Search results for ""transworld""

Before the Malazan Empire, there was a time that set the stage for all those tales yet to be told . . . The winter is bitter. Civil war threatens Kurald Galain for the warrior Urusander’s army has begun its march on the city of Kharkanas. Led by the ruthless Hunn Raal, it intends to cast aside Mother Dark’s consort, Draconus, and set Urusander himself on the throne beside the Living Goddess. Those who would stand in the way of the rebels lie scattered and weakened – leaderless since Anomander went in search of an estranged brother. In his stead, Silchas Ruin resolves to gather the Houseblades of the Highborn families to him, and to resurrect the legendary Hust Legion, but time is not on his side. Far to the west, an unlikely army musters. It seeks an enemy without form, in a place none can find. And yet Hood’s call has been heard and the long-abandoned city of Omtose Phellack is now home to a rabble of new arrivals: Dog-Runners from the south, Jheck warriors, and blue-skinned strangers from across the Western Sea have come to offer Hood their swords. From the distant mountains and isolated valleys of the North, Thel Akai arrive to pledge themselves in this seemingly impossible war. Soon, they will set forth with weapons drawn under the banners of the living in pursuit of Death itself. Such events presage chaos, and now magic bleeds into this realm. Unconstrained, mysterious and savage, it begins to run loose and wild and following its scent, seeking the places of wounding and hurt – new and ancient entities gather.In a world becoming rotten with sorcery, can honour truly exist?

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From the pen of million copy seller Ian C Esslemont comes this breath-taking, thrilling and captivating epic fantasy - a must read for fans of Steven Erikson, David Gemmell and Brandon Sanderson."Everything you expect of a Malazan story, being both epic and relevant... nail-biting and anything but obvious" - SFFWORLD"The Malazan franchise is fighting fit in the hands of its co-creator" - SFX"A true Malazan tale to sink your teeth into" -- ***** Reader review"Fast paced, truly involving, with characters who are not just realistic but who also seem to draw out the reader's empathy." -- ***** Reader review"Complex and engaging" -- ***** Reader review******************************************************************************The return of the Crimson Guard could not have come at a worse time for an empire exhausted by warfare and weakened by betrayals and rivalries.Into the seething cauldron of Quon Tali - the Malazan Empire's heartland - they march, and with their return comes the memory of their vow: undying opposition to the Empire. Yet, elements within the Guard's élite, the Avowed, have set their sights on far greater power.As the Guard prepare to wage war, the Empress Laseen's generals and mages grow impatient at what they perceive as her mismanagement of the Empire.Is she losing her grip on power or has she outwitted them all? Could she be using the uprisings to draw out and finally eliminate the last irksome survivors from the days of Kellanved, her illustrious predecessor?

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'A fascinating, swaggeringly confident performance' Sunday TimesWhen you're as big and rough as Jack Reacher - and you have a badly set, freshly busted nose - it isn't easy to hitch a ride in Nebraska. At last, he's picked up by three strangers - two men and a woman.Within minutes it becomes clear they're all lying about everything - and there's a police roadblock ahead. There has been an incident, and the cops are looking for the bad guys . . .Will they get through because the three are innocent? Or because the three are now four? Is Reacher just a decoy?_________Although the Jack Reacher novels can be read in any order, A Wanted Man follows on directly from the end of Worth Dying For.And be sure not to miss Reacher's newest adventure, no.27, No Plan B! ***OUT NOW***

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Now is the time to tell the story of an ancient realm, a tragic tale that sets the stage for all the tales yet to come and all those already told...It's a conflicted time in Kurald Galain, the realm of Darkness, where Mother Dark reigns. But this ancient land was once home to many a power… and even death is not quite eternal. The commoners' great hero, Vatha Urusander, is being promoted by his followers to take Mother Dark's hand in marriage, but her Consort, Lord Draconus, stands in the way of such ambitions. The impending clash sends fissures throughout the realm, and as the rumors of civil war burn through the masses, an ancient power emerges from the long dead seas. Caught in the middle of it all are the First Sons of Darkness, Anomander, Andarist, and Silchas Ruin of the Purake Hold...Steven Erikson entered the pantheon of great fantasy writers with his debut Gardens of the Moon. Now he returns with the first novel in a trilogy that takes place millennia before the events of the Malazan Book of the Fallen and introduces readers to Kurald Galain, the warren of Darkness. It is the epic story of a realm whose fate plays a crucial role in shaping the world of the Malazan Empire.

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Portugal 1826Newly returned from India, Matthew Hervey joins a party of officers sent to lend support to the Portugese regent. But the Peninsula is a place redolent with memories. For it was here as a seventeen-year-old cornet that Hervey had his first taste of military action. The French had forced the British army into ignominious retreat until, under the leadership of Sir John Moore, they made a defiant stand at Corunna.As he prepares for battle once more, Hervey finds himself confronting ghosts from his past ...'Captain Matthew Hervey is as splendid a hero as ever sprang from an author's pen.' The Times

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'It's the end of the 1916 winter and the conditions are almost unbelievable. We live in a world of Somme mud. We sleep in it, work in it, fight in it, wade in it and many of us die in it. We see it, feel it, eat it and curse it, but we can't escape it, not even by dying...'Edward Lynch enlisted when he was just 18 - one of thousands of fresh-faced men who were proudly waved off by the crowds as they embarked for France. It was 1916 and the majority had no idea of the reality of the Somme trenches, of the traumatised soldiers they would encounter there, of the innumerable, awful contradictions of war. Private Lynch was one of those who survived, and on his return home, wrote Somme Mud in pencil in over 20 school exercise books, perhaps in the hope of coming to terms with all that he had witnessed there? Written from the perspective of an ordinary 'Tommy' and told with dignity, candour and surprising wit, Somme Mud is a testament to the human spirit: for out of the mud that threatened to suck out a man's soul rises a compelling story of humanity and friendship. For all who are marking the centenary of the Great War, it is a rare and precious find.

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When wisecracking detectives Patrick Kenzie and Angie Gennaro agree to protect the son of a prominent psychiatrist who believes she may have angered the Boston Irish Mafia, they soon find bodies are piling up around them - seemingly unconnected with their case. And what's more all the clues point to an unlikely suspect - a serial killer who has been in prison for twenty years, so he can't be killing again, can he?As Angie and Patrick try to find out what kind of human being could perform such horrifying acts of rape, mutilation, torture and dismemberment, they discover that the killer's motive is disturbingly rooted in their own distant past. In a series of heart-stopping climaxes that grow ever more terrifying and bloody, the two work frantically with the Boston cops, the FBI, the local Mafia, and the folks from their old neighbourhood to unearth the killer before they become victims themselves.

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'Wonderfully atmospheric, fast-paced and intelligent' GUARDIANTwelfth-century anatomist Adelia Aguilar must once again examine the dead as gruesome events are beginning to unfold...Henry II's favourite mistress, Rosamund Clifford, has been poisoned - and, rumour says, by his jealous wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine. If Henry believes the stories, England will be torn apart as King battles Queen.In a race against time to prove Eleanor's innocence, and with a dangerous assassin on the loose, Adelia has never faced greater danger. The armies that might cause civil war lie behind her. The icy winds of a dreadful winter blow around her. And ahead she must brave the thorns of the impenetrable labyrinth that surrounds Fair Rosamund's tower, and decipher the mystery of the dead woman who lies frozen within.'Highly entertaining . . . Franklin is an adept storyteller who disseminates her research into the period with clarity and lightness of touch' THE TIMES________Readers are gripped by The Death Maze:'The pace of the narrative kept the candle burning in a page turning frenzy!' *****'A brilliant, feisty female lead, highlighting the perils for women in medieval times.' *****'The author conjures up the lives and customs of the middle ages . . . an utter joy to read.' *****

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The author of the international bestsellers Anatomy of the Spirit and Why People Don't Heal and How they Can presents an exciting, highly original programme in this fascinating book. As a medical intuitive, Myss has found that people generally don't understand their purpose in life, which has led to a spiritual malaise of epidemic proportions. This metaphysical disease in turn leads to depression, anxiety, fatigue and eventually, physical illness. But our purpose - our individual Sacred Contract - is often difficult to comprehend. Caroline Myss has developed an enjoyable and ingenious process for deciphering your own Contract that builds on the works of Jung, Plato and contemporary thinkers. With her signature motivational style, Myss explains how you can identify your own spiritual energies, or archetypes, and use them to help you find out what you are here on earth to learn and whom you are meant to meet. In coming to know your archetypal companions, you will also begin to see how to live your life in ways that make the best use of your personal power and lead you to fulfil your greatest - in fact, your divine - potential.

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Christopher Fowler's memoir captures life in suburban London as it has rarely been seen: through the eyes of a lonely boy who spends his days between the library and the cinema, devouring novels, comics, cereal packets - anything that might reveal a story. Caught between an ever-sensible but exhausted mother and a DIY-obsessed father fighting his own demons, Christopher takes refuge in words. His parents try to understand their son's peculiar obsessions, but fast lose patience with him - and each other. The war of nerves escalates to include every member of the Fowler family, and something has to give, but does it mean that a boy must always give up his dreams for the tough lessons of real life? Beautifully written, this rich and astute evocation of a time and a place recalls a childhood at once entertainingly eccentric and endearingly ordinary.

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An unputdownable and incredibly evocative military novel full of thrilling battle scenes and flesh and blood characters from Steven Pressfield, author of The Sunday Times Bestseller Gates of Fire. "A terrific read...this is historical fiction at its very best." -- JAMES HOLLAND"A splendid tour-de-force...it should not be missed" -- WASHINGTON POST"Both a captivating history lesson and rousing guts-n-glory saga" -- ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY"Compelling...the narrative is a page turner" -- ***** Reader review"Mr Pressfield is a true craftsman in the best possible way. You LIVE the story while he is telling it" -- ***** Reader review"Simply a brilliant read" -- ***** Reader review****************************************************NORTH AFRICA, 1942. AN ELITE BRITISH ARMY UNIT IS ON A DEADLY MISSION. Autumn, 1942: Hitler's legions have swept across Europe. Soviet Russia reels under the German onslaught while across the channel, Britain struggles on.And in North Africa, Field Marshall Erwin Rommel and his Afrika Korps have routed the 8th Army, threatening the oil fields of the Middle East. The war hangs in the balance...Out of this, the British hatch a desperate plan - to send a small, highly mobile fighting force behind enemy lines to strike a blow that will stop Rommel's army in its tracks. It is to be called the Long Range Desert Group and its exploits will become the stuff of legend.Based on real events, Steven Pressfield's bold novel brings to pulse-racing life the ingenuity and daring of this maverick commando unit - a disparate, dedicated 'band of brothers' who sacrificed so much for the sake of freedom...

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The penultimate book in the acclaimed Malazan Book of the Fallen fantasy seriesOn the Letherii continent the exiled Malazan army commanded by Adjunct Tavore begins its march into the eastern Wastelands, to fight for an unknown cause against an enemy it has never seen. The fate awaiting the Bonehunters is one no soldier can prepare for, and one no mortal soul can withstand - the foe is uncertainty and the only weapon worth wielding is stubborn courage. In war everyone loses, and this brutal truth can be found in the eyes of every soldier in every world.Destinies are never simple. Truths are neither clear nor sharp. The Tales of the Malazan Book of the Fallen are drawing to a close in a distant place, beneath indifferent skies, as the last great army of the Malazan Empire seeks a final battle in the name of redemption. Final questions remain to be answered: can one's deeds be heroic when no one is there to see it? Can that which is unwitnessed forever change the world? The answers await the Bonehunters, beyond the Wastelands...Archaeologist and anthropologist Steven Erikson's debut fantasy novel, Gardens of the Moon, was shortlisted for the World Fantasy Award and introduced fantasy readers to his epic 'The Malazan Book of the Fallen' sequence, which has been hailed 'a masterwork of the imagination'. This River Awakens was hist first novel, and originally published under the name Steve Lundin. Having lived in Cornwall for a number of years, Steve will be returning to Canada in late summer 2012. To find out more, visit www.malazanempire.com and www.stevenerikson.com

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Continuing Frances Mayes's account of her love affair with Italy, Bella Tuscany presents the author now truly at home there, meeting the challenges of learning a new language and touring regions outside Tuscany, including castle towns, fishing villages, and islands. With fresh adventures and updates on the characters introduced in Under the Tuscan Sun, Mayes also explores new themes in this wondrous corner of the world, delving into gardening, wine-making, and the experience of primavera - a season of renewed possibility. And Mayes reveals more simple pleasures from her Tuscan kitchen in a section devoted to recipes. In the sensuous, vivid prose that has become her hallmark, Bella Tuscany celebrates Mayes's deepening connection to the land and her flourishing friendships in a newfound haven of idyllic living.

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This incredibly atmospheric and action - packed epic fantasy from million copy seller Ian C Esslemont is a must read for fans of Steven Erikson, David Gemmell and Brandon Sanderson."Visceral power...telling a story set largely over just one terrifying night, it pulverises you with an economy that is rare in fantasy" - SFX"Fast paced storytelling...an enjoyable balance" - SFFworld"A pleasing...entertaining romp" - DeathRay"Absolutely outstanding" -- ***** Reader review"Fast paced and a compelling read" -- ***** Reader review"Brilliant. Couldn't put it down" -- ***** Reader review*******************************************************THE ONE NIGHT THAT WILL CHANGE THINGS FOREVERMalaz gave a great empire its name, but now this island and its city amount to little more than a sleepy backwater.Until this night.Because this night there is to be a convergence, the once-in-a-generation appearance of a Shadow Moon - an occasion that threatens the good people of Malaz with demon hounds and other, darker things.It is also prophesied that the Emperor Kellanved will return this night, and there are many who would prevent that happening at any cost. As factions within the Empire draw up battle lines, an ancient presence begins its all-out assault upon the island. Witnesses to these cataclysmic events include a thief called Kiska, and Temper, a war-weary veteran.Although they do not know it, they each have a part to play in a confrontation that will determine not only the fate of Malaz City but also of the world beyond...

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'It is Arbella they would proclaim Queen if her mistress should happen to die' Sir William Stanley, 1592Niece to Mary, Queen of Scots, granddaughter to the great Tudor dynast Bess of Hardwick, Lady Arbella Stuart was brought up in the belief that she would inherit Elizabeth I's throne. Her very conception was dramatic: the result of an unsanctioned alliance that brought down the wrath of the authorities. Raised in restricted isolation at Hardwick, in the care - the 'custody' - of the forceful Bess, Arbella was twenty-seven before, in 1603, she made her own flamboyant bid for liberty. She may also have been making a bid for the throne. If so, she failed. But the accession of her cousin James thrust her into the colourful world of his court, and briefly gave her the independence she craved at the heart of Jacobean society.Then, aged thirty-five, Arbella risked everything to make her own forbidden marriage. An escape in disguise, a wild flight abroad and capture at sea led, in the end, to an agonizing death in the Tower in 1615. Along with the rumours about her sanity, her story influenced even Webster's The Duchess of Malfi. Yet perhaps nothing in her tale is as striking as the degree to which a woman so widely discussed in her own day has been written out of history. Nothing as remarkable as the almost modern freedom with which, in a series of extraordinary letters, Arbella Stuart revealed her own passionate and curiously accessible personality. Drawing on a wide variety of contemporary sources, Sarah Gristwood has painted a powerful and vivid portrait of a woman forced to carve a precarious path through the turbulent years when the Tudor gave way to the Stuart dynasty. But more remarkable still, the turmoils of Arbella's life never prevented her from claiming the right to love freely, to speak her wrongs loudly - and to control her own destiny.

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In 1735 a team of French scientists set out on a daring expedition into the South American wilderness to resolve one of the great scientific challenges of the time: the precise size and shape of the Earth. Scaling the Andes and journeying along the Amazon, the mapmakers faced all manner of danger, while madness, disease and violent death each took their toll. However one, Jean Godin, fell in love with a local girl called Isabel Grameson. When the time came for the expedition to return to France, Godin travelled ahead to ensure the way was safe for his new family. But on reaching French Guiana, disaster struck: Spain and Portugal closed their borders and he was stranded, unable to return to Isabel. What followed lies at the core of this extraordinary tale - a heartbreaking 20-year separation that ended when Isabel, believing she might never see her husband again, decided to make her own way across the continent: a journey that began in hope but became hell on earth...Drawing on his own experience retracing Isabel's epic trek as well as contemporary records, Robert Whitaker recounts a captivating true story of love and survival set against the backdrop of what many still regard as 'the greatest expedition the world has ever known'.

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Steven Pressfield, author of the Sunday Times bestseller Gates of Fire, brings us an intimate and revealing portrayal of Alexander the Great: legendary hero and leader of men. "A cracking, fast-paced contemporary retelling of the legend that is Alexander" - MANDA SCOTT"An all conqueringly glamorous an account as Alexander himself" -- SIMON SEBAG MONTEFIORE"Deeply researched, dashingly written...this is a terrific performance" -- INDEPENDENT"Nothing short of an excellent read" - ***** Reader review"This was simply beautiful, 100% recommended, there was a literal lump in my throat when I came to the end, absolutely glorious." -- ***** Reader review****************************************************************EVERYTHING IS THERE FOR THE TAKINGHe ascended to the throne of Macedon at the age of nineteen.He conquered the seemingly invincible Persian Empire before he was twenty-five.He died at the age of thirty-two, undefeated by any enemy.His reputation as a warrior and leader of men remains unsurpassed in the annals of history. We remember him as Alexander the Great...Epic in scope and magisterial in tone, Steven Pressfield's breathtaking novel tells the story of this legendary colossus of the ancient world who was driven - and ultimately undone - by his insatiable lust for glory.

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The name Attila the Hun has become a byword for barbarism, savagery and violence. His is a truly household name, but what do we really know about the man himself, his position in history and the world in which he lived? This riveting biography reveals the man behind the myth.In the years 434-454AD the fate of Europe hung upon the actions of one man, Attila, king of the Huns. The decaying Roman empire still stood astride the Western World, from its twin capitals of Rome and Constantinople, but it was threatened by a new force, the much-feared Barbarian hordes. It was Attila who united the Barbarian tribes into a single, amazingly-effective army. He launched two violent attacks against the eastern and western halves of the Roman empire, attacks which earned him his reputation for mindless devastation, and brought an end to Rome's pre-eminence in Europe.Attila was coarse, capricious, arrogant, ruthless and brilliant. An illiterate and predatory tribal chief, he had no interest in administration, but was a wily politician, who, from his base in the grasslands of Hungary, used secretaries and ambassadors to bring him intelligence on his enemies. He was a leader whose unique qualities made him supreme among tribal leaders, but whose weaknesses ensured the collapse of his empire after his death.

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A revised edition the perennial international bestseller that has helped millions achieve physical and mental healing, rejuvenation and balance from Deepak Chopra, the undisputed master of modern spirituality.'A brilliant and exhilarating book' -- Sunday Telegraph'I could not put this book down, beautifully and clearly written' -- ***** Reader review'Inspirational' -- ***** Reader review'Deepak is the ultimate guru' -- ***** Reader review'Absolutely love this book!' -- ***** Reader review************************************************************************************Instead of considering it as something solid, Chopra sees the body as interweaving systems of energies that are constantly being consumed and renewed - the balance of these energies determines the mind-body type. Combining ancient Ayurvedic healing practices with modern Western medicine, this unique book offers a step-by-step program of mind - body medicine that can be tailored to the individual's needs, based on the individual's mind-body type.A comprehensive guide, explaining the various body types, Perfect Health explains how we can heal the mind and reduce stress via meditation, healing sounds, music and aromatherapy and how we can nurture the body by optimising diet and exercise.Originally published in 1990, this revised edition - complete with questionnaires and the latest scientific and medical research studies - is destined to appeal to the millions of Chopra devotees around the world and all those in search of balance, harmony and perfect health.

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From THE SUNDAY TIMES bestselling author Manda Scott, this is the final, heart-rending instalment of the magnificent retelling of the life of Britain's great warrior queen."Fast-moving action, spine-tingling battles. Wonderful" -- KATE MOSSE"The tragic warrior queen, Boudica, is brilliantly realised. Her battles against Rome - the superpower of its day - are both heart-rending and magnificent" -- DAVID GEMMEL"I can't find a word to describe these books they are just completely.....amazing" -- ***** Reader review"Amazing writing, spell-binding, transporting..." -- ***** Reader review"A world I didn't want to part with" -- ***** Reader review"The whole series is absolutely brilliant - could not put them down" -- ***** Reader review*************************************************************************************BRITIAN HAS PRODUCED MANY FIERCE, NOBLE WARRIORS DOWN THE AGES WHO HAVE FOUGHT TO KEEP BRITAIN FREE, BUT THERE WAS ONE FORMIDABLE LADY IN HISTORY WHOSE NAME WILL NEVER BE FORGOTTEN...AD 60: The flame of rebellion that has been smouldering for twenty years of Roman occupation has flared into a conflagration that will consume the land and all who live in it. There is no going back. The Boudica has been flogged and her daughters raped, and her son has burned a Roman watchtower in an act of blatant insurgency. This is the time to act: the Roman governor has marched his legions west to destroy the druidic stronghold of Mona, leaving his capital and a vital port hopelessly undefended. But to crush the legions for all time, Boudica must do more than lead her army in the greatest rebellion Britain has ever known. She must find healing for herself, for the land - and for Graine, her eight-year-old daughter, who has taken refuge on Mona. Is revenge worth it under any circumstances, or is the cost more than anyone can bear? Colchester is burning and London is lost without hope. Amidst fire and bloody revolution, the Boudica and those around her must find what matters most, now and forever.

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AS SEEN ON TIKTOK: The Book of Answers holds the solution you've been looking for.Ask a yes or no question, open the book and find your answer...Is my partner the one?Should I travel this weekend?Should I ask my boss for a pay rise?The perfect gift for those looking for new perspectives and enlightenment...or simply (spookily accurate) fun!HOW TO USE THE BOOK OF ANSWERS:1. Simply hold the closed book in your hands and take ten to fifteen seconds to concentrate on your question.2. Whilst visualising or saying your question out loud, place one palm on the book's front cover and stroke the edge of the pages back to front.3. When you sense the time is right, open to the page your fingers land on and there is your answer!Beautifully packaged with over 700 guiding insights, The Book of Answers is a brilliant and original gift.*****************************************************************************What people are saying about The Book of Answers'I don't know how I had gotten through life until this book showed up one day, courtesy of a friend' - ***** Reader review'I am so in love with mine!' - ***** Reader review'FUN FUN FUN....' - ***** Reader review

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Another riveting Matthew Hervey adventure from the Sunday Times bestselling author Allan Mallinson, combining hero, history and drama to perfection. If you like Patrick O'Brian and Sharpe, you'll love this!"A marvellous read, paced like a well-balanced symphony ... This is more than a ripping yarn..." - The Times"This is an engaging work...The attention to detail is admirable" -- Daily Express"I strongly recommend this book (and the series) to any lover of this genre. FIVE STARS" - ***** Reader review. *************************************************************************1816: Fresh from the field at Waterloo, and leaving behind his fiancée Lady Henrietta Lindsey, Matthew Hervey is dispatched to India on a secret mission. The state of Chintal is threatened by both intrigue from within and military might from without. Hervey finds he is once more destined for the battlefield.In a land at once alien, exotic and beguiling, Matthew Hervey's mettle will be tested to the limit...Have you read A Close Run Thing - the first Matthew Hervey adventure? The Nizam's Daughters is the second book in Allan Mallinson's Matthew Hervey series. His adventures continue in A Regimental Affair.

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James Redfield's The Celestine Prophecy is an extraordinary, life-changing book. Perhaps you, like millions of readers, have discovered in its pages a new vision of coincidences in your own life, the energies involved in communicating with others, and the purposes behind human history.Now, this companion handbook to that inspiring work helps you intensify and expand the exciting knowledge contained in each of the nine insights of The Celestine Prophecy. Through detailed explanations and carefully designed exercises, you can uncover further revelations about your family and partners, and the ways your past has been a preparation for the special contribution you can make to the world today.

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The Fragrant Pharmacy opens the way to a whole world of fresh possibilities. It is a new approach to nature through one of its most powerful forms - those fragrant 'essential oils' drawn from flowers and grasses, trees and roots, leaves and fruit, that remain the great untapped resources of our planet. The Fragrant Pharmacy shows how each essential oil can offer many diverse benefits. One of the most holistic of all systems of medicine, the oils can alleviate symptoms, prevent many illnesses and disorders and help in their healing process. But more than that, they can provide all of us - our families, our homes, even our pets - with the protections and pleasures we need...without the chemical pollution of our bodies or our envirnment. This illuminating and imaginative book of aromatherapy is the household manual of the future. It is a treasury of information about precious life- and health-enhancing liquids that work in complex harmony with people and planet alike. Here is a comprehensive encyclopaedia of 'medicines out of the earth', those miracles of creation which revitalise and rejuvenate, enhance our emotions and help our work and play. It charts out for all of us a fragrant way to family health and home delights.

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THE ACCLAIMED INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER BY THE NOBEL PRIZE WINNING AUTHOR.'A masterpiece' - The Times'The Arab Tolstoy' - Simon Sebag Montefiore'Shamelessly entertaining' - Guardian'Luminous' - New York TimesA sweeping and evocative portrait of both a family and a country struggling to move toward independence in a society that has resisted change for centuries. Set against the backdrop of Britain's occupation of Egypt immediately after World War I, Palace Walk introduces us to the Al Jawad family.Ahmad, a middle-class shopkeeper runs his household strictly according to the Qur'an while at night he explores the pleasures of Cairo. A tyrant at home, Ahmad forces his gentle, oppressed wife and two daughters to live cloistered lives behind the house's latticed windows, while his three very different sons live in fear of his harsh will.The first book of the classic Cairo Trilogy, the greatest and best loved work by the 20th century's most important Arab novelist.

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I looked around and people's faces were distorted...lights were flashing everywhere...the screen at the end of the room had three or four different films on it at once, and the strobe light was flashing faster than it had been...the band was playing but I couldn't hear the music...people were dancing...someone came up to me and I shut my eyes and with a machine he projected images on the back of my eye-lids...I sought out a person I trusted and he laughed and told me that the Kool-Aid had been spiked and that I was beginning my first LSD experience...

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Michael Adams shares a flat with three other men in their late twenties. Days are spent lying in bed, playing computer games and occasionally doing a bit of work. And then, when he feels like it, he crosses the river and goes back to his unsuspecting wife and children. For Michael is living a double life - he escapes from the exhausting misery of babies by telling his wife he has to work through the night or travel up north. And while she is valiantly coping on her own, he is just a few miles away in a secret flat, doing all the things that most men with small children can only dream about. He thinks he can have it all, until is deception is inevitably exposed...The Best a Man Can Get is written with the hilarious eye for detail that sent John O'Farrell's first book, Things Can Only Get Better, to the top of the bestseller lists. It is a darkly comic confessional that is at once compelling, revealing and very, very funny.

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'The first of my father's illusions was that bears could survive the life lived by human beings, and the second was that human beings could survive a life led in hotels.'So says John Berry, son of a hapless dreamer, brother to a cadre of eccentric siblings, and chronicler of the lives lived, the loves experienced, the deaths met, and the myriad strange and wonderful times encountered by the family Berry. Hoteliers, pet-bear owners, friends of Freud (the animal trainer and vaudevillian, that is), and playthings of mad fate, they 'dream on' in this funny, sad, outrageous, and moving novel.

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'The Sparrow is one of my favourite science fiction novels and it destroyed me in the best way when I read it. It is so beautifully written and the construction of the narrative is masterful'Emma Newman, author of PlanetfallTHE ACCLAIMED GENRE-DEFINING WINNER OF THE 1998 ARTHUR C. CLARKE AWARD Set in the 21st century - a number of decades from now - The Sparrow is the story of a charismatic Jesuit priest and talented linguist, Emilio Sandoz, who - in response to a remarkable radio signal from the depths of space - leads a scientific mission to make first contact with an extra-terrestrial culture.In the true tradition of Jesuit adventurers before him, Sandoz and his companions are prepared to endure isolation, suffering - even death - but nothing can prepare them for the civilisation they encounter. Or for the tragic misunderstanding that brings the mission to a devastating end. Once considered a living saint, Sandoz returns alone to Earth horrifically maimed, both physically and spiritually, the mission's sole survivor - only to be blamed for the mission's failure and accused of heinous crimes.Written in clean, effortless prose and peopled with memorable characters who never lose their humanity or humour, The Sparrow is a powerful, haunting fiction - a tragic but ultimately triumphant novel about the nature of faith, of love and what it means to be 'human' and widely considered to be a classic of the genre.

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On a New England campus, Viennese housewife Utchka and her aspiring writer husband live a rather placid life with their two children.Until, that is, they meet Severin Winter, Professor of German and wrestling coach, and his delicate wife Edith at a faculty party. Utchka and Severin are rather taken with one another, and, conveniently, their spouses appear to be similarly smitten.A bizarre ménage a quatre is the result of these convoluted desires, and what starts out as a bit of fun is soon subject to the darker machinations of obsession,..

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#1 Bestseller in both hardback and paperback: SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2020 ROYAL SOCIETY INSIGHT INVESTMENT SCIENCE BOOK PRIZE _______'A directory of wonders.' - The Guardian'Jaw-dropping.' - The Times'Classic, wry, gleeful Bryson...an entertaining and absolutely fact-rammed book.' - The Sunday Times'It is a feat of narrative skill to bake so many facts into an entertaining and nutritious book.' - The Daily Telegraph_______'We spend our whole lives in one body and yet most of us have practically no idea how it works and what goes on inside it. The idea of the book is simply to try to understand the extraordinary contraption that is us.' Bill Bryson sets off to explore the human body, how it functions and its remarkable ability to heal itself. Full of extraordinary facts and astonishing stories The Body: A Guide for Occupants is a brilliant, often very funny attempt to understand the miracle of our physical and neurological make up. A wonderful successor to A Short History of Nearly Everything, this new book is an instant classic. It will have you marvelling at the form you occupy, and celebrating the genius of your existence, time and time again.'What I learned is that we are infinitely more complex and wondrous, and often more mysterious, than I had ever suspected. There really is no story more amazing than the story of us.' Bill Bryson

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'An elegant, witty and deeply perceptive book' Woman's Journal'Bubbly, amusing, touching, and ultimately poignant' Sunday Express'Demonstrates again how good Joanna Trollope is at describing village life and how sure is her touch' Evening Standard__________________________________ONE ENCOUNTER AND LIFE IS NEVER THE SAME AGAIN...The Logans were an enchanting and admirable couple. Archie had snatched Liza from her own engagement party to someone else, wooed her, swept her off to his father in Scotland, and finally married her.Now bedded firmly into country life - three children, Archie the village doctor, Liza a teacher, everything comfortable, funny, affectionate - they awaited the arrival of Archie's father, the brilliant Sir Andrew Logan, a widower for over thirty years.When his city-clean Rover stopped in the drive, Sir Andrew was not alone. Beside him was a golden lady in caramel suede, a warm, witty, desirable widow whom everyone - except Archie - adored at once.Archie saw his father's mistress as the worm in the bud of his perfect life - a life that was to be wrenched apart before he and Liza could re-create their world._______________________________Readers love A Passionate Man:'Captivating''Brilliant''Her writing is, for me, perfection''One of her best I think''I didn't want it to finish!'

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The first novel in the beloved Tales of the City series, Armistead Maupin’s best-selling San Francisco saga, is an uproariously moving novel and an indelible portrait of cultural change from the seventies.Named as one of the BBC’s 100 Most Inspiring Novels, a PBS Great American Read Top 100 Pick and Britain’s favourite gay/lesbian novel from The Big Gay Read____________________Originally serialised in the San Francisco Chronicle in the 1970s, Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City afforded a mainstream audience of millions its first exposure to straight and gay characters experiencing on equal terms the follies of urban life.Among the cast of this ground-breaking saga are the lovelorn residents of 28 Barbary Lane: the bewildered but aspiring Mary Ann Singleton, the libidinous Brian Hawkins; Mona Ramsey, still in a sixties trance, Michael 'Mouse' Tolliver, forever in bright-eyed pursuit of Mr. Right; and their marijuana-growing landlady, the indefatigable Mrs. Madrigal.Hurdling barriers both social and sexual, Maupin leads them through heartbreak and triumph, through nail-biting terrors and gleeful coincidences. The result is a glittering and addictive comedy of manners that continues to beguile new generations of readers.

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The history of Parliament is the history of the United Kingdom itself. It has a cast of thousands. Some were ambitious, visionary and altruistic. Others were hot-headed, violent and self-serving. Few were unambiguously noble. Yet their rowdy confrontations, their campaigning zeal and their unstable alliances framed our nation.This first of two volumes takes us on a 500-year journey from Parliament's earliest days in the thirteenth century through the turbulent years of the Wars of the Roses and the upheavals of the Civil Wars, and up to 1801, when Parliament – and the United Kingdom, embracing Scotland and Ireland – emerged in a modern form.Chris Bryant tells this epic tale through the lives of the myriad MPs, lords and bishops who passed through Parliament. It is the vivid, colourful biography of a cast of characters whose passions and obsessions, strengths and weaknesses laid the foundations of modern democracy.

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THE RUNAWAY GLOBAL BESTSELLER'Really great suspense novel. Kept me up most of the night. The alcoholic narrator is dead perfect' STEPHEN KINGRachel catches the same commuter train every morning. She knows it will wait at the same signal each time, overlooking a row of back gardens. She's even started to feel like she knows the people who live in one of the houses. 'Jess and Jason', she calls them. Their life - as she sees it - is perfect. If only Rachel could be that happy.And then she sees something shocking. It's only a minute until the train moves on, but it's enough. Now everything's changed. Now Rachel has a chance to become a part of the lives she's only watched from afar.Now they'll see; she's much more than just the girl on the train...***Paula Hawkins' scorching new thriller A Slow Fire Burning is available to pre-order now***

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The unputdownable historical novel by the acclaimed and bestselling author of WAKE and EXPECTATION: a devastating story of love and madness at the brink of the Great War. 'Absolutely heart-breaking. One of the best books I’ve ever read' DINAH JEFFERIES, author of The Tea-Planter's Wife'Compelling, elegant, insightful' OBSERVER1911: Inside an asylum at the edge of the Yorkshire moors, where men and women are kept apart by high walls and barred windows, there is a ballroom vast and beautiful. For one bright evening every week they come together and dance. When John and Ella meet it is a dance that will change two lives forever.Set over the heatwave summer of 1911, the end of the Edwardian era, THE BALLROOM tells a rivetting tale of dangerous obsession, of madness and sanity, and of who gets to decide which is which. It is a love story like no other.*****************************************Praise for Anna Hope's The Ballroom:'Beautifully wrought, tender, heartbreaking' Sunday Express 5/5'Moving, fascinating' Times'A tender and absorbing love story' Daily Mail'Unsentimental and affecting' Sunday Times'Exquisitely good' Metro'Absolutely fantastic . . . I'm in real awe of her writing' ELIZABETH MACNEAL, author of The Doll Factory______________

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'Tense and engrossing... readers who loved The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry will not be disappointed.' - Sunday Times'An instant classic.' - Daily Express'You will end up grinning dippily and recommending this wild, searching book to everyone you know.' - The Times'Brilliantly realized... a powerful study of grief, loss, guilt, depression, mental illness - and ultimately the power of love - which grips the reader on every page.' - Daily MailSummer, 1972: Two seconds have been added to the Atomic clock so as to counteract the irregularities in the Earth's rate of rotation. Eleven-year-old Byron has been told this but still struggles to understand. What might it mean? In the claustrophobic heat, he and his friend begin ‘Operation Perfect’, a hapless mission to rescue Byron’s mother from impending crisis.Winter, present day: As frost creeps across the moor, Jim cleans tables in the local café, a solitary figure struggling with OCD. His job is a relief from the rituals that govern his nights.Little would seem to connect them except that two seconds can change everything.If your world can be shattered in an instant, might time also put things right?

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FROM THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF SNAP'The most polished crime writer on the murder beat' Daily ExpressFive footprints are the only sign that Daniel Buck was ever here. Yesterday they were a family just like any other: Anna and James, and their little boy, Daniel.But in one careless moment everything changed.A front door accidentally left ajar . . . and Daniel was gone.Now they are a pair of strangers who can't even look each other in the eye.Distrust and unspoken words fill the void where their son used to be.Anna will go to any lengths to find Daniel - a four-year-old doesn't just vanish into thin air. But how far will this desperate search push her?Right to the brink.And beyond.___Readers love The Shut Eye:'Original and inventive . . . Fabulous stuff!' *****'I was absolutely gripped by this novel' *****'A captivating story with such strong characters' *****

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July 1910: The grisly remains of Cora Crippen, music hall singer and wife of Dr Hawley Crippen, are discovered in the cellar of 39 Hilldrop Crescent, Camden. But the Doctor and his mistress, Ethel Le Neve, have vanished, much to the frustration of Scotland Yard and the outrage of a horrified London.Across the Channel in Antwerp, the SS Montrose sets sail on its two week voyage to Canada. Amongst its passengers are the overbearing Antonia Drake and her daughter Victoria, who is hell-bent on romance, the enigmatic Mathieu Zela and the modest Martha Hayes. Also on board are the unassuming Mr John Robinson and his seventeen-year-old son Edmund. But all is not as it seems...

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On 1 May 1915, a luxury ocean liner as richly appointed as an English country house sailed out of New York, bound for Liverpool. The passengers - including a record number of children and infants - were anxious. Germany had declared the seas around Britain to be a war zone. For months, its submarines had brought terror to the North Atlantic.But the Lusitania's captain, William Thomas Turner, had faith in the gentlemanly terms of warfare that had, for a century, kept civilian ships safe from attack. He also knew that his ship - the fastest then in service - could outrun any threat. But Germany was intent on changing the rules, and Walther Schwieger, the captain of Unterseeboot-20, was happy to oblige. Meanwhile, an ultra-secret British intelligence unit were tracking Schwieger's U-boat...but told no one. As U-20 and the Lusitania made their way towards Liverpool, forces both grand and achingly small - hubris, a chance fog, a closely-guarded secret and more - converged to produce one of the great disasters of 20th century history.It is a story that many of us think we know but don't, and Erik Larson tells it thrillingly, switching between hunter and hunted. Full of glamour, mystery, and real-life suspense, Dead Wake brings to life a cast of evocative characters, including the US President Wilson, a man lost to grief, dreading the widening war but also captivated by the prospect of new love. Gripping and important, Dead Wake captures the sheer drama and emotional power of a disaster that helped place America on the road to war.

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WINNER: NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TRAVELLER READER AWARD FOR BEST TRAVEL BOOK OF THE YEAR 2016WINNER: BOOKS ARE MY BAG READER AWARD FOR BEST AUTOBIOGRAPHY OR BIOGRAPHY 2016Twenty years ago, Bill Bryson went on a trip around Britain to celebrate the green and kindly island that had become his adopted country. The hilarious book that resulted, Notes from a Small Island, was taken to the nation’s heart and became the bestselling travel book ever, and was also voted in a BBC poll the book that best represents Britain.Now, to mark the twentieth anniversary of that modern classic, Bryson makes a brand-new journey round Britain to see what has changed.Following (but not too closely) a route he dubs the Bryson Line, from Bognor Regis to Cape Wrath, by way of places that many people never get to at all, Bryson sets out to rediscover the wondrously beautiful, magnificently eccentric, endearingly unique country that he thought he knew but doesn’t altogether recognize any more. Yet, despite Britain’s occasional failings and more or less eternal bewilderments, Bill Bryson is still pleased to call our rainy island home. And not just because of the cream teas, a noble history, and an extra day off at Christmas.Once again, with his matchless homing instinct for the funniest and quirkiest, his unerring eye for the idiotic, the endearing, the ridiculous and the scandalous, Bryson gives us an acute and perceptive insight into all that is best and worst about Britain today.

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BY THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF LONGBOURNSHORTLISTED FOR THE WALTER SCOTT PRIZE FOR HISTORICAL FICTION 2017SHORTLISTED FOR THE JAMES TAIT BLACK PRIZE 2017 'Skilful . . . daring . . . extraordinary' The Guardian'A fascinating fictional account of Samuel Beckett's wartime years' IAN RANKIN'Beautifully written, empathetic and unflinching, it is very, very good' Daily Mail'Marvellous, spare, moving' FRANCIS SPUFFORD'Insightful . . . beautifully paced . . . authentic’ The Irish TimesParis, 1939: The pavement rumbles with the footfall of Nazi soldiers marching along the Champs Elysees. A young writer, recently arrived from Ireland to make his mark, smokes one last cigarette with his lover before the city they know is torn apart. Soon, he will put is own life and those of his loved ones in mortal danger by joining the Resistance...Spies, artists, deprivation, danger and passion: this is a story of life at the edges of human experience, and of how one man came to translate it all into art.Sunday Express Book of the MonthPraise for Jo Baker's LONGBOURN:'Intoxicating' Guardian'Engrossing' Sunday Times'Audacious' New York Times

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The mountain paths are as treacherous as they are steep – the more so in the dark and in winter. Even for the fit the journey is a formidable challenge. Hundreds of those who climbed through the Pyrenees during the Second World War were malnourished and exhausted after weeks on the run hiding in barns and attics. Many never even reached the Spanish border. Today their bravery and endurance is commemorated each July by a trek along the Chemin de la Liberté – the toughest and most dangerous of wartime routes. From his fellow pilgrims Edward Stourton uncovers stories of midnight scrambles across rooftops and drops from speeding trains; burning Lancasters, doomed love affairs, horrific murder and astonishing heroism. The lives of the men, women and children who were drawn by the war to the Pyrenees often read as breathtakingly exciting adventure, but they were led against a background of intense fear, mounting persecution and appalling risk. Drawing on interviews with the few remaining survivors and the families of those who were there, Edward Stourton’s vivid history of this little-known aspect of the Second World War is shocking, dramatic and intensely moving.

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The International prize-winning bestseller and Simon Mayo bookclub pick'Powerful and humane' SADIE JONES, bestselling author of The Snakes____________Remembrance Day 1920: A wartime secret connects three women's lives:Hettie whose wounded brother won't speak.Evelyn who still grieves for her lost lover.And Ada, who has never received an official letter about her son's death, and is still waiting for him to come home.As the mystery that binds them begins to unravel, far away, in the fields of France, the Unknown Soldier embarks on his journey home. The mood of the nation is turning towards the future - but can these three women ever let go of the past?___________________Readers' love WAKE by Anna Hope:'Beautifully, written, compelling, very moving' 4 ****'Engrossing and illuminating' 5 *****' If you like a relationships novel with war backdrop, hard to find better' 4 ****'An amazing achievment' 5 *****

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September 1919: Twenty-year-old Tristan Sadler takes a train from London to Norwich to deliver a clutch of letters to Marian Bancroft. Tristan fought alongside Marian's brother Will during the Great War. They trained together. They fought together.But in 1917, Will laid down his guns on the battlefield and declared himself a conscientious objector, an act which has brought shame and dishonour on the Bancroft family.The letters, however, are not the real reason for Tristan's visit. He holds a secret deep within him. One that he is desperate to unburden himself of to Marian, if he can only find the courage. Whatever happens, this meeting will change his life – forever.

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The haunting first novel by international multi-million copy bestseller Joanne Harris - a captivating and compelling study of human desires and compulsions. Perfect for fans of Kate Atkinson, Kate Mosse, Eve Chase and Stacey Halls.'A dark, gothic romance filled with mystery, jealousy, and violence . . . an interesting and thrilling read' - Style Magazine****************************************************************************It's never easy to face the fact that a man you once loved passionately has found the girl of his dreams, as Alice discovers when Joe introduces her to his new girlfriend.Then Alice finds an old diary and reads about two men and the mysterious woman who bewitched them both, buried in Grantchester churchyard half a century ago.As the stories seem to intertwine, Alice comes to realize that her instinctive hatred of Joe's new girlfriend may not just be due to jealousy, as she is plunged into a nightmare world of obsession, revenge, seduction - and blood.Caution - May contain vampires...What readers are saying:***** 'Totally captivating' ***** 'Had me hooked from the first page, dark, twisting and exciting - a must read' ***** 'A page-turner'***** 'Cracking stuff - I was hooked'

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What are the French really like?Paul West, a young Englishman arriving in Paris to start a new job, is about to find out. _________________They do eat a lot of cheese, some of which smells like pigs’ droppings.They don’t wash their armpits with garlic soap.Going on strike really is the second national participation sport after petanque.And, yes, they do use suppositories. Less quaint than A Year in Provence, less chocolatey than Chocolat, A Year in the Merde will tell you how to get served by the grumpiest Parisian waiter; how to make perfect vinaigrette every time; how to make amour - not war; and how not to buy a house in the French countryside.

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1918. Boston. A city in turmoil as soldiers return home from World War One, bringing with them an epidemic of Spanish influenza.Danny Coughlin is the son of one of Boston's most powerful police captains. An undercover cop, he is hunting for revolutionaries and anarchists who, in the aftermath of war, are pledged to overthrow the city's ruling classes. But Danny soon finds his ideals compromised as, drawn into the conflict, his family starts to question where his loyalties really lie.Luther Lawrence is on the run. Having survived a murderous confrontation with a crime boss, he lands a job in the Coughlin household. But it isn't long before his dangerous past and his tenuous present are on a life-threatening collision course. As the city goes into meltdown, Danny and Luther must confront the storm of violence that threatens to engulf them if each is to survive...

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