramshackle grocery store with her beloved grandson and her difficult widowed mother. But Olivia has no idea of the long shadow cast by events of her childhood. When she finally becomes party to a decades-old mystery, she must get to grips with past betrayals before fighting to save her family, her community and her life.

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Can Wild Alan unite the Discard against the tyranny of the Pyramid?Idle Hands is an ancient disease that once tore through the Discard, and if Wild Alan doesn't find a way into the Black Pyramid to administer the cure to his son, Billy, it will soon be stalking Gleam once again. Even with Bloody Nora's help, there's only one way in - and that's through the Sump, which was sealed long ago to contain the horrors within.And for Alan, the Black Pyramid will be even more dangerous. Thanks to the disease, the Pyramidders' fear and loathing of the Discard is reaching fever-pitch - and Alan is the most well-known Discarder of all.Bloody Nora has her own agenda. All the information she needs to complete her people's Great Work is hidden in the Pyramid - but just by being there, she is violating a centuries-old treaty between the Pyramid and the Mapmakers, which could spark conflict between the two greatest powers that Gleam knows.'Gleam's combination of dystopia, mythic quest, music and squishy monsters is hugely entertaining' SFX

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Quercus is delighted to introduce Julia Kelly, the bright new voice in fiction. She writes with intelligence, honesty and tremendous wit, and her future as a leading light is as assured as this, her first novel. With My Lazy Eye is the story of Lucy. Lucy's a misfit. She's growing up in a large family in a semi-detached house, dreaming of being someone else and making her father proud. It's not looking promising. He's an internationally renowned academic and her siblings are bright achievers, but Lucy is idle, directionless and never quite manages to succeed. Her lazy eye sets her apart from the crowd and gives her something to hide behind, and in truth, she's not really trying to overcome it. She hasn't got the energy to revise for exams, she can't convince herself to care about coming last and even when she goes to London and finds the perfect job, she is still destined to fail. And as far as men are concerned, Lucy tumbles into bed with one after another, never finding any she can find real affection for. As her sight deteriorates and her view of reality becomes increasingly oblique, Lucy comes to understand that if her life is going to improve, she'll have to take matters into her own hands. But when a family crisis looms, it might just be too late.

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When a young woman's naked body is discovered deep in the snowy undergrowth of Holland Park, ritualistically bound and gagged, the only clue is a verse from a bizarre poem found stuffed in her mouth. The woman is Rachel Tenison, a wealthy West End art dealer, who outwardly seemed to lead a normal, fulfilled life. However, as DI Mark Tartaglia and DS Sam Donovan scratch away at the surface, a darker, secret side begins to emerge. Then a tip-off spins everything in an entirely new direction, suggesting that the case is linked to the murder a year before in North London of Catherine Watson, a university lecturer. Still haunted by the aftermath of 'The Bridegroom' case three months before, which nearly brought about their own deaths, Tartaglia and Donovan are forced to confront their personal demons as they struggle to find what these two very different women had in common before the killer has a chance to strike again.

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Just after half past nine on the morning of Sunday 1 November 1755, the end of the world came to the city of Lisbon. On a day that had begun with blue skies and gentle warmth, Portugal's proud capital was struck by a massive earthquake. After a brief, two-minute tremor came six minutes of horror as Lisbon swayed 'like corn in the wind before the avalanches of descending masonry hid the ruins under a cloud of dust'. A third tremor shook most of the buildings still standing to the ground, causing catastrophic loss of life. Lisbon had been struck by a seismic disturbance estimated at 8.7 on the Richter scale - more powerful than the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. An hour later, riverine Lisbon and the Algarve coast were engulfed by a series of tsunamis. In areas of the city unaffected by the waves, fires raged for six days, completing the destruction of Europe's fourth-largest city. By the time it was all over, 60,000 souls had perished and 85% of Lisbon's buildings, plus an unimaginable wealth of cultural treasures, had been destroyed by quake, fire or water. The earthquake had a searing impact on the European psyche. Theologians and philosophers were baffled by this awesome manifestation of the anger of God. How could the presence of such suffering in the world be reconciled with the existence of a beneficent deity? For Portugal itself, despite an ambitious programme of reconstruction (which gave birth to the modern science of seismology), the quake ushered in a period of decline, in which her seaborne supremacy was eclipsed by the inexorable rise of the British Empire. Drawing on primary sources, Edward Paice paints a vivid picture of a city and society changed for ever by a day of terror. He describes in thrilling detail the quake itself and its immediate aftermath, but he is interested just as much in its political, economic and cultural consequences. Wrath of God is a gripping account from a master writer of a natural disaster that had a transformative impact on European society.

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'The beautiful illusion, when reading Tolstoy, is that one is looking directly at the world, as opposed to a depiction' Andrew O'Hagan from his preface to Childhood, Boyhood and YouthPublished in 1852, when he was just twenty-four, Childhood was Tolstoy's first published work, and the first of a trilogy of stories that evoke the upbringing and traditional education of a Russian aristocrat in a world that vanished with the revolution. In this self-portrait, narrated by its protagonist Nikólya, the young Tolstoy captured the textures of adolescence with a psychological insight and subtlety of analysis that look forward to his mature achievements; while his matchless objectivity - summoning the smells, sights and sounds of early childhood - is already fully present in these pages. The riverrun edition reissues the translation of Louise and Aylmer Maude, whose influential versions of Tolstoy first brought his work to a wide readership in English.

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'For anyone who enjoyed Hillbilly Elegy or Educated, Unfollow is an essential text' - Louis Theroux'Such a moving, redemptive, clear-eyed account of religious indoctrination' - Pandora Sykes'A nuanced portrait of the lure and pain of zealotry' New York Times'Unfolds like a suspense novel . . . A brave, unsettling, and fascinating memoir about the damage done by religious fundamentalism' NPRA Radio Four Book of the Week Pick for June 2021As featured on the BBC documentaries, 'The Most Hated Family in America' and 'Surviving America's Most Hated Family'It was an upbringing in many ways normal. A loving home, shared with squabbling siblings, overseen by devoted parents. Yet in other ways it was the precise opposite: a revolving door of TV camera crews and documentary makers, a world of extreme discipline, of siblings vanishing in the night.Megan Phelps-Roper was raised in the Westboro Baptist Church - the fire-and-brimstone religious sect at once aggressively homophobic and anti-Semitic, rejoiceful for AIDS and natural disasters, and notorious for its picketing the funerals of American soldiers. From her first public protest, aged five, to her instrumental role in spreading the church's invective via social media, her formative years brought their difficulties. But being reviled was not one of them. She was preaching God's truth. She was, in her words, 'all in'.In November 2012, at the age of twenty-six, she left the church, her family, and her life behind.Unfollow is a story about the rarest thing of all: a person changing their mind. It is a fascinating insight into a closed world of extreme belief, a biography of a complex family, and a hope-inspiring memoir of a young woman finding the courage to find compassion for others, as well as herself.---More praise for Unfollow'A beautiful, gripping book about a singular soul, and an unexpected redemption' - Nick Hornby'A modern-day parable for how we should speak and listen to each other' - Dolly Alderton'Her journey - from Westboro to becoming one of the most empathetic, thoughtful, humanistic writers around - is exceptional and inspiring' - Jon Ronson'A gripping story, beautifully told . . . It takes real talent to produce a book like this. Its message could not be more urgent' Sunday Times

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'Even better than Child 44. Akyl Borubaev is a terrific creation' Anthony HorowitzWE UNCOVERED THE LAST OF THE BODIES IN THE RED HOUR BEFORE DUSK, AS THE SUN STAINED THE SNOWCAPS OF THE TIAN SHAN MOUNTAINS THE COLOUR OF DRIED BLOOD. . .Inspector Akyl Borubaev of Bishkek Murder Squad has been exiled to the far corner of Kyrgyzstan, but death still haunts him at every turn. Borubaev soon finds himself caught up in a mysterious and gruesome new case: several children's bodies have been found buried together - all tagged with name bands. In his search for the truth behind the brutal killings, Borubaev hits a wall of silence, with no one to turn to outside his sometime lover, the beautiful undercover agent Saltanat Umarova.When Borubaev himself is framed, accused of involvement in the production of blood-soaked child pornography, it looks as though things couldn't get any worse. With the investigation at a dangerous standstill, Borubaev sets out to save his own integrity, and to deliver his own savage justice on behalf of the many dead who can't speak for themselves . . .'Just keeps getting better . . . buy the whole series right away' Peter Robinson, No.1 bestselling author of Sleeping in the Ground'Storytelling of the highest quality . . . Introduces a detective it is impossible not to believe in. Callaghan is a new voice to be welcomed' Daily Mail

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WINNER OF THE CHILDREN'S BOOK OF THE YEAR AT THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARDS 2018 & THE SUNDAY TIMES NUMBER 1 BESTSELLER (April 2018) ___________'This book can save lives. This book can change lives. This book can help to bring forth another generation of boys who dare to be different.' Benjamin Zephaniah___________Daniel Radcliffe, Galileo Galilei, Nelson Mandela, Louis Armstrong, Grayson Perry, Louis Braille, Lionel Messi, King George VI, Jamie Oliver... all dared to be different.Prince charming, dragon slayer, mischievous prankster... More often than not, these are the role-models boys encounter in the books they read at home and at school. As a boy, there is an assumption that you will conform to a stereotypical idea of masculinity.But what if you're the introvert kind? What if you prefer to pick up a book rather than a sword? What if you want to cry when you're feeling sad or angry? What if you like the idea of wearing a dress?There is an ongoing crisis with regards to young men and mental health, with unhelpful gender stereotypes contributing to this malaise. Stories for Boys Who Dare to Be Different offers a welcome alternative narrative. It is an extraordinary compilation of 100 stories of famous and not-so-famous men from the past to the present day, every single one of them a rule-breaker and innovator in his own way, and all going on to achieve amazing things. Entries include Frank Ocean, Salvador Dalí, Rimbaud, Beethoven, Barack Obama, Stormzy, Ai Weiwei and Jesse Owens - different sorts of heroes from all walks of life and from all over the world.A beautiful and transporting book packed with stories of adventure and wonderment, it will appeal to those who need the courage to reject peer pressure and go against the grain. It is the must-have book for all those boys who worry about stuff and all those parents who worry about their boys who worry about stuff. It will educate and entertain, while also encourage and inspire.*For tales of even more brilliant men who have dared to be different, STORIES FOR BOYS WHO DARE TO BE DIFFERENT 2 is out now!*

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Enid Blyton's books are beloved the world over and The Famous Five have been the perennial favourite of her fans. Now, in this new series of Enid Blyton for Grown-Ups, George, Dick, Anne, Julian and Timmy confront possibly their toughest challenge yet: parenthoodBringing up a baby would surely be kid's play for The Five. How hard could it possibly be?! When the doorbell rings one Saturday afternoon, the last thing the Five were expecting to find on their doorstep was a baby... But the Five are next of kin to Cousin Rupert and his wife, so when they find themselves in a spot of bother and are destined for a short spell behind bars, Anne, Dick, George and Anne are the first port of call. First, it's the fear and the tiredness that kicks in. They are terrified at being responsible for this new life and have no idea they're doing it right. Why is it crying? They use Dr Google constantly, who whatever the situation offers the same range of advice from 'don't worry about it' to 'rush her to the A&E'. 'Why is she crying?' they constantly ask. 'Why?' It keeps them up all night every night, until they are reduced to walking ghosts, haunted by a numb and impotent fury. Is this an adventure too far for our Five?

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'Sympathetic and suspense-packed' Sunday Times'A classy, satisfying read, superbly put together' Mari HannahA cold case leads DI Grace Fisher on the hunt for the most dangerous killer of her career - but after twenty-five years, can she really be sure she will get to the truth?The same night a local hero saved two people from the burning Marineland resort in Southend, a young woman was raped and murdered minutes from the scene of the fire, the culmination of a series of brutal rapes in the town. The killer was never found.Twenty-five years on, new DNA techniques have blown the cold case open. DI Grace Fisher relishes the prospect of finally catching the culprit, but when the evidence doesn't point to one clear suspect, she must reconstruct the original investigation. Any suggestion that the Essex force was less than thorough at the time could alienate her colleagues and destroy her chances of reaching the truth.Grace finds her investigation shadowed by a young true-crime podcaster backed by veteran crime reporter Ivo Sweatman. As pressure mounts she cannot afford to be distracted. She knows that a cold-blooded killer is slowly being backed into a corner, and a cornered predator is often the most dangerous of all...

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From the author who brought you the bestselling book everyone is talking about, The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a F**k: the no-f**ks-given, no-holds-barred guide to living your best life. Ever find yourself snowed under at the office - or even just glued to the sofa - when you really want to get out (for once), get to the gym (at last), and get started on that daunting dream project you're always putting off? Then it's time to get your sh*t together. In The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a F**k, 'anti-guru' Sarah Knight introduced the joys of mental decluttering. Get Your Sh*t Together takes you one stop further - organizing the f*cks you want and need to give to help you quit your day job and move abroad, balance work and fun - and save money while you're at it - or simply get out of the door for happy hour, every day. Praise for the bestselling The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a F**k: 'The best book I have read recently ...Absolutely blinding. Read it. Do it.' Daily Mail 'Genius' Cosmopolitan 'I love Knight's book before I even start reading it' Sunday Times Magazine 'Self-help with an edge' Vogue 'The anti-guru' The Observer

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