Michael Symmons Roberts’s fourth book of poetry, Corpus, was the winner of the 2004 Whitbread Poetry Award, and was shortlisted for the T. S. Eliot Prize, the Forward Prize, and the Griffin International Prize. His sixth collection, Drysalter, was the winner of both the Forward Prize and the Costa Poetry Prize in 2013. He collaborated with Paul Farley on Edgelands (Cape/Vintage) and will do so again in The Deaths of the Poets (Cape, 2017). He has also worked many times with the composer James MacMillan. He has published two novels, and is Professor of Poetry at Manchester Metropolitan University.

Michael Symmons Roberts

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John Twelve Hawks

In a world that exists in the shadow of our own, the conflict between the Brethren and the Travellers reaches its devastating climax... 
 
Struggling to protect the legacy of his Traveller father, Gabriel faces troubling questions and relentless threats from enemies old and new. 
 
His brother Michael, now firmly allied with the sinister Brethren, pursues his ambition to wrest power from their leader, whatever it takes. 
 
And Maya, the Harlequin warrior pledged to protect Gabriel at all costs, is forced to make a choice that will change her life forever...

The Golden City

the cult sci-fi trilogy that has come true

Fans of Scott Mariani, Ken Follett and Michael Connolly will love this riveting, fast-paced, high-tech thriller from the Sunday Times bestselling author John Twelve Hawks. 
 
"A cyber 1984...Page-turningly swift, with a cliffhanger ending" - NEW YORK TIMES 
"Compelling...Picture The Matrix crossed with William Gibson and you'll have a sense of The Traveller" - NEWSDAY 
"The pace is fast, the characters intriguing and memorable, the evil dark and palpable, and the genre-bending between fantasty and thriller seamless..." - KIRKUS REVIEWS 
"So good I couldn't put it down" -- ***** Reader review 
"Both thought-provoking and entertaining. I was totally gripped" -- ***** Reader review 
"Expertly crafted" -- ***** Reader review 
 
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WHAT LIES AHEAD IS ALREADY HERE... 
 
 America is a difficult place to live below the surface. But Gabriel and Michael Corrigan are trying to do just that. Since childhood, the brothers have been shaped by the stories that their father has told them about the world in which they live. Since his mysterious disappearance, they have been living 'off the grid' - that is, invisible to the intrusive surveillance networks that monitor our modern lives. 
 
 But no-one is as invisible as they would like to believe. Nathan Boone, a mercenary, has been tasked to hunt down the brothers. The only person who stands between them and certain death is Maya, a tough young woman playing at leading a normal life. But her background is anything but normal. She has been trained to fight and survive at whatever cost. 
 
When she is summoned to protect the brothers, she must leave everything behind if she is to succeed.

The Traveller

a thriller so different and powerful it will change the way you look at the world

Michael Cordy

Fans of Dan Brown and Michael Crichton will love this tense and heart-stopping thriller from bestselling author Michael Cordy. 
 
"An all singing, all dancing, cover-to-cover thrills and spills action adventure" - DAILY MIRROR 
 
"Delivers right down the line from initial conceit, through fast action to explosive finale...sheer entertainment" -- OBSERVER 
 
"Loved it. I was hooked from page one and could not put this book down." -- ***** Reader review 
 
"DaVinci meets Indiana Jones.....brilliant...just brilliant." -- ***** Reader review 
 
"A great read and such a page-turner that I read it in two installments with bedtime as the cause for the only break." -- ***** Reader review 
 
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IT'S NOT A MYTH. IT EXISTS. FIND IT. 
 
Ambitious geologist Ross Kelly has it all: a lucrative career searching for oil across the world and a beautiful, brilliant wife, Lauren, pregnant with their first child. But when Lauren, a Yale academic, deciphers the university's mysterious Voynich manuscript, which has confounded experts for centuries, everything changes. 
 
An attempt to steal her translation of the Voynich leaves Lauren hovering on the brink of death, and Ross in the depths of despair. He seeks salvation in the ancient manuscript, which chronicles the discovery of a mythic, fabulous garden: an Eden so terrible and miraculous it rewrites the book of Genesis. 
 
The possibility of the garden's existence offers Ross the only hope of saving Lauren and their unborn child and so he decides to seek the garden out before it is too late. 
 
But he is not alone. 
 
Racing against time, a lethal assassin and a fanatical priest desperate to claim the miraculous garden for his church, Ross's quest will lead him to a place that will challenge everything he ever thought about the source of life on earth.

The Source

A breathtaking and gripping thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat

Margaret Humphreys

THE BOOK THAT EXPOSED THE HEARTBREAKING SCANDAL OF BRITAIN'S FORGOTTEN AND ABUSED CHILD MIGRANTS - now a film, Oranges and Sunshine, starring Emily Watson. 
In 1986 Margaret Humphreys, a Nottingham social worker, investigated a woman's claim that, aged four, she had been put on a boat to Australia by the British government. At first incredulous, Margaret discovered that this was just the tip of an enormous iceberg. Up to 150,000 children, some as young as three years old, had been deported from children's homes in Britain and shipped off to a 'new life' in distant parts of the Empire, right up until as recently as 1970. 
 
Many were told that their parents were dead, and parents were told that their children had been adopted. In fact, for many children it was to be a life of horrendous physical and sexual abuse far away from everything they knew. Margaret and her team reunited thousands of families before it was too late, brought authorities to account, and worldwide attention to an outrageous miscarriage of justice.

Empty Cradles (Oranges and Sunshine)

Jack Sheffield

As the 1982 school year begins, Jack Sheffield returns to Ragley village school for his sixth year as headteacher. Nora Pratt celebrates twenty-five years in her coffee shop, Ronnie Smith finally tries to get a job, and little Krystal Entwhistle causes concern in the school Nativity play. It's the time of ET and Greenham Common,. Price William's birth, Fame legwarmers and the puzzling introduction of the 20p piece. Meanwhile, for Jack, the biggest surprise of his life is in store...

Educating Jack

Mike Silverman

Tony Thompson

As one of the UK’s leading forensic scientists, Mike Silverman has helped to identify and convict dozens of murderers, rapists, armed robbers, burglars and muggers, thanks to the evidence they – or their victims – unwittingly left behind at the scenes of their crimes. 
 
Mike Silverman started his career in the days when fingerprints were still kept on card files and DNA profiling was just a pipe dream, so Written in Blood is more than just a casebook – it is also a definitive history of the development of forensic science over the course of the past thirty-five years. 
 
From collecting blood samples at gangland executions to investigating forensic science failings, including in the murders of Rachel Nickell and Damilola Taylor, Mike Silverman’s unique career provides a fascinating insight into the ways forensic science is used to help solve real-life crimes. 
 
Packed with genuine crime scene photographs and original sketches, Written in Blood is the ultimate insider’s account of the fascinating world of forensic science.

Written in Blood

Hana Yasmeen Ali

From the daughter of Muhammad Ali comes an intimate portrait of the heavyweight boxing champion and a final love letter from a daughter to her father. 
 
Through audio journals, love letters and cherished memories, Ali's daughter Hana tells the story of a very typical and yet fully-unique family, the rise and fall of her parent’s marriage and the struggles they faced as a family surrounding Ali’s loss to Larry Holmes in 1981. 
 
With the decline of Ali’s voice, his recordings are important to history as they are to his personal legacy. At Home with Muhammad Ali offers a candid look at a man who was trying to find his purpose in the world as he realized he was coming to the end of his lucrative sporting career, all the while trying to balance fatherhood and his worldly and political obligations. Additionally, Hana tells of the everyday adventures that the family experienced around the house—with visitors like Michael Jackson and Clint Eastwood dropping by. And for the first time, Hana’s mother Veronica will share her memories of the 12-year relationship with Muhammad. 
 
At Home with Muhammad Ali is a candid and revealing portrait of a legend, a man admired and respected as the greatest sporting icon of our age.

At Home with Muhammad Ali

A Memoir of Love, Loss and Forgiveness

Jilly Cooper

CLASS IS DEAD! 
Or so everyone claims. Who better to refute this than Jilly Cooper! 
 
Describing herself as 'upper middle class', Jilly claims that snobbery is very much alive and thriving! Meet her hilarious characters! People like Harry Stow-Crat, Mr and Mrs Nouveau-Richards, Samantha and Gideon Upward, and Jen Teale and her husband Brian. Roar with laughter at her horribly unfair observations on their everyday pretensions - their sexual courtships, choice of furnishings, clothes, education, food, careers and ambitions... 
 
For they will all remind you of people that you know!

Class

Andy McNab

Tough, resourceful, ruthless - as an SAS trooper Nick Stone was one of the best. Now he's back on the streets, working for British Intelligence as a deniable operator. It's the dirtiest job in a very, very dirty world. 
 
Andy McNab's blistering Nick Stone thrillers are bestsellers whose landscape is so compellingly close to the truth that they had to be vetted by the Ministry of Defence, and could only be published as fiction. . .

Tough, resourceful and ruthless, ex-SAS trooper Nick Stone is now working for British Intelligence on deniable operations. And is desperately in need of cash. 
 
When he is offered a lucrative freelance job, Stone thinks his problems are over. All he needs to do is kidnap a Russian mafia warlord. 
 
And so Stone is thrust into the grim underworld of Estonia, with unknown aggressors stalking the Arctic landscape. Russia has launched a cyber-espionage attack, hacking into the West's most sensitive military secrets. Stone must stop them. But the mafia are waiting in the wings with their own chillingly brutal solution...

Firewall

(Nick Stone Thriller 3)

Romesh Ranganathan

Confronted by the realities of adulthood, Romesh Ranganathan must face an uncomfortable truth: this is not quite how he imagined it. 
 
Watching his friends descend into middle age, his waist thicken with every meal and his finances dwindle to fund his family’s middle class aspirations, Romesh reflects on the demands of daily life and the challenges of adulting in the modern world. 
 
As he reluctantly concludes that he is indeed a grown man, Rom wrestles with the greater questions that threaten his being: Could I save my family in a crisis? Do I possess the skills to assemble flatpack furniture? Am I too old for streetwear? Is it alright to parent my kids through the medium of Fortnite? Is celibacy the secret to a passionate marriage? 
 
From one of the countries most beloved comedians and author of the Sunday Times bestseller STRAIGHT OUTTA CRAWLEY comes the hilarious and painfully accurate dissection of what it really means to grow up.

As Good As It Gets

Life Lessons from a Reluctant Adult

EMPTY CRADLES is a powerful testament to an ordinary woman's astonishing dedication, compassion and stubborn courage. 
 
In 1986 Margaret Humphreys, a Nottingham social worker and mother of two, investigated the case of a woman who claimed that, at the age of four, she had been put on a boat to Australia by the British government. At first incredulous, Margaret Humphreys soon discovered that this woman's story was just the tip of an enormous iceberg. As many as an estimated 150,000 children had in fact been deported from children's homes in Britian and shipped off to a 'new life' in distant parts of the Empire - the last as recently as 1967. 
 
Many of the children were told that their parents were dead. Their parents, too, were often deceived; many believed that their children had been adopted in Britain. The reality was very different: for numerous children it was to be a life of horrendous physical and sexual abuse in institutions in Western Australia and elsewhere. 
 
Margaret Humphreys reveals how she gradually unravelled this shocking secret; how she became drawn into the lives of some of these innocent and unwilling exiles, how it became her mission to reunite them with their families in Britain, and how her lonely crusade led to the founding of the Child Migrants Trust. 
 
EMPTY CRADLES is a strong indictment of government, as well as charitable and religious organisations. It is a sad, harrowing story that will move the reader to anger and tears. Yet it offers a message of hope to all the victims of a shameful scandal that has been ignored for too long.

Empty Cradles

Robert Mazur

Robert Mazur spent five years undercover infiltrating the criminal hierarchy of Colombia’s drug cartels. The dirty bankers and businessmen he befriended knew him as Bob Musella, a wealthy, mob-connected big shot living the good life. Together they partied in expensive hotels, drank the world’s finest champagnes, drove Rolls-Royce convertibles and flew in private jets. But under Mazur’s designer suits and hidden away in his quality briefcase, recorders whirred quietly, capturing the damning evidence of their crimes. Then, at his own staged wedding, he led a dramatic takedown that shook the underworld. In the end, more than eighty men and women were charged worldwide. Operation C-Chase became one of the most successful undercover operations in the history of US law enforcement, and evidence gathered during the bust proved critical to the conviction of General Manuel Noriega. 
 
The Infiltrator is the true story of how Mazur's undercover work helped bring down the unscrupulous bankers who manipulated complex international finance systems to serve drug lords - including Pablo Escobar and the infamous Medillin cartel - corrupt politicians, tax cheats and terrorists. It is a shocking chronicle of the rise and fall of perhaps the biggest and most intricate money-laundering operation of all time. And, at its heart, it’s a vivid portrait of an undercover life and the sacrifices it requires. 
 
Filled with dangerous lies, near misses and harrowing escapes, The Infiltrator is as bracing and explosive as the greatest fiction thrillers - only it's all true.

The Infiltrator

Undercover in the World of Drug Barons and Dirty Banks

They were like a band of brothers... 
 
In 1983 Andy McNab was assigned to B Squadron, one of the four Sabre Squadrons of the SAS, and within it to Air Troop, otherwise known as SEVEN TROOP. 
 
This is Andy McNab's gripping account of the time he served in the company of a remarkable group of men - from the day, freshly badged, he joined them in the Malayan jungle, to the day, ten years later, that he handed in his sand-coloured beret and started a new life. The links they forged then bound them inextricably together, but the things they saw and did during that time would take them all to breaking point - and some beyond - in the years that were to follow. He who dares doesn't always win...

Seven Troop

Robert Goddard

Harry Barnett is a middle-aged failure. Leading a shabby existence in the shadow of a past disgrace, he is reduced to caretaking a friend's villa on the island of Rhodes and working in a bar to earn his keep. Then a guest at the villa - a young woman he had instantly and innocently warmed to - disappears on a mountain peak. 
Under suspicion of her murder, Harry stumbles on a set of photographs taken in the weeks before her disappearance. Obsessed by the mystery that has changed his life and determined to clear his name, he begins to trace back the movements and encounters that led to the moment when she vanished into the blue. The trail leads him back to England, to a world he thought he had left for ever - and a past he has tried desperately to forget.

Into the Blue

Pauline Collins

In 1964, in a bare room in Waterloo, a young actress gave her baby for adoption.They were to be parted for more than twenty years.The actress was Pauline Collins.The baby was her daughter Louise. 
 
Letter to Louise is a poignant, yet often funny, memoir of the months leading up to that day in Waterloo.In it, Pauline Collins recalls the idyllic time spent in rep in Killarney, playing in a different play every night, seven days a week, living in digs - and falling in love.After the season had finished, she found she was pregnant.Frightened and alone now, she decided to have the baby, hiding the fact from family, agents and friends. 
 
Going to ground, she waited for the baby to be born in a home for unmarried mothers, buoyed up by the kindness and humour of the other residents, and the nuns who cared for them.Yet she soon came to realise that she had no choice but to give her daughter away. 
 
Reluctantly she got on with life, finally achieving success and personal happiness.But she never forgot Louise and their story has the ultimate happy ending - the day they were reunited twenty-two years later.

Letter To Louise

Wendy Holden

Haatchi and Little B tells the inspiring and moving true story of Owen Howkins (also known as Little B, short for 'Buddy') and Haatchi, an Anatolian shepherd dog who was abandoned on a railway line as a puppy and left for dead. 
 
Thankfully, Haatchi was rescued, despite sustaining severe injuries. And so Haatchi, in turn, was able to rescue Owen, at the time an anxious and withdrawn little boy born with a rare genetic disorder, who found it hard to make friends. But Owen fell in love with his new three-legged canine housemate at first sight, and life would never be the same. 
 
The touching story of this dynamic and loveable duo is a life-affirming tale of happiness and friendship.

Haatchi and Little B

Simon Hughes

Following the success of Simon Hughes’ Red Machine and Men in White Suits, books which depicted Liverpool FC’s domination during the 1980s and its subsequent fall in the 1990s, Ring of Fire focuses on the 2000s and the primary characters who propelled Liverpool to the forefront of European football once again. With a foreword by Steven Gerrard, this is the third edition in a bestselling series based on revealing interviews with former players, coaches and managers. 
 
For Liverpool FC, entry into the 21st century began with modernisation and trophies under manager Gérard Houllier and development was then underpinned by improbable Champions League glory under Rafael Benítez. Yet that is only half of the story. The decade ended with the club being on the verge of administration after the shambolic reign of American owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett. 
 
In Ring of Fire, Hughes’ interviewees – including Jamie Carragher, Xabi Alonso and Michael Owen – take you through Melwood’s training ground gates and into the inner sanctum, the Liverpool dressing room. Each person delivers fascinating insights into the minds of the players, coaches and boardroom members as they talk frankly about exhilarating highs and excruciating lows, from winning cups in Cardiff and Istanbul to the political infighting that undermined a succession of managerial reigns. 
 
Ring of Fire tells the real stories: those never told before by the key players who lived through it all.

Ring of Fire

Liverpool into the 21st century: The Players' Stories

James Nelson

If you like Patrick O'Brian and Bernard Cornwell, you will love this exciting, action-packed maritime adventure from bestselling author James Nelson. 
 
"A master both of his period and of the English language" -- PATRICK O'BRIAN 
"Brilliant...Readers will gladly be swept along by a wonderful plot" -- PUBLISHERS WEEKLY 
"Don't just buy this one to see if you like it, get the three at once and cancel any engagements for the next several days." -- ***** Reader review 
"Read it far too quickly" -- ***** Reader review 
"Superb" -- ***** Reader review 
 
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WHEN THE PAST THREATENS TO CATCH UP WITH HIM, CAN HE MUSTER THE STRENGTH HE NEEDS? 
 
When Thomas Marlowe decides to renounce his life as a pirate - and keep it a secret, he uses the bounty he has amassed to purchase a fine Virginia plantation from a beautiful young widow, Elizabeth Tinling. 
 
While defending her honour, he kills the favourite son of one of the colony's most powerful families. But in a clever piece of manoeuvring, he manages to win command of the Plymouth Prize, the colony's decrepit guardship, and is charged with leading the King's sailors in battle against the cutthroats who infest the waters off Virginia's shores. 
 
A threat from his illicit past appears, however, as an old pirate enemy plots to seize the colony's wealth, forcing Marlowe to choose between losing all - or facing the one man he fears. 
 
The Guardship is the first book of the Brethren of the Coast trilogy. Marlowe's story continues in The Blackbirder.

The Guardship

A thrilling, rip-roaring naval adventure guaranteed to keep you gripped

Jo Bailey-Merritt

When Sam Bailey-Merritt was just two years old, almost overnight he lost the ability to communicate or function. His mother, Jo, was at a loss as to what to do as she saw her son grow increasingly isolated and begin to suffer from uncontrollable meltdowns. Eventually, Sam was diagnosed with autism. 
 
Sam's condition continued to worsen and, just when Jo had all but given up hope of being able to help him, the family went on a day trip to a nearby miniature pig farm. Sam immediately bonded with a tiny ginger piglet called Chester, who stood sad and alone, apart from the rest of the litter. The connection between the boy and the animal was immediate and their unusual friendship blossomed from the moment the family brought Chester home. The tiny pig refused to leave Sam's side - it was as if he knew that Sam needed a friend. And, for the first time in five years, Jo saw her son really laugh. 
 
While Sam's confidence grew, Chester grew in a different way: the micro pig that was supposed to become the size of a Cocker Spaniel in fact ballooned to three times that size - with hilarious consequences for the family! Chester has turned Sam's life around. He now has the ability to communicate his feelings, make friends and is caring and kind towards others. 
 
Sam and Chester is the heart-warming story of how a teacup-sized ginger pig helped to transform the life of a boy with autism. It is the emotional story of a mother's fight to win back her son.

Sam and Chester

How a Mischievous Pig Transformed the Life of My Autistic Son

Meg Henderson

Glasgow in the 1950s was a deprived and often violent place. Meg Henderson was part of a large family, and when the tenement block in which they lived collapsed they had to move to the notorious Blackhill district where religious sectarianism and gang warfare were part of daily life. Yet despite appalling conditions , there was warmth, laughter and a remarkable spirit, andMeg's mother and her Aunt Peggy, both idealistic and emotional women, shielded her from the effects of her father's heavy drinking. 
 
A hopeless romantic, Peggy searched for a husband until late in life and then endured a harsh, unhappy marriage. When she died horrifically in childbirth her death devastated the family and destroyed Meg's childhood. Only later, after the death of her own mother, was Meg able to discover the shocking facts behind the tragedy.

Finding Peggy

Les Pringle

This is a re-issue of Blue Nights and Long Nights ISBN 9780552158527. 
 
Card-playing corpses, unfaithful husbands and 'flying' ladies - life as an ambulance driver in the 1970s was certainly varied ... 
 
At the age of twenty-three, Les Pringle decided to escape from office life, broaden his horizons and become an ambulance driver. Little did he realize how broad those horizons would turn out to be. 
 
Filled with warmth and humour, Dial 999! takes us back to a time when lonely old ladies could call 999 and have a cup of tea waiting when the drivers turned up for a chat; when learning to drive the ambulance meant going out for one test drive and managing not to hit a pedestrian; and every day brought a glimpse into other people's lives. 
 
Gripping, poignant and darkly funny, Dial 999!is an affectionate, warm-hearted look at a world gone by.

Dial 999!

Linda Caine

Dr Robin Royston

As a contented wife and mother, Linda Caine has everything she ever wanted. Yet a darkness haunts her. Images flash through her mind leaving her stunned and terrified. She has no idea why. 
 
Linda believes there is something bad inside her. But she listens to the voice that tells her everything will be OK, that when it finally gets too much, she can end it all. She will drive off a cliff on her way home from the supermarket. After all, who commits suicide with groceries in the car? 
 
The raw and powerful journey that Linda takes with her psychiatrist Robin Royston will leave you breathless. The secrets of her childhood are buried so deep that to reveal them could destroy her completely. Together Linda and Robin must race to unravel the clues before it’s too late . . . 
 
OUT OF THE DARK is Linda Caine's remarkable and uplifting story from the agonies of mental breakdown to the painful piecing together of the past that was vital for her survival. Both her courage and Robin's persistence during the process show the power of the human spirit at its most indomitable and inspiring.

Out of the Dark

Douglas Jackson

The Roman grip on Britain is growing weaker and Druids are on the rise. Emperor Nero has turned away. Boudicca is preparing to lead tribes to war. 
 
Standing in her way is Gaius Valerius Verrens, commander of the veterans legion. In this battle he earns the accolade of Hero of Rome - but where will that title lead him next?

Bestselling author Douglas Jackson expertly brings the Roman Empire to life in this riveting historical adventure of fire, blood and battle. Perfect for fans of Simon Scarrow, Ben Kane and Conn Iggulden. 
 
Readers are loving Gaius Valerius Verrens! 
 
"Storytelling of the highest order" - 5 STARS 
"Glorious Roman adventure." - 5 STARS 
"The drama never lets up - it is gripping" - 5 STARS 
"I'm just gutted to have finished it!" - 5 STARS 
"Verrens rules, ok?" - 5 STARS 
 
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BETRAYED, BANISHED BUT NOT BROKEN... 
 
70 AD: Disgraced, dishonoured and banished on pain of execution if he ever returns to Rome, Gaius Valerius Verrens makes his way East through the death and destruction of the savage Judaean rebellion. He knows his only hope of long term survival lies with his friend Titus, commander of the Army of Judaea and son of the newly crowned Emperor Vespasian. 
 
But when he reaches the Roman camps that surround the seemingly impregnable city of Jerusalem he finds Titus a changed man. Gone is the cheerful young officer he knew; in his place, a tough, ruthless soldier under pressure from his father to end the insurrection at any cost. 
 
Soon, Valerius finds himself at the centre of a web of intrigue spun by Titus' lover, Queen Berenice of Cilicia, and her sometime ally, the general's turncoat adviser, Flavius Josephus, who together have an ulterior motive for wanting the siege to end quickly. 
 
Yet the laurels Valerius needs in order to regain his honour cannot be won in the tunnels that run beneath Jerusalem. Only in the heat and blood of battle can he find the glory that brought him the title Hero of Rome. 
 
Gaius Valerius Verrens' adventures continue in Saviour of Rome.

Scourge of Rome

(Gaius Valerius Verrens 6): a compelling and gripping Roman adventure that will have you hooked to the very last page

Wes Davis

In the bleakest years of the Second World War when it appeared that nothing could slow the advance of the German army, Hitler set his sights on the Mediterranean island of Crete, the ideal staging ground for domination of the Middle East. But German command had not counted on the strength of the Cretan resistance or the eccentric band of British intelligence officers who would stand in their way, conducting audacious sabotage operations in the very shadow of the Nazi occupation force. 
 
The Ariadne Objective tells the remarkable story of the secret war on Crete from the perspective of these amateur soldiers who found themselves serving because, as one of them put it, they had made 'the obsolete choice of Greek at school'. John Pendlebury, a swashbuckling archaeologist with a glass eye and a swordstick; Xan Fielding, a writer who would later produce the English translations of books like Bridge on the River Kwai and Planet of the Apes; Sandy Rendel, a future Times reporter, who prided himself on a disguise that left him looking more ragged and fierce than the Cretans he fought alongside; and Patrick Leigh Fermor, the future travel-writing luminary who, as a teenager in the early 1930s, walked across Europe, a continent already beginning to feel the effects of Hitler's rise to power. 
 
Having infiltrated occupied Crete, these British gentleman spies teamed with Cretan partisans to carry out a cunning plan to disrupt Nazi manoeuvres, culminating in a daring, high-risk plot to abduct the island’s German commander. In this thrilling and little known episode of Second World War history, Wes Davis paints a brilliant portrait of some extraordinary characters and tells a story of triumph against all the odds.

The Ariadne Objective

Patrick Leigh Fermor and the Underground War to Rescue Crete from the Nazis

David Gemmell

The first in a four book series introducing the Rigante tribe, filled to the brim with epic and heroic battles, and mixing the intriguing worlds of Celtic Myth and ancient Earth Magic from the Sunday Times bestselling author David Gemmell. 
 
You will be gripped from page one...! Perfect for fans of Joe Abercrombie, Duncan M. Hamilton and Conn Iggulden. 
 
"Gemmell is several rungs above the good - right into the fabulous" -- Anne McCaffrey 
"When it comes to heroic fantasy, few do it better than David Gemmell." - Time Out 
"I was hooked from the first line..." - ***** Reader review 
"Compelling from start to finish..." - ***** Reader review 
 
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Born in the storm that kills his father, Connavar grows up among the mountains of Caer Druagh, where the Rigante tribe dwell in harmony with the land and its gods. 
 
But beyond the border, across the water, an evil force is gathering strength - an unstoppable force that will change the world beyond all recognition. 
 
Haunted by malevolent spirits and hunted by evil men, Connavar sets out on a spectacular mission to defeat this new enemy... But he is a troubled soul, dogged by fate - will he be able to defend his tribe and save his people? 
 
The story of the Rigante continues in Midnight Falcon.

Sword In The Storm

The Rigante Book 1: A breath-taking, adrenalin–fuelled read from the master of heroic fantasy

Pip Granger

The only daughter of alcoholic parents, novelist Pip Granger spent much of her childhood outside looking in. 
 
No strangers to the demon booze, her parents were deeply involved in a passionate relationship that rose to exciting highs and plunged to terrible and often frightening lows. Drink explained the series of crises, the furious rows and life-threatening accidents Pip had to contend with, and it also explained why her home life was so very different from that of most other people she knew. Just after her first birthday her family was evicted from their cottage in Sussex for non-payment of rent - a pattern that was to recur throughout her childhood. Home became a place best avoided, and soon Pip was spending time with her ne'er-do-well father in cafes, snooker-halls and other low dives in London's Soho where she made a series of lasting friendships with the unlikeliest of people. 
 
Brave, funny, original and totally authentic, Alone is a heartbreaking book about alcohol abuse, parental neglect, and the courage of a little girl to find her own way through a trouble-filled world.

Alone

Bestselling author James Nelson brings us another gripping and absorbing maritime adventure. Perfect for readers of Julian Stockwin, CS Forester and Alexander Kent. 
 
"Brilliant...Readers will gladly be swept along by a wonderful plot" -- PUBLISHERS WEEKLY 
"A master both of his period and of the English language" -- PATRICK O'BRIAN 
"Many threads, at sea and at home, combine to make this a thrilling, un-put-downable period story." -- ***** Reader review 
"It is difficult to put this book down right from the start" -- ***** Reader review 
"A terrifically exciting adventure!" -- ***** Reader review 
 
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ONE MISSION THAT COULD CHANGE EVERYTHING... 
 
Thomas Marlowe, former pirate and captain of the Guardship, lives prosperously on his tobacco plantation near Williamsburg with his lovely wife Elizabeth. 
But when King James, the huge ex-slave who is in command of Marlowe's sloop, kills the crew of a slaveship - a blackbirder - and makes himself the most wanted man in Virginia, Marlowe is forced to go and hunt him down. 
 
Setting off in pursuit of the blackbirder, struggling to maintain control over his crew - rough privateers, set only on plunder - Marlowe follows James's trail of destruction all the way to the shores of Africa. 
 
There, in the slave port of Whydah, James and Marlowe face a common threat - and their final showdown. 
 
The Blackbirder is the second book of the Brethren of the Coast trilogy. Marlowe's story continues in The Pirate Round. Have you read The Guardship, the first adventure of the trilogy?

The Blackbirder

A captivating and thrilling adventure set on the high seas

Manda Scott

The Sunday Times bestselling author Manda Scott brings Ancient Rome to life in this memorable tale of treachery, espionage and violence. Perfect for fans of Simon Scarrow, Robert Harris and Conn Iggulden. 
 
"Superior in almost every way...one of the most entertaining "Roman" novels I have read...Head and shoulders above the crowd" -- Simon Scarrow 
 
"Intricately woven, cleverly plotted. Miss this at your peril!" - Ben Kane 
 
"Excellent series - each book was a joy to read - final book kept you guessing right up until the end" -- ***** Reader review 
 
"A superb and exciting read, finished at 3am, and which I cannot recommend enough..." -- ***** Reader review 
 
"There's only one way in which I could say Manda Scott's work is predictable: every time I pick up a new Scott book, I can guarantee it will be new, refreshing, fascinating and totally different from anything that's gone before." -- ***** Reader review 
 
*************************************************** 
 
ROME ON A KNIFE EDGE. A TRAITOR IN THE MIDST. 
 
Rome: AD69. The Year of the Four Emperors. Three Emperors have ruled in Rome this year and a fourth, Vespasian, has been named in the East. 
 
As the legions march toward civil war, Sebastos Pantera, the spy whose name means leopard, returns to Rome intent on bribery, blackmail and persuasion: whatever it takes to bring the commanders and their men to Vespasian's side. 
 
But in Rome, as he uses every skill he has ever learned of subterfuge, codes and camouflage, it becomes clear that one of those closest to him is a traitor, who will let Rome fall to destroy him. 
 
Together the two spies spin a web of deceit with Rome as the prize and death the only escape.

Rome: The Art of War

(Rome 4): A captivating historical page-turner full of political tensions, passion and intrigue

Robert Lomas

In 1660 a small group of men, led by Sir Robert Moray, met in London with a secret plan to reshape the world. They were members of the 'Invisible College', better known today as the Freemasons 
 
Emerging from the horrors of the Civil War, Britain was a society torn apart by political difference, religious ferment and was still immersed in medieval superstition. It was a country which burnt alive at least one hundred elderly women a year on suspicion of witchcraft. Yet this group, who had recently been sworn enemies, managed to bridge their social and cultural differences to found a new organization dedicated to the scientific study of nature, the Royal Society. 
 
Robert Lomas reveals in compelling detail how the secret tenets and traditions of the Freemasons laid the groundwork for a new revolution, that gave the world modern, experimental science and founded what is still, 350 years later, the pre-eminent scientific institution in the world.

The Invisible College

Mary Jane Staples

A wonderfully humourous Cockney saga from multi-million copy seller Mary Jane Staples. Perfect for fans of Maggie Ford, Kitty Neale and Katie Flynn. Perfect to settle down with! 
 
READERS ARE LOVING THE TRAP! 
"Loved this book, a very easy read with a lovely story" - 5 STAR REVIEW 
"Loved the humour in this book; also a great story" - 5 STAR REVIEW 
"Brilliant book. Love all Mary Jane Staples books." - 5 STAR REVIEW 
"Captivating" - 5 STAR REVIEW 
 
********************************************************* 
THE MOMENT HE MET HER HE KNEW LIFE WAS NEVER GOING TO BE THE SAME AGAIN... 
 
When Jamie Blair, twenty-four, unemployed, and back from the trenches, takes lodgings at Larcom Street in Walworth, he has no idea he is walking into a trap. The house is owned by Henry Mullins - a big, burly, hard drinker who makes life hell for his four stepchildren, all half-starved and frequently hit. 
 
It's Kitty, seventeen, who Jamie feels most sorry for. She takes the brunt of Mullins' bad temper, whilst trying to protect her sisters and brother. 
 
When Mullins suddenly dies - in somewhat suspicious circumstances - Kitty realises they could be in trouble. If she isn't careful the authorities could take the younger children away - split the family up... 
 
Too late Jamie finds himself with a ready-made family and a stubborn and fiery young lady called Kitty determined not to let him go.

Showing results for: ‘Michael Symmons Roberts’

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