The Adultery Club
by Stimson, Tess
Barcode # 040786
Life couldn't be happier for Nicholas Lyon, a divorce lawyer and the adoring husband of Mal, a successful cookery writer who combines working from a comfortable home in Wiltshire with being mother to their three gorgeous daughters. And then Sara Kaplan, a bright young lawyer, explodes into his life like a sexual hand grenade.
Amazing disgrace
By Hamilton-Paterson, James
Barcode # 040765
Gerald Samper is a ghost-writer to the stars: rock singers, racing drivers and ski champions. And to Millie Cleat, the monstrous one-armed sailor, whose round-the-world voyage has made her the toast of Britain, and who has become the poster-girl for the Deep Blues, a mystical and nutty environmental group. Gerald pines for greater things, however, and would prefer to write the memoirs of Max Christ, the celebrated conductor. While he schemes to land this unattainable catch, he muses hilariously and viciously on the world of which he is such an unwilling part, looking out from his Tuscan hilltop and pining for his neighbour Marta, offspring of a crime family from Voynovia, who disappeared one day into thin air.
The Amnesia Clinic
by Scudamore, James
Barcode # 040763
Anti, a quiet English boy living in Quito, Ecuador, strikes up a friendship with flamboyant classmate Fabian, who is everything Anti isn't: handsome, athletic and popular. What's more, he lives with his rakish Uncle Suarez, while Anti is stuck in the dull ex-pat world inhabited by his parents. Rich in South American colour, this cleverly crafted novel deals with storytelling itself - the motivations for spinning a yarn and the consequences of taking a tale too far...
Band of Eagles
by Barnard, Jack
Barcode # 040720
Continuing the brilliant World War Two fighter pilot series - this time the theatre of war is the incredible story of the Siege of Malta. Summer 1941. The tiny island of Malta, held by the British and a crucial supply point for the Allies, has become the most bombed place on earth. The Germans and Italians want to destroy it. For the fighter pilots of the RAF, initially equipped with ageing Hurricanes and outnumbered in the air, defeat seems almost certain. Flight commanders, Englishman Kit Curtis and American Ossie Wolf make an unlikely alliance. Both have survived the Fall of France and the Battle of Britain but Curtis remains idealistic and eager to prove himself. Wolf, by contrast, is ruthless and thrives in the chaos of imminent invasion. But as each man is tested to the limit, they come to share a common purpose and fresh understanding. The experiences of these pilots and their comrades are vividly conveyed in a novel of compelling pace and power, made still more real by meticulous research that captures the spirit of the time. By turns brutal, funny, tragic and heroic here is a spell-binding tour-de-force, a brilliant sequel to the best-selling Blue Man Falling.
Benchmark
by McLeave, Hugh
Barcode # 040715
Judge Knox is an eminent, rigorous and unpopular High Court judge. But after committing a judicial error, the criminal he wrongly sentenced comes looking for revenge. Then, he seduces the judge's stepdaughter and turns her into a drug addict and sexual pervert. When he is found dead, Judge Knox is arrested, charged with murder and tried in his own court at the Old Bailey. For his defence, the judge spurns Queens Counsel friends and instead chooses a junior barrister - the man who loved his stepdaughter before she was corrupted. Against a cunning attorney general and a cantankerous lord chief justice can the junior counsel win over the jury?
Blackstone and the heart of darkness
by Spencer, Sally ; Rustage, Alan
Barcode # 040737
It is a worried letter for Tom Yardley, an old army comrade who once saved his life, that takes Inspector Sam Blackstone to the salt mining village of Marston. But by the time he arrives there, Yardley is already dead - blown to pieces in what was apparently a freak accident. Acting strictly unofficially, and without the assistance of his usual team - Ellie Carr is helping to track down a violent serial killer in Staffordshire, Archie Patterson is on the trail of a child prostitution ring in London - Blackstone begins to investigate Yardley's convenient death. It does not take him long to realize that there is true evil lurking in - and under - the village. And before the horrifying truth can finally be revealed, there will be three more deaths, and an attempt on Blackstone's own life.
Bone Machine
by Waites, Martyn
Barcode # 040729
The body is discovered in a disused burial ground. A young woman, ritualistically mutilated, her eyes and mouth crudely sewn shut. Her boyfriend is arrested and charged with the murder. He might have a vicious temper and a history of violence towards women, but is Michael Nell really a killer? Michael's lawyer doesn't think so. She's hired Joe Donovan to prove his alibi. Donovan's investigations lead him into the murky world of people trafficking and illegal prostitution. But when the second body shows up, he realises it's not just local gangsters he's up against - but a deranged serial killer. A killer obsessed with the city's dark history. A killer who leaves clues pointing to his twisted plan. And if Donovan and his team can't decipher those messages in time, a killer who will kill again ...
A Boy's guide to track and field
by Broadbent, Sabrina
Barcode # 040800
Starting at Walthamstow and travelling southbound towards Brixton, this story offers a vision of uncertainty, the unsaid and the untouched; a place where people lose their bearings and ultimately, a place of realignment.
Careless
by Robertson, Deborah
Barcode # 040732
There are multiple layers in this story: the interrelated stories of strangers; the way events can result in coincidences; and the tragedies and triumphs of life. As a good story, this novel works well. As an examination of lives it works even better. But its real strength is in the evocative and imaginative use of language An outstanding debut novel that is as moving as it is wise by an award-winning short story writer.
Chameleon and other stories
by Bryce, Jane
Barcode # 040823
When a young white child discovers why her family's African gardener so dislikes the chameleon she spots in a tree, she is plunged into a puzzled awareness of the complexities of race, colour and difference. As the 'I' of the stories grows into adulthood in Nigeria, she too becomes a chameleon of sorts, one thing when she is with her Nigerian friends, another with the white tribe when she can no longer resist the lure of the scarce luxuries to be had at the British embassy. When the 'I' makes the crossing from Nigeria to the Caribbean, she discovers that it is not only people who are chameleons. Osun, the Yoruba orisha has also made the journey, a little outwardly changed, but inwardly the same in Trinidadian and Cuban manifestations. In the earlier stories, the 'I' has a childhood innocence that, in the comment of the distinguished poet UA Fanthorpe, 'sees all the better for not understanding'. With increasing awareness comes a sense of being an outsider in almost all situations, though in playing mas' in the Trinidad carnival, there is a glimpse of the transcendence of belonging to the collective. Whether as the child trying to understand her parents, their Muslim servant's sense of the sacred, or the 'incomprehensible prohibitions' of a colonial childhood, there is a constant tension between the sense of separateness and the desire for belonging. And though each of the stories is a first person narrative, what stands out in Bryce's careful, elegant writing is a very concrete sense of the reality and autonomy of other voices, other views.
Charlie's War
by Fiddimore, David
Barcode # 040780
My old skipper once told me to always expect the unexpected. I should have listened to him...When a plane crash leaves Charlie Bassett rested from the RAF, he receives unexpected orders - to locate the elusive, pregnant Grace Baker and bring her home. But Grace, who has been following the armed forces across Europe, clearly does not want to be found, and despite Charlie's personal stake in it, this bizarre and challenging mission is still one he would rather avoid. Nevertheless, Charlie finds himself journeying to France in a car named Kate, with a dubious, eccentric Army Major and his loyal Sergeant - two men who are evidently going about mysterious duties of their own. And as Charlie moves slowly towards the front-line on this exhilarating road trip, so too does he draw closer to the woman he once loved and lost...
The Charm
by Bates, Ann Pauline
Barcode # 040822
She wasn't the first teenage to fall in love with the wrong boy, but this common occurence plunged her into a seemingly bottomless pit of depravity and utter despair. Helplessly watching a world of drug abuse, violence, sexual perversion and rape invade her once cosy existence and tera at her sanity were those who loved herthough their lives, too were bing damaged beyond repair. Would she ever escape from her nightmare?
Chart Throb
by Elton, Ben
Barcode # 040723
A biting social satire of one of the world's most popular cultural phenomena from the bestselling author of The First Casualty. "Chart Throb" is the ultimate pop quest. Ninety five thousand hopefuls. Three judges. Just one winner. And that's Colin Simms, the genius behind the show. Colin always wins because Colin writes the rules. But this year, as he sits smugly in judgement upon the mingers, clingers and blingers whom he has pre-selected in his carefully scripted 'search' for a star, he has no idea that the rules are changing. The 'real' is about to be put back into 'reality' television and Colin and his fellow judges (the nation's favourite mum and the other bloke) are about to become ex-factors themselves. Ben Elton, author of "Popcorn and Dead Famous" returns to blistering comic satire with a savagely hilarious deconstruction of the world of modern television talent shows. "Chart Throb" is about one winner and a whole bunch of losers.
China Dreams
by Smith, Sid
Barcode # 040714
For Tom it was a wonderful summer. Innocent and awestruck on his arrival in London, he was working as a delivery boy at a Chinese takeaway. Then May, the daughter of the owner, became his love. But suddenly Tom loses his home, his job and his beloved. A squat, then a battered green van, become his refuge, his longing for May his one obsession.
Conspiracy of fire
by Sanders, Michael
Barcode # 040761
In the People's Freedom Society, it has been seven years since the last war, and murder is practically a thing of the past. When Colonel Liam Cabot, of the People's Civilian Guard, is called in to investigate four murders which took place in the same night, it becomes clear that something has gone badly wrong. With enemies old and new standing in his path, and a series of mysterious events confounding the bizarre array of killings still further, Cabot is forced to turn the sights of his investigation inward, towards the Society's own government. But there may be a still darker force at work, an enemy long thought dead, whose machinations threaten the very fabric of the Society.
Cypress Grove
by Bucheron, Rose
Barcode # 040726
Robert Markham and his wife Grace have been looking for a new business venture for a while when he sees the advertisement for The Old Manor House in the paper. Set in the small idyllic village of Cypress Grove, buying the hotel seems a perfect way for the Markhams to achieve their dream of living in the Cotswolds. However, their first year as the new proprietors is shaping up to be as interesting as their guests. There's the wealthy American widow Mrs Macready and her daughter Ellis, who are staying at the hotel while their nearby house is renovated. By comparison, newly retired Constance Boswell is treating herself to a little luxury before facing up to an uncertain future...And then there's the mysterious Anthony Sheridan who claims to be using the hotel as a base for his house-hunting but is not entirely what he seems...
Deadly retreat
by Green, Christine
Barcode # 040713
After the tragic death of her policeman boyfriend David in a recent case, private investigator Kate Kinsella is feeling understandably sorry for herself. Deciding that she needs a break, Kate's friend and partner, Hubert despatches her to a rural retreat in deepest Wales in search of some rest and relaxation. Peace Haven turns out to be a bizarre New Age therapy centre, run by the curiously named, kaftan-clad Zoton. There, Kate meets a motley collection of misfits, including an apparently anorexic young woman who, it turns out, has been in prison accused of murdering her baby son. But there is more to Fran's story than meets the eye, and soon Kate is once again embroiled in a complex and dangerous investigation to uncover the truth.
Death's Dominion
by Clark, Simon
Barcode # 040821
Science raises the dead to serve the living, but humanity begins to despise the risen dead who toil among them. After all, what does it feel like to shake hands with a corpse? Or converse with a man who died last year?
Diamonds and daisies
by Strachan, Bernadette
Barcode # 040712
Novelist Sunny Parkinson might write scorching romances, but her own life is decidedly lacking in passion. A knicker-snatcher is at large in her block of flats. Her best friend's marriage is crumbling over a luncheon meat scandal. She lives with a spherical couch potato and a workaholic virgin. And an Irish nun has just moved in to their spare room. But one night at the launderette she meets Count Fabio Carelli -- a man so traffic-stoppingly sexy he could have stepped straight from the pages of her latest novel...Candlelit dinners, luxury spa dates and weekends in Paris are a far cry from the weekly pint and pork scratchings with her ex-turned-TV-gardener. Sunny is understandably dazzled. But is this the happy ending she's always craved or is it too good to be true?
Does my head look big in this?
by Abdel-Fattah, Randa
Barcode # 040760
Don't panic - I'm Islamic. Amal is a 16-year-old Melbourne teen with all the usual obsessions about boys, chocolate and Cosmo magazine. She's also a Muslim, struggling to honor the Islamic faith in a society that doesn't understand it. The story of her decision to "shawl up" and its attendant anxieties (like how much eyeliner to wear) is funny, surprising and touching by turns.
Driftnet
by Anderson, Lin
Barcode # 040739
'The boy who had been abused and strangled in that hideous little room looked so like her, he could have been her brother..' A teenage boy is found mutilated and murdered in a Glasgow flat. Forensic scientist Rhona Macleod is called to the scene, but her grim task is made even more unsettling than usual by the boy's remarkable resemblance to her -- and the fact that she gave up a baby boy for adoption seventeen years before. Racked with guilt, she sets out to find the boy's killer and determine whether he is her long-lost son -- but in doing so, she immerses herself in the sinister world of an internet paedophile ring. Some very powerful men have a lot to lose if she succeeds, and everything to gain if she dies.
The Dungeon
by Banks, Lynne Reid
Barcode # 040777
A medieval tragedy and tale of retribution -- The Dungeon is a powerful story from a writer of great skill and potency. The setting is medieval Scotland, a land dominated by skirmishes and battles on the borders, a land of fortresses and castles in Scotland, England and Wales. We meet Bruce McLennan, a Scottish laird, a man sorely-changed by a terrible family tragedy. He is a domineering master, an uncaring landlord, a cruel man, who has his heart set on building himself a castle and a Dungeon in which to punish his enemies in the future. But while the dungeon is being built, McLennan plans a trip to the far ends of the earth. As we follow McLennan on his travels to China and beyond, we witness his buying of Peony, or Mudan, as her Chinese name is, a young girl who McLennan uses as a slave. He is uncaring, unsympathetic, as he drags her after him across the world. Gradually, knowing no other, Peony develops a kind of affection for her master. In Scotland, Peony meets Fin, a stable lad and a loving friendship develops between them. McLennan, busy fighting off enemies, uses Peony in an horrific scene in one of his battles; he looses badly and subsequently blames her. He decides to punish her by throwing her in his dungeon...then unfolds a ghastly scene where Peony kills herself, at last in control of her own destiny. McLennan dies of guilt, shame and remorse. Fin lives on, and even Peony, perhaps, in his new baby sister.
Edge of sanity (short stories)
Barcode # 040764
Presents short stories on the theme of horror. You can't put this book down, even though you want to because your mind is begiining to play tricks on you; making your imagination run riot. The hair on the back of your neck is standing on end. You have the overwhelming urge to check over your shoulder to see if someone is standing there. Was that the floorboard screaking or something else entirely ? Something not from this world? Was it your imagination or did somehting just move past the door? Are you sure you locked the door? The authors featured in this book have risen to the challenge of creating ghost stories and macabre tales. There are horrific stories of unfortunate people meeting a grisly end alongside futuristic themes dealing with aliens and the strangeness os science fiction.
The Egg Race
by Willams, Polly
Barcode # 040775
The wonderful new novel from the brilliant Polly Williams - the story of two women who worry they've left having children too late, and set about trying to remedy the situation.
Evan blessed
by Bowen, Rhys
Barcode # 040718
Two weeks before the big day, Welsh Constable Evans is ready for his wedding. Just as he's unloading the last boxes into the new home he and his bride, Bronwen, have chosen, he runs into a teenager whose girlfriend has gone missing on Mt. Snowden. Despite his apprehensions about getting involved in a new case, Evans cannot resist helping the worried hiker. A search yields no trace of the girl, but does turn up a well-stocked bunker, complete with chains and handcuffs. Are the two related? And if so, where is the girl being held? When a series of clues is uncovered, Evans and the police begin to see that they are dealing with a clever but twisted mind. Then a second person close to Evans' heart vanishes and he realizes the culprit's vendetta might be a personal one and that the actual target might have been him all along.
Everyman's rules for scientific living
by Tiffany, Carrie
Barcode # 040835
Settling in the impoverished Mallee with an ambition to cultivate the land, Robert and Jean Pettergree are forced to confront each other, and the community they have inadvertently destroyed, after their agricultural practices damage the fragile and ancient landscape.
Evil for evil
by Parker, K J
Barcode # 040783
The engineer Ziani Vaatzes designed and built a war. Thousands died as a consequence of his elaborate plan. The civil servant Manuo Psellus took the decision that started the war. The very foundations of his world are now threatened. The ruler Duke Valens brought the war on himself. Now he must decide whether to sacrifice his country to save his people. They embarked on war for their own reasons, but as their war takes on a life of its own they find they've become components in their own machine. And the machine, it seems, has one purpose: to render evil for evil.
Exposure
by Stevenson, Talitha
Barcode # 040833
'It was a strange truth that in a life often spent arguing the defence of drug dealers and thieves in front of sceptical juries, he had never had to defend himself. He was literally lost for words now that he needed them most.' When successful barrister Alistair Langford is brutally attacked late one night by two mystery assailants, he is left with terrible injuries. But this was no random mugging: Alistair's life is full of secrets and lies, and as the repercussions of the attack unfold and the truth begins to emerge, he realises this one pivotal event could tear his whole family apart. Talitha Stevenson's second novel is a highly suspenseful and brilliantly observed modern morality tale that explores the terrible effects of deceit, shame and complacency on an apparently ordinary family.
Fish Sunday Thinking
by Gilmore, Alex
Barcode # 040799
You are in a job you do not enjoy. You are surrounded by colleagues you do not respect. You feel you can do better. Your life feels directionless. You feel trapped. You drink to take your mind off it all. You dread Mondays. You hate your alarm clock with a passion. You worship Friday afternoons. You cherish the weekend. You loathe the inevitability of ironing, always ironing. You assess where you are going on every Sunday. You know you're not the big fish. You wonder if you ever want to be. You are stuck on repeat. You are in an endless cycle of working, drinking and making coffee. You want a way out. You want to escape this way of thinking. You want to enjoy life, all the time. You want fulfilment. You want freedom. You want to read this book. In a large London law firm, trainee solicitor Denton Voyle contemplates why he is pursuing a career in law. Every Sunday afternoon, with nothing better to look forward to than the ironing, he questions his miserable, listless, alcohol fuelled existence and wonders if the pursuit of being the big fish could ever really satisfy him. He soon finds he is not alone and sets out to escape his fish Sunday thinking.
Fresh apples
by Trezise, Rachel
Barcode # 040767
Eleven wry and defiant stories on the power and beautiful transience of youth.
Getting rid of Matthew
by Fallon, Jane
Barcode # 040734
If your intrigue is mistresses and affairs then you'll love this book. It's witty and grown up, heartbreaking and sad, bitchy and friendly all at once. It's real life told from many viewpoints and talks a lot of truth and common sense. The main female, Helen, is the mistress and has been for a patient four years. Over a sad Christmas she decides that she's had enough and this is the end for her and Matthew, her boss, whilst Matthew also having a disastrous Christmas decides to leave his wife and two daughters and takes it for granted that he can move in with Helen. Without spoiling the rest of the story for any potential readers, it's quite obvious that Helen's difficulty is trying to get Matthew out of her home and regain her independence without hurting his feelings.
Going under
by French, Ray
Barcode # 040768
The future looks bleak for Aidan Walsh. He stands to lose his job as the last major employer in a dead-end Welsh town prepares to close its factory and relocate to India. Then Aidan hatches a startling plan. He buries himself alive in a coffin in his back garden, announcing that he's not coming back up until everyone's job is saved. Can one desperate man with nothing but a crazy idea take on a multi-national?
Graffiti my soul
by Govinden, Niven
Barcode # 040707
This is Surrey where nothing bad ever happens. Except somehow, 15 year-old Verapen, half Tamil, half-Jew and the fastest runner in the school has just helped bury Moon Suzuki, the girl he loved. His Dad has run off with an optician and his Mum's going off the rails; then, there's his trainer, who's has been accused of kiddie-fiddling. Since, when did growing up in the suburbs get this complicated? As the knots of Moon and Verapen's tragic story unfold, Niven Govinden brings to life a misfit hero of the school gates, bristling with tenderness, venom and vigour. "Graffiti My Soul" is a hip, rich, big-hearted book full of unexpected twists and inspiring humanity.
Hot Blood
by Leather, Stephen
Barcode # 040781
In HOT BLOOD, Stephen Leather's fourth book in the Dan "Spider" Shepherd series, Spider, an Ex-SAS trooper now a Detective Constable with a ultra hush-hush undercover unit within London's Metropolitan Police tasked with missions otherwise impossible,leaves the relative safety of the UK on an unauthorized leave of absence from his day job to take the point position on a mission into Baghdad's most anti-Western sector. Back in his Army days when Shepherd was chasing the Taliban in Afghanistan, Dan's life was saved by fellow trooper Geordie Mitchell. Now, while working for a private security company in the Iraqi capital, Mitchell is kidnapped by Islamic insurgents. In a video broadcast to the world, Mitchell's captors display their hostage and threaten his execution in two weeks if their demands aren't met. With virtually no leads as to Geordie's exact whereabouts or the identity of his abductors, Spider and three other former Sassmen, led by their old boss SAS Major Allan Gannon, must extricate Mitchell from his dodgy predicament before his throat is literally put to the knife.
If minds had toes
by Eyre, Lucy
Barcode # 040709
Ben Warner is working for the summer at Cod Almighty, his local fish and chip shop, when one evening a woman called Lila arrives with a bizarre invitation. Lila has a mission. Her boss, Socrates has made a bet with his arch-rival Wittgenstein. To win the bet, he and Lila must prove to Ben that philosophy can change his life for the better.
The Irish Affair
by Daniel, Jack
Barcode # 040727
Sensitive govenment papers are being leaked to the press, Catain Jackie Fraser is told to find the culprit. They uncover the usual ministerial shambles; some have shown the papers to their junior minsters, some have given them copies and other copies have been circulated by political advisers. The unit identify the culprit and she falls from a window. This leads to a mysterious group. Meanwhile a stock of tear gas is stolen and canisters are released at various locations in London, Glasgow and Liverpool. People are killed and some of the bombers captured. The trail leads to Cork where a hard man of the IRA has taken a new wife, unbeknown to his present one.
It's not you, it's me
by Dunne, Helen
Barcode # 040673
Holly Parker is a corporate investigator, which is not to be confused with a private eye. She checks out the backgrounds of candidates for some of the top jobs in the City. Yet while she helps countless high profile companies to find their Mr Right, her personal life is littered with romantic disasters.
Juniper Street
by Freeman, Sandra
Barcode # 040865
A cautionary romance, Juniper Street explores the sudden speed, the pain and perhaps madness thate veryone recognieses as falling-in-love. As they take the season's holidays, gay men, European families and lesbians-at-large flirt and intrigue. AFter a summer of fruit picking, London lesbian, Danielle (aka Dany) tends bar in the south of France.
Last stand at Majuba Hill
by Wilcox, John
Barcode # 040721
This classic military adventure will delight fans of Cornwell and Mallinson, as Wilcox takes the reader into the mind of a soldier at his finest hour...In the fight for South Africa, who will be the first to fall? The year is 1881, and General George Pomeroy-Colley, commander of the British forces in Natal, is planning to stamp out a rebellion. He is convinced the Transvaal Boers -- mere farmers -- can pose no serious threat, but before he can advance into unknown terrain, he needs reliable information. He calls on former army captain Simon Fonthill. A veteran of the Zulu and Sekukuni campaigns, Fonthill knows the Boers should not be underestimated. After narrowly surviving a scouting mission into hostile territory, Fonthill and his servant, '352' Jenkins, are given an urgent diplomatic assignment where further danger and treachery await them. But the greatest test is yet to come. As the Queen's men and the sharp-shooting Boers converge on the imposing heights of Majuba Hill, Fonthill and Jenkins are first into the fray. If they are to break the enemy, Colley's men must hold the summit at all costs!
Lethal Intent
by Jardine, Quintin
Barcode # 040805
This is a worthy follow up to the previous books in the series. While it's not groundbreaking or original in the Skinner theme it's very readable to fans of the series. A previous reviewer mentioned about his wife's infidelity, it must be remembered that he hasn't exactly been spotless himself so they've put up with each others. This book does continue to develop the characters and you become as interested in them as you do in the plot surrounding the crime.
Letters from Carthage
by James, Bill
Barcode # 040731
Vince and Kate are new to the tree-lined suburbia of Tabbett Drive. Fresh from the inner city, they have struggled to eventually make it to the 'burbs'. With detached houses, gardens both front and back and quiet neighbours, Vince and Kate are happy to have attained access to this middle-class paradise. They've even found the neighbours to be remarkably friendly and not at all standoffish as they were lead to expect. Jill and Dennis Seagrave seem particularly affable with his skill at tasteful topiary, and her envious attractiveness. However, perhaps all is not what it seems as Kate begins to detect something amiss to the Seagraves. Can it be that beneath the facade of this perfect suburban calm lies secrets as dangerous as any inner city? Is everything, is anything, as it seems?
Losing you
by French, Nicci
Barcode # 040804
Nina Landry is supposed to be taking her two children on a Christmas holiday today. But the road away from Sandling Island seems littered with obstacles. Most pressing of all, her 15-year-old daughter, Charlie, has yet to return from a night out ...Minute by minute, Nina's unease builds to worry and then panic. Has Charlie run away? Or has something more sinister happened to her? And why will nobody take her disappearance seriously? As a series of half-buried secrets lead Nina from sickening suspicion to deadly certainty, the question becomes less whether she and her daughter will leave the island for Christmas - and more whether they'll ever leave it again.
The Lost City
by Shukman, Henry
Barcode # 040730
A former soldier, invalided out of the army because of a horrific and traumatic incident, Jackson Small goes on a journey into the Peruvian jungle in search of a lost city of an ancient race. The reasons for his trip are however rather more complicated. As well as doing it out of personal interest in the culture, he feels he has to make the journey as a pilgrimage for a dead colleague. But when he is robbed of all his equipment, money and provisions early in the trip, he is forced to undertake an undercover military operation in the dangerous, lawless region ruled by a major drug baron. Along the way he meets many characters who propose other alternative ways of living. A young Peruvian boy latches onto him, accompanying him on his journey, and Jackson finds some sense of purpose in looking after the child. He meets and falls in love with a young American girl Sarah, who helps the young man overcome his shyness and the pain of his past. He meets a priest who dedicates himself to the poor people of the region and he meets Sarah's uncle, who has abandoned the Western lifestyle for a purer way of living in the Amazonian wilderness. He also meets people dedicated to political causes, people that because of his military past he can't escape. Eventually, he has to make his own way to the outcome of his quest. There are a lot of contradictions in Henry Shukman's new novel, bu t in this case it's a good thing. A thriller, a love story, a journey of personal discovery - each of the different elements blend together extremely well and give the book an unexpected depth and lyricism. The author's own experience as a travel writer with an interest in exploring and learning from ancient cultures (Sons of the Moon: A Journey in the Andes) undoubtedly contributes greatly to the authenticity and the keenness in the description of his character's discoveries in the Peruvian rain-forests. The major discoveries however are clearly more personal than archaeological and Shukman is equally adept at pinpointing their intricacies in this exciting, intelligent and satisfying novel.
Love songs and lies
by Purves, Libby
Barcode # 040722
Sally, Kate and Marienka. Three young women who meet as undergraduates in 1970s Oxford and share their romantically shabby canalside house with Max Bellinger -- clever, attractive, enigmatic Max. Sally -- our narrator --idolises Max, who is something of an homme fatale. But it is Max's wayward rock singer brother, Marty, who is to play the most important role in her life, when one of his songs (for which she provided the lyrics) becomes an unexpected hit. Although their paths diverge once they leave Oxford, Sally stays in touch with all the housemates and their lives remain interwoven throughout the momentous second half of the twentieth century.
Love that dog
by Creech, Sharon
Barcode # 040779
This is a prose novel about a boy who has to write a poem, and then another, and then even more. Soon the little boy is writing about all sorts of things he has not really come to terms with, and astounding things start to happen.
Lucky Girl
by Gibson, Fiona
Barcode # 040757
A captivating feel-good story about family ties, and the wonderful things that can happen when you allow new people, and unexpected events, to change your life. Lucky Girl is an uplifting story about a 30 year old woman whose life is changed for the better when two little girls move in next door. Having had a troubled childhood herself, (losing her mum at a very young age, being neglected by her father) Stella has closeted herself away as an adult. But her two young neighbours, with their curious questions and constant visiting, force her to look back on her childhood, discover some home truths and make her realise that she must look forward and live life to the full.
Marrying for money
by Manby, Chris
Barcode # 040719
A mix of Desperate Housewives and Cinderella, it's a cracking good read with plots, twists and turns that made this a pleasure to kick back and enjoy. When the Grosvenor sisters rent out Rose House for the Summer, Queen of Suburbia Marcella's nose is put out of joint as one by one, the eligible bachelors of Little Elbow line up to woo the sisters. Marcella is a hateful creature and very very funny, Charity Grosvenor feisty and Grace is a touch dull in comparison.
More than love letters
by Thornton, Rosy
Barcode # 040717
'"I am writing to you as my constituency MP to express my concern about!' When Richard Slater receives a letter of complaint from one of his constituents, a Margaret Hayton, he merely responds with his standard letter of empty promises. Clearly, this woman is insane and must be avoided at all costs. But she will not be dismissed so easily, and when Richard finally sets eyes on the 'twenty-something vision in stone-washed denim, with a cloud of dark ringlets and huge, serious eyes' he risks losing his heart, his head and quite possibly his political career.
Mother's Milk
by St Aubyn, Edward
Barcode # 040796
The once wealthy Melroses are in peril. Caught in the wreckage of broken promises, adultery and assisted suicide, Patrick finds his wife consumed by motherhood, and his five-year-old son Robert understanding far more than he ought. This novel is an exploration of the troubled allegiances between parents and children, husbands and wives.
Murder of identity
by Heley, Veronica
Barcode # 040708
While out collecting some Portuguese laurel for formidable flower arranger, Mrs Dawes, feisty widow Ellie Quicke comes across a dead body...a corpse without an identity. Next day, Mrs Dawes is discovered by Ellie and her grandson badly beaten and close to death. Much to Ellie's dismay, the police think shaven-headed Neil, Mrs Dawes' grandson, is responsible, even after a third body comes to light. As if this were not enough, Ellie's ambitious daughter Diana has gone into partnership with a smiling, steely estate agent, causing her to neglect her son; Ellie's aged aunt is making plans for the family which are sure to cause ructions; and their delightfully rotund vicar asks for more attention from Ellie than she can easily give. So who has lost their identity and who has gained it?
Night Watch
by Waters, Sarah
Barcode # 040797
Moving back through the 1940s, through air raids, blacked-out streets, illicit partying and sexual adventure to end with its beginning in 1941, The Night Watch tlls the story of four Londoners-three women and a young man with a past-whose livesand those of their friends and lovers, connect in sometimes surprising ways. In wartime London, the women work as ambulance drivers, ministry clerks, and building inspectors. There are feats of heroism, epic and quotidian and tragidies both enourmous and personal but it si the eomtional inner lives of her characters that Sarah Waters captures with abosolute truth and intimacy. Waters describes with perfect knowing the taut composure of a resue worker in the aftermath of a bombing, the idle longing of a young woman for her soldier lover, the peculiar thrill of a convict watching the sky ignite through the bars on his window, the hunger of a woman prowling the streets for an encounter and the panic of another who sees her love affair coming to an end. At the same time, Waters is in absolute control of a narative that offers up stunning surprises and exquisite turns, even as it depicts the impact of grand historical events on individual lives.
Over Exposure
by Rifkind, Hugo
Barcode # 040814
All is not well in the Big Smoke... When a shadowy cat-burglar called 'Fingers' starts nicking rocks from London's celebrities, Macaulay Lewis, a misfit news-hound, scents opportunity. If he can unmask the thief, he might just stand a chance of holding down his job with the paper. His ex-girlfriend might fancy him again. He might even get snapped by the odd celeb magazine himself. Fame glitters. But is all that glitters really worth the cab ride home? Overexposure is arch farce and rollicking thriller rolled into one, with unforgettable characters, brilliant dialogue and laugh-out-loud quips. Expose yourself to the flashiest, edgiest comedy of modern life in recent years.
Pierce Brosnan : the biography
by Membery, York
Barcode # 040696
Pierce Brosnan was first offered the part of Bond in 1986, only to be prevented from taking it by contractual obligations. It wasn't until 1995 that he burst onto the big screen as the legendary James Bond in "Goldeneye". This book tells the story of Brosnan's rags-to-riches life.
Playing mercy
by Scott, Matthew David
Barcode # 040832
It is Friday and Chris is trying to meet up with what might be the girl of his dreams - Keeley, but on his way to meet her he is beaten up in a revenge attack. Romance has to be put on hold as his older brother David plots retribution as a last ditch attempt to hold onto a hard-man reputation he feels is slipping away. Longlisted for the Dylan Thomas awards, Playing Mercy is a fast-tracking, black but never bleak comedy about trainers, trading, and family pride.
Protection
by Allen, Claire
Barcode # 040724
An intense, suspenseful and surprising story of three damaged characters, and of a mother's touching struggle to hold on to her child. "'There's nowhere you can go?'" Marina is homeless, and struggling to keep her toddler son, Oscar, out of care. Liam has received a letter from the father he has not seen for twenty years -- the father who is in prison for his mother's murder. Hannah is an elderly widow running a B&B peopled by memories rather than guests. Swallowed up again by the pain of his childhood, Liam flees to the coast but finds the hardest of welcomes there. Marina steals a dealer's stash of money and takes a train to the remotest spot she can find, where she quickly encounters Hannah. Hannah can see that Marina is trouble, but loses her heart to Oscar, and cannot resist taking them in. So three lives unexpectedly intersect. But will they find a way through their fears and suspicions to help each other?
Pryde's Rock
by Archilbald, Malcolm
Barcode # 040820
Northumberland, 1803: Matthew Pryde, a young engineer, is sent to the small coastal village of Onswick to survey an offshore island, known locally as the Black Corbie, and persuade the local landowner that a lighthouse must be built to prevent the high number of fatal shipwrecks that occur there. However, after suffering violence and intimidation, Matthew realizes that the locals are deeply against the project. Finding himself suddenly on a personal search to discover more about his own mysterious childhood, Matthew is determined to succeed in both the professional and personal tasks set before him. He finds himself strangely attracted to the mysterious and beautiful Grace Fenwick, daughter of the local landowner, but when this leads to a duel with an old adversary, Matthew is sure that all is at a loss and the truth will never be told...
The Ruby in her navel
by Unsworth, Barry
Barcode # 040816
Thurstan, a young Norman and would-be Knight at the Court of King Roger in Palermo, has been in love since boyhood with Lady Alicia, returned a widow from the Holy Land. This novel tells the story of how the war between Islam and Christendom impinges on both Thurstan's mind and his heart.
Rubyb Holler
by Creech, Sharon
Barcode # 040762
Tiller and Sairy live a quiet life in Ruby Holler, their children have long since left home and they are happy with their routines. Until one day they each decide they want to undertake a big adventure and they need companions to accompany them. And now it gets exciting because they adopt two children from the local orphanage and form an unlikely foursome for the children can not believe they are really 'wanted' and Tiller and Sairy have to deal with some pretty unconventional behaviour on the part of the children. A wonderful, whimsical and magical story that combines quirky action and adventure with the important themes of family and loyalty and learning to belong.
Satisfaction
by Greenwood, Gillian
Barcode # 040798
A charming husband, two beautiful children, cherished friends and a secure future. Satisfied yet A very modern story of love, sex, hardship and friendship
Sayonara Bar
by Barker, Susan
Barcode # 040733
This book follows a group of characters all connected to a western hostess lounge in Osaka. During work hours, Mary from England and her counterparts from Australia, Russia, America and Japan, are modern day geishas, paid to entertain the rich Japanese salarymen who frequent the bar.
The Secret Hangman
by Lovesey, Peter
Barcode # 040736
Peter Diamond, the Bath detective, is having woman trouble. His boss wants him to find a missing person, the daughter of one of her friends in the choir. He is not enthusiastic. Another woman, who calls herself his Secret Admirer, wants to set up a meeting in a local pub. He tries ignoring her. Then there is sexy Ingeborg Smith, the ex-journo detective constable, distracting the murder squad from their duties. No one ignores Ingeborg. Murder becomes a possibility when a woman's body is found hanging from a playground swing in Sydney Gardens and a suspicious second ligature mark is found around her neck. Diamond investigates the victim's colourful past. More hangings are discovered and soon he is certain that a secret hangman is at work in the city...
The Shell House
by Newbery, Linda
Barcode # 040710
Greg's interest in a ruined mansion becomes more personal as he discovers the events of its last inhabitants. Set against the modern day and World War I, Greg's beliefs becomes interwined with those of a foot soldier whose confusion about his sexuality and identity mirrors Greg's own feelings.
Sisterland
by Newbery, Linda
Barcode # 040725
Hilly's German grandmother, HeidiGran, arrives to live with her family after she gets Alzheimer's disease. As her mind becomes more muddled, the family is turned upside down by revelations that emerge from her memories of life during World War II.
The Spanish Game
by Cumming, Charles
Barcode # 040782
Abandoned by MI6 after a disastrous operation with the CIA, Alec Milius has slowly rebuilt his life in Madrid. Older and wiser than the young spy who first caught the eye of British Intelligence, Milius still has a talent for deception and a fatal weakness for secrets. Soon, he becomes vulnerable to the ruthless duplicities of the secret world.
The Spirit of Liberty
by Allbeury, Ted
Barcode # 040758
George Carling's day job: Peer of the Realm. His former occupation: retired spy. He is the spymasters' spymaster; the man who knew all the secrets of the Cold War. But now the press are hinting that he might be the Fourth Man, or rather the Fifth Man, or was there even a Sixth Man? The newspapers think his modus operandi were too good to be honest. So, when SIS send young Timothy Matthews to talk with Carling, it emerges that Carling's real secrets are deeper and more astonishing. And when Matthews makes a trip to the USA to dig further, fears that old skeletons are about to be unearthed cause the authorities to take some drastic action to stop him talking to a retired CIA man. "The Spirit of Liberty" is the startling story of a spy who wanted to be a good man; a man who knows about Kim Philby's last great coup - the ultimate deception of the Cold War.
A State of Denmark
by Raymond, Derek
Barcode # 040784
It is the 1960s. England has become a dictatorship, governed by a sly, ruthless politician called Jobling. All non-whites have been deported, "The English Times" is the only newspaper, and ordinary people live in dread of nightly curfews and secret police. Richard Watt used all his journalistic talents to expose Jobling before he came to power.
Sunstroke and other stories
by Hadley, Tessa
Barcode # 040728
Everyday life crackles with the electricity sparking between men and women, between parents and children, and between friends. A son confesses to his mother that he is cheating on his girlfriend; a student falls in love with her lecturer and embarks on an affair. This work offers stories about family life.
Sweet Nothings
by Norton, Sheila
Barcode # 040674
When Michelle Peacham's boyfriend disappears in the middle of a pub lunch, she's somewhat surprised. Meanwhile Michelle's mum Penny has become an accidental celebrity. And all because she revealed on local radio that the secret of her long marriage is keeping her husband sweet with regular servings of his favourite dessert.
The Tea Rose
by Donnelly, Jennifer
Barcode # 040778
Set in Whitechapel in 1888, The Tea Rose is a tale of a love lost and won, of a family's destruction, of murder and revenge -- and one young woman's quest to escape the poverty of her childhood and make her fortune in the tea trade. Fiona Finnegan is the spirited, ambitious daughter of an Irish dock worker. She longs to break free from the squalid lanes and alleys of Whitechapel, where she has a job in a tea factory. With the love of her life, Joe Bristow, she dreams of escaping the poverty and opening her own tea shop. But one by one her dreams fall apart as her father is killed in a dock accident, Joe is seduced by another woman, and her mother is viciously murdered - a suspected victim of Jack the Ripper. Devastated, her life in tatters, Fiona flees to New York where she sets up home with her alcoholic uncle. Slowly she builds his small grocery shop into a thriving tea house, and her new life flourishes. After years of hard work, she establishes herself as the head of her own powerful tea empire. But she cannot forget London - or Joe. Convinced that her father was murdered by his brutal employer, Fiona vows to seek revenge and ruin him once and for all. Making her way back to the streets of her impoverished childhood, Fiona must start her fight again. From the bleak poverty and filthy back streets of London to the glossy sophistication of Fifth Avenue, from East End dock workers to New York socialites, The Tea Rose is a charming, heart warming and ultimately life-affirming novel.
The Testament of Gideon Mack
by Robertson, James
Barcode # 040872
Set in Scotland, this novel uses the literary device of a manuscript, the testament of Gideon Mack, which has fallen into the hands of a journalist. It offers insight about the mood of post-war Scotland on the brink of the social revolution of the Sixties, and its struggle to stay true to its history, within the current of Americanization.
Time to pay
by Stacey, Lyndon
Barcode # 040738
Revenge has no limits...Damien Daniels has been murdered, shot through the chest by an unseen marksman. It looks like a professional job but there are no clues as to who pulled the trigger. The only witness to the shooting, Gideon Blake, is unable to provide any information that would help the police. However, a cryptic list he later discovers hidden amongst the dead man's possessions warns of a dark and terrible conspiracy. Disturbed by his findings, Gideon soon finds himself drawn deeper into the mystery, one that he must solve before the marksman targets his next victim... NB - Please note that this title is also sold under the title Six To One Against
Torchwood : another life
by Anghelides, Peter
Barcode # 040787
'The twenty-first century is when it all changes, and you've got to be ready.' Separate from the government; outside the police, beyond the United Nations: Torchwood sets its own rules. A team of investigators uses alien technology to solve crime - both alien and human. This new British sci-fi crime thriller, created by Russell T Davies, sees them delve into the unknown. A group of people fight the impossible. A terror hides at the bottom of Cardiff Bay - waiting, feeding, controlling...this novel is a brand new Torchwood adventure
Torchwood : border princes
by Abnett, Don
Barcode # 040785
'The twenty-first century is when it all changes, and you've got to be ready.' Separate from the government; outside the police, beyond the United Nations: Torchwood sets its own rules. A team of investigators, using alien technology to solve crime - both alien and human. This new British sci-fi crime thriller, created by Russell T Davies, sees them delve into the unknown. A group of people fighting the impossible. The series stars Captain Jack Harkness last seen in "Doctor Who". This novel is a brand new Torchwood story.
Torchwood : slow decay
by Lane, Andy
Barcode # 040716
'The twenty-first century is when it all changes, and you've got to be ready.' Separate from the government; outside the police, beyond the United Nations: Torchwood sets its own rules. A team of investigators, using alien technology to solve crime - both alien and human. This new British sci-fi crime thriller, created by Russell T Davies, sees them delve into the unknown. A group of people fighting the impossible. The series stars Captain Jack Harkness last seen in "Doctor Who". This novel is a brand new Torchwood story.
True Believer
by Wolff, Virginia Euwer
Barcode # 040672
When LaVaughn was little, the obstacles in her life didn't seem so bad. School was simple, boys were friends. Everything made sense. Now she's 15 and the obstacles aren't going away anymore, and the boy who's a miracle in her life acts as if he's in love with her. Only he's not in love with her.
Utterly Monkey
by Laird, Nick
Barcode # 040776
Danny thinks his life is pretty much stable. He has a good job in a big company, nice cozy flat and a good reliable car. Everything changes when his childhood friend appears at his door one day and overtakes his apartment as well as his life. The real fun just begins... 'Utterly Monkey' is a funny, energetic, uplifting novel about where we're from and where we'd like to get to.
Where they were missed
by Caldwell, Lucy
Barcode # 040766
Set in Belfast in the 1980s, this book is a moving meditation on the beauty and sadness of northern Ireland as political violence bleeds into everyday life but above all it is the story of an ordinary family, about children and marriage and how loss can help us grow up, but also can undo us.
Yesterday's Dreams
by Blair, Jessica
Barcode # 040671
Local Whitby girl, Colette Shipley has become fascinated by the mysteries of the new art of photography and begins to create a record of her scenic home town with its tall ships and twin lighthouses, street urchins and weathered old fishermen. One day, she encounters Arthur Newton who shares her passion for the town's unique atmosphere. Colette and Arthur begin a friendship that develops further. However, unbeknown to Collette, Arthur is also married with a young child. Arthur has tried to be content with his steady job at the railways and his marriage to his childhood sweetheart, Rose. However, even before meeting Colette, Arthur had been living a secret life, one which he has not shared with his family, friends or even Rose: he has a real talent for painting. His talent has blossomed under the tutelage of a sympathetic gallery owner, Ebenezer Hirst, and the patronage of Laurence Steel, an established painter in the Pre-Raphaelite school. Arthur is now faced with a difficult decision: remain comfortably in his railway job or risk the security of his wife and child by becoming a full-time artist. A decision not made any easier by his growing attraction for Colette, who is supportive of his artistic endeavours in a way that his practical wife never has...
Yesterday's House
by Cheek, Mavis
Barcode # 040759
When sixteen-year-old Marianne is invited to a party in a genteel house she has no idea that the house will change her life - not to mention the boy who introduces her to red wine and an apparently liberated future. This work tells a tale of one woman's journey to independence via seven houses, three men and many disappointments.
Your place or mine?
by Highmore, Julie
Barcode # 040735
Will's just left his girlfriend, and needs a new place to stay. The huge house in north Oxford seems too good to be true -- till he meets his new housemates. They're all at least twenty years older than him, and range from camp to raucous. But somehow he finds he's taken the spare room, and once he's involved in the house it's hard to escape. Especially when he's given the challenge of finding a lost will that could prevent his new housemates being evicted!
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