Recreation

New Titles Fiction September 2013 (arrived in August 2013)

Adventure

Highroad to Hell, Michael Asher.
Tunisia 1943 and the Allies' advance is halted by determined Axis forces. The 8th Army has no choice but to outflank the enemy along their impenetrable Mareth line in the hellish Matmata hills.
The far shore, Nick Brown.
Second in "Agent of Rome" series, adventure action series set in Ancient Rome.
The ghosts of Bungo Suido, P.T. Deutermann.
World War II adventure set on a submarine in the Pacific. Based on a true event from the Pacific theatre of war.
I am Pilgrim, Terry Hayes.
Can you commit the perfect crime? Pilgrim is the codename for a man who doesn't exist. The adopted son of a wealthy American family, he once headed up a secret espionage unit for US intelligence. Before he disappeared into anonymous retirement, he wrote definitive book on forensic criminal investigation. But that book will come back to haunt him. Described as "Day of the Jackal" meets "Homeland" with a dash of Bourne.
Cross of fire, Mark Keating.
The pirate Olivier Levasseur, 'the Buzzard', has captured the greatest ship ever to sail the high seas, the Virgin of the Cape, a Portuguese ship carrying a solid gold cross seven feet long. The Fiery Cross of Goa. Levasseur is hiding somewhere in the Indian Ocean, but Patrick Devlin is on his tail. However, Devlin's former master, and bitter enemy, John Coxon, has been sent to kill him. 4th in the Pirate Devlin series.
True colours, Stephen Leather.
When a set of Russian oligarchs are assassinated in London, the expat community are anxious and MI5 assigns Spider Shepherd to a case that proves complex and deadly.
The string diaries, Stephen Lloyd Jones.
Supernatural adventure thriller about a woman on the run from a secret terror that's hunted her family for five generations. First novel.
Red sparrow, Jason Matthews.
Suspense debut. About a ballerina coerced into spying in a sinister Cold War school. The author is a CIA field agent.
Masters of war, Chris Ryan.
In Paris, an elderly man is assassinated as he takes his morning walk. In the war-torn cities of Syria, government forces wage a bloody war against their own people. The Russians are propping up the government, the French Danny Black is coming to the end of a gruelling tour of duty, or so he thinks. Danny has a new mission.
The corporal's wife, Gerald Seymour.
Action tale about British team sent into Iran to smuggle out a feisty young woman whose husband is regarded as a traitor.
The Amber Road : a warrior of Rome novel, Harry Sidebottom.
AD 264 The Roman Empire is torn in two. The western provinces Gaul, Spain and Britain have been seized by the pretender Postumus. To the east, on the plains of northern Italy, the armies of the emperor Gallienus muster. War is coming. Everyone must choose a side. Does treachery pose the greatest danger?
The English girl, Daniel Silva.
Another thriller featuring Gabriel Allon, wayward son of Israeli intelligence, in a game of shadows where nothing is as it seems.
The homecoming, Carsten Stroud.
Sequel to "Niceville" about a town in the American South where bad things happen and people disappear.
The widow's strike, Brad Taylor.
4th thriller in the Pike Logan series in which the Taskforce must stop a suicide bomber intent on triggering a global epidemic.
Chimera : a Jim Chapel mission, David Wellington.
Band of genetically modified killers smash out of a secret military base in upstate New York.
End of days, James Wilde.
1071 and the cruelty of William the Bastard and his vast armies leave many dead. The hope of the English is Hereward.
The hunter, Tom Wood.
Forget James Bond. Forget Jason Bourne. Forget Jack Bauer. Meet Victor. He's an assassin, a man with no past and no surname. But when a Paris job goes spectacularly wrong, Victor finds himself running for his life across four continents, accompanied by a woman too beautiful to trust, pursued by enemies too powerful to escape.

American Fiction

Things we need, Jennifer Close.
Two sisters and their bothers have had perfect childhoods but adult life proves more difficult in this witty and touching tale of family life.
Big girl panties, Stephanie Evanovich.
Comfort food addict meets personal trainer to star athletes who offers to get her back into shape. Author is Janet's niece.
We are all completely beside ourselves, Karen Joy Fowler.
Coming of age in middle America, eighteen-year-old Rosemary evaluates how her entire youth was defined by the presence and forced removal of an endearing chimpanzee who was secretly regarded as a family member and who Rosemary loved as a sister.
& sons : a novel, David Gilbert.
A famous reclusive writer and his three sons find their bond tested by the weight of long-held secrets and a cumbersome legacy shaped by boarding school, Hollywood, and the elite circles of the publishing world.
The measures between us, Ethan Hauser.
On the East Coast of America a storm bears down and the inhabitants of a Boston suburb find their lives start to unravel. Expert first novel by New York journalist.
I'll be seeing you, Suzanne Hayes & Loretta Nyhan.
Two women forge a friendship during WWII through their letters to each other, allowing them to survive the loneliness and uncertainty of waiting on the home front and giving them the courage to face the battles raging in their very own backyards.
The violet hour, Katherine Hill.
A gripping debut about a marriage collapse between a man and his relentlessly unfaithful sculptress wife.
The Supremes at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat, Edward Kelsey Moore.
Likeable debut set in small town Indiana from the 1960s to the present day and dealing with three women who've been best friends through it all. If you liked "Fried green tomatoes" and "The help", try this one.
The execution of Noa P. Singleton, Elizabeth L. Silver.
Unusual and quite riveting first novel about a woman on death row, what she did to get there and why she doesn't want the truth to be revealed.

Australian fiction

Lexicon, Max Barry.
A fast paced adventure/SF tale about a strange virus unleashed in an Australian town. Described as a cerebral thriller.
Peace, love and khaki socks, Kim Lock.
Explores what it's like to be a woman, an expectant mother, a lover and a friend in the man's world that is Darwin.

British Fiction

In the summertime, Judy Astley.
It's twenty years since Miranda, then sixteen, holidayed in Cornwall and her life changed forever. Now she's back again with her mother Clare and the ashes of her stepfather Jack, whose wish was to be scattered on the sea overlooked by their one-time holiday home.
Letters from Skye, Jessica Brockmole.
1912 and Elspeth, a poet on the Isle of Skye, receives a fan letter from America. They correspond and it leads to romance. In 1940, she vanishes after a bomb blast and her daughter finds a note in the rubble that might lead to her whereabouts.
Family likeness, Caitlin Davies.
Three stories combine in a touching tale of hidden secrets and motherless children.
The things we never said, Susan Elliot Wright.
The past shapes us all. But what happens when it hides a secret that changes everything? In 1964, Maggie wakes to find herself in a mental asylum, with no idea who she is or how she got there. Remnants of memories swirl in her mind — a familiar song, a storm, a moment of violence. Slowly, she begins to piece together the past and the events which brought her to this point.
The road between us, Nigel Farndale.
A British hostage is released from Afghan captivity after ten years while in 1939 two male lovers are arrested in a London hotel room. Two stories of love and conflict from a well reviewed author.
Little beauty, Alison Jameson.
Tells what it would have been like to be an unmarried mother trying to forge a life for herself in a remote Irish community in the 1970s.
Firefly, Janette Jenkins.
On a secluded hillside in Jamaica lies Firefly, Noel Coward's peaceful retreat. Here, between sundowners and sunsets, brandies and cigarettes, the seventy-one year old Coward whiles away his days: a comforting, frustrating pattern of unwanted breakfasts, reluctant walks, graceless dips in the pool — in the company of his manservant Patrice.
The house we grew up in, Lisa Jewell.
Meet the Bird Family. All four children have an idyllic childhood: a picture-book cottage in a country village, a warm, cosy kitchen filled with love and laughter, sun-drenched afternoons in a rambling garden. But one Easter weekend a tragedy strikes the Bird family that is so devastating that, almost imperceptibly, it begins to tear them apart.
Calling Mrs Christmas, Carole Matthews.
Cassie Smith has been out of work for a while but she has an idea. Drawing on her love of Christmas, she begins charging for small things: wrapping presents; writing cards; tree-decorating. She's soon in huge demand and Cassie's business, Calling Mrs Christmas, is born.
The compromise, Zoe Miller.
Childhood friends Juliet, Rebecca, Rose and Matthew grew up in a small village outside Dublin. Now privileged, wealthy and powerful, they appear to have it all. But when Juliet is involved in a suspicious accident and lies trapped between life and death at the bottom of a cliff, a secret that has been hidden for years threatens the seemingly perfect lives of the close-knit group.
Closed doors, Lisa O'Donnell.
The author of the excellent "The death of bees" returns with a story of a boy who is told to keep it a secret when his mother comes home injured one day.
Wreaking, James Scudamore.
Three solitary characters are connected by an accident that took place at the hospital in the aftermath of its closure — an event that defies understanding even as it continues to define them. Their attempts to negotiate the past will bring them together again and force them to revisit their actions, however uncomfortable that may be. In this brilliantly imagined and disturbing novel, James Scudamore explores the fallibility of memory, the notion of madness and the way events resound in both people and places.

Fiction from the rest of the World

Children of the jacaranda tree, Sahar Delijani.
Impressive debut based on the experiences of the author's family as political activists and prisoners in Iran. If you liked "The kite runner," give this one a go.
The gardener from Ochakov, Andrey Kurkov
Igor walks along in the old Soviet policeman's uniform, confident that he'll have the best costume at the party. But Igor hasn't gone far before he realises something is wrong. The streets are unusually dark and empty, and the only person to emerge from the shadows runs away from him in terror. Droll, almost cultish, tale.
A marker to measure drift, Alexander Maksik.
An electrifying novel tracks a woman's journey from the horrors of Charles Taylor's Liberia to abject poverty and self-exile on a Greek island, where she must grapple with a haunted past and find a way back into human society.
The Emperor of Paris, C.S. Richardson.
Charming tale of an unlikely romance between an illiterate Parisian baker and a women with her head permanently buried in a book.
In times of fading light : the story of a family, Eugen Ruge
A title that begins in 2001 as Alexander Umnitzer, who has just been diagnosed with terminal cancer, leaves behind his ailing father to fly to Mexico, where his grandparents lived as exiles in the 1940s. It then takes us both forward and back in time, creating a panoramic view of the Alexander's family's history.

Graphic Novel

Before Watchmen. Comedian/Rorschach, Brian Azzarello, writer ; J.G. Jones, Lee Bermejo, et al.
Featuring two of the polarising anti-heroes ever, Comedian and Rorschach, this book brings the authors gritty, nuanced storytelling to these two recognisable characters.
Green Lantern, new guardians. Volume 1, The ring bearer, Tony Bedard, writer
Green Lantern Kyle Rayner finds himself at odds with the Guardians of the Universe when rings from all the separate Lantern Corps come to claim him.
Green Lantern, new guardians. Volume 2, Beyond hope, Tony Bedard, writer ;
When Green Lantern Kyle Rayner found one of each of the multi-coloured Lantern rings in his possession, he found himself hunted by some of the most powerful, diverse, and dangerous members of the other Lantern corps.
Lucifer. Book one, Mike Carey, writer
Cast out of Heaven, thrown down to rule in Hell, Lucifer Morningstar has resigned his post and abandoned his kingdom for the mortal city of Los Angles. If Lucifer agrees to do Heaven's dirty work, he can name his own price but both the task and reward are more than they seem.
The Authority. Volume 1, Warren Ellis, writer
After witnessing the demise of most of her StormWatch teammates, Jenny Sparks wants to create a new super hero team dedicated to protecting Earth against threats of a global scale. Joined by former StormWatch members Jack Hawksmoor and Shen Li-Min, Jenny recruits four new members.
Supergirl. Volume 1, Last daughter of Krypton, Michael Green & Mike Johnson, writers.
Great Pacific. [1], Trashed!, Joe Harris and Martin Morazzo.
When fugitive oil heir Chas Worthington settles the infamous Great Pacific Garbage Patch, plants a flag, and declares it his own sovereign nation, the reality of the environmental catastrophe is only the beginning of his odyssey.
The Finder library. Volume 1, Carla Speed McNeil.
Set in a vastly depopulated far-future Earth where numerous hunter-gatherer cultures, some human and some not, surround densely overpopulated domed city-states of recognisably modern urbanites functioning at a high technological level.
The girl with the dragon tattoo. Book 2, adapted by Denise Mina
The property, Rutu Modan
After the death of her son, Regina Segal takes her granddaughter Mica to Warsaw, hoping to reclaim a family property lost during World War II. As they get to know modern Warsaw, Regina is forced to recall difficult things about her past, and Mica begins to wonder if maybe their reasons for coming aren't a little different than her grandmother led her to believe.
Drowntown. Book 1, Robbie Morrison, Jim Murray.
The world has changed forever, ravaged by climatic upheaval. Struggling aqua-courier Gina Cassel learns that young love can be a dangerous game when she becomes romantically involved with the heir to the Drakenberg Corporation, which aims to control both the environment and the future of human evolution.
Doubt. [2, Final], Yoshiki Tonogai
Saga. 2, writer, Brian K. Vaughan ; artist, Fiona Staples.
Before Watchmen : Ozymandias/Crimson Corsair, Len Wein, John Higgins, writers
Follows Adrian Veidt's journey to become the world's smartest man and fulfill his desire to right a corrupt planet.
Fairest. [2], The hidden kingdom, Bill Willingham, Lauren Beukes, writers
New York Times bestselling, award-winning creator Bill Willingham presents a new series starring the female Fables.

Mystery

A tap on the window, Linwood Barclay.
The dark side of a small town and the dark secrets revealed after the death of a private eye's son.
Already dead, Stephen Booth.
Detectives Ben Cooper and Diane Fry return in a suspense thriller set in the Peak District.
The highway, C.J. Box.
When two girls disappear on a remote stretch of Montana road, former police investigator Cody Hoyt and his former rookie partner Cassie Dewell begin an investigation that will lead them into the hunting ground for a killer whose viciousness is outmatched only by his intelligence.
The stranger you know, Jane Casey.
Anglo-Irish detective Maeve Kerrigan is hunting a killer who meets women, gains their trust, then murders them.
Sandrine's case, Thomas H. Cook.
College professor faces a trial for his life when he is accused of murdering his wife.
Dead cat bounce, Peter Cotton.
An Australian federal election campaign is thrown into chaos when a popular government minister goes missing and then turns up dead on the shores of Lake Burley Griffin.
Bombshell, Catherine Coulter.
FBI Special Agent Griffin Hammersmith must figure out who was behind the attempt on his sister's life while helping FBI agents Savich and Sherlock discover who murdered the grandson of the former chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank.
Bad blood, Arne Dahl
Detective Paul Hjelm, member of an elite Swedish team assembled to investigate violent international crime, receives an urgent call from the FBI offices in America. The FBI believe that the killer has boarded a flight to Sweden but when the plane lands in Stockholm, he escapes without being identified.
The crocodile, Maurizio de Giovanni
Story of murder and revenge, the first in a series featuring Detective Inspector Lojacono and set in present day Naples.
The last alibi, David Ellis.
Defence attorney Jason Kolarich and the case of two women murdered and a main suspect who may be innocent.
Death angel, Linda Fairstein.
In New York's Central Park, Assistant D.A. Alex Cooper and Detective Mike Chapman race to track down a serial killer before another woman is found dead.
The dark heart of Florence, Michele Giuttari
The death of Florence's dreaded serial killer Leonardo Berghoff makes locals breathe easy, then a senator and his butler are murdered and Detective Ferrara realises things are hotting up again.
A bitter taste, Annie Hauxwell.
Second outing for heroin-addicted investigator Catherine Berlin has her helping old friend whose daughter has gone missing.
The disciple, Michael Hjorth and Hans Rosenfeldt
Psychologist/criminal profiler Sebastian Bergman searches for his daughter and finds her at the same time as a series of connected murders occur. Scandinavian crime story.
Hunting Eve, Iris Johansen.
Forensic sculptor Eve Duncan battles her captor the madman Jim Doane and discovers brutally dangerous truths about why she has been targeted.
A killing in the hills, Julia Keller.
Pregnant teenager is found murdered in small town in this gripping second adult novel by a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist.
Predator, Faye Kellerman.
Over the years, Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus have got through a lot together. They've faced more than their share of serial killers and psychopaths. But this time two very different cases may cause them to re-evaluate everything they hold dear.
The fire witness, Lars Kepler
Big bestseller in Sweden. A bizarre murder in a girl's reformatory turns into the most puzzling case of Joona Linna's career.
The red road, Denise Mina.
31st August 1997 - Rose Wilson is fourteen, but looks sixteen. Pimped out by her 'boyfriend' and let down by a person she thought she loved, she has seen more of the darkness in life than someone twice her age. On the night of Princess Diana's death, a night everyone will remember, Rose snaps and commits two terrible crimes.
The second life of Amy Archer, R. S. Pateman.
Psychological thriller debut. On the tenth anniversary of a girl's disappearance her mother answers the door to a stranger who claims to know what happened.
Mistress, James Patterson & David Ellis.
Ben isn't like most people. Unable to control his racing thoughts, he's a man consumed by his obsessions: movies, motorcycles, presidential trivia - and Diana Hotchkiss, a beautiful woman Ben knows he can never have. When Diana is found dead outside her apartment, Ben's infatuation drives him on a hunt to find out what happened to the love of his life.
Loss of innocence, Richard North Patterson.
A family drama of dark secrets set against the eventful summer of 1968 in America.
Original death, Eliot Pattison.
Attempting to establish a new life in colonial America at the height of the war between the French and British, Scottish exile Duncan McCallum is wrongly accused of murdering a settlement of Christian Indians.
Heist, Robert Schofield.
Soaring gold prices have led an old mine back into production financed by a WA mining entrepreneur. While senior personnel are at the Kalgoolie Cup, there is a well-organised $8 million heist by what appears to be a bikie gang. Aussie action tale.
Ostland, David Thomas.
Set in 1941 wartime Berlin where a brilliant young detective joins the Murder Squad in the midst of a manhunt for a serial killer.
Light in a dark house, Jan Costin Wagner
Finnish detective Kimmo Joentaa is called to the local hospital in which his young wife died several years before. An unidentified woman in a coma has been murdered by someone who wept over the body, their tears staining the sheets around her. The death marks the start of a series of killings, with the unknown patient at their centre.

New Zealand Fiction

The mannequin makers, Craig Cliff.
A father's obsession, a castaway, a window dresser and his rival and a family of living mannequins. A first novel in the gothic tradition.
Frederick's coat, Alan Duff.
A story of love between father and son, revenge and violence as a man comes out of prison to find life outside tough but looking after his young son giving his life new meaning.
The last days of the national costume, Anne Kennedy.
You'd think that mending clothes would be an uneventful, uncomplicated occupation. No drama, no unnecessary explanations, no personal involvement. But people love to talk, and as they make their excuses to GoGo Sligo, of Megan Sligo Mending and Alterations, they reveal the holes in their stories as well. An entrancing tale of illicit love, passion and embroidery.
The son-in-law, Charity Norman.
Yorkshire man is released from prison. He wants his family back but his parents in law cannot understand or forgive.
Toa, Vaughan Rapatahana.
Described as a rollicking road trip through the 'skinny country' where a guerilla war is raging between Indigenous rebels and a Pakeha government controlled by foreign interests. Redneck assassins, secret-agents, biker gangs and feminist groups all cross paths as Mahon, an ex-university philosophy lecturer, and his gun 'Molly' blast their way across the country in a black Mark IV.
The demolition of the century, Duncan Sarkies.
Tragi-comedy about an insurance investigator who's lost his socks, his suitcase, his career, his ex-wife and his son.

Saga & Historical

The shopkeeper's daughter, Lily Baxter.
June 1944. Eighteen-year-old Ginnie Travis works in her father's furniture shop in the suburbs of East London when the continued bombing raids and her sister Shirley's untimely pregnancy force the two girls to go and stay with their aunt in Shropshire. Here Ginnie falls in love with an American, Lieutenant Nick Miller, stationed nearby.
Necessary lies, Diane Chamberlain.
Story of a small Southern town fifty years ago where a young girl struggles on a tobacco farm and a social worker has to make tough decisions amid racial tensions.
The wild girl, Kate Forsyth.
Once there were six sisters. The pretty one, the musical one, the clever one, the helpful one, the young one. And then there was the Wild one. Dortchen Wild has loved Wilhelm Grimm since she was a young girl. Under the forbidding shadow of her father and the tyranny of Napoleon's army, the pair meet secretly to piece together a magical fairy tale collection. The story behind the stories of the Brothers Grimm.
Godiva, Nicole Galland.
In this richly imagined retelling of the classic tale, Lady Godiva and her best friend, the Abbess Egdiva, embark on an adventure filled with courtly intrigue, deceit, betrayal and romance.
The Tudor conspiracy, Christopher Gortner.
Second in the "Elizabeth's spymaster" series, a tale of betrayal, death and intrigue in 16th century England.
Deep blue sea, Tasmina Perry.
Diana and Julian Denver have the world at their feet. With a blissful marriage, a darling son and beautiful homes in London and the country, Diana's life, to the outside world, is perfect. But nothing is as it seems. When Julian dies suddenly and tragically, Diana is convinced there is more to it than meets the eye.
First sight, Danielle Steel.
Paris, L.A., and the world of ready to wear fashion provide rich backdrops for Danielle Steel's story of a gifted designer whose talent and drive have brought her everything except the ability to erase her past and trust relationships.

Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror

Carniepunk : a collection of riveting stories, Rachel Caine and others.
The traveling carnival is a leftover of a bygone era, a curiosity lurking on the outskirts of town. It is a place of contradictions — the bright lights mask the peeling paint; a carnie in greasy overalls slinks away from the direction of the Barker's seductive call. It is a place of illusion — is that woman's beard real? How can she live locked in that watery box?
Witch wraith, Terry Brooks.
The third and final novel in a new series from the master of fantasy Terry Brooks. Returning to his core Shannara world, this spellbinding series will astound both seasoned Terry Brooks fans and those discovering his magical world for the first time.
The memory of trees, F. G. Cottam.
Billionaire Saul Abercrombie owns a vast tract of land on the Pembrokeshire coast. By restoring the original forest that covered the area before medieval times, he believes he will rekindle the spirits of ancient folklore. But the re-planting of the forest will revive an altogether darker and more dangerous entity.
City of dark magic: a novel, Magnus Flyte.
A music student working in Prague cataloging Beethoven's manuscripts discovers clues that her deceased mentor may not have committed suicide and becomes involved with a time-travel drug, a 400-year-old dwarf, a handsome Prince and a powerful U.S. senator.
The detainee: no escape from the punishment, Peter Liney.
Punishment satellites circle the island terrorising the inhabitants who've been dumped there. Can they fight back. The publishers rate this sf novel as an adult "Hunger games."
Evening's empires, Paul McAuley.
In the far future, a young man stands on a barren asteroid. His ship has been stolen, his family kidnapped or worse, and all he has on his side is a semi- intelligent spacesuit.
Charm, Sarah Pinborough.
Illustrated retelling of the Cinderella story taking the elements of the fairytale and puts a modern spin on the characters.
The thousand names, Django Wexler.
Epic fantasy novel - book one of a projected series - set in a steampunk world with bayonets, muskets and magic. Author is a gamer and a computer scientist.