- Table View
- List View
Escape and Evasion
by Christopher Wakling'Escape and Evasion reads like a Network for the Bitcoin era.' Tony ParsonsCity banker Joseph Ashcroft has stolen £1.34 billion from his own bank. He has given it - untraceably - to impoverished strangers worldwide, and has fled.Why has he done this? And will he get away with it?Joseph knows that if he leaves the country, he will easily be tracked down. So he opts for hiding close by - first in the city, then in the woods near the home of his estranged family. An ex-soldier, he's adept at the art of camouflage.On Joseph's trail is Ben Lancaster, the bank's head of security and, as it happens, a former army friend with whom he shares a violent, guilt-ridden past.The hunt is on.Escape and Evasion is a tragicomic tale of buried secrets, the lengths a man will go to win back those he loves, and the fallout from a monumental change of heart.
The Cotswold Mysteries Collection: A Cotswold Killing, A Cotswold Ordeal, Death in the Cotswolds, A Cotswold Mystery (Cotswold Mysteries)
by Rebecca TopeThe Cotswolds are filled with idyllic and quintessentially English villages: the perfect, peaceful location for recently widowed Thea Osbourne to housesit, if perhaps a little dull. Until a body turns up. At the centre of the tragedy, Thea discovers that the cosy facades hide than their share of secrets…Includes the first four instalments in the Cotswold Mysteries series: A Cotswold Killing, A Cotswold Ordeal, Death in the Cotswolds and A Cotswold Mystery.
Dublin Folk Tales for Children
by Órla Mc GovernDO you know what Áine’s tiny spoon was used for? What was hiding up Mrs O’Flaherty’s chimney? How did the fairy man help the tailor’s apprentice? Who was the little flower of Castleknock Castle? What looks just like the skin of a rainbow? You’ll find all the answers and loads more useful stuff inside this book. Dublin Folk Tales for Children is full of imagination, with stories specially selected for the enjoyment of 7- to 11-year-old readers. These tales are reshaped and created by writer and storyteller Órla Mc Govern, and illustrated by Gala Tomasso. They are made to be read, told, and passed on. Inside you’ll find tales like ‘Filou, Filou’, ‘G’wan Oura Dat’ and ‘The Two Trees’, and each dances off the page with magic and adventure.
Let Me Be Like Water
by S.K. PerryUnder the cathartic spell of the sea, and with a little help from a retired magician, a young woman learns how to rebuild her life in this stunningly poignant debut novel.Holly moved to Brighton to escape her grief over the death of her boyfriend, Sam. But now she is here, sitting on a bench, listening to the sea sway … what is supposed to happen next?She had thought she’d want to be on her own. Wrecked. Stranded. But after she meets Frank, the tide begins to shift. Frank, a retired magician who has experienced his own loss but manages to be there for everyone else. Gradually, as he introduces Holly to a circle of new friends, young and old, all with their own stories of love and grief to share, she begins to learn to live again.A moving and powerful debut, Let Me Be Like Water is a book simultaneously about nothing and everything: about the humdrum yet extraordinariness of everyday life; of lost and new connections; of loneliness and friendship.
House of Thieves: A Novel
by Charles Belfoure1886, New York. A respectable architect shouldn’t have a connection to the notorious gang of thieves and killers that rules the underbelly of the city. But when John Cross’s son racks up an unfathomable gambling debt to Kent’s Gents, Cross must use his inside knowledge of high society mansions and museums to craft a robbery even the smartest detectives won’t solve.With a new-found talent for sniffing out easy targets, Cross becomes invaluable to the gang. But his entire life has become a balancing act, and it will only take one mistake for it all to come crashing down . . .
Agents of Treachery: Spy Stories
by Otto PenzlerA unique collection of brand-new spy stories from world-class writers. An instant classic for thrill addicts everywhere.Features a brand new short story from Lee ChildFrom a secretive soldier on the eve of the Normandy landings to a golf-playing gun fanatic in a suburb of modern Britain, everybody has something to hide in this brilliant collection of original spy fiction that brings together the distinctive voices of the genre for the very first time. In Lee Child's 'Section 7', a Top Secret operational meeting is given a sly twist, while David Morrell's tale of an interrogator's techniques in a world where the tables might turn at any moment is dark, sinister and frighteningly real. In a business where one country's traitor is another country's hero, how far would you go to get to the truth? With an introduction from Otto Penzler, these thrilling tales of intrigue and deception, heroism and betrayal, courage and cowardice will push your adrenaline to dangerous new levels.With contributions from:Charles McCarry, Lee Child, James Grady, Joseph Finder, John Lawton, John Weisman, Stephen Hunter, Gayle Lynds, David Morrell, Andrew Klavan, Robert Wilson, Dan Fesperman, Stella Rimington, Olen Steinhauer.
Tales from The Queen of the Desert
by Gertrude Margaret"And the desert has you - you and your splendid courage my queen of the desert - and my heart with you" Major Charles Doughty-Wylie Gertrude Bell CBE is rightly known as 'The Queen of the Desert' and a new Hollywood film based on her life, featuring Nicole Kidman, James Franco, Damian Lewis and Robert Pattinson is due for release in 2015. A woman far ahead of her time, Gertrude gained a first from Oxford at a time when very few subjects were even open to women. She went on to take an active interest in politics before embarking on her one-woman travels across the Middle East. She chronicled her journeys through Iraq, Persia, Syria and beyond and her important diplomatic work, with characteristic wit and incisiveness. Despite the many achievements of her working life, sadly her personal life was marred by losing the great love of her life, Major Charles Doughty-Wylie, from which she never recovered. She died in 1926 of an apparent overdose of sleeping pills. Hesperus selects the best of her travel writing in a unique new collection
The Sixth Directorate (A Peter Marlow spy thriller #2)
by Joseph HoneThe Sixth Directorate (1975) was the second of Joseph Hone's quartet of 'Peter Marlow' spy novels, all now reissued as Faber Finds.In prison his name had been Marlow. When British Intelligence released him to impersonate a dangerous KGB agent, he became George Graham, a man with an incredible past and a highly questionable future. But even the British didn't know everything about Graham, as Marlow discovered. Then he came face-to-face with Graham's mistress and thought the game was up. But it was just beginning ...'Intelligent, sharp and deviously plotted ... Here is a new force in the field of spy stories.' Daily Telegraph'One of the best suspense novels of the last ten years. It has elegance, wit, sympathy, irony, surprise, action, a rueful love affair and a melancholy 'Decline of the West' mood.' New York Times
Kimberly's Capital Punishment
by Richard MilwardKimberly Clark was born to the sound of cackling witches in 1984. Having moved to London to follow her heart's dream, the sweet-but-slow Stevie, she soon tires of him and decides to destroy the relationship from within by being as vile as is humanly possible. When this tactic leads to Stevie's violent death by his own hand, Kimberly's soul hangs in the balance - will she ultimately spend eternity in the great Topshop in the sky? Or will she be hurtled into an abyss of endless physical torture, sexual humilation and bad stand-up comedy? This is the story of Kimberly's redemption, or possibly the story of her damnation: it's up to you. There are six different endings to choose between. This is a shocking, laugh-out-loud, nightmare-and-nausea-inducing book; a wild narrative experiment that recalls taboo-busting writers from William Burroughs to Irvine Welsh to Chuck Palahniuk.
Friend & Foe: A Hew Cullen Mystery: Book 4 (A Hew Cullen Mystery #2)
by Shirley McKayPRAISE FOR SHIRLEY McKAY 'Intoxicating mix of dramatic crime and repressed passion' - New Books 'A gripping mystery that holds the reader to the very last page, and a marvellous portrait of St Andrews in the sixteenth century' - John Burnside St Andrews. 1583, and tensions are running high. Dissension rages between King and councillors, and between the separate factions of the Kirk. At St Mary's college, the reformer Andrew Melville is unsettled by a series of unnatural events, while the ailing Archbishop Patrick Adamson plays out his darkest fantasies, in the safe seclusion of the castle vaults. Hew is called to investigate a mysterious incident and finds suspicion falling upon him as he is ensnared in a world of superstition, subterfuge and death. This new Hew Cullan story sees the academic lawyer once again in the company of his sister Meg and her husband, physician Giles Locke, in their most challenging case yet. Alliances are formed; there are old scores to be settled; old ghosts reappear and spies are abroad. The king's escape from captivity throws all in confusion, and as Hew's loves and loyalties are put to the test, his own life and future are no longer secure. Friend & Foe is the fourth Hew Cullan mystery by Shirley McKay. Hue & Cry, Fate & Fortune and Time & Tide are also available from Polygon.
Calum's Cup Final: Calum's Hard Knock; Calum's Tough Match; Calum's Cup Final (Scotland Stars F.C. #6)
by Danny Scott'Ferguson picks up the ball inside the Scottish half and he's off. He skips round England's Dawes. . . nutmegs Bryan. . . shoots. . . and SCORES! Goal for Scotland in the 89th minute of this World Cup quarter-final! England are on their knees. Ferguson sends the Scottish fans crazy. What a player!' Don't miss a minute of the non-stop action as 10-year-old Calum Ferguson goes from struggling to settle into a new town whilst fighting for his place on the school football team to impressing scouts, proving themselves and contending with arch rivals. Scotland Stars F.C. books are packed with excitement on and off the field, as well as loads of extras like character cards to collect and football tips, puzzles and games. Caleytown's dreams are coming true. They've made it to the National Soccer Sevens Tournament and the only thing standing between them and the cup are all of Scotland's finest football teams. Calum spots the Scotland manager, some scouts, and his hero James Cauldfield in the crowd, and he's getting nervous. Mr McKlop has some fun ways to distract them but Calum's nerves only escalate when, unexpectedly, he is made captain of the team. Can he get them through to the final? Can he overcome his jitters and impress the scouts? Will Caleytown bring home the cup?
Dubliners: Reviewed Edition
by James JoyceDubliners is a wonderfully engaging and accessible collection of stories by James Joyce, an author famed for being difficult to read. It contains fifteen stories, among them The Dead, made into a memorable film by John Huston. This beautiful new edition, with an introduction by John Boyne, was chosen as the One Book, One City title for Dublin in 2012.
The Wasted Vigil (Vintage International Ser.)
by Nadeem Aslam'This land and its killing epochs.'Nadeem Aslam's dazzling new novel takes place in modern-day Afghanistan. A Russian woman named Lara arrives at the house of Marcus Caldwell, an Englishman and widower living in an old perfume factory in the shadow of the Tora Bora mountains. It is possible that Marcus's daughter, Zameen, may have known Lara's brother, a Soviet soldier who disappeared in the area many years previously. But like Marcus's wife, Zameen is dead; a victim of the age in which she was born. In the days that follow, further people will arrive at the house: David Town and James Palantine, two Americans who have spent much of their adult lives in the area, for their respective reasons; Dunia, a young Afghan teacher; and Casa, a radicalised young man intent on his own path.The stories and histories that unfold - interweaving and overlapping, and spanning nearly a quarter of a century - tell of the terrible afflictions that have plagued Afghanistan. A work of deepest humanity, The Wasted Vigil offers a timely portrait of this region, of love during war and conflict. At once angry, unflinching and memorably beautiful, it marks Nadeem Aslam as a world writer of major importance.
Where Roses Never Die (Varg Veum #18)
by Gunnar StaalesenSeptember 1977. Mette Misvær, a three-year-old girl disappears without trace from the sandpit outside her home. Her tiny, close middle-class community in the tranquil suburb of Nordas is devastated, but their enquiries and the police produce nothing. Curtains twitch, suspicions are raised, but Mette is never found.Almost 25 years later, as the expiry date for the statute of limitations draws near, Mette’s mother approaches PI Varg Veum, in a last, desperate attempt to find out what happened to her daughter. As Veum starts to dig, he uncovers an intricate web of secrets, lies and shocking events that have been methodically concealed. When another brutal incident takes place, a pattern begins to emerge…Chilling, shocking and full of extraordinary twists and turns, Where Roses Never Die reaffirms Gunnar Staalesen as one of the world’s foremost thriller writers.'Mature and captivating’ Herald Scotland‘One of the finest Nordic novelists - in the tradition of Henning Menkell’ Barry Forshaw, Independent‘Masterful pacing’ Publishers Weekly‘Norwegian master Staalesen is an author who eschews police procedural narratives for noirish private eye pieces’ Financial Times‘Staalesen is one of my very favourite Scandinavian authors and this is a series with very sharp teeth’ Ian Rankin‘A Norwegian Chandler’ Jo Nesbo‘One of Norway’s most skilful storytellers’ Johan Theorin
The Love Songs of Nathan J. Swirsky
by Christopher HopeIt is the early fifties in Badminton, Johannesburg, where all the street-names recall British kings and queens and where retired soldiers relive the desert war in their dusty gardens. This small-town dreamscape erupts with the arrival of Nathan J. Swirsky, a pink volcano with an extravagant moustache; a magical pharmacist who speaks of exotic travels to faraway, forbidden places. In alarm and delight, the children of Badminton observe his unlikely resurrection...
Maxwell's Grave (Peter 'Mad Max' Maxwell mystery #3)
by M.J. TrowWhen Peter 'Mad Max' Maxwell took his kids from Leighford High on an archaelogical dig, all should have been learning and fun. The professionals were very excited - was the grave they had found that of Alfred the Great? No, because the corpse was not Saxon and it wasn't a king, but an altogether more recent murder.No sooner has the first body been found than another, a policeman on the case, is found dead at the wheel of his car. What knowledge did he possess that led to his death? And does his colleague, Maxwell's partner Jacquie Carpenter, unwittingly have the same information?Maxwell locks horns with the great and not so good in a vicious world of skulduggery, academic back-biting and religious mania which can only end in murder.
The Taliban Cricket Club: A Novel (Playaway Adult Fiction Ser.)
by Timeri MurariRukhsana, a spirited young journalist in Kabul, is summoned to the infamous Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice to face its terrifying minister, Zorak Wahidi. A cricket tournament is announced, with the winning team to travel to Pakistan for training and then represent Afghanistan at an international level. In reality, the idea is ludicrous. The Taliban will never embrace a game rooted in civility, fairness and equality. And no one in Afghanistan even knows how to play cricket, except Rukhsana. The tournament offers hope - a means of escape for her brother and young cousins. And for Rukhsana, escape is essential - Wahidi wants to marry her, a frightening proposition which will enslave her in his home. With the help of her cousins, Rukhsana devises an audacious plan that could ensure their freedom. All they have to do is learn to play cricket - and win. A soaring novel of resilience, strength, hope and tenderness, The Taliban Cricket Club reveals how love can overcome, and outwit, the power of tyrants.
Shakespeare, Authority, Sexuality: Unfinished Business in Cultural Materialism (Accents on Shakespeare)
by Alan SinfieldShakespeare, Authority, Sexuality is a powerful reassessment of cultural materialism as a way of understanding textuality, history and culture, by one of the founding figures of this critical movement. Alan Sinfield examines cultural materialism both as a body of ongoing argument and as it informs particular works by Shakespeare and his contemporaries, especially in relation to sexuality in early-modern England and queer theory. The book has several interlocking preoccupations: theories of textuality and reading the political location of Shakespearean plays and the organisation of literary culture today the operation of state power in the early-modern period and the scope for dissidence the sex/gender system in that period and the application of queer theory in history. These preoccupations are explored in and around a range of works by Shakespeare and his contemporaries. Throughout the book Sinfield re-presents cultural materialism, framing it not as a set of propositions, as has often been done, but as a cluster of unresolved problems. His brilliant, lucid and committed readings demonstrate that the ‘unfinished business’ of cultural materialism - and Sinfield’s work in particular - will long continue to produce new questions and challenges for the fields of Shakespeare and Renaissance Studies.
Mama Dada: Gertrude Stein's Avant-Garde Theatre (Studies in Modern Drama)
by Sarah Bay-ChengMama Dada is the first book to examine Gertrude Stein's drama within the history of the theatrical and cinematic avant-gardes. Since the publication of Stein's major writings by the Library of America in 1998, interest in her dramatic writing has escalated, particularly in American avant-garde theaters. This book addresses the growing interest in Stein's theater by offering the first detailed analyses of her major plays, and by considering them within a larger history of avant-garde performance. In addition to comparing Stein's plays and theories to those generated by Dadaists, Surrealists, and Futurists, this study further explores the uniqueness of Stein via these theatrical movements, including discussions of her interest in American life and drama, which argues that a significant and heretofore unrecognized relationship exists among the histories of avant-garde drama, cinema, and homosexuality. By examining and explaining the relationship among these three histories, the dramatic writings of Stein can best be understood, not only as examples of literary modernism, but also as influential dramatic works that have had a lasting effect on the American theatrical avant-
The Old Man and His Sons
by Heðin BrúThese are the Faroe Islands as they were some fifty years ago: sea-washed and remote, with one generation still tied to the sea for sustenance, and a younger generation turning towards commerce and clerical work in the towns. At the post-hunt whale-meat auction, the normally cautious Ketil enthusiastically bids for more meat than he can afford. Thus in his seventieth year, Ketil and his wife, along with their youngest son, struggle to repay their debt. They scavenge for driftwood and stranded seals, and knit up a storm of jumpers to sell in town. A touching novel that deftly captures a vanishing way of life. 'The Faroese voted this their book of the 20th century; by any nation's standards it's a classic.' Financial Times
Spies: A Novel (New Windmills Ser.)
by Michael FraynIn the quiet cul-de-sac where Keith and Stephen live the only immediate signs of the Second World War are the blackout at night and a single random bombsite. But the two boys start to suspect that all is not what it seems when one day Keith announces a disconcerting discovery: the Germans have infiltrated his own family. And when the secret underground world they have dreamed up emerges from the shadows they find themselves engulfed in mysteries far deeper and more painful than they had bargained for.'Bernard Shaw couldn't do it, Henry James couldn't do it, but the ingenious English author Michael Frayn does do it: write novels and plays with equal success ... Frayn's novel excels.' John updike, New Yorker'A beautifully accomplished, richly nostalgic novel about supposed second-world-war espionage seen through the eyes of a young boy.' Sunday Times'Deeply satisfying . . . Frayn has written nothing better.' Independent
The Jewel
by Catherine CzerkawskaA luscious historical novel, The Jewel brings to glorious life the dramatic years of Jean Armour and Robert Burns’s courtship, and their tempestuous, passionate married life, against a background simmering with political intrigue and turmoil. Jean, a beautiful young woman with the voice of a nightingale, set young Rab’s heart aflame from the first. Jean’s father tried to protect her from the advances of the mercurial ploughman-poet, whose roving eye was notorious. But she would not be kept from him. Their marriage endured against all odds, its rocky course revealing Jean’s indomitable strength and character. How Jean lived with – and frequently without – her famous husband is surely Scotland’s greatest love story.
Emerald Springs
by Fleur McDonaldAfter finishing university, Amelia Bennett returns to her home town. Determined to lose her old reputation for being scatty, she works hard to prove herself as the treasurer of the local rodeo committee.Flushed with triumph on the evening of the best rodeo in the town's history, Amelia is driving the bags of cash into town when she becomes the victim of a terrifying smash and grab. Injured and distraught after her ordeal, she's even more devastated when she finds out that she and her boyfriend Paul are in the frame for the crime.To prove her innocence and that of the man she loves, Amelia must convince a sceptical detective that her account of what happened does add up and that he must help her track down the real culprits...With its cracker plot, feisty heroine and engaging love story, Emerald Springs will have you reading well into the night.
The Assistant (The\collected Works Of Bernard Malamud Ser.)
by Bernard MalamudTime magazine's 'All-Time list of 100 Novels'Frank Alpine, a drifter fleeing from his past, runs straight into struggling Brooklyn grocer Morris Bober. Seeing a chance to atone for past sins, Frank becomes Bober's assistant and keeps shop when the owner takes ill. But it is Bober's daughter, Helen, who gives Frank a real reason to stay around, even as he begins to steal from the store.Widely considered as one of the great American-Jewish novels, The Assistant is a classic look at the social and racial divides of a country still in its infancy, and a stunning evocation of the immigrant experience - of cramped circumstances and great expectations.
Bones in the Nest (Sean Denton #2)
by Helen CadburyThe Chasebridge Killer is out; racial tension is rising and the mutilated body of a young Muslim man is found in the stairwell of a tower block in Doncaster. As he gets drawn into the case, Sean Denton’s family life and his police job become dangerously entwined. Meanwhile a young woman is trying to piece her life back together, but someone is out there; someone who will never let her forget what she’s done.