Fiction

Captain Tom Barnes is leading British troops in a war zone. Two boys are growing up there, sharing a prized bicycle and flying kites, before finding themselves separated once the soldiers appear in their countryside. On all sides of this conflict, people are about to be caught up in the violence, from the man who trains one boy to fight the infidel invaders to Barnes's family waiting for him to return home. We see them not as they see themselves, but as all the objects surrounding them do: shoes and boots, a helmet, a trove of dollars, a drone, that bike, weaponry, a bag of fertilizer, a medal, a beer glass, a snowflake, dog tags, an exploding IED and the medical implements that are subsequently employed. Anatomy of a Soldier is a moving, enlightening and fiercely dramatic novel about one man's journey of survival and the experiences of those around him. Forty-five objects, one unforgettable story.

It’s been ten years since Nicolette Farrell left her rural hometown after her best friend, Corinne, disappeared from Cooley Ridge without a trace. Back again to tie up loose ends and care for her ailing father, Nic is soon plunged into a shocking drama that reawakens Corinne’s case and breaks open old wounds long since stitched.The decade-old investigation focused on Nic, her brother Daniel, boyfriend Tyler, and Corinne’s boyfriend Jackson. Since then, only Nic has left Cooley Ridge. Daniel and his wife, Laura, are expecting a baby; Jackson works at the town bar; and Tyler is dating Annaleise Carter, Nic’s younger neighbor and the group’s alibi the night Corinne disappeared. Then, within days of Nic’s return, Annaleise goes missing.Told backwards—Day 15 to Day 1

As delightfully wry and witty as his bestselling debut, 'The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared', this is a tale of how one woman's attempt to change her future ended up changing everything. Nombeko Mayeki is on the run from the world's most ruthless secret service - with three Chinese sisters, twins who are officially one person and an elderly potato farmer. Oh, and the fate of the King of Sweden - and the world - rests on her shoulders. Born in a Soweto shack in 1961, Nombeko was destined for a short, hard life. When she was run over by a drunken engineer her luck changed. Alive, but blamed for the accident, she was made to work for the engineer - who happened to be in charge of a project vital to South Africa's security. Nombeko was good at cleaning, but brilliant at understanding numbers. The drunk engineer wasn't - and made a big mistake. And now only Nombeko knows about it ...As uproariously funny as Jonas Jonasson's bestselling debut, this is an entrancing tale of luck, love and international relations.

Tom Clancy and Mark Greaney's topical thriller featuring American President Jack Ryan is a glorious return to the series roots in The Hunt for Red October and Patriot Games. When the great bear growls ...Russia is hurting. It's economy is tanking and its 'adventures' abroad have proved costly. President Volodin knows that his own survival depends on restoring Russian pride...the world trembles When a series of explosions, assassinations and attacks rock the global order, only one man in the West recognizes the true cause of the chaos: American President Jack Ryan. With Russian troops massing on Europe's borders, President Ryan cannot use military might without escalating conflict and playing into Volodin's hands. Instead he turns to his covert intelligence agencies. They must uncover, infiltrate and neutralize each and every threat. But time is running out. And this war is about to go global ...

An excavation at the lost gardens of Earlsacre Hall is called to a halt when a skeleton is discovered under a 300 year old stone plinth, a corpse that seems to have been buried alive. But DS Wesley Peterson has little time to indulge in his hobby of archaeology. He has a more recent murder case to solve. A man has been found stabbed to death in a caravan at a popular holiday park and the only clue to his identity is a newspaper cutting about the restoration of Earlsacre. Does local solicitor Brian Willerby have the answer? He seems eager to talk to Wesley but before he can reveal his secret he is found dead during a 'friendly' game of village cricket, apparently struck by a cricket ball several times with some force. If Wesley is looking for a demon bowler this appears to let out most of the village side. But what is it about Earlsacre Hall that leads people to murder?

DS Wesley Peterson, newly arrived in the West Country town of Tradmouth, has his hands full when a child goes missing and a young woman is brutally murdered on a lonely cliff path. Then his old friend, archaeologist Neil Watson, unearths the skeletons of a strangled woman and a new born baby in the cellar of an ancient merchant's house nearby. As the investigation continues, Wesley begins to suspect that these deaths, centuries apart, may be linked by age-old motives of jealousy, a sexual obsession and desperate longing. And the pressure is on if he is going to prevent a further tragedy...Kate Ellis's wonderfully addictive series of West Country set crime novels feature Wesley Peterson, one of Devon's first black detectives.

You've been married for several years. Long enough, certainly, for the rosy glow of your first love to have faded, dulled by the routine and reality of everyday life -- including, in your particular case, his vitriolic ex-wife and two cute but time-intensive stepsons. Then, one day, you meet him. The man of your dreams. (Or, at least, he will be from now on.) You weren't expecting it, but you look at him, he looks at you, and it's there: that spark of attraction, understanding, whatever you call it. (And certainly, you call it something different from your husband, when he finds out.) The real question, though, is not so much what you call it but what you do about it ...'Brownrigg has perfect pitch, and she sees with amazing depth and tenderness into the hearts of her real-as-real characters -- and into the reader's heart too' Michael Chabon 'In this slim, devastating novel, the marvelously talented Sylvia Brownrigg tells us more about the emotional politics of modern marriage -- and divorce -- than I can remember reading in a long time

An omnibus edition of the three cracking Christmas novellas from bestselling author Mary Higgins Clark and her daughter, Carol Higgins Clark. Contains The Christmas Thief, Deck the Halls, and He Sees You When You're Sleeping.

A vivid, unforgettable story of an unlikely sisterhood-an emotionally powerful and haunting tale of friendship that illuminates the plight of women in a traditional culture-from the author of the bestselling The Pearl That Broke Its Shell and When the Moon Is Low. For two decades, Zeba was a loving wife, a patient mother, and a peaceful villager. But her quiet life is shattered when her husband, Kamal, is found brutally murdered with a hatchet in the courtyard of their home. Nearly catatonic with shock, Zeba is unable to account for her whereabouts at the time of his death. Her children swear their mother could not have committed such a heinous act. Kamal's family is sure she did, and demands justice. Barely escaping a vengeful mob, Zeba is arrested and jailed. As Zeba awaits trial, she meets a group of women whose own misfortunes have also led them to these bleak cells: thirty-year-old Nafisa, imprisoned to protect her from an honor killing; twenty-five-year-old Latifa, who ran away from home with her teenage sister but now stays in the prison because it is safe shelter; and nineteen-year-old Mezhgan, pregnant and unmarried, waiting for her lover's family to ask for her hand in marriage. Is Zeba a cold-blooded killer, these young women wonder, or has she been imprisoned, as they have been, for breaking some social rule?

By the international number one bestselling author of Tell No One and Fool Me Once, soon to be a major movie starring Julia Roberts. The boy who had been missing for ten years was right in front of him...A decade ago, kidnappers grabbed two boys from wealthy families and demanded ransom, then went silent. No trace of the boys ever surfaced. For ten years their families have been left with nothing but painful memories and a quiet desperation for the day that has finally, miraculously arrived: Myron Bolitar and his friend Win believe they have located one of the boys, now a teenager. Where has he been for ten years, and what does he know about the day, more than half a life ago, when he was taken? And most critically: what can he tell Myron and Win about the fate of his missing friend?

The latest novel in the Will Trent series from No. 1 bestelling author, Karin Slaughter. A body is discovered in an empty Atlanta warehouse. It's the body of an ex-cop, and from the moment Special Agent Will Trent walks in he knows this could be the most devastating case of his career. Bloody footprints leading away from the scene reveal that another victim - a woman - has left the scene and vanished into thin air. And, worst of all, the warehouse belongs to the city's biggest, most politically-connected, most high-profile athlete - a local hero protected by the world's most expensive lawyers. A local hero Will has spent the last six months investigating on a brutal rape charge. But for Will - and also for Dr Sara Linton, the GBI's newest medical examiner - the case is about to get even worse. Because an unexpected discovery at the scene reveals a personal link to Will's troubled past. The consequences will wreak havoc on his life and the lives of those he loves, those he works with, and those he pursues.

This book is Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2013. US National Book Award 5 Under 35. Winner of the Etisalat Prize 2014. Winner of the Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award 2014. Winner of a Betty Trask Award 2014. 'To play the country-game, we have to choose a country. Everybody wants to be the USA and Britain and Canada and Australia and Switzerland and them. Nobody wants to be rags of countries like Congo, like Somalia, like Iraq, like Sudan, like Haiti and not even this one we live in - who wants to be a terrible place of hunger and things falling apart?' Darling and her friends live in a shanty called Paradise, which of course is no such thing. It isn't all bad, though. There's mischief and adventure, games of Find bin Laden, stealing guavas, singing Lady Gaga at the tops of their voices. They dream of the paradises of America, Dubai, Europe, where Madonna and Barack Obama and David Beckham live. For Darling, that dream will come true. But, like the thousands of people all over the world trying to forge new lives far from home, Darling finds this new paradise brings its own set of challenges - for her and also for those she's left behind.

A new standalone novel from Jodi Ellen Malpas, the bestselling author of the THIS MAN and ONE NIGHT trilogies People think they have Camille Logan nailed: daddy's girl, beautiful, spoiled young woman with her father's bank balance to fund her lifestyle. But Camille is determined to have a life free from his strings. Now, after fighting so hard to be independent and happy, she finds her life threatened as a result of her father's ruthless business dealings. Caught between resentment and fear, Camille prepares herself for the measures her father will take to protect her. But nothing could prepare her for the ex-SAS sniper who crashes into her life. Jake Sharp resides in his own personal hell. He was distracted from duty once before, and the consequences were devastating - both personally and professionally. Accepting the job of bodyguard to Camille Logan isn't the kind of distraction from his demons he should take. Women and Jake don't mix well, yet protecting the heiress seems the lesser of two evils. But Jake soon discovers that she isn't the woman she's perceived to be. She's warm, compassionate, her presence settling, and his duty to protect her soon goes deeper than a well-paid job, no matter how hard he fights it. He needs absolution. He comes to need Camille. But he knows he can't have both.

'definite shades of One Day...emotionally intelligent and beautifully written' - Daily Mail Can your final fling become your Happy Ever After? When Jo Coulson finds herself single again in her late thirties, she finally resigns her membership to Last of the Hopeless Romantics, fully intending to tackle midlife and motherhood alone. First, she plans one legendary last fling...In walks Harry Inchbold, and the connection is electric. Passionate, unpredictable and messily divorced, Harry is the perfect antidote to cosy coupledom. Known as The Sinner, drama follows him around with a clapper board. Harry's favourite holiday hideaway in the wilds of South Shropshire puts the mud and fun into the perfect dirty weekend. But at the cottage Harry reveals a very different side, melting Jo's resolve. What better combination to face an uncertain future than two cynics who have learned from their mistakes?Together they make a pact; 'same time next year'; they can promise no more than that. Through life's most stressful decade, Harry and Jo return to the Shropshire hills for one weekend each year to rediscover passion and make peace. As career, family and home crises all threaten to bring them unstuck, the cottage is their glue. Here, different rules apply: the day to day world is not allowed to intrude.With Harry and Jo, however, it's only a matter of time before rules get broken. As real life gets increasingly complicated, can they keep renewing their promise?

Clive Cussler sends his great hero on an explosive mission in Atlantis Found, the fifteenth Dirk Pitt adventure. Around the world ancient artefacts are suddenly appearing, hinting at a catastrophe that will soon visit Earth...Dirk Pitt is on hand at a Colorado archaeological site where an ancient and mysterious artefact has been found - one that is perhaps linked to other strange objects turning up across the globe. And soon Pitt's skills and ingenuity are desperately needed to rescue the team after a suspicious explosion seals them deep underground. It quickly becomes clear that the artefacts carry a message: warning of global Armageddon. Yet a shadowy organisation called the Fourth Empire not only wants to stop others from heeding that warning, but is also actively seeking to accelerate the end it foretells. Now Pitt and NUMA must face this diabolical foe, who will stop at nothing to wipe out all life on earth...Packed with blistering action and hair-raising suspense, Atlantis Found is Clive Cussler at his brilliant best. Atlantis Found is the fifteenth of Clive Cussler's bestselling Dirk Pitt thrillers

Jay Barton has spent her life on the outside, being overlooked and mocked for her tomboy ways. All she wants to do is ride her favourite pony, which belongs to her much wealthier cousin. But then Jay shows a talent for winning the illegal pony races her uncle takes her to, and he starts to push her to take more and more risks. At 15, Jay decides to run away, to live the life of a stable hand. Her fortunes are changed when she meets Manhattan: a pedigree grey racehorse who has used up all her chances and is now neglected and despised. Jay recognises a fellow misfit. She fights to give Manhattan one last opportunity to show she is the champion she was born to be. Together, they face a world of prejudice and cruelty and fight back the only way they know - by becoming the best.

Over four hundred years ago, a book is buried within the grounds of Oldstone Manor. There it lies, shrouded in a brooding curse, until one day the earth stirs and the book is discovered once more. As twelve-year-old Edward Pollock starts to turn the pages of an ancient book, he is drawn into a place that is both terrifying and bewitching. A place where dark forces imperil charmed lands. Soon Edward begins to realise that malicious powers are at play. The wall between man and ghost is weakening, and the world beyond is threatening great fear and destruction.

"The Free World" is the rapturously reviewed comic-tragic first novel from David Bezmozgis, a "New Yorker" '20 under 40' writer and author of "Natasha and Other Stories", whose work has been shortlisted for the "Guardian" First Book Award and the Giller Prize. "Terrific...Combines comic brilliance with a poignant portrait of a family trapped between two worlds". ("Sunday Times"). In the summer of 1978 the Krasnansky family - bickering, tired and confused - arrive in Rome. Alongside thousands of other Soviet Jewish refugees they await passage to a new home in the West. But escaping Communism is not so easy, especially when some of the Krasnanskys insist on bringing it with them. It is harder still when their American sponsor lets them down and they find they're stuck. What follows is a tragic yet comic tale of reckless brothers and long-suffering sisters, ailing parents and innocent children, of love affairs and criminal liaisons, of a wonderfully troubled family and a perpetually wandering people, and their epic search for a home...

There's a woman here who wishes to be introduced to you Mr Pemberton...I should caution you, though. She has frightened off every other bachelor in Boston ...Just remember you were warned, just as I've warned her. 1929. George and Serena Pemberton arrive in the wilds of the North Carolina mountains to build a life together in a rural logging town. Unlike any woman the timber empire has ever seen, Serena oversees crews, hunts rattlesnakes and saves her husband's life in the wilderness. But when Serena learns that she will never bear a child, the Pemberton's intensely passionate marriage begins to unravel. A course of events unfolds that will change the lives of everyone in their rural community and bring this riveting tale of love and revenge to its shocking reckoning.

In the Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar, seven tales of the bizarre and unexpected are told by the grand master of the short story, Roald Dahl. Enter a brilliant, sinister and wholly unpredictable world. Here you will find the suggestion of other-worldly goings on in a dark story about a swan and a boy; the surprising tale of a wealthy young wastrel who suddenly develops a remarkable new ability; and meet the hitchhiker whose light-fingers save the day. "An unforgettable read, don't miss it". (Sunday Times). These delightfully disturbing tales have often been filmed and were most recently the inspiration for the West End play, Roald Dahl's Twisted Tales by Jeremy Dyson. Roald Dahl's stories continue to make readers shiver today.