English books
GEORGE R.R. MARTIN – ACES ABROAD
The action-packed alternate fantasy returns for a new generation, featuring fiction from #1 New York Times bestselling author George R. R. Martin, Michael Cassutt, Melinda M. Snodgrass, Lewis Shiner, and more—plus two completely new stories from Kevin Andrew Murphy and bestselling author Carrie Vaughn.
Forty years after the Wild Card Virus's release, the World Health Organization decides it's time to take a delegation of Aces, Jokers, politicians, and journalists on a fact-finding mission to learn how other countries are dealing with the virus that reshaped humanity. Leading the team is Gregg Hartmann, a senator with presidential aspirations and a dangerous ace up his sleeve. Joining him is a menagerie of some of the series' best and most popular Wild Cards, including Dr. Tachyon, aces Peregrine and Golden Boy, and jokers Chrysalis, Troll, and Father Squid.
From the jungles of Haiti and Peru to the tumultuous political climate of Egypt, from a monastery in Japan to the streets of the most glamorous cities of Europe, the Wild Cards are in for an eye-opening trip. While some are worshiped as actual gods, those possessing the most extreme mutations are treated with a contempt that's all too familiar to the delegates from Jokertown. New alliances will be formed, new enemies will be made, and some actions will fulfill centuries-old prophecies that make ripples throughout the future of the Wild Cards universe.
GEORGE R.R. MARTIN – WARRIORS 2
Naomi NovikWith a harrowing tale of a new planets mysteriesPeter S. BeagleWith a startling story of revenge and memoryS.M. StirlingWith an original tale set in his bestselling Emberverse continuityDavid BallWith the story of a French engineer captive to a Moroccan kingGardner DozoisWith a tale of the last survivor, after the AIs comeHoward WaldropWith a story of a very different First World WarDavid WeberWith a thirty-thousand-word tale of the invasion of Earth and its surprising consequencesAll-new long stories of war and warriors from some of the most compelling storytellers now writingAn eclectic mix...Highly recommended.
GEORGE R.R. MARTIN – WARRIORS 3
stories will make you sad, some will make you laugh, and many will keep you on the edge of your seat." The stories in the third mass market volume of this book are: Introduction Stories of the Spinner Rack, by George R. R. Martin The Triumph, by Robin Hobb Soldierin', by Joe R. Lansdale Clean Slate, by Lawrence Block The Girls from Avenger, by Carrie Vaughn The Pit, by James Rollins My Name is Legion, by David Morrell The Custom of the Army, ""by Diana Gabaldon Many of these writers are bestsellers. All of them are storytellers of the highest quality. Together they make a volume of unforgettable reading.
GERALD SEYMOUR – A DENIABLE DEATH
C.R.O.P.: Covert Rural Observation Posts are places where men like Danny 'Badger' Baxter hide for endless, motionless hours, secretly recording criminal or terrorist activity.But now Badger has a bigger job than photographing dissident Republicans in muddy Ulster fields or Islamic extremists on rainswept Yorkshire moors.I.E.D.: Improvised Explosive Devices are the roadside bombs which account for 80% of British casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan.MI6 have a plan to assassinate the leading maker of these weapons when he leaves his house in Iran to visit Europe. But first, they need to know when he is leaving, and where he is going.So it is that Badger finds himself on the wrong side of the Iranian border, lumbered with a partner he loathes, lying under a merciless sun in a mosquito-infested marsh, observing the house. And knowing that if they are caught, Her Majesty's Government will deny all knowledge of them.Welcome to A Deniable Death.
GERALD SEYMOUR – VAGABOND
It was a dirty job in a dirty war.
Danny Curnow, known in the army family by his call sign, Vagabond, ran agents, informers. Played God with their lives and their deaths, and was the best at his job - and he quit when the stress overwhelmed him.
Now he lives in quiet isolation and works as a guide to tourists visiting the monuments and cemeteries of an earlier, simpler, conflict on Normandy's D-Day beaches.
Until the call comes from an old boss, Bentinick.
Violence in Northern Ireland is on the rise again. Weapons are needed for a new campaign. Gaby Davies of MI5, sparky and ambitious, runs the double agent Ralph Exton, who will be the supposed middle man in brokering an arms deal with a Russian contact, Timofey.
The covert world of deception and betrayal was close to destroying Danny across the Irish Sea. Fifteen years later the stakes are higher, the risks greater, and there is an added agenda on the table. If he wants to survive, Danny will have to prove, to himself, that he has not softened, that he is as hard and ruthless as before.
VAGABOND shows Gerald Seymour writing at the top of his powers and returning to the territory of some of his greatest bestsellers, Harry's Game, Field of Blood and The Journeyman Tailor.
GIANLUIGI NUZZI – BLOOD TIES
A massive bestseller in its native Italy, and a book that can justly be compared with Roberto Saviano's Gomorrah, Blood Ties is a terrifying account of the 'ndrangheta's criminal activities over the last four decades. Originally from Calabria, this sinister organization has - like the Mafia in Sicily and the Camorra in Naples - a vicious hold over northern Italy and much of the rest of the country, too, a stranglehold that is growing every day.
Told to the authors by an insider, Pippo di Bella, a 'pentito', a former member of the gang now turned state's evidence, it reveals many hitherto unknown operations, as well as throwing new light on well-known cases from the past. It shows an organization which retains and strengthens its position through corruption, drug smuggling, gun running, violence, extortion and kidnapping. Visceral, compelling and terrifyingly readable, it paints a brutally vivid picture of the most dangerous and powerful of the Italian mafias, one which demands to be read.
GILBERT ADAIR – A CLOSED BOOK
An isolated house deep in the Cotswolds. A writer's den, as dusty and gloomy as the cell of a medieval monk. Two people sit opposite each other, one of them talking, the other typing. But why, in such already sombre surroundings, does one of them wear thick dark glasses? And what, above all, has caused an unearthy shadow to fall across these two interwoven destinies?
Apart from the several startling twists of its own brilliant plot, A Closed Book springs a few extra surprises on those readers who have already seen the film version.
'A page-turner par excellence.' Evening Standard
'Gilbert Adair's spookily gripping novel blends an Agatha Christie-like twist with a Hitchcockian plot.' Marie Claire
'This short, intellectually resourceful thriller...sparklingly clever, adroit and entertaining.' The Spectator
'Gilbert Adair's novel has an almost cinematic, even radio-play, sense of suspense, but plays tricks only possible on the page...The finale is deliciously apt and unsettling.' Independent
'Very readable indeed...a darkly entertaining soufflé...A Closed Book positively invites an informed second reading.' Independent on Sunday
GOSSIP GIRL NOVEL – YOU’RE THE ONE THAT I WANT
The wickedly funny sixth book in the #1 New York Times bestselling series that inspired the original hit CW show and the new series coming to HBO Max's Spring 2020 launch season (alongside hit series such as Pretty Little Liars and Friends).
Welcome to New York City's Upper East Side, where my friends and I live in gorgeous apartments, go to exclusive private schools, and make Manhattan our own personal playground. It might look hard to be this fabulous, but for us it's as easy as sleeping with your best friend's boyfriend.
GRACE DENT – DIARY OF A CHAV IBIZA NIGHT
Shiraz Bailey Wood is back! Having just about recovered from her stint in London with Carrie Draper, Shiraz is prepared to overlook Carrie's totally out of order flaky behaviour because Carrie's just talked her dad into paying for two flights to Ibiza in the summer and no one needs a holiday more than Shiraz BW! Or so she thought.... Put it this way, the sleepy town of San Antonio, Ibiza ain't gonna know what's hit it once a few other randoms from Goodmayes have pitched up and caused havoc. Uma's in, hurrah! But then Wesley of all people decides to bring stupid Sooz away to top up her tan. Not to mention Mrs Diane Wood! Still, Shiraz and Carrie are lovin' it, even if money is running out and the only jobs on offer seem to ben bog cleaning and bottle washing at the local bar ... Will, Uma, Carrie and our Shizza have the holiday of a lifetime? It's all in the diaries, bruv. Read on!
GRACE DENT – DIARY OF A CHAV TOO COOL FOR SCHOOL
Shiraz Bailey Wood has made up her mind. She's leaving Goodmayes, waving goodbye to Mayflower Academy Sixth Form and her part time job at Mr Yolk and moving to London with Carrie Draper. Carrie's got herself a place at Tabitha Tennant's beauty school, so she's sorted. Now all Shiraz has to focus on is getting herself a job. She has a bit of trouble finding the most suitable job mind, nothing seems quite right for a girl of Shiraz's originality and wit...And she has to admit, she's missing her family - even Murphy - something rotten. But Shiraz BW will not give up - she's going to finish what she started, even if she does keep looking out of the crappy flat window to see if there's a Banana Yellow Golf parked up front....
GRAHAM MASTERTON – MIRROR
It is said that a mirror can trap a person's soul...
Martin Williams is a broke, two-bit screenwriter living in Hollywood, but when he finds the very mirror that once hung in the house of a murdered 1930s child star, he happily spends all he has on it. He has long obsessed over the tragic story of Boofuls, a beautiful and successful actor who was slaughtered and dismembered by his grandmother.
However, he soon discovers that this dream buy is in fact a living nightmare; the mirror was not only in Boofuls house, but witness to the death of this blond-haired and angelic child, which in turn has created a horrific and devastating portal to a hellish parallel universe. So when Martin's landlord loses his grandson it is soon apparent that the mirror is responsible. But if a little boy has gone into the mirror, what on earth is going to come out?
GRANT SUTHERLAND – THE HAWKS OF LONDON
December 1767. Alistair Douglas has been using the Decipherers, a secret network of contacts in London, to attempt to find two men implicated in a series of political murders in the mutinous American colonies. Rumours fly as anonymously printed attacks on the King and his ministers flow through the city. But, frustratingly, there are few leads. Douglas is therefore pleased when he is assigned to a new duty. He must travel to Paris and ensure the outlawed radical writer and politician John Wilkes returns to England – the stipulation being that Wilkes must return of his own volition. It is soon clear there is a serious conspiracy afoot – and John Wilkes is first on the list of suspects. But the Decipherers have reason to believe there is a highly placed intimate of the present government also involved . . .
Great Big Beautiful Life – Emily Henry
When Margaret Ives, the famously reclusive heiress, invites eternal optimist Alice Scott to the balmy Little Crescent Island, Alice knows this is it: her big break. And even more rare: a chance to impress her family with a Serious Publication.
The catch? Pulitzer-prize winning human thundercloud, Hayden Anderson, is sure of the same thing.
The proposal? A one-month trial period to unearth the truth behind one of the most scandalous families of the 20th Century, after which she’ll choose who’ll tell her story.
The problem? Margaret is only giving each of them tantalising pieces. Pieces they can’t put together because of an ironclad NDA and an inconvenient yearning pulsing between them every time they’re in the same room.
And it’s becoming abundantly clear that their story – just like the tale Margaret’s spinning – could be a mystery, tragedy, or love ballad … depending on who’s telling it.
GREG EGAN – THE ARROWS OF TIME
In an alien universe where space and time play by different rules, interstellar voyages last longer for the travellers than for those they left behind. After six generations in flight, the inhabitants of the mountain-sized spacecraft the Peerless have used their borrowed time to develop advanced technology that could save their home world from annihilation.
But not every traveller feels allegiance to a world they have never seen, and as tensions mount over the risks of turning the ship around and starting the long voyage home, a new complication arises: the prospect of constructing a messaging system that will give the Peerless news of its own future.
While some of the crew welcome the opportunity to be warned of impending dangers - and perhaps even hear reports of the ship's triumphant return - others are convinced that knowing what lies ahead will be oppressive, and that the system will be abused. Agata longs for a chance to hear a message from the ancestors back on the home world, proving that the sacrifices of the travellers have not been in vain, but her most outspoken rival, Ramiro, fears that the system will undermine every decision the travellers make.
When a vote fails to settle the matter and dissent erupts into violence, Ramiro, Agata and their allies must seek a new way to bring peace to the Peerless - by traveling to a world where time runs in reverse.
THE ARROWS OF TIME is the final volume of the Orthogonal trilogy, bringing a powerful and surprising conclusion to the epic story of the Peerless that began with THE CLOCKWORK ROCKET and THE ETERNAL FLAME.
