Search results for ""ORION""
Orion Publishing Co Merrily Ever After: The latest cosy and romantic Christmas book from Sunday Times bestseller Cathy Bramley
'Heartwarming and uplifting - a gorgeous festive treat.' Sarah Morgan, author of SNOWED IN FOR CHRISTMAS'No-one does friendship better than Cathy' Karen Swan, author of THE CHRISTMAS POSTCARDSIn a picturesque town in Derbyshire, Merry has always wanted a family to spend Christmas with, and this year her dream comes true as she says 'I do' to father-of-two Cole. But as she juggles worries about her business, last-minute wedding planning and the two new children in her life, Merry is stretched to breaking point.Meanwhile, only a few miles away, Emily is desperately waiting for the New Year to begin. Her father Ray's dementia is worsening, and she's struggling to care for him alone while holding down a job. When Ray moves into a residential home, she discovers a photograph in his belongings that has the potential to change everything .As shocking secrets from Ray's past finally come to light, will this Christmas make or break Emily and Merry?Praise for MERRILY EVER AFTER'The perfect comfort read to warm your heart as the nights draw in and the festive season approaches' PHILLIPA ASHLEY'Brimming with seasonal secrets and festive feelgood - is Christmas even Christmas without Cathy Bramley?' HOLLY HEPBURN
£9.04
Orion Publishing Co P.S. Come to Italy: The perfect uplifting and gorgeously romantic holiday read from the No.1 bestselling author!
'The ultimate escapist read!' VERONICA HENRY on To Italy, with Love'Deliciously romantic' ERICA JAMES on P.S. Come to ItalyWish you were here?When Belle's quiet, idyllic life on the coast starts to crumble, it's a stranger - thousands of miles away in Italy - who provides a shoulder to cry on. And so, when Enrico sends her a beautiful gift with a note signed off 'P.S. Come to Italy!' she decides to follow her heart.Arriving at Enrico's palazzo in beautiful Puglia, it's clear that his life couldn't be more different than the one Belle's left behind. Yet despite his flashy cars and his glamorous, warring family, she starts to realise that perhaps Enrico needs her just as much as she needed him.Belle's holiday of a lifetime was never about falling in love - but under the sun-kissed olive trees, anything can happen...
£8.99
Orion Publishing Co Dear Joan and Jericha - Why He Turns Away: Do's and Don'ts, from Dating to Death
From the world-renowned agony aunts of award-winning podcast 'Dear Joan and Jericha' comes an unputdownable bible of sex and relationship advice on how to find, satisfy and maintain a husband, from dating right up until you or hubby pass away.We dedicate this tome to Mahmoud: surgeon, prophet, model and friend. Capable of performing up to 30 hysterectomies a day (often blindfolded), it was Mahmoud that begged us to put pen to papyrus and share our wisdom with all the lost ladies suffering in the world today. As much revered celebrities, living glamorous and wealthy lifestyles, we do of course come under fire. There has recently been vicious slander circulating, regarding a small handful of folk who have written to us with a problem, and having listened to our response, gone on to take their own lives. As if the two were somehow connected. These naysayers are generally bitter and jealous spinsters, taking perverse and sadistic pleasure in being vindictive and nasty, while no doubt masturbating at the same time. To these lonely ladies we would say, 'Go look in your own heart, knock ye there and ask yourself some difficult questions. Because you will find the real guilt writhing within ye, like maggots mating in yesterday's apple'. What we offer here is a lifeline, a service, much like the NHS, or perhaps more accurately, the AA. Joan and Jericha: AA for the heart. Affording you the opportunity to have a breakdown, call for a pick-up truck, stop off for a Full English whilst a hairy guy in a grubby onesie fumbles under your bonnet and tweaks at your wiring, before sending you on your way, lubricated, primed, pumped and pretty. With kind regards, Joan Damry and Jericha Domain OBE MBE (etc)
£9.99
Orion Publishing Co Stay Sexy and Don't Get Murdered: The Definitive How-To Guide From the My Favorite Murder Podcast
THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER FROM THE CULT-HIT TRUE CRIME PODCAST, MY FAVORITE MURDERIn STAY SEXY & DON'T GET MURDERED, Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark, hosts of true crime comedy podcast 'My Favorite Murder,' open up about their lives more intimately than ever in their confessionally honest and hilarious debut book, titled after their podcast sign-off.Sharing never-before-heard stories ranging from their struggles with depression, eating disorders, and addiction, Karen and Georgia irreverently recount their biggest mistakes and deepest fears, reflecting on the formative life events that shaped them into two of the most followed voices in the podcasting world.
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Orion Publishing Co The Farmhouse of Second Chances: A gorgeously uplifting story of new beginnings!
'A heartwarming story about family, forgiveness and the importance of kindness' FIONA HARPER on The Kindness Club on Mapleberry Lane'Comforting and uplifting, this book is a joy to read' MY WEEKLY'A heartwarming tale' WOMAN'S OWNHome is where the heart is... Joy has made a family for herself. She's turned her beautiful old farmhouse into a safe haven for anyone who is looking for a new beginning. She's always ready with a kind word, a nugget of advice and believes that anyone can change their life for the better, if they really want to. Libby has exchanged her high-flying job in New York for a break in the quiet Somerset countryside. She's soon drawn into Joy's world and into her family of waifs and strays - including Drew, whom Joy once helped get back on his feet. So when a secret from Joy's past threatens everything, can the unlikely group come together to give Joy a second chance of her own? Curl up with this uplifting new story of second chances and finding where you belong, from the author of The Little Village Library, perfect for fans of Cathy Bramley and Ali McNamara!***Readers adore Helen's heartwarming storytelling'Enchanting... Employing all the warmth and charm of Maeve Binchy, and a special brand of kindness that she has made her own, Rolfe weaves together elements of mystery, romance, family relationships and the warmth of community in a story guaranteed to bring laughter, tears and miles of smiles' Lancashire Post'A warm, comforting tale of family and community which brims with kindness and love' Annie Lyons'A heartwarming story about family, forgiveness and the importance of kindness... If you're looking for a feelgood novel in these difficult times, this is definitely it!' Fiona Harper'A lovely community, full of friendship and love''I enjoyed every minute of this book and found it very hard to put down''Lovely, feel-good...filled with lots of love''Gave you all the emotions: suspense, happiness and excitement''Helen Rolfe's writing brought a smile to my face''Loved loved loved this fabulous book'
£8.42
Orion Publishing Co Soul Circus: From Co-Creator of Hit HBO Show ‘We Own This City’
A young woman is brutally murdered and PIs Strange and Quinn are forced to confront their own part in the crime.Private Investigator Derek Strange and his partner, Terry Quinn, are running a PI business in the seedy underbelly of Washington DC are approached by a young man asking them to find his girlfriend who has gone missing. And so Strange and Quinn find her. Just another day? Not quite. In the grimy underworld inhabited by Strange, nothing is that simple. For Strange and Quinn's efforts have led to a young mother being brutally murdered - a devastating discovery that causes them both to question the morality by which they live. And yet at the same time they need to continue the search for another missing girl, a teenage runaway who shows up in a porn video. And who hasn't been seen since. Bleak, gritty and moving, SOUL CIRCUS superbly brings to life the devastating story of life and death in Washington's black ghettos.
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Orion Publishing Co Touché: A French Woman's Take on the English
Why France and Britain are so different, and why they do things in opposite ways.A brilliant and vigorous observer of both French and British societies, which she knows intimately, 32-year-old Agnes Catherine Poirier has spent the last ten years explaining the peculiarities of France to the British and of Britain to the French. Not an easy job.Having studied both in Paris and London, writing in both languages for the French and British press, Agnes Catherine Poirier plays with national stereotypes, which are both stupid and dangerous, with dexterity and savoir faire. She goes beneath the surface to explain why France and Britain keep arguing and competing endlessly, why they are so different and why they do things in almost opposite ways.Covering the worlds of art, politics, action, food, institutions, sex, history, media, society and philosophy, she tells us as much about us as why France is a nation apart.Revenge for tabloid attacks on France or for British expats' invasions of Brittany and the Dordogne? You decide. But this will entertain and educate all readers about their own country and whether its 'entente' with La Belle France is 'cordiale' or not.You may disagree with her but you may never see yourself in the same way again.
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Orion Publishing Co The City of Mirrors: ‘Will stand as one of the great achievements in American fantasy fiction’ Stephen King
In life I was a scientist called Fanning.Then, in a jungle in Bolivia, I died.I died, and then I was brought back to life... Prompted by a voice that lives in her blood, the fearsome warrior known as Alicia of Blades is drawn towards to one of the great cities of The Time Before. The ruined city of New York. Ruined but not empty. For this is the final refuge of Zero, the first and last of The Twelve. The one who must be destroyed if mankind is to have a future.What she finds is not what she's expecting. A journey into the past.To find out how it all began.And an opponent at once deadlier and more human than she could ever have imagined.'Compulsively readable.' NEW YORK TIMES
£12.99
Orion Publishing Co The Twelve: ‘Will stand as one of the great achievements in American fantasy fiction’ Stephen King
The eagerly anticipated sequel to the global bestseller The Passage, now an epic drama on Fox from writer Elizabeth Heldens and executive producer Ridley Scott.'A literary superthriller' NEW YORK TIMESTHE TWELVEDeath-row prisoners with nightmare pasts and no future.THE TWELVEUntil they were selected for a secret experiment.THE TWELVETo create something more than human.THE TWELVENow they are the future and humanity's worst nightmare has begun.THE TWELVEThe epic sequel toTHE PASSAGE
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Orion Publishing Co Right As Rain: From Co-Creator of Hit HBO Show ‘We Own This City’
The first in the excellent Strange and Quinn series from 'The coolest writer in America' GQ.Derek Strange and Terry Quinn are ex-cops turned private detectives in Washington, DC. Hired to investigate the death of an off-duty black police officer at the hands of a white policeman, Strange and Quinn are faced with the institutionalised racism of the nation's most poorly trained and dangerous police force.As the two private detectives confront the degradation of the city's flourishing drug trade, they find themselves up against some of the most implacable, dead-eyed killers ever to grace the pages of a novel.In RIGHT AS RAIN George Pelecanos introduces a memorable pair of characters into the grittily real Washington DC landscape which has led to him being acclaimed as 'a great writer' THE TIMES
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Orion Publishing Co The Horror of Love: Nancy Mitford and Gaston Palewski in Paris and London
The compelling love story of two extraordinary individuals - Nancy Mitford and Free French commander Gaston Palewski - living in extraordinary times - immortalised in THE PURSUIT OF LOVE'A delicious mix of drama, melancholy and enchantment' DAILY EXPRESS'Entertainingly caustic' SUNDAY TIMES'Bringing to life the worlds of Nancy Mitford's novels' INDEPENDENT'Oh, the horror of love!' Nancy Mitford once exclaimed. Elegant and intelligent, Nancy was a reknowned wit and a popular author. Yet this bright, waspish woman, capable of unerring emotional analysis in her work gave her heart to a well-known philanderer who went on to marry another woman. Was Nancy that unremarkable thing - a deluded lover - or was she a remarkable woman engaged in a sophisticated love affair? Gaston Palewski, was the Free French commander and one of the most influential politicians in post-war Europe. His and Nancy's mutual life was spent amongst the most exciting, powerful and controversial figures in the centre of reawakening Europe. She supported him throughout his tumultuous career and he inspired some of her best work, including The Pursuit of Love. Lisa Hilton's provocative book reveals how, with discipline, gentleness and a great deal of elegance, Nancy Mitford and Gaston Palewski achieved a very adult ideal.
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Orion Publishing Co The Gun
A classic novel about the Peninsular War from the celebrated author of the HORNBLOWER seriesAbandoned by the retreating Spanish army during the Peninsular War, the gun is an eighteen pounder bronze cannon, thirteen feet long, weighing three tons. When a group of Spanish partisans come across it two years later they see in it a chance for victory against the French - but first they must haul it across the mountains with nothing but a handful of donkeys and half-starved oxen. On its epic journey the cannon begins to gain almost mystical significance. For, with the gun, they are no longer a band of Spanish irregulars, they are an army able to take on the cream of Napoleon's troops...
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Orion Publishing Co A.A. Gill is Further Away
A collection of dazzling travel pieces from SUNDAY TIMES journalist and critic A. A. GILL.From the moment he joined the SUNDAY TIMES, A.A. Gill has wanted to interview places - to discover the personality of a place as if it were a person, to listen and talk to it. A. A. GILL IS FURTHER AWAY is a wonderfully insightful and funny compendium of travel writing taken mostly from the SUNDAY TIMES, but also from GQ, TATLER and CONDE NAST TRAVELLER. Gill writes with a clarity and acerbity that conveys the intensity of his experiences in his travels around the world. His book includes essays on Sudan, India, Cuba, Germany and California. In each piece, there is a central image Gill uses as the key to unlocking the personality of a place.
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Orion Publishing Co Sister Queens: Katherine of Aragon and Juana Queen of Castile
Katherine of Aragon, Henry VIII's first bride, has become an icon: the betrayed wife, the revered Queen, the devoted mother, a woman callously cast aside by a selfish husband besotted by his strumpet of a mistress. Her sister, Juana of Castile, wife of Philip of Burgundy and mother of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, the most powerful man in Renaissance Europe, is still more of a legend. She is 'Juana the Mad', the wife so passionately in love with her husband that she could not bear to be parted from him even by death, keeping his coffin by her side for year upon year. They were Sister Queens - the accomplished daughters of Ferdinand and Isabella, the founders of a unified Spain. A gripping tale of love, sacrifice, the demands of duty and the conflict between ambition and loyalty - at a time when even royal women had to fight for their positions in society - Julia Fox's vibrant new biography teems with life. Linked not only by blood but by cruel experience, their dual stories enrich our understanding of them both, casting a searchlight onto the turbulent age in which they lived.
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Orion Publishing Co The Truth
Is the truth really what we make it?From the inimitable Michael Palin, a warm and intelligent novel about good intentions and human frailty.'A feel-good story leaving the reader on a real high' OBSERVERKeith Mabbut has been offered the opportunity of a lifetime - to pen the biography of the elusive Hamish Melville, a highly influential activist and humanitarian. Feeling that his life has reached a crossroad, he seizes the chance to write something meaningful.His search to find out the real story behind the legend takes Mabbut to the lush landscapes and environmental hotspots of India. The more he discovers about Melville, the more he admires him - and the more he connects with an idealist who wanted to make a difference. But is his quarry really who he claims to be? As Keith discovers, the truth can be whatever we make it...'THE TRUTH is the perfect example of [Palin's] literary brilliance' STYLIST'An ingeniously plotted book, beautifully written and hugely enjoyable' DAILY TELEGRAPH
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Orion Publishing Co Wildflower: The Extraordinary Life and Mysterious Murder of Joan Root
A compelling story of African adventure, romance and intrigue, perfect for readers of bestselling true crime such as WHITE MISCHIEF and MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL.WILDFLOWER is the gripping life story of the naturalist, filmmaker and lifelong conservationist Joan Root. From her passion for animals and her hard-fought crusade to save Kenya's beautiful Lake Naivasha, to her storybook love affair, Root's life was one of a remarkable modern-day heroine. After 20 years of spectacular, unparalleled wildlife filmmaking together, Joan and Alan Root divorced and a fascinating woman found her own voice. Renowned journalist Mark Seal has written a breathtaking portrait of a strong woman discovering herself and fighting for her beliefs before her mysterious and brutal murder in Kenya.With a cast as wild, wondrous and unpredictable as Africa itself, WILDFLOWER is a real-life adventure tale set in the world's disappearing wilderness. Rife with personal revelation, intrigue, corruption and murder, readers will remember Joan Root's extraordinary journey long after they turn the last page of this compelling book.
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Orion Publishing Co The Lost Empire of Atlantis: History's Greatest Mystery Revealed
The bestselling author of 1421: THE YEAR THE CHINESE DISCOVERED THE WORLD uncovers the truth behind the mystery of Atlantis. After a chance conversation in Egypt in 2008, bestselling historian Gavin Menzies launched himself on a quest that would reveal the truth behind the mystery of Atlantis and her destruction.Through an examination of documentary and academic research, metallurgy, ancient shipbuilding and navigation techniques, artefacts and DNA evidence, Menzies slowly and painstakingly reveals a trading empire that spanned from the Great Lakes in North America to Kerala in India. And in doing so finally explains the incredible reality behind the legendary civilisation described by Plato and its disappearance.Reading like a real-life Indiana Jones story as ex-Royal Navy submarine captain Menzies travels round the world in pursuit of his goal, this is epic, iconoclastic popular history.
£12.99
Orion Publishing Co Antony and Cleopatra
The epic story of one of the most famous love affairs in history, by the bestselling author of Caesar.The love affair between Antony and Cleopatra is one of the most famous stories from the ancient world and has been depicted in countless novels, plays and films. As one of the three men in control of the Roman Empire, Antony was perhaps the most powerful man of his day. And Cleopatra, who had already been Julius Caesar's lover, was the beautiful queen of Egypt, Rome's most important province. The clash of cultures, the power politics, and the personal passion have proven irresistible to storytellers.But in the course of this storytelling dozens of myths have grown up. The popular image of Cleopatra in ancient Egyptian costume is a fallacy; she was actually Greek. Despite her local dominance in Egypt, her real power came from her ability to forge strong personal allegiances with the most important men in Rome. Likewise, Mark Antony was not the bluff soldier of legend, brought low by his love for an exotic woman - he was first and foremost a politician, and never allowed Cleopatra to dictate policy to him. In this history, based exclusively on ancient sources and archaeological evidence, Adrian Goldsworthy gives us the facts behind this famous couple and dispels many myths.
£16.99
Orion Publishing Co Belle's Best Bits: A London Call Girl Reveals Her Favourite Adventures
From the summer of 2003 Belle charted her day-to-day adventures on and off the field in a frank, funny and award-winning diaries. She was the first to reveal (among other things) how she became a working girl, what it feels like to do it for money, and where to buy the best knickers for the job. She also discusses her efforts to change from 'working girl' to working girl, whilst sneaking off to visit clients in her lunch hour. From debating the literary merits of Martin Amis with naked clients to smuggling whips into luxury hotels, this is a no-holds barred account of the high-class sex-trade, and an insight into the secret life of an extraordinary woman.
£9.99
Orion Publishing Co Life
Once-in-a-generation memoir of a rock legend - the No. 1 SUNDAY TIMES bestseller.'Electrifying' New York Times'A masterpiece' The Word'Funny, poignant, brutally honest' Sunday TelegraphWith the Rolling Stones, Keith Richards created the riffs, the lyrics and the songs that roused the world, and over four decades he lived the original rock and roll life: taking the chances he wanted, speaking his mind, and making it all work in a way that no one before him had ever done.Now, at last, the man himself tells us the story of life in the crossfire hurricane. And what a life. Listening obsessively to Chuck Berry and Muddy Waters records as a child in post-war Kent. Learning guitar and forming a band with Mick Jagger and Brian Jones. The Rolling Stones' first fame and success as a bad-boy band. The notorious Redlands drug bust and subsequent series of confrontations with a nervous establishment that led to his enduring image as outlaw and folk hero. Creating immortal riffs such as the ones in 'Jumping Jack Flash' and 'Street Fighting Man' and 'Honky Tonk Women'. Falling in love with Anita Pallenberg and the death of Brian Jones. Tax exile in France, wildfire tours of the US, 'Exile on Main Street' and 'Some Girls'. Ever increasing fame, isolation and addiction. Falling in love with Patti Hansen. Estrangement from Mick Jagger and subsequent reconciliation. Solo albums and performances with his band the Xpensive Winos. Marriage, family and the road that goes on for ever. In a voice that is uniquely and intimately his own, with the disarming honesty that has always been his trademark, Keith Richards brings us the essential life story of our times.
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Orion Publishing Co Djibouti
Dara Barr, documentary filmmaker, is at the top of her game. She's covered neo-Nazis and post-Katrina New Orleans, but now she's looking for an even bigger challenge.So Dara and her right-hand man Xavier head to Djibouti, on the Horn of Africa, to tackle modern-day pirates. But they soon find a whole lot more than they bargained for and quickly learn that almost no one in Djibouti is what he seems. A mob of colourful characters patrols the seas, including a pirate chief with a taste for fine cars and an Oxford-educated sheik with scams of his own. And then there's the gun-toting Texan billionaire Billy Wynn, and James Russell, an American al-Qaeda convert who wants to blow up something big. As hijacked tankers line up like floating bombs, Dara and Xavier know it's time for a showdown . 'A vibrant contemporary thriller - exhilarating read, full of fun' Sunday Times'Deliciously to-the-point dialogue . . . highly entertaining' Independent on Sunday
£9.99
Orion Publishing Co He Lover of Death: Erast Fandorin 9
Akunin goes noir as Fandorin meets bandits!Senka Skorikov, orphan and urchin, has been abandoned to the murky world of Moscow's gangster district. While picking a pocket or two, he glimpses the most beautiful woman he has ever seen, and joins the gang of her overlord lover, The Prince, so desperate he is to meet her. Senka climbs the criminal ranks, uncovering a stash of precious metal, and gradually capturing the heart of his beloved Death - so named for the life expectancy of her lovers. But as the bandit community balks at his success on both fronts, threats on his life begin to pour in . A dandy and his 'Chinese' sidekick seem to be taking an inordinate interest in Senka's welfare, and it becomes clear that those threatening Senka are linked to a spate of murders, grizzly even by underworld standards. Fandorin must unweave a tangled web of narcotics, false identities and organised crime - but can he survive an encounter with the ever-alluring Death unscathed? Find out in the darkest Fandorin to date!
£9.99
Orion Publishing Co Must You Go?: My Life with Harold Pinter
A unique testimony to modern literature's most celebrated and enduring marriage.'I first saw Harold across a crowded room, but it was lunchtime, not some enchanted evening, and we did not speak.'When Antonia Fraser met Harold Pinter she was a celebrated biographer and he was Britain's finest playwright. Both were already married - Pinter to the actress Vivien Merchant and Fraser to the politician Hugh Fraser - but their union seemed inevitable from the moment they met: 'I would have found you somehow', Pinter told Fraser. Their relationship flourished until Pinter's death on Christmas Eve 2008 and was a source of delight and inspiration to them both until the very end. Fraser uses her Diaries and her own recollections to tell a touching love story. But this is also a memoir of a partnership between two of the greatest literary talents, with fascinating glimpses into their creativity and their illustrious circle of friends from the literary, political and theatrical world.
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Orion Publishing Co Four Queens: The Provencal Sisters Who Ruled Europe
The four beautiful, cultured and clever daughters of the Count and Countess of Provence made illustrious marriages and lived at the epicentre of political power and intrigue in 13th-century Europe.Marguerite accompanied her husband, King Louis IX of France, on his disastrous first crusade to the Holy Land, where straight from childbirth she ransomed him from the Mamluks. And with her sister Eleanor, queen of England, Marguerite engineered a sturdy peace between France and England. Ambitious Eleanor walked a narrow line while she struggled to build her own power base without alienating her cowardly husband, Henry III. Beatrice's coronation as queen of Sicily was the culmination of her long, hard-fought campaign to earn respect from her world-famous, mightily accomplished older siblings. Sanchia wed one of the richest men in Europe, but her reign as queen of Germany, brought her only misery. From Goldstone's rich, beautifully woven tapestry, medieval Europe springs to vivid life, from the lavish menus of the royal banquets and the sweet songs of the troubadours to the complex machinations of the Pope against the Holy Roman Emperor. This compelling work of history gives women their due as movers and shakers in tumultuous times.
£10.99
Orion Publishing Co MI6: Life and Death in the British Secret Service
The secret history of MI6 - from the Cold War to the present day.The British Secret Service has been cloaked in secrecy and shrouded in myth since it was created a hundred years ago. Our understanding of what it is to be a spy has been largely defined by the fictional worlds of James Bond and John le Carre. THE ART OF BETRAYAL provides a unique and unprecedented insight into this secret world and the reality that lies behind the fiction. It tells the story of how the secret service has changed since the end of World War II and by focusing on the people and the relationships that lie at the heart of espionage, revealing the danger, the drama, the intrigue, the moral ambiguities and the occasional comedy that comes with working for British intelligence. From the defining period of the early Cold War through to the modern day, MI6 has undergone a dramatic transformation from a gung-ho, amateurish organisation to its modern, no less controversial, incarnation. Gordon Corera reveals the triumphs and disasters along the way.The grand dramas of the Cold War and after - the rise and fall of the Berlin Wall, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the 11 September 2001 attacks and the Iraq war - are the backdrop for the human stories of the individual spies whose stories form the centrepiece of the narrative. But some of the individuals featured here, in turn, helped shape the course of those events. Corera draws on the first-hand accounts of those who have spied, lied and in some cases nearly died in service of the state. They range from the spymasters to the agents they ran to their sworn enemies. Many of these accounts are based on exclusive interviews and access. From Afghanistan to the Congo, from Moscow to the back streets of London, these are the voices of those who have worked on the front line of Britain's secret wars. And the truth is often more remarkable than the fiction.
£12.99
Orion Publishing Co Return to the Olive Farm
NOW A MAJOR NEW TV SERIES: CAROL DRINKWATER'S SECRET PROVENCELife and love, olive groves and bee hives in Provence - further adventures in the bestselling Olive Farm series from the author of THE FORGOTTEN SUMMER'Drinkwater is a rare writer who tackles other people brilliantly...Vibrant, intoxicating and heart-warming' SUNDAY EXPRESS'She writes so well you can almost smell the sun-baked countryside' BELLAAfter sixteen months of travelling round the Mediterranean in search of the ancient secrets of the olive tree, Carol returns to her beloved olive farm in the south of France, to her husband Michel and his burgeoning family. However, the homecoming celebrations are overshadowed by disturbing discoveries.The plight of the honey bee has become an international crisis and Carol is faced with unsettling news about the hives on her own olive farm.While the multinational companies are pushing for 'bigger, better, bumper' crops, a small band of farmers and ecologists are calling for a halt to many of the modern farming malpractices that are endangering the planet. Carol is amongst them. But it puts her own farm, her idyll, under threat. At what point do you turn your back on all that you believe in and all that you have been fighting for?This is the story of how Carol and Michel struggle with some difficult choices, and how they decide to deal with the unavoidable disappointments and inevitable responsibilities that come with running an organic farm.
£9.99
Orion Publishing Co Comfort To The Enemy
A trio of short stories featuring legendary lawman Carl Webster - star of THE HOT KID.1940s' Oklahoma. Germans in a stateside POW camp have murdered one of their own and US Marshal Carl Webster, back from a tour of duty in the Pacific, is called in to investigate. Among others, he comes across a Jewish gangster bent on revenge for the Holocaust; a rodeo bull rider turned lawman; and a former Nazi guard who is a persistent runaway.Befriending the escapee, Carl becomes embroiled in a tale of gangsters' molls, enemy lines, espionage, double-crossing and a lovers' wartime promise that could to more trouble than he ever imagined...
£9.67
Orion Publishing Co Ideas That Matter: A Personal Guide for the 21st Century
Leading philosopher's guide to the ideas that will shape the 21st century'Ideas are the cogs that drive history, and understanding them is half way to being aboard that powerful juggernaut rather than under its wheels'. This is a book that celebrates the power of ideas: thought can, and does, change the world. And, in turn, ideas evolve. Fundamentalism, environmentalism and bioethics are defining our future just as Marxism, feminism or existentialism have influenced our present. So what do we need to know as we move into the 21st century? More than a simple reference work, this is A.C. Grayling's personal and heartfelt guide to the ideas, past and present, that shape our world. Covering religion, philosophy, scientific theory and political movements, each alphabetically ordered entry illuminates, elucidates and provokes. Written with Grayling's customary fire and erudition, the result is a book that aims both to arm readers with knowledge and engage them in philosophical debate.
£12.99
Orion Publishing Co That's Another Story: The Autobiography
The number-one Sunday Times bestseller'Walters's book - also well written - has moments of Alan Bennett warmth' SUNDAY TIMES'This is a humorous and, at times, moving read from this much-loved actress' WOMAN AND HOME'I was enthralled by her memoirs ... a celebrity memoir which is actually worth reading as a work of literature' AN Wilson, READER'S DIGESTHer mum wanted her to be a nurse so that is what Julie did.But in her heart she had always wanted to be an actress and soon she was on stage at the local theatre in Liverpool. Her career snowballed with highlights that include Educating Rita, Billy Elliot, Harry Potter, Acorn Antiques, Dinner Ladies and Mamma Mia! She has been nominated for two Oscars, been awarded multiple BAFTAs and a Golden Globe, plus been honoured with a DBE. This is the heart-warming and funny story of that journey.
£12.99
Orion Publishing Co Get Shorty
'A masterpiece' Martin Amis 'The coolest, hottest writer in America' Chicago TribuneA major Hollywood film starring John Travolta, GET SHORTY has also been adapted for TV with Chris O'Dowd and Ray Romano.Miami loan shark Chili Palmer is ice-cool, whether he's retrieving stolen property or collecting money for the mob. Chasing a bad debt leads him to the bright lights of Hollywood - and to a true story that would make a great movie. Soon he's pitching to Harry Zimm, a B-grade horror flick producer trying to make a comeback. As the lure of Tinseltown's dream-makers and gorgeous wannabe starlets becomes increasingly hard to resist, Chili gets caught up in murder,revenge and romance. Will his killer movie ever get made, or will it just get him killed . . . ?'In Hollywood, home of movies, gorgeous women, players and fast operators - every move you make is a potential scene ... Nerve-shattering suspense, crackling dialogue and scathing wit from 'the hottest thriller writer in the US' Time Magazine'One of the most hilarious and cynical Hollywood revenge novels ever written' Playboy'Extremely funny, bursting with sustained passages of black comedy . . . a major American novel' Guardian
£9.99
Orion Publishing Co A History Of Scotland
The dramatic story of Scotland - by charismatic television historian, Neil Oliver.Scotland is one of the oldest countries in the world with a vivid and diverse past. Yet the stories and figures that dominate Scottish history - tales of failure, submission, thwarted ambition and tragedy - often badly serve this great nation, overshadowing the rich tapestry of her intricate past.Historian Neil Oliver presents a compelling new portrait of Scottish history, peppered with action, high drama and centuries of turbulence that have helped to shape modern Scotland. Along the way, he takes in iconic landmarks and historic architecture; debunks myths surrounding Scotland's famous sons; recalls forgotten battles; charts the growth of patriotism; and explores recent political developments, capturing Scotland's sense of identity and celebrating her place in the wider world.
£12.99
Orion Publishing Co The Coral Thief
A powerful and gripping historical thriller for fans of The Essex Serpernt and The Miniaturist. 'Original and evocative ... a mesmerising thriller' Daily Telegraph'Full of twists and turns' Scotsman'An enthralling exploration of revolutionary science in post-revolutionary France' Guardian'A book of penetrating humanity and a vivid evocation of Paris' Financial Times Paris, 1815. Daniel Connor, a young medical student from Edinburgh, has just arrived in Paris to study anatomy at the Jardin des Plantes - only to realise that his letters of introduction and a gift of precious coral specimens, on which his tenure depends, have been stolen by the beautiful woman with whom he shared a stagecoach.In the fervour and tumult of post revolutionary Paris, nothing is quite as it seems. In trying to recover his lost valuables, Daniel discovers that his beautiful adversary is in fact a philosopher-thief who lives in a shadowy world of outlaws and émigrés. As Daniel embark on a passionate love affair with the Coral Thief, he is drawn to join her salon of thieves to execute one last breathtakingly bold robbery...
£9.04
Orion Publishing Co Queens Consort: England's Medieval Queens
England from the perspective of its consort queens - a distaff history of the nation from 1066 to 1503.England's medieval queens were elemental in shaping the history of the nation. In an age where all politics were family politics, dynastic marriages placed English queens at the very centre of power - the king's bed. From Matilda of Flanders, the Conqueror's queen, to Elizabeth of York, the first Tudor consort, England's queens fashioned the nature of monarchy and influenced the direction of the state. Occupying a unique position in the mercurial, often violent world of medieval state-craft, English queens had to negotiate a role that combined tremendous influence with terrifying vulnerability.Lisa Hilton's meticulously researched new book explores the lives of the twenty women who were crowned queen between 1066 and 1503, reconsidering the fictions surrounding well-known figures like Eleanor of Aquitaine and illuminating the lives of forgotten figures such as Adeliza of Louvain. War, adultery, witchcraft, child abuse, murder - and occassionally even love - formed English queenship, but so too did patronage, learning and fashion. Lisa Hilton considers the evolution of the queenly office alongside intimate portraits of the individual women, dispelling the myth that medieval brides were no more than diplomatic pawns.
£12.99
Orion Publishing Co Heaven And Hell: My Life In The Eagles, 1974-2001
The Eagles wrote the soundtrack to the Seventies and Eighties - and even now their albums top the charts. But backstage, there were no peaceful, easy feelings...Don Felder was just a poor boy from Florida, but when he joined the Eagles he soared into the stratosphere. Alongside former bandmates Don Henley, Glenn Frey, Randy Meisner, and Felder's childhood friend Bernie Leadon, he sold tens of millions of records (Eagles: Their Greatest Hits: 1971-1975 is the bestselling album of all time), performed before countless adoring fans, and co-wrote the renowned hit 'Hotel California'. His guitar-playing ability lifted the band from mere popularity to iconic status. And now Don Felder finally breaks the Eagles' decades of public silence to take fans behind the scenes - where drugs, greed and endless acrimony threatened to tear the band apart almost daily."Maybe there was too much talent. Maybe the personalities clashed with the egos. Whatever the reason, there were always these explosive arguments going on while I sat silently in a corner. I never expected it to survive. Never once did I feel, 'Hey, I got it made. This thing's gonna last for years.'"Felder was wrong about that, but he was also right: the band split up in 1980, only to reunite for 1994's mega-selling 'Hell Freezes Over' album and tour. But tempers continued to flare, and in 2001, after 27 contentious years as an Eagle, Felder was summarily fired by the 'board of directors': Frey and Henley. Lawsuits and counter-suits followed. In 'Heaven and Hell', Felder takes us inside the pressurised recording studios, the trashed hotel rooms and the tension-filled courtrooms, where he, Frey, and Henley had their ultimate confrontation.
£12.99
Orion Publishing Co The Great Arab Conquests: How the Spread of Islam Changed the World We Live In
A popular history of the Arab invasions that carved out an empire from Spain to ChinaToday's Arab world was created at breathtaking speed. Whereas the Roman Empire took over 200 years to reach its fullest extent, the Arab armies overran the whole Middle East, North Africa and Spain within a generation. They annihilated the thousand-year-old Persian Empire and reduced the Byzantine Empire to little more than a city-state based around Constantinople. Within a hundred years of the Prophet's death, Muslim armies destroyed the Visigoth kingdom of Spain, and crossed the Pyrenees to occupy southern France. This is the first popular English language account of this astonishing remaking of the political and religious map of the world. Hugh Kennedy's sweeping narrative reveals how the Arab armies conquered almost everything in their path. One of the few academic historians with a genuine talent for story telling, he offers a compelling mix of larger-than-life characters, battles, treachery and the clash of civilizations.
£14.99
Orion Publishing Co Robert Peel: A Biography
Life of one of the greatest British Prime Ministers - by an author who knows the scene from his years as a senior Minister in Margaret Thatcher's Cabinet.Robert Peel, as much as any man in the nineteenth century, transformed Great Britain into a modern nation. He invented our police force, which became a model for the world. He steered through the Bill which allowed Catholics to sit in Parliament. He reorganised the criminal justice system. Above all he tackled poverty by repealing the Corn Laws. Thanks to Peel the most powerful trading nation chose free trade and opened the door for our globalised world of today.Peel was not all politics. He built two great houses, filled them with famous pictures and was devoted to a beautiful wife. Many followers never forgave him for splitting his Party. But when in 1850 he was carried home after a fall from his horse crowds gathered outside, mainly of working people, to read the medical bulletins. When he died a few days later, factories closed, flags flew at half mast and thousands contributed small sums to memorials in his honour. He was the man who provided cheap bread and sacrificed his career for the welfare of ordinary people.
£14.99
Orion Publishing Co Up In Honey's Room
'America's greatest crime writer' (Newsweek) brings his genius for characterisation, his rich ear for dialogue, and his piercing psychological insight to a gripping story set in an era he's never before explored: the years of the Second World War.The odd thing about Walter Schoen is he's a dead ringer for Heinrich Himmler. Walter is a member of a spy ring that sends US war production data to Germany and gives shelter to escaped German prisoners of war. Honey Deal, Walter's American wife, has given up trying to make him over as a regular guy. She decides it's time to stop telling him jokes he doesn't understand and get a divorce.Along comes Carl Webster, the Hot Kid of the Marshals Service, looking for an escaped POW. Carl uses Honey to meet Walter, who Carl believes is hiding the POW. Honey's a free spirit; she likes the hot kid marshal and doesn't care much that he's married. But all Carl wants is to do his job without getting shot...
£9.99
Orion Publishing Co The Indian Mutiny
An epic true story of treachery, revenge and courageThe Indian Mutiny is a real page-turner, an epic story with surprising modern parallels. Fomer army officer-turned-TV scriptwriter, Julian Spilsbury is the ideal author to take us back to the desperate summer of 1857 when thousands of Indian soldiers mutinied. They murdered their officers, hunted down the women and children and burned and slaughtered their way to Delhi. The tiny British garrison at Lucknow held out against all odds; the one at Cawnpore surrendered only to be betrayed and massacred.Modern Indian accounts call this 'the first war of liberation', but as Julian Spilsbury reveals, 80 per cent of the so-called 'British' forces were from the sub-continent. Sikhs, Gurkhas and Afghans fought alongside small numbers of British soldiers. Together, they faced terrible odds and won. In the process they created a new army that would play a vital role in the Allied forces in both World Wars. Julian Spilsbury weaves the story together from some of the most vivid eyewitness accounts ever written. From the women and children hiding from blood-crazed mobs, to the epic battles that decided the campaign, to the grisly revenge exacted by the British forces, this is a gripping recreation of the greatest crisis of Empire.
£9.04
Orion Publishing Co Special Assignments: Erast Fandorin 5
Boris Akunin's well-loved, inimitable hero faces two very different adversaries: one, a deft, comedic swindler and master of disguise, whose machinations send ripples spreading through the carefully maintained calm of Moscow in 1886. The other is a brutal serial killer, driven by an insane, maniacal obsession, who strikes terror into the heart of the Moscow slums in 1889 - and who may have more in common with London's own Jack the Ripper than simply a taste for women of easy virtue.
£9.99
Orion Publishing Co Edward VI: The Lost King of England
The struggle for the soul of England after the death of Henry VIIIIn the death of Henry VIII, the crown passed to his nine-year-old son, Edward. However, real power went to the Protector, Edward's uncle, the Duke of Somerset. The court had been a hotbed of intrigue since the last days of Henry VIII. Without an adult monarch, the stakes were even higher. The first challenger was the duke's own brother: he seduced Henry VIII's former queen, Katherine Parr; having married her, he pursued Princess Elizabeth and later was accused of trying to kidnap the boy king at gunpoint. He was beheaded. Somerset ultimately met the same fate, after a coup d'etat organized by the Duke of Warwick. Chris Skidmore reveals how the countrywide rebellions of 1549 were orchestrated by the plotters at court and were all connected to the (literally) burning issue of religion: Henry VIII had left England in religious limbo. Court intrigue, deceit and treason very nearly plunged the country into civil war. Edward was a precocious child, as his letters in French and Latin demonstrate. He kept a secret diary, written partly in Greek, which few of his courtiers could read. In 1551, at the age of 14, he took part in his first jousting tournament, an essential demonstration of physical prowess in a very physical age. Within a year it is his signature we find at the bottom of the Council minutes, yet in early 1553 he contracted a chest infection and later died, rumours circulating that he might have been poisoned. Mary, Edward's eldest sister, and devoted Catholic, was proclaimed Queen. This is more than just a story of bloodthirsty power struggles, but how the Church moved so far along Protestant lines that Mary would be unable to turn the clock back. It is also the story of a boy born to absolute power, whose own writings and letters offer a compelling picture of a life full of promise, but tragically cut short.
£10.99
Orion Publishing Co Pagan Babies
A vintage roller-coaster ride from 'the hottest thriller writer in the US' [Time]Father Terry Dunn thought he'd seen everything on the mean streets of Detroit, but that was before he went on a little retreat to Rwanda to evade a tax-fraud indictment. Now the whiskey-drinking, Nine Inch Nails T-shirt-wearing padre is back trying to hustle up a score to help the orphans of Rwanda. But the fund-raising gets complicated when a former tattletale cohort pops up on Terry's tail. And then there's the lovely Debbie Dewey. A freshly sprung ex-con turned stand-up comic, Debbie needs some fast cash, too, to settle an old score. Now they're in together for a bigger payoff than either could finagle alone. After all, it makes sense . . . unless Father Terry is working a con of his own.
£9.99
Orion Publishing Co Pegasus Descending
A superb Dave Robicheaux mystery from the multi award-winning crime writer.Dave Robicheaux left his drinking days behind him many years ago, but he still feels guilt over a tragic event he wasn't sober enough to prevent. Dallas Klein, a gambling addict and bar buddy of Dave's when Dave was posted to Miami PD, was killed in an armed robbery he'd been forced to engineer. Two decades later, several incidents in Dave's life in Iberia Parish link to those involved. First he meets Dallas' daughter, Trish, who keeps odd company and is blackballed by the local casinos. Then the supposed suicide of a young girl appears to be connected to the man Dallas owed money to back in the Miami days. Dave's inability to let things alone gets him involved with two very powerful criminals, both wanting to protect their sons from the trouble they court, and both with the attitude of the privileged and white. When a young black drug dealer gets on the wrong side of the boys, tensions run high and there are more needless deaths - causing Dave to come to blows with the FBI, the DA's office and a thug who has little regard for any life but his own.Praise for one of the great American crime writers, James Lee Burke:'James Lee Burke is the heavyweight champ, a great American novelist whose work, taken individually or as a whole, is unsurpassed.' Michael Connelly'A gorgeous prose stylist.' Stephen King'Richly deserves to be described now as one of the finest crime writers America has ever produced.' Daily MailFans of Dennis Lehane, Michael Connelly and Don Winslow will love James Lee Burke: Dave Robicheaux Series1. The Neon Rain 2. Heaven's Prisoners 3. Black Cherry Blues 4. A Morning for Flamingos 5. A Stained White Radiance 6. In the Electric Mist with Confederate Dead 7. Dixie City Jam 8. Burning Angel 9. Cadillac Jukebox 10. Sunset Limited 11. Purple Cane Road 12. Jolie Blon's Bounce 13. Last Car to Elysian Fields 14. Crusader's Cross 15. Pegasus Descending 16. The Tin Roof Blowdown 17. Swan Peak 18. The Glass Rainbow 19. Creole Belle 20. Light of the World 21. Robicheaux Hackberry Holland Series1. Lay Down My Sword and Shield 2. Rain Gods 3. Feast Day of Fools 4. House of the Rising SunBilly Bob Holland Series1. Cimarron Rose 2. Heartwood 3. Bitterroot 4. In The Moon of Red Ponies * Each James Lee Burke novel can be read as a standalone or in series order *
£9.99
Orion Publishing Co Mr Majestyk
The New York Times bestselling author of Be Cool and Get ShortyKiller man Vincent Majestyk had his belly-full of killing in Asia. It was his job and he was one of the best, but when he stripped off his uniform he never wanted to go back to it. Now he works under the open skies of the American Southwest, growing melons on his farm, where nobody knows about his past. And that was why a cheap crook named Kopas, a hard-nosed cop named McAllen, and a big-time, high-priced hit man named Renda all figured Majestyk was another local yokel to be pushed around. Majestyk was about to go to war again...
£9.99
Orion Publishing Co Dancing into Battle: A Social History of the Battle of Waterloo
The social backdrop, vividly described, to one of the greatest battles in European history, Waterloo 1815The summer of 1815 saw the final and desperate efforts of European powers to usurp Napoleon's reign over France. The pivotal moment was unfolding in an age where war was a social occasion; the military urgency was matched only by the soldiers and their wives' frantic efforts to keep apace of the lavish balls which were being thrown. The intention to deny war with frivolity persevered until 15 June, when the tension broke, and troops exchanged dance partners for weapons and prepared for battle. Nick Foulkes captures the sense of what it was like to be at the very hub of events when the fate of Europe seemed to hang in the balance.
£9.99
Orion Publishing Co Cochineal Red: Travels Through Ancient Peru
Imagine that all the great discoveries of Ancient Egypt had happened in the last few years...and you will have some conception of the great excitement over recent finds in PeruPeru wears its ancient cultures wrapped around in layers, like one of the mummified bodies so well preserved by the nitrates of its deserts. After his acclaimed book on the Incas, The White Rock, Hugh Thomson unwraps those layers to show how civilisation emerged so early and so spectacularly in this toughest and most arid of terrains.Many of the extraordinary cultures of Ancient Peru, from the lines of Nasca to the temple-cult of Chavín, buried in the mountains, and the great pyramids of the coast, have only started to give up their secrets and antiquity in just the last few years. Hugh Thomson has been at the forefront of some of these discoveries himself, having made headlines with his work near Machu Picchu. Now he takes the reader on a journey back from the world of the Incas to the first dawn of Andean civilisation, to give an immensely personal and accessible guide to the wonders that have been revealed.
£10.99
Orion Publishing Co Pelagia and the White Bulldog: The First Sister Pelagia Mystery
Canine conspiracies, spurned lovers, murderous greed, jealousy, politics, power and knitting: Pelagia and the White Bulldog marks the beginning of an addictively entertaining new crime series from the internationally bestselling author, Boris Akunin.In the dying days of the nineteenth century, the small Russian town of Zavolzhsk is shaken out of its sleepy rural existence by the arrival from St Petersburg of a Synodical Inspector with a hidden agenda and a dangerously persuasive manner. Meanwhile, in the nearby country estate of Drozdovka, one of the prized white Bulldogs - prized because of its one brown ear, and its propensity to drool - belonging to the cantankerous lady of the house has been poisoned. The old widow has taken to her bed, sick with fear that her two remaining dogs may face a similar fate, and the many potential beneficiaries of her will wait fretfully to see whether or not she will recover.Sister Pelagia: bespectacled, freckled, woefully clumsy and astonishingly resourceful is summoned by the Bishop of Zavolzhsk to investigate the bulldog's death. But her investigation soon takes a far more sinister turn when two headless bodies are pulled out of the river on the edge of the estate.
£9.99
Orion Publishing Co Caesar
The story of one of the most brilliant, flamboyant and historically important men who ever lived.'A superb achievement' LITERARY REVIEW'Combines scholarship with storytelling to bring the ancient world to life: in his masterly new CAESAR he shows us the greatest Roman as man, statesman, soldier and lover' Simon Sebag Montefiore'Magnificent' DAILY TELEGRAPHFrom the very beginning, Caesar's story makes dazzling reading. In his late teens he narrowly avoided execution for opposing the military dictator Sulla. He was decorated for valour in battle, captured and held to ransom by pirates, and almost bankrupted himself by staging games for the masses. As a politician, he quickly gained a reputation as a dangerously ambitious maverick. By his early 30s he had risen to the position of Consul, and was already beginning to dominate the Senate. His affairs with noblewomen were both frequent and scandalous.His greatest skill, outside the bedroom, was as a military commander. In a string of spectacular victories he conquered all of Gaul, invaded Germany, and twice landed in Britain - an achievement which in 55BC was greeted with a public euphoria comparable to that generated by the moon landing in 1969. In just thirty years he had risen from a position of virtual obscurity to become one of the richest men in the world, with the power single-handedly to overthrow the Republic. By his death he was effectively emperor of most of the known world.
£16.99
Orion Publishing Co The Switch
Ordell Robbie and Louis Gara have lots in common - time in the same gaol, convictions for auto theft, and a grand plan. They're going to snatch the wife of a Detroit developer and collect some easy ransom money. At least that's what they think...What they haven't figured on is the fact that the husband has a secret mistress and has absolutely no desire to get his wife back. So now it's time for Plan B. With the help of one seriously ticked-off housewife they are going to take the scumbag for everything he's got...THE SWITCH has been adapted for the big screen as LIFE OF CRIME, starring Jennifer Aniston, Tim Robbins and Isla Fisher.
£9.99