English books
Michael Grant – Fear
It's been one year since all the adults disappeared. Gone.
Despite the hunger and the lies, even despite the plague, the kids of Perdido Beach are determined to survive. Creeping into the tenuous new world they've built, though, is perhaps the worst incarnation yet of the enemy known as the Darkness: fear.
Within the FAYZ, life breaks down while the Darkness takes over, literally—turning the dome-world of the FAYZ entirely black. In darkness, the worst fears of all emerge, and the cruelest of intentions are carried out. But even in their darkest moments, the inhabitants of the FAYZ maintain a will to survive and a desire to take care of the others in their ravaged band that endures, no matter what the cost.
Fear, Michael Grant's fifth book in the bestselling dystopian Gone series, will thrill readers . . . even as it terrifies them.
MICHAEL GRANT – HUNGER
Welcome back to the FAYZ! This is Book 2 in the series that Stephen King calls a "driving, torrential narrative."
An uneasy calm has settled over Perdido Beach. But soon, fear explodes into desperation as food supplies dwindle and starvation sets in.
More and more kids are developing strange powers and, just as frighteningly, so are the animals in the FAYZ: talking coyotes, swimming bats and deadly worms with razor-sharp teeth are just the beginning.
For Sam Temple the strain of leadership is beginning to show and he's got more than just dwindling rations and in-fighting to worry about – Caine is back with the psychotic whiphand, Drake, by his side.
And deep in the ground, the biggest danger of all is getting hungry . . .
The GONE series is Lord of the Flies for the 21st century. In turns breathtaking, harrowing, and utterly terrifying. Its complex characters and moral dilemmas will delight fans of The Hunger Games, Divergent and The Maze Runner. This is dystopian fiction at its best.
MICHAEL JECKS – NO LAW IN THE LAND
The new riveting novel from the West Country's medieval crime master Michael Jecks.
King Edward II is furious when he learns that his wife Queen Isabella has defied him and remains in France with their son. As the unfortunate messengers of this unhappy news, Sir Baldwin de Furnshill, Keeper of the King's Peace, and his friend, bailiff Simon Puttock, are instantly dismissed from court. Returning to their homes in Devon, the pair are shocked to find that outlaws now hold sway in the land. As the chaos escalates, the bodies of two clerics are found among a party of travellers, all of them - men, women and children - savagely murdered...
MICHAEL KORYTA – THE PROPHET
Two brothers with a shared tragic past, caused by a two-second decision that haunts them both. One decides to avenge it. The other, to forgive. Both will pay for their choices - more than they could ever imagine.When he was a teenager, Adam Austin made a decision that led to the death of his little sister.
His brother Kent learned to forgive her murderer but he never forgave Adam.
Twenty years later, Kent is the coach of the successful high school football team in Chambers, Ohio and Adam is the town's bail bondsman - someone people turn to when they need help.
When the girlfriend of one of Kent's star players asks Adam to track down her father who has just been released from prison, Adam agrees. Days later, she is murdered at the address he gave her.
Overwhelmed by guilt in this horrifying echo of the past - Adam is determined to atone for his mistakes.
But this is a game outside of the brothers' control. And every decision they make is matter of life and death . . .
THE PROPHET is the story of family, of guilt and redemption. Epic in its page-turning power, building suspense all the way to its viscerally compelling climax.
MICHAEL MOORCOCK – BREAKFAST IN THE RUINS
MICHAEL OARD – FROZEN IN TIME
Earth’s past is littered with the mysterious and unexplained: the pyramids, Easter Island, Stonehenge, dinosaurs, and the list goes on and on as science looks for clues to decipher these puzzles.
One such mystery surrounds the now-extinct creature called the woolly mammoth. Author and meteorologist Michael Oard has studied the mammoth and its equally mysterious time period, the Ice Age, for many years and has come to some fascinating conclusions to help lift the fog engulfing the facts. Some of the questions he addresses include:
- What would cause the summer temperatures of the northern United States and European to plummet more than 50 degrees Fahrenheit?
- Why did mammoths become extinct across the entire earth at the same time as many other large mammals?
- Why are the mammoth carcasses found generally in standing positions?
- How could large lakes exist in what are today very dry, desert-like places?
- What was the source of the abnormal of moisture necessary for heavy snow?
- What caused the cold summer temperatures and heavy snowfall to persist for hundreds of years?
MIGUEL SYJUCO – ILUSTRADO
It begins with a body.One anonymous winter day, the corpse of Crispin Salvador is pulled from the Hudson River.Gone is the controversial giant of Asian literature.And missing is the only manuscript of his final book, an expose of the corrupt roots of the ruling Filipino families,meant to restore his once dazzling reputation. His student, Miguel, is suspicious of the suicide verdict.He investigates: first sifting through the dead man's work for clues, then journeying from New York to Manila, seeking out family, colleagues, and anyone who might hold pieces of the puzzle.
But when Miguel assembles the fragments of his mentor's past, this ambitious and rewarding novel expands into far wider contexts - political,historical,literary. As patterns emerge, the mistery of a death deepens into the greater mysteries of life - and the reader makes increasingly signifant discoveries of their own, until the startling revelation of the final page.
MIKE RESNICK – KIRINYAGA ( A FABLE OF UTOPIA)
Hailed for his grandeur of imagination and superb worldbuilding, winner of and nominee for more than fifty awards for his outstanding work, Mike Resnick has rightfully won a place as one of science fiction's master storytellers. Now, in Kirinyaga, Resnick presents the haunting and utterly compelling tale of one man's utopia.
By the twentieth second century in the African nation of Kenya, polluted cities sprawl up the flanks of sacred Mount Kirinyaga. Great animal herds are but distant memories. European crops now grow on the sweeping savannas. But Koriba, a distinguished, educated man of Kikuyu ancestry, knows that life was different for his people centuries ago--and he is determined to build a utopian colony, not on earth, but on the terraformed planetoid he proudly names Kirinyaga.
As the mundumugu--witch doctor--Koriba leads the colonists. Reinstating the ancient customs and stringent laws of the Kikuyu people, he alone decides their fate. He must face many challenges to the struggling colony's survival: from a brilliant young girl whose radiant intellect could threaten their traditional ways to the interference of "Maintenance" which holds the power to revoke the colony's charter. All the while, only Koriba--unbeknownst to his people--maintains the computer link to the rest of humanity.
Ironically, the Kirinyaga experiment threatens to collapse--not from violence or greed--but from humankind's insatiable desire for knowledge. The Kikuyu people can no more stand still in time than their planet can stop revolving around its sun.
Deeply moving, swiftly paced, and profound in its implications, Kirinyaga is Mike Resnick's most triumphant work to date. His Fable of Utopia is the book every science fiction reader will want to own and savor for years to come.
MOHSIN HAMID – THE RELUCTANT FUNDAMENTALIST
The Reluctant Fundamentalist is the award-winning international bestseller by Mohsin Hamid.
NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE STARRING KATE HUDSON AND KIEFER SUTHERLAND
SHORTLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE 2007
'Excuse me, sir, but may I be of assistance? Ah, I see I have alarmed you. Do not be frightened by my beard. I am a lover of America . . . '
So speaks the mysterious stranger at a Lahore cafe as dusk settles. Invited to join him for tea, you learn his name and what led this speaker of immaculate English to seek you out. For her is more worldy than you might expect; better travelled and better educated. He knows the West better than you do. And as he tells you his story, of how he embraced the Western dream -- and a Western woman -- and how both betrayed him, so the night darkens. Then the true reason for your meeting becomes abundantly clear . . .
Praise for The Reluctant Fundamentalist:
'Beautifully written . . . more exciting than any thriller I've read for a long time' Philip Pullman
'Admirably spare and amazingly exciting' Rachel Cooke, New Statesman
'Sharp, relevant, impressively intelligent . . . entertains at the same time as it makes you think' Daily Telegraph
'A cleverly constructed fable of infatuation and disenchantment . . . Intelligent and highly engaging, genuinely provocative' Guardian
'A brilliant book' Kiran Desai
'Prods the intellect, quickens the pace and captures the imagination' Sunday Times
Mohsin Hamid is the author of three novels: The Reluctant Fundamentalist, Moth Smoke and How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia. His fiction has been translated into over 30 languages, received numerous awards, and been shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. He has contributed essays and short stories to publications such as the Guardian, The New York Times, Financial Times, Granta, and Paris Review. Born and mostly raised in Lahore, he spent part of his childhood in California, studied at Princeton University and Harvard Law School, and has since lived between Lahore, London, and New York.
MONS KALLENTOFT – THE FIFTH SEASON
It's early May when a young family out on a forest walk stumble upon a heavily mutliated body. The female corpse is in eerily good condition, and signs of torture are all too visible.
Inspector Malin Fors immediately draws parallels between this case and that of Maria Murvall, the young woman who was found raped and brutally beaten in the forest several years ago. Maria has been living as a mute in the local psychiatric hospital ever since the attack, and Malin is haunted by her inability to help her.
In the course of her investigation, Malin meets with a psychologist who tells her about another similar case, and suddenly Maria appears to be a small piece of a much bigger puzzle. But what is it that is so terrible it can't be put into words?
Malin is determined to find out the truth, no matter where it might take her.
N.J. COOPER-FACE OF THE DEVIL
Suzie Gray is only fifteen when she is stabbed to death within metres of her uncle's yacht on the Isle of Wight. Her body is found in the blood-smeared arms of Olly Matken, a family friend who grew up with her. Schizophrenic and vulnerable, he presents a serious challenge to the police.'I didn't hurt her!'Olly protests. 'All I did was keep her from the devil.'DCI Charlie Trench turns to forensic psychologist Karen Taylor. She knows she should ignore his call, but she cannot. Curiosity and, although she would never admit it to her partner, Will, a dangerous attraction to the brooding detective, push her into a deeply troubling case.Is Olly capable of murder? His own psychologist doesn't think so, but his father does. The only way to find the truth is to identify Olly's devil. And Karen has demons of her own.
NAOMI NOVIK – BLACK POWDER WAR
In the third novel of the New York Times bestselling Temeraire series, Captain Will Laurence and his dragon transport precious cargo while fending off enemies on all sides.
“A splendid series.”—Anne McCaffrey
After their fateful adventure in China, Captain Will Laurence of His Majesty’ s Aerial Corps and his extraordinary dragon, Temeraire, are waylaid by a mysterious envoy bearing urgent new orders from Britain. Three valuable dragon eggs have been purchased from the Ottoman Empire, and Laurence and Temeraire must detour to Istanbul to escort the precious cargo back to England. Time is of the essence if the eggs are to be borne home before hatching.
Yet disaster threatens the mission at every turn—thanks to the diabolical machinations of the Chinese dragon Lien, who blames Temeraire for her master’s death and vows to ally herself with Napoleon and take vengeance. Then, faced with shattering betrayal in an unexpected place, Laurence, Temeraire, and their squad must launch a daring offensive. But what chance do they have against the massed forces of Bonaparte’s implacable army?
Don’t miss any of Naomi Novik’s magical Temeraire series
HIS MAJESTY’S DRAGON • THRONE OF JADE • BLACK POWDER WAR • EMPIRE OF IVORY • VICTORY OF EAGLES • TONGUES OF SERPENTS • CRUCIBLE OF GOLD • BLOOD OF TYRANTS • LEAGUE OF DRAGONS
NAOMI NOVIK – BLACK POWDER WAR
In the third novel of the New York Times bestselling Temeraire series, Captain Will Laurence and his dragon transport precious cargo while fending off enemies on all sides.
“A splendid series.”—Anne McCaffrey
After their fateful adventure in China, Captain Will Laurence of His Majesty’ s Aerial Corps and his extraordinary dragon, Temeraire, are waylaid by a mysterious envoy bearing urgent new orders from Britain. Three valuable dragon eggs have been purchased from the Ottoman Empire, and Laurence and Temeraire must detour to Istanbul to escort the precious cargo back to England. Time is of the essence if the eggs are to be borne home before hatching.
Yet disaster threatens the mission at every turn—thanks to the diabolical machinations of the Chinese dragon Lien, who blames Temeraire for her master’s death and vows to ally herself with Napoleon and take vengeance. Then, faced with shattering betrayal in an unexpected place, Laurence, Temeraire, and their squad must launch a daring offensive. But what chance do they have against the massed forces of Bonaparte’s implacable army?
Don’t miss any of Naomi Novik’s magical Temeraire series
HIS MAJESTY’S DRAGON • THRONE OF JADE • BLACK POWDER WAR • EMPIRE OF IVORY • VICTORY OF EAGLES • TONGUES OF SERPENTS • CRUCIBLE OF GOLD • BLOOD OF TYRANTS • LEAGUE OF DRAGONS
NED BEAUMAN – GLOW
With GLOW, Ned Beauman has reinvented the international conspiracy thriller for a new generation.
A hostage exchange outside a police station in Pakistan.
A botched defection in an airport hotel in New Jersey.
A test of loyalty at an abandoned resort in the Burmese jungle.
A boy and a girl locking eyes at a rave in a South London laundrette . . .
For the first time, Britain's most exciting young novelist turns his attention to the present day, as a conspiracy with global repercussions converges on one small flat above a dentist's office in Camberwell.
