Recreation

Fiction New Titles December 2011 (arrived in November)

ADVENTURE

Phobos : Mayan fear, Steve Alten.
Third in action adventure series, "The Mayan prophecy," is a fast moving story of a journey to the end of the world and back again.
Angels of vengeance, John Birmingham.
Action adventure that gallops from the halls of power to South American jungle to gleaming new cities.
Blink of an eye, William S. Cohen.
As troops leave Iraq, things go wrong when a boat leaving Basra is attacked and an evil cabal is revealed. Political/military thriller debut.
Covenant, Dean Crawford.
In the tradition of Michael Crichton and James Rollins comes a fast-paced debut thriller featuring a missing archeologist, a fundamentalist preacher, and a mysterious tomb.
Devil's gate, Clive Cussler and Graham Brown.
Kurt Austin and NUMA are back on the case. A Japanese cargo ship cruises the eastern Atlantic near the Azores - when it bursts into flames. A gang of pirates speeds to take advantage of the disaster - when their boat explodes.
Born to run, John M. Green.
Isabel Diaz is set to be the first woman to win the White House. But her chances plummet when a Muslim protege is accused of syphoning funds to terrorists and, seemingly unrelated, an Australian software whiz is tossed off a London skyscraper.
Nowhere man, John M. Green.
A thriller in which the story centres around Sonya Wheen, a university business professor at the University of NSW in Sydney, Australia. The novel draws on the author's background in law, banking and mergers and acquisitions.
The thousand, Kevin Guilfoile.
Action suspense tale about a gifted girl and the ancient cult that wants to use her mental abilities for sinister means.
Prague fatale, Philip Kerr.
Bernie Gunther, private detective, in his latest, set in Prague in 1942.
Temple of the gods, Andy McDermott.
Archaeologist Nina Wilde's life has fallen apart. Her husband, ex-SAS soldier Eddie Chase is on the run, falsely accused of murder, and her only distraction has been investigating the origin of three strange statues stolen from her just before Eddie's disappearance.
African dawn, Tony Park.
Southern Rhodesia 1959 and a young girl is kidnapped by political terrorists and things are never the same as time goes by and Zimbabwe comes into being.
Hunted, Emlyn Rees.
A man, realising he's been set up for a murder, races against time to track down terrorists while dodging police, CCTV cameras and TV news channels.
The Tehran initiative, Joel C. Rosenberg.
With the stakes high and few viable options left, the president of the United States orders CIA operative David Shirazi and his team to track down and sabotage Iran's nuclear warheads before Iran or Israel can launch a devastating first strike.
The lost angel, Javier Sierra
In 72 hours a Middle Eastern terrorist group, who believe they are the descendants of angels, are going to bring about the end of the world.
The night eternal, Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan.
After the blasts, it was all over. Nuclear Winter has settled upon the earth. Except for one hour of sunlight a day, the whole world is plunged into darkness. It is a near-perfect environment for vampires. They have won. It is their time.Almost every single man, woman and child has been enslaved in vast camps across the globe. The conclusion to The Strain trilogy.
The dark at the end, F. Paul Wilson.
The latest Repairman Jack title.

American Fiction

The best American short stories 2011 : selected from U.S. and Canadian magazines, Geraldine Brooks, introduction
Includes stories by Jennifer Egan, Joyce Carol Oates, George Saunders, Elizabeth McCracken, etc.
Birds of paradise, Diana Abu-Jaber.
After a five year absence, an eighteen-year-old runaway returns to her family in Miami to deal with the guilty secret that caused her to flee.
Wonderland Creek, Lynn Austin.
Happily-ever-after librarian Alice Ripley unexpectedly finds herself in a real-life adventure filled with mystery and romance in the 1930s as she serves rural communities in Kentucky.
Lost memory of skin, Russell Banks.
A homeless young man living under a Florida causeway, just our of prison, meets a university sociologist who thinks the young man would be perfect material for a study of recidivism.
Every third thought, John Barth.
George I. Newett and his wife Amanda Todd lived in the gated community of Heron Bay Estates until its destruction by a fluke tornado. This event, Newett notes, occurred on the 77th anniversary of the 1929 stock market crash, a detail that would appear insignificant if it were not for several subsequent events.
The night strangers, Chris Bohjalian.
In a dusty corner of a basement in a rambling Victorian house in northern New Hampshire, a door has long been sealed shut with 39 six-inch-long carriage bolts. The home's new owners are Chip and Emily Linton and their twin ten-year-old daughters. Together they hope to rebuild their lives there after Chip, an airline pilot, has to ditch his 70-seat regional jet in Lake Champlain due to double engine failure. What follow is a riveting unusual ghost story
The wedding quilt : an Elm Creek quilts novel, Jennifer Chiaverini.
Meditating on the weddings she has attended in Elm Creek Manor throughout the years on the morning of her daughter's wedding day, Sarah McClure evaluates the symbolic features on a wedding quilt designed to display the signatures of beloved guests.
The kingdom of childhood, Rebecca Coleman.
A kindergarten teacher whose family is falling apart is thrown together with a troubled sixteen year old boy and they begin an affair.
The marriage plot, Jeffrey Eugenides.
Madeleine Hanna breaks out of her straight-and-narrow mold when she falls in love with charismatic loner Leonard Bankhead, while at the same time an old friend of hers resurfaces, obsessed with the idea that Madeleine is his destiny.
Lost December, Richard Paul Evans.
As heir to the Crisp Copy centre fortune, Luke has it made until he burns through his entire inheritance in just one year of partying. Ashamed to ask his famous father for help, he finds employment and romance as an entry-level clerk. Can his new love get him back on track?
Ed King : a novel, David Guterson.
Seattle 1962 and Walter, a lawyer, takes a risk and sleeps with the young au pair and things get complicated when she becomes pregnant.
Chango's beads and two-tone shoes, William Kennedy.
When journalist Daniel Quinn meets Ernest Hemingway at the Florida bar in Havana, Cuba, in 1957, he has no idea that his own affinity for simple, declarative sentences will change his life radically overnight.
11.22.63, Stephen King.
What if you could go back in time and change history's course, specifically 11/22/1963, the day Kennedy was shot.
The visible man, Chuck Klosterman.
Treating a delusional scientist who has been using cloaking technology from an aborted government project to render himself nearly invisible, Austin therapist Victoria Vick becomes obsessed with his accounts of spying on the private lives of others. Deadpan mix of thriller, sci-fi and psychoanalysis.
1225 Christmas Tree Lane, Debbie Macomber.
The people of Cedar Cove know how to celebrate Christmas. Like Grace and Olivia and everyone else, Beth Morehouse expects this Christmas to be one of her best. Her small Christmas tree farm is prospering, her daughters and her dogs are happy and well, and her new relationship with local vet Ted Reynolds is showing plenty of romantic promise.
The world as we know it, Joseph Monninger.
A lifetime of friendship begins the day brothers Ed and Allard save Sarah from drowning in an icy river near their rural New Hampshire home. Though their paths diverge through the years, the connection between the three endures until a heartbreaking tragedy in the remote mountains of Wyoming forces Sarah and Allard to confront the unthinkable.
The revisionists, Thomas Mullen.
The story of Zed, able to see the perfect future, and stuck in present day Washington where people have no idea what difference their choices will make.
Damned : life is short : death is forever, Chuck Palahniuk.
Crazy and - as usual - determinedly outrageous tale about prank calling, fighting demons, raising armies of the dead, and more. A mix of satire and craziness.
House of secrets, Tracie Peterson.
When Bailee Cooper's father orchestrates a surprise trip to the summer house of her childhood, what is intended to be a happy reunion for Bailee and her sisters quickly becomes shrouded by memories from the past. Romantic faith based tale.
The devil all the time, Donald Ray Pollock.
Intense portrait of America and a shattering vision of violence and redemption. Set in rural southern Ohio and West Virginia, it follows a cast of riveting and bizarre characters from the end of the Second World War to the 1960s.
The Barbarian nurseries, Hector Tobar.
Like a Los Angeles take on "The bonfire of the vanities" about the tensions between the wealthy middle class and the immigrant workforce it relies on. Has had great reviews.
Rules of civility, Amor Towles.
A chance encounter with a handsome banker in a jazz bar on New Year's Eve 1938 catapults Wall Street secretary Katey Kontent into the upper echelons of New York society, where she befriends a shy multi-millionaire, an Upper East Side ne'er-do-well, and a single-minded widow.
The Christmas Angel, Marcia Willett.
A tender tale of family relationships, old ties, new loves and finding somewhere to belong.

Australian fiction

What the family needed, Steven Amsterdam.
The story of a somewhat dysfunctional family who gradually make personal discoveries about themselves and each other and learn to communicate and to let go.
The secret ingredient, Dianne Blacklock.
Woman lets desire to become a chef take a back seat so when her marriage falls apart she takes a job in a top chef's kitchen and finds that he is more than she had bargained for.
When we have wings, Claire Corb.
The dream of being able to fly is now physical reality but only the rich and powerful can afford the surgery, drugs, and gene manipulation to become fliers. Peri, a poor girl from the regions, will sacrifice anything to get her wings and join this elite but the price is higher than she could have imagined.
The Briny Café, Susan Duncan.
Woman who is the heart and soul of a sleepy community is given the opportunity to own a ramshackle café along with a woman who has come from a lost life in the big city. Feelgood tale.
Forecast : turbulence, Janette Turner Hospital.
A collection of nine excellent short stories that feature a varied cast of characters and on memoir piece.
Watch out for me, Sylvia Johnson.
1967 Australia and four children tell a lie that has dire repercussions years later nearly forty years later.
Reading Madame Bovary, Amanda Lohrey.
A collection of stories that deal with transition and transformation. In these riveting stories, characters deal with crises of body and spirit. They find themselves caught between order and chaos, and must face the need to change or be trapped.
The cook, Wayne Macauley.
Power through service, says Head Chef. It's one of the first lessons taught at Cook School, where troubled youths learn to be master chefs by bowing to decadence and whim, by offering up a part of themselves on every plate. It's a motto Zac takes to heart. A teenage boy with a difficult past, he throws himself into the world and work of haute cuisine.
Cold light, Frank Moorhouse.
The final volume of his "Edith trilogy" that follows the career and private life of former League of Nations officer Edith Campbell Berry.

British Fiction

She's leaving home, Joan Bakewell.
Liverpool, late 1950s, the story of a suppressed mother, a father who's working as a film projectionist and their daughter Martha whose longing for freedom encapsulates the time.
Maeve Binchy's treasury, Maeve Binchy.
A collection of Maeve Binchy's heart warming short stories, including some set in Australia, all showing her deep insights into family life.
Fold, Tom Campbell.
A quintet of poker playing fortysomethings in Reading in 2009 are the focus of this interesting first novel that is cleverly percetive on male friendships and rivalries.
The narrative of John Smith, Arthur Conan Doyle
Arthur Conan Doyle wrote The Narrative of John Smith in 1883 when he was just 23, living in Portsmouth and struggling to establish himself as a doctor and a writer.
A cupboard full of coats, Yvvette Edwards.
Young East Londoner's life derailed by murder of her mother. Years later she meets a man with his own secrets and the two have to confront what they've hidden. Powerful first novel.
Landfall, Helen Gordon.
Alice Robinson is having doubts about her job on a fashionable London art magazine, and her current way of life. Agreeing to house sit for her parents, she moves back to the suburban streets of her childhood, a world of Girl Guides, Tudorbethan houses and blossom trees. She reasesses her priorities and wonders how do we connect? And what are the maps and manuals that show us how to live today?
The real Katie Lavender, Erica James.
At 30, Katie Lavender thinks she is better than most when it comes to dealing with life's surprises. But when she gets a request to visit a solicitor, she's not expecting the dramatic turn her life is about to take.
Christmas magic, Cathy Kelly.
A festive collection of stories about love, life, Christmas parties, families and more.
Christmas with Miss Read, Miss Read.
The people of Thrush Green and Fairacre celebrate Christmas in a traditional style which has hardly changed over the generations. Children eagerly hang up their stockings, families go to Church together, and everyone enjoys Christmas cake and other treats of the festive season. For heart-warming reading with wit there is no writer to rival Miss Read,
The sound of gravity, Joe Simpson.
Harrowing powerful tale of love and loss about a man trapped high on a mountain face, forced to fight for his life, and how, years later, he's able to confront what happened.
At last, Edward St Aubyn.
A culmination of his Patrick Melrose novels than can be read as a standalone. The story takes place at Patrick's mothers funeral as he tries to work out if he can escape the influence of his dreadful parents.
A Dublin student doctor : an Irish country novel, Patrick Taylor.
Doctor Fingal Flahertie O'Reilly, Irish doctor, is back. This time we go back to his younger years in Dublin in the 1930s.
The very picture of you, Isabel Wolff.
A London woman portrait artist realises that there is more to a person's life than surfaces reveal as her work on portraits of her sister's fiance and others reveal family secrets.

Chinese titles

Yu, Ai Mi zuopin.
Fan zui xin li shi, Ai Xi zhu.
Tui mo fang : yang gui ri ji zhi shen mi xiao wu, Beijingjinying zhu.
Wu long cha cuo dian = The merry couple, Bu Weilan zhu.
Xiao san, Cai Zan zhu.
Tie xue jiang hu, Chaoba zhu.
Tie xue jiang hu zhi hei shang tian xia, Chaoba zhu.
Ma shang tian xia, Xu Guixiang zhu.
Fu chen, Cui Manli zhu.
Qing gan ji, Cui Manli zhu.
Zu zhi bu zhang, Damu zhu.
Gao bie tian tang, Di'an zhu.
Pai mai shi, Gu Liu zhu.
Lin jie, Jue ji, Guo Jingming zhu.
Maqiao ci dian, Han Shaogong.
Shen qing da lao cu, Hei Jieming.
Jin yi, Hua Xiangrong zhu.
Qing yuan, Huang Shiqiang zhu.
Gan ying, Ji Qing zhu.
Fei du, Jia Pingwa zhu.
Hei shi hui zhi xue se ji yi, Jin Man zhu.
Bie yang de jiang hu = Distinct sophistication, Kong Ergou zhu.
Dan shen zhong nian, Laoxiang zhu.
Ran shao de nan hai, Li Feng zhu.
Duan chang = Long way to go, Li Qian zhu.
Gen wo de qian qi tan lian ai, Li Wei.
Shi zhang si ji, Li Xiongfei zhu.
Liu fang ji, Li Ya zhu.
Hong fu ping, Li Yan zhu.
Da jiang da hai yi jiu si jiu, Long Yingtai.
Kong bu yi xian, Lu Fu.
Ren sheng, Lu Yao zhu.
Zu xian de ai qing, Lu Yuan zhu.
Nian hua shi wu xiao xin, Luoluo zhu.
Xie yu tie : quan xin zeng ding ben, Laogui zhu.
Yin seng, Ma Mingqian zhu.
Wa, Mo Yan zhu.
Mo tui men zhi shi ren bi si, Nan Zongqiu zhu.
Huang He gui guan quan ji, Nanpaisanshu zhu.
Hu po, Niannian zhu.
Chuan xin lian, Pan Xiangli zhu.
Ying chao, Ruan Jinsi zhu.
San shi ren, Shi Shuqing zhu.
Huo guo, Shisique zhu.
He an, Su Tong zhu.
Gen shui jiao jin, Sun Rui zhu.
Jiu shu : xin li shi shou ji = Redemption, Sun Siyuan zhu.
Gui chui deng zhi Mu ye gui shi, Tianxiabachang zhu.
Gui da qiang quan ji, Tianxiabachang zhu.
Si wang xun huan, Tianxiabachang zhu.
Fu hao ju le bu, Tianyou zhu.
Cheng zhang, Wang Hailing zhu.
Xi fu de mei hao shi dai, Wang Liping zhu.
Guo se, Wang Wanfu zhu.
Huang jin shi dai, Wang Xiaobo zhu.
Sha er haung di Adou hui yi lu, Wang Xinxi zhu.
Wei wu li de nŞu ren, Wen Yanxia zhu.
Beijing da niu er de pin zui ai qing, Wen Yi zhu.
Shi ri xia ming = Sharemy, Xia Mingyou zhu.
Tie li hua, Xiao Ma.
Wo de ye man nu shang si, Xixiangshaonian zhu.
A, qing chun, Xue Xiaochan zhu.
Shi nian, Xue Xiaochan zhu.
Wo de huo zu zong, Xueyingshuanghun zhu.
Xiao yi Duohe = Aunt Tatsuru, Yan Geling zhu.
Zeng Xintong ling yi shi lu, Zeng Xintong.
Wan an xiao jie, Zhang Nai Er.

Fiction from the rest of the World

Until the dawn's light, Aharon Appelfeld
A Jewish woman marries a gentile labourer in turn-of-the-century Austria, with disastrous results. A high school honour student bound for university and a career as a mathematician, Blanca lives with her parents in a small town in Austria in the early years of the twentieth century.
The fat years, Chan Koonchung
Controversial novel, banned in China, that deals with secrets and hidden stories about the leaders and the people of China.
Aleph, Paulo Coelho
Greatly liked by those who like him this is Coelho's account - in novel form - of his "personal sacred pilgrimage" and encounter with the woman he loved 500 years before
The Prague cemetery, Umberto Eco
Conspiracies rule history and Europe is in tumult. Everyone needs a scapegoat and what if, behind all conspiracies, real or imagined, there was one evil genius. Intriguing new novel from the author of "The name of the rose."
Our Lady of Alice Bhatti, Mohammed Hanif.
The patients of the Sacred Heart Hospital for All Ailments are looking for a miracle, and Alice Bhatti is looking for a job. The story begins with Alice's interview for the position of junior nurse, grade 4. Alice is no ordinary applicant. It is only a few weeks since her release from Borstal. A story of second chances on the tough streets of Karachi.
The map and the territory, Michel Houellebecq
Prix Goncourt winning novel - part satire and part thriller - on themes of love, death, work and art and France being turned into little more than a tourist paradise.
A lovesong for India, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
Collection of short stories from the writer who's won a Booker Prize and two screenplay Oscars.
Nanjing requiem, Ha Jin.
During the 1937 attack on Nanjing, American missionary and women's college dean Minnie Vautrin decides to remain at her school during a violent Japanese attack that renders the school a refugee centre for ten thousand women and children.
Tarantula, Thierry Jonquet
The novel recently filmed by Pedro Almodovar with Antonio Banderas as a plastic surgeon haunted by dirty secrets.
The book of doubt, Tessa de Loo
The story of Saeed, son of a Dutch mother and his search to find his Moroccan father.
You deserve nothing, Alexander Maksik.
Set in an international high school in Paris where a charismatic young teacher who is having an affair with one of his senior pupils.
Perlmann's silence, Pascal Mercier
In a seaside town near Genoa, linguists gather for a conference and one of them, unable to complete his keynote address, plagiarises the work of a colleague not attending. Then the colleague turns up!
1Q84, Haruki Murakami ; translated from the Japanese by Jay Rubin and Philip Gabriel.
Originally published in Japan in three volumes. Something of an homage to George Orwell's "1984" but dealing with a young woman assassin and an unpublished novelist dealing with a teenagers book.
Lessons in forgetting, Anita Nair.
Indian woman's husband fails to come home after a party and she becomes responsible not just for her children but her mother and grandmother and the old family home in Bangalore.
Parallel stories, Peter Nadas
The agendas of three European men with dubious political histories converge in the aftermath of an 1989 death linked to the fates of myriad Hungarians, Jews, Germans and Gypsies across the treacherous years of the mid-twentieth century.
The wine of solitude, Irene Nemirovsky
From the author of "Suite francaise." Published for the first time in English and quite autobiographical. The story of a young woman's troubled relationship with her self-absorbed mother in Kiev and St. Petersburg.
The cat's table, Michael Ondaatje.
Early 1950s and an eleven year old boy boards a ship to England and joins "the cat's table" with a ragtag group of "insignificant" adults and two other
Daniel Stein, interpreter, Ludmila Ulitskaya
Extraordinary story based on face about Daniel Stein, a Polish Jew who survives the holocaust by working for the Gestapo as an interpreter, later becoming a priest and emigrating to Israel.

French titles

Le coeur régulier, Olivier Adam.
Un soupçon d'interdit, Francoise Bourdin.
Sans un adieu, Harlan Coben
Brida, Paulo Coelho
L'insomnie des étoiles : roman, Marc Dugain.
Des eclairs, Jean Echenoz.
L'amour est une ile, Claudie Gallay.
Ouragan, Laurent Gaudé.
La consolante, Anna Gavalda.
Quitter le monde, Douglas Kennedy
L'hypnotiseur, Lars Kepler
Le lièvre de Patagonie, Claude Lanzmann.
Le premier jour, Marc Levy.
Parle-leur de batailles, de rois et d'elephants, Mathias Énard.
Genial! On popote avec papa, Recettes et photgraphies, Nathalie Valmary ; photographies, Laurence Mouton.

Japanese titles

Egoisuto, Asada Makoto.
Yamihiko, Atoda Takashi.
Suzuran, Azuma Naomi.
Seiten no hekireki, Gekidan hitori.
Daiingu ai, Higashino Keigo.
Shinzanmono, Higashino Keigo.
Shinmetori, Honda Tetsuya.
Saisei, Ishihara Shintaro.
Ofuku shokan, Minato Kanae.
Marugarita, Muraki Ran.
Ore no obasan, Sagawa Mitsuharu.
Tsuki no niji, Tamura Masayuki.

Korean titles

2010 sinch‘un munye tangsǒn sosǒljip, Chǒn Yǒng-il oe.
Gaeseongassi, Andoseop Jeo.
Chisang e sutkarak hana, Hyǒ n Ki yǒ ng.
Geotkki baibeul, Miyasita Misseumasa.
P‘arang ch‘it‘a ka tallyǒ kanda, Pak Sǒn hǔi.
Yaman sidae ǔi kirok, Pak Wǒ n-sun chiǔm.
Nae maumsokui dulgui, Sin Sangseong.
Pǒndaegi p‘urojekt‘ǔ, Yi Che mi.
Tasi saeropke Chi-sǒn a sarang hae, Yi Chi-sǒn chiǔm.
Yǒlchǒng, kat'ǔn sori hago inne, Yi Hye-rin chiǔm.
So-hǔi ǔi pang, Yi Kǔm-i chiǔm.
Kuratchang, Yi Myǒng-nang chiǔm.

MYSTERY

First thrills : high-octane stories from the hottest thriller authors, Edited by Lee Child
Includes stories by names like Jeffery Deaver, Ken Bruen, John Lescroart and more.
Guilty consciences : a Crime Writer's Association anthology, Martin Edwards.
A collection of clever short stories from the Crime Writers" Association by authors like Peter James, Ann Cleeves, Robert Barnard, Alanna Knight and others.
The dead witness : a connoisseur's collection of Victorian detective stories, Michael Sims.
A terrific collection from names like Dickens, Wilkie Collins, Mark Twain, Bret Harte, Alexandre Dumas, Edgar Allan Poe and more.
The dead of winter, Jane A. Adams.
Against her better judgement, Rina Martin accepts an invitation to a country house hotel with a sinister reputation and looks forward to leaving when she is joined by DI MacGregor, but a blizzard prevents their departure and then Edwin Holmes, grand old man of psychic research, is found murdered in his bed.
A crimson warning, Tasha Alexander.
Anticipating a London season of dancing and campaigning for women's rights, Lady Emily Hargreaves investigates a blackmailing vandal who splashes red paint on the homes of elite citizens before revealing their scandalous secrets.
Zero day, David Baldacci.
Combat veteran John Puller, now working as an investigator for the Army's Criminal Investigative Division, tries to solve the murder of an Army man and his Pentagon contractor wife in their isolated rural home.
Blood falls, Tom Bale.
CID officer Joe Clayton has to go undercover in a small Cornish town which turnhs out to be in the grip of an underworld villain.
Nine inches, Bateman.
Colin Bateman now just using his surname for reasons unknown! Dan Starkey, private eye, investigates the case of the radio shock-jock whose son has been
As the pig turns, M.C. Beaton.
A Cotswold village having a clebratory hog roast to mark the start of winter festivities finds an unpopular policeman on the spit. Agatha Raisin investigates.
I am half-sick of shadows, Alan Bradley.
Colonel de Luce has rented his property to a film company for a location shoot then they are snowed in, the leading lady is murdered and Flavia de Luce is off detecting again.
Oscar Wilde and the Vatican murders, Gyles Brandreth.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle encounters Oscar Wilde at a spa at Bad Homburg and the two friends make a series of macabre discoveries and find a trail that leads right to the Vatican.
Guns in the gallery : a Fethering mystery, Simon Brett.
Invited to a Private View of the work of controversial artist Denzil Willoughby, the good citizens of Fethering are not quite sure what to expect. And it turns out to be a lively affair, culminating in several embarrassing confrontations. But what no one could have anticipated was that the evening would end in sudden, violent death.
Murder unleashed, Rita Mae Brown
Wealthy Reno octogenarian Jeep Reed takes on the American financial crisis by sorting out her local community. Dogs feature prominently.
Headstone, Ken Bruen.
Galway private investigator Jack Taylor confronts an evil coterie named Headstone, who have committed a series of random, insane, violent crimes in Galway,
A dark and lonely place, Edna Buchanan.
Mimai detective hunts for a woman linked to a murdered millionarire and finds she is the girl who has haunted his dreams since childhood.
The DROP, Michael Connelly.
Harry Bosch is facing the end of the line. He's been put on the DROP - Deferred Retirement Option Plan - and given three years before his retirement is enforced. Seeing the end of the mission coming, he's anxious for cases. He doesn't have to wait long.
Slash and burn, Colin Cotterill.
Dr Siri is on a "therapeutic holiday" in the mountains with his wife and a friend when he is lured into investigating the case of a dead airman and the firebug who is threatening the Friendship Hotel.
Coffin man, James D. Doss.
When Colorado rancher and part-time tribal investigator Charlie Moon gets a call from Wanda Naranjo, she's panicked. Not only is her sink leaking, which Moon graciously fixes, but her sixteen-year-old daughter, Betty, has gone missing.
Sorry, Zoran Drvenkar
German author's dark and horrific tale of sexual abuse, savage revenge and retribution.
A killer's Christmas in Wales, Elizabeth J. Duncan.
Penny Brannigan and her business partner, Victoria Hopkirk, are absorbed with the grand opening of their new spa. Meanwhile, an American stranger, Harry Saunders, arrives in town and sweeps widow Evelyn Lloyd off her feet. Some suspect Saunders is taking advantage of Evelyn, so it's no surprise when he goes missing with a healthy chunk of Evelyn's money and is eventually found dead outside Conwy Castle.
Scotched, Kaitlyn Dunnett.
When her hometown of Moosetookalook, Maine hosts the First Annual Maine-ly Cozy Con, a mystery book conference, Liss MacCrimmon and her fiancée Dan discover that the truth is stranger--and deadlier--than fiction when a muckraking reviewer with a grudge supposedly jumps to her death.
Truth dare kill, Gordon Ferris.
Demobbed SOE agent turned private eye Danny McRae takes on a case for an upper class woman while struggling with a head injury that cuases blackouts.
A burial at sea, Charles Finch.
In March 1873 aristocratic sleuth Charles Lenox undertakes a delicate espionage mission to Egypt, where five British agents have been killed, apparently by the French. But soon after Charles's ship sets sail, the captain calls on him to dust off his deductive skills when a crew member is murdered and left eviscerated on the deck.
Bryant & May and the memory of blood, Christopher Fowler.
The latest case for the droll likeable London detectives. As always it's a delightful mix of wit, investigation and villainy and it's a wonder television hasn’t snapped up these books for a series before now.
A decline in prophets, Sulari Gentill.
Four young heroes in a quest against myth, magic...and betrayal. 1 girl, 3 brothers...4 daring young heroes. Treachery, transformations and a deadly quest. A thrilling adventure of ancient myth, monsters, gods, sorcerers, sirens, magic and many evils...the fall of Troy and a desperate chase across the seas in a magical ship.
Out of sight, Isabelle Grey.
Debut from television scriptwriter. A father leaves his son in the car where the child suffocates and his life unravels. "Gripping and plausible" said Jessica Mann in Literary Review.
The litigators, John Grisham.
The Partners at Finley & Figg - all two of them - often refer to themselves as "a boutique law firm." "Boutique," as in chic, selective and prosperous. They are, of course, none of these things. What they are is a two-bit operation always in search of their big break, ambulance chasers who've been in the trenches much too long making much too little.
The blood red Indian Summer, David Handler.
When a famously volatile and suspended NFL superstar linebacker and his entourage decide to spend his season in exile in bucolic Dorset--much to the dismay of his early-to-bed, ultra-white neighbours--Des Mitry is put on the spot. And when his 17-year-old sister-in-law washes up on Mitch Berger's beach, bloodied and barely alive, Des is on the case.
Scales of retribution, Cora Harrison.
June, 1510: the Burren, west coast of Ireland - Upon going unexpectedly into an early labour, Mara is alerted to the disappearance of Malachy, the local physician. Mystery follows birth, as shortly after the entrance of her son into the world the body of Malachy is discovered. Latest in this intriguing historical mystery series.
Kill my darling, Cynthia Harrod-Eagles.
When Melanie Hunter goes missing, the men in her life come under suspicion. And there's plenty to suspect: lies, half-truths, deceptions. When you pull one thread, the whole fabric of family life can come apart. There are secrets in Melanie's past, and pain she tried to hide from the world. Slider and his team need to answer two questions: who loved Melanie, and who loved her too much ... Bill Slider investigates.
The killing way, Tony Hays.
First in a Dark Ages mystery series. The Saxons have invaded England and a young native leader, Arthur, has his reputation threatened when a woman is
Carnival for the dead, David Hewson.
Carnival time in Venice and Teresa Lupo, forensic pathologist, investigates the strange disappearance of her aunt.
The house of silk, Anthony Horowitz.
The top novelist and Holmes expert creates a new mystery for Sherlock Holmes.
Strangled in Paris, Claude Izner
Bookseller Victor Legris's latest case is an investigation of the murder of a humble seamstress. Izner is the pseudonym of two sisters, both Parisian
Born to die, Kisa Jackson.
A sad, strange coincidence - that's Dr. Kacey Lambert's initial response to the deaths of two women who bear an uncanny resemblance to herself. It's not like there was any real connection between Kacey and the B-movie actress or the elementary school teacher. But Detective Selena Alvarez suspects otherwise.
Death comes to Pemberley, P.D. James.
P.D. James puts Jane Austen into a traditional English murder mystery setting.
Perfect people, Peter James.
Standalone psychological thriller from Peter James. A couple seek to have a child who'll survive the genetic disorder that caused their firstborn to due. A doctor appears to be able to help them but when the woman becomes pregnant things go wrong.
The hour of the jackal, Bernhard Jaumann .
In Namibia members of the South African secret police are being murdered and detective Clemencia Garises realises they are revenge killings for crimes committed during the time of apartheid.
Bonnie, Iris Johansen.
Completes the trilogy begun with "Eve" and continued with "Quinn."
The boy in the suitcase, Lene Kaaberbol and Agnete Friis
First in new Danish crime series featuring Copenhagen nurse Nina Borg who finds the boy of the title, drugged byt alive, inside a locker at a railway station.
Midwinter sacrifice, Mons Kallentoft
Yet another Scandinavian crime writer makes an English language debut. This one features a 31 year old single mother and detective in a Swedish city investigating the case of the very fat corpse hanging from a tree.
Midnight guardians, Jonathon King.
Max Freeman, Florida private eye, investigates a conspiracy involving corrupt cops, fraud, drug kingpins and others.
Until thy wrath be past, Asa Larsson
Swedish prosecutor Rebecka Martinsson and the case of the body of a young woman found in the river and how it ends up being linked to rumours of wartime collaborators.
Dead ringer, Roy Lewis.
An elderly man looks back on a racy life in law and the theatre in this tale of the London underworld and murder in the docklands in Victorian days.
Double Dexter, Jeff Lindsay.
Dexter Morgan is not your average serial killer. He enjoys his day job as a blood spatter analyst for the Miami Police Department ...but he lives for his nighttime hobby of hunting other killers.
The hidden child, Camilla Lackberg
Psychological thriller about a young woman who needs to find out why her mother saved an old NAZI medal. The man who could help her is murdered and so she reads her mother's diary and discovers secrets someone is prepared to kill for.
A velvet scream, Priscilla Masters.
On a snowy December morning, a young woman is found outside Patches nightclub in Leek. Half dead from the cold, she says she has been raped. As Detective Inspector Joanna Piercy, fresh from a disciplinary action, investigates, she learns that Kayleigh Harrison has made unsubstantiated allegations before against her stepfather.
City of whispers, Marcia Muller.
Latest in the series featuring private eye Sharon McCone.
The unlucky lottery, Hakan Nesser
Four pensioners celebrate a lottery win then one of them is murdered. When another disappears Chief Inspector Van Veeteren is on the case.
Stolen souls, Stuart Neville.
Detective inspector Jack Lennon of the Belfast police investigates the Lithuanian criminal girls who are trafficking girls in this gritty Irish thriller.
The corn maiden and other nightmares, Joyce Carol Oates.
Creepy tales of suspense, mystery, etc. The title story is about a gril who is enticed by other girls into a basement for a nasty
Unwanted, Kristina Ohlsson
Introduces criminologist Fredrika Bergman in the story of a child abducted from a train then found dead in the far north of Sweden. The author is a senior policy analyst for the Swedish Police Board.
A Christmas homecoming, Anne Perry.
Traveling up the Yorkshire coast with her husband and his acting troupe, Caroline, the mother of Charlotte Pitt, anticipates their arrival at the famed fishing village landing sight of Count Dracula in Bram Stoker's tale and develops an awareness about inviting and disallowing evil.
The day Aberystwyth stood still, Malcolm Pryce.
The Aberystwyth mayoral campain is on and private sleuth Louie Knight is asked to track down a dead man. Latest in this series of wacky black comedy thrillers.
Drive, James Sallis.
Doing movie stunt driving by day and driving for criminals at night, a man is double-crossed by some former partners and decides to take violent means to protect himself and to seek revenge. This is the novel of the recent hit movie.
Crying out loud, Cath Staincliffe.
An abandoned infant on her doorstep is the last thing Manchester private eye Sal Kilkenny needs. Sal's client Libby Hill is trying to put her life back together after the brutal killing of her lover and the conviction of petty criminal Damien Beswick, who confessed to the murder. But now Beswick has retracted his confession. Strong impressive crime story.
The crowded grave, Martin Walker.
Chief of Police Bruno Couureges finds life eventful enough in rural France without a 'modern' skeleton turning up on an archaeological dig.
Did not finish, Simon Wood.
First book in a new series featuring a rookie racing driver and set in the dangerous high-octane world of motor racing.

New Zealand Fiction

Bird North : and other stories, Breton Dukes.
The lives of men vividly portrayed in stories that range from Fiordland cross county runs, diving trips, remote hot pools, a Johnsonville bottle store and more.
The kindness of your nature, Linda Olsson.
Marion Flint lives alone on the wild west coast of New Zealand's North Island. One day she meets a small boy, Ika, on the empty, rugged beach, and an unlikely friendship begins between the Swedish doctor and the solemn child with webbed feet and a fear of being touched. As Marion's involvement with Ika deepens she is forced to revisit her own lonely childhood in Sweden, where neglect and a destructive home environment had deadly consequences.

ROMANCE

Tempted by Dr Daisy, Caroline Anderson.
The fiancee he can't forget, Caroline Anderson.
Waking up with Dr Off-Limits, Amy Andrews.
Wild horses, Linda Byler.
The Miller family's move from Ohio to Montana was uneventful. But now, Sadie's close-knit family is falling apart. And who is this fascinating Mark who helps to rescue a dying horse and shows up at the Amish hymn sing though he is English? And what is the story behind the mysterious wild horse?
The lost wife, Maggie Cox.
Heiress behind the headlines, Caitlin Crews.
The Costarella conquest, Emma Darcy.
Innocent in the ivory tower, Lucy Ellis.
Breaking her no-dates rule, Emily Forbes.
Craving the forbidden, India Grey.
Bridesmaid says, 'I do', Barbara Hannay.
A moment on the lips, Kate Hardy.
Weight of the crown, Christina Hollis.
Flirting with intent, Kelly Hunter.
The most coveted prize, Penny Jordan.
The princess test, Shirley Jump.
Mardie and the city surgeon, Marion Lennox.
Nikki and the lone wolf, Marion Lennox.
The night that changed everything, Anne McAllister.
The next always, Nora Roberts.
First in the "Inn at Boonsboro" trilogy.
The lonesome rancher, Patricia Thayer.
Her Italian soldier, Rebecca Winters.

Saga & Historical

A lasting impression, Tamera Alexander.
After an unwanted past, Claire strives to create something that will last as an artist among Nashville's elite society in the 1860s.
Golden earrings, Belinda Alexandra.
Paloma Batton is the granddaughter of Spanish refugees who fled Barcelona after the Civil War. A disciplined student with the School of the Paris Opera Ballet, Paloma lets little get in the way of her career until she receives a visit from an otherworldly being who leaves her with a pair of golden earrings.
Washed in the blood, Lisa Alther.
This unique three-part novel assumes that, regardless of what Americans learn in school, the Southeast was not a barren wilderness when the English arrived at Jamestown. Based on extensive research into the racial mixing that occurred in the early years of southeastern settlement.
The Yellow Emperor's cure, Kunal Basu.
Story spanning continents. 1898 and a surgeon and notorious playboy discovers his beloved father has syphilis and sets out to find a cure
Deeply devoted, Maggie Brendan.
A mail order bride comes to the American West for a good life and a fresh start in this gentle romantic tale. First in the Blue Willow Brides series.
Prince of Ravenscar, Catherine Coulter.
Historical romance where the widowed prince is being pressured to remarry while the mysterious death of his first wife remains a suspicion hanging over his brother's head.
Red-robed priestess, Elizabeth Cunningham.
The last instalment of the Maeve Chronicles, the story of Maeve, the Celtic Mary Magdalene.
Silk Road, Colin Falconer.
Set in 1260 where a knight templar seeks redemption by undertaking a dangerous crusade on which he meets a Mongol warrior princess.
The end of Sparta, Victor Davis Hanson.
A first class fiction debut from a classical historian that recreates the battles of one of the greatest generals of Ancient Greece, Epaminondas.
The winding road, Cynthia Harrod-Eagles.
1925. England is prosperous; the nation has put the war behind it, and hope is in the air. Polly Morland is the most feted beauty in New York but a proposal of marriage from the powerful, enigmatic Ren Alexander takes her by surprise.
The dovekeepers, Alice Hoffman.
The lives of four remarkable women intersect in the year 70 A.D. in the desperate days of the Siege of Masada.
Conqueror, Conn Iggulden.
Continues the Conqueror series with the story of Kublai Khan whose empire dwarfed that of Julius Caesar and Alexander the Great.
The Parihaka woman, Witi Ihimaera.
Sets the remarkable story of Erenora against the historical background of the turbulent and compelling events that occurred in Parihaka during the 1870s and 1880s.
The trader's wife, Anna Jacobs.
After her mother's death Isabella falls on hard times in Singapore when a businessman takes her in as an English teacher then arranges for a marriage to an Irish trader who's setting up a business in Western Australia.
Foal's bread, Gillian Mears.
The story of two generations of the Nancarrow family and their lives in rural New South Wales prior to World War Two.
The song of Achilles, Madeline Miller.
Greece in the age of Heroes. The story of Patroclus, an awkward young prince, exiled to the kingdom of Pthia. Impressive first novel that tells the story of the Trojan Wars in a new and imaginative way.
The opal desert, Di Morrissey.
Three women who meet in the desolate landscape of the opal fields support each other as their lives move into new stages.
Tiger men, Judy Nunn.
Begins in the 1850s and follows two families: one from Hobart's aristocratic set and other from the Irish poor.
Hotel Vendome, Danielle Steel.
Life in the glamorous world of a five tar New York hotel and the man who built it as fulfilment of his dream.
Land of hope and glory, Geoffrey Wilson.
1852 and an Indian Empire rules Europe but rebellion breaks out in a backward region called England.

Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror

The new dead : a zombie anthology, Edited by Christopher Golden.
Stories of zombies from authors such as Tad Williams, Max Brooks, Joe Hill, Kelley Armstrong, Mike Carey, David Wellington, John Connolly and more.
Torchwood. The men who sold the world, Guy Adams.
When Oscar Lupe appears 20,000 feet up in the air, his body is frozen solid and free-falling to earth. It shatters on impact. Soon after, a CIA Special Activities Division squad goes rogue with a cargo marked 'Torchwood' that they've been escorting from somewhere called Cardiff.
Firestorm, Taylor Anderson.
Lieutenant Commander Matthew Reddy and the crew of the USS "Walker" find themselves caught between the nation they swore to defend and the allies they promised to protect.
Carnelians, Catherine Asaro.
After surviving political intrigue, military coups and murder attempts, the Eubian Empire and Skolian Imperialate leaders have finalized their peace treaty. But will the controversial treaty work? Latest in the science fiction Skolian Saga.
With fate conspire, Marie Brennan.
Her latest historical fantasy set in Onyx Court, the faery city that co-exists with London in the 19th century.
Spellbound, Blake Charlton.
Second in the fantasy trilogy about a healer whose life is thrown into chaos when a dead patient sits up and tells her to run.
The sacred band, David Anthony Durham.
Fantasy epic that concludes the trilogy started with "The war with the Mein" and "The other lands."
The clockwork rocket, Greg Egan.
In Yalda's universe, light has mass, no universal speed and can create energy. Time is different and on the farm where she lives Yalda finds her world is heading for disaster.
Ashes of a black frost, Chris Evans.
Third in the combat fiction fantasy series, "The Iron Elves."
Torchwood. First born, James Goss.
Gwen and Rhys are on the run. Rhys was hoping this meant a windswept cottage on a cliff top, but he's had to settle for a miserable caravan in the isolated village of Rawbone. With the locals taking an unhealthy interest in their daughter, Gwen and Rhys start to realise that something is very wrong. As they uncover the village's terrible past, Gwen discovers that Torchwood will never leave her behind.
Manhattan in reverse, Peter F. Hamilton.
Collection of stories from master of space opera includes murder mystery in an alternate 1800s Oxford and a new story featuring Paula Mayo, Deputy Director of the Intersolar Commonwealth's Serious Crime Directorate.
Aloha from Hell, Richard Kadrey.
His third noir fantasy featuring Sandman Slim, extreme anti-hero and recent escapee from Lucifer's overheated Underworld playground.
The guardian, Sherrilyn Kenyon.
Lydia must descend into the missing god of dreams before he betrays any secrets in the latest of the Dark-Hunter fantasy series.
Beauty and the werewolf, Mercedes Lackey.
A mix of fantasy, romance and fairy tale in which Bella goes to the woods and is attacked by a wolf who turns out to be a cursed nobleman.
Firebird, Jack McDevitt.
In the latest Alex Benedict tale he discovers that a famous physicist who has disappeared had several interstellar yachts that have vanished.
This new & poisonous air : stories, Adam McOmber.
Fantasy debut of dark imaginative short stories that Publishers Weekly said is "a remarkable combo of the dark and the weird."
Scholar, L.E. Modesitt, Jr.
The fourth in the "Imager Portfolio" fantasy series.
The cold commands, Richard K. Morgan.
Second in the fantasy series, "Land fit for heroes."
Anno Dracula, Kim Newman.
In an alternate history of the nineteenth century, Queen Victoria has married Vlad Tepes, better known as Count Dracula, leading to a reign of horror, while, in Whitechapel, Silver Knife, a murderer of vampire girls, threatens the new regime.
Snuff., Terry Pratchett
According to the writer of the best-selling crime novel ever to have been published in the city of Ankh-Morpork, it is a truth universally acknowledged that a policeman taking a holiday would barely have had time to open his suitcase before he finds his first corpse.
The islanders, Christopher Priest.
About the Dream Archipelago, a vast network of islands whose names and locations change as a war fought by two continents occurs.
The mechanical messiah and other marvels of the modern age, Robert Rankin.
The latest eccentric fantasy tale from the author who's been called "The master of far fetched fiction."
By light alone, Adam Roberts.
Set in a genetically engineered world where the daughter of a rich family is kidnapped and years later a woman arrives at their house claiming to be their daughter but looking very different.
The alloy of law, Brandon Sanderson.
A new Mistborn title set in the period after the original trilogy.
War in heaven, Gavin Smith.
Sequel to "Veteran" set in a bleak future where bladerunner type cities hang from the ceilings of vast caverns and aliens are everywhere.
Zone one : a novel, Colson Whitehead.
Another literary novelist takes on zombies! It's a postapocalypse world divided between the infected and the uninfected and the provisional government in America is trying to take back Manhattan from the undead.

Spanish titles

El alquimista holandés, Isabel Abenia.
Catalina de Lancaster, primera Princesa de Asturias, Maria Teresa Alvarez.
Algo tan parecido al amor, Carmen Amoraga.
Casi todas las mujeres, J. J. Armas Marcelo.
Venganza en Sevilla, Matilde Asensi.
Los que se fueron, Concha Castroviejo.
El veneno de Napoleon, Edmundo Diaz Conde.
El tiempo entre costuras, Maria Due őnas.
Errantes ; Hombres capaces : selección de cuentos publicados en el diario La Nación, Hector I. Eandi.
Las palabras andantes, Eduardo Galeano
El emblema del traidor, Juan Gomez-Jurado.
La historia mas curiosa : los grandes momentos y los personajes que debes conocer, Alberto Grandos.
Conversaciones conmigo mismo, Nelson Mandela
Barcelona tragica, Andreu Martin.
Hotel España, Juan Pablo Meneses.
Perdona pero quiero casarme contigo, Federico Moccia
Shangri-la, Julio Murillo.
El secreto de los Hoffman, Alejandro Palomas.
La mala mujer, Marc Pastor
El asedio, Arturo Perez-Reverte.
ElPorton de los enanos, Maria de los Angeles Rojas.
La estrategia del agua, Lorenzo Silva.
Lo que esconde tu nombre, Clara Sanchez.
Yo, el rey, Juan Antonio Vellejo-Nagera.