Recreation

New Titles Fiction February 2014 (arrived in January 2014)

Adventure

The Joshua Stone, James Barney.
1959 and a US government secret experiment goes wrong and scientists vanish. 54 years later the secret emerges.
Black flag, Oliver Bowden.
Latest in the "Assassin's Creed" series featuring Edward Kenway, pirate.
The ascendant, Drew Chapman.
Described as a 21st century thriller, about a stockbroker who stumbles on a plan that might lead to a covert war of unthinkable proportions.
A ghost at the door, Michael Dobbs.
A disgraced politician's life uncovers a trail of murder, fraud and deceit that dates back his father's younger days.
Hazardous duty, W.E.B. Griffin and William E. Butterworth IV.
The latest in the Presidential Agent series with Colonel Charley Castillo and his merry band handling drug cartels and pirates.
The death trade, Jack Higgins.
When an eminent scientist makes a startling breakthrough in nuclear weapons research only to have the lives of his family threatened if he does not give his technology to the Iranian regime, Sean Dillon, Afghan war hero Sara Gideon and the rest of their team embark on a daring rescue mission that rapidly spins out of control.
Shattered, Dani Pettrey.
Piper McKenna would be overjoyed at the sight of her estranged brother, except that he's covered in blood. She knows he's innocent, but can they prove it?
Submerged, Dani Pettrey.
Yancey, Alaska, was a quiet town until the truth of what was hidden in the depths off the coast began to appear. A sabotaged plane. Two dead deep-water divers. Cole is helping the police recover evidence but dealing with Bailey's reappearance is a tougher challenge.
Innocent blood, James Rollins and Rebecca Cantrell.
A vicious attack at a ranch in California thrusts archaeologist Erin Granger back into the folds of the Sanguines, an immortal order founded on the blood of Christ and tasked with protecting the world from the beasts haunting its shadows and waiting to break free into the sunlight. He joins forces with Army Sergeant Jordan Stone and the dark mystery that is Father Rhun Korza to discover and protect a boy believed to be an angel given flesh.

American Fiction

A simple Christmas wish, Melody Carlson.
After her seven-year-old niece, Holly, becomes the ward of an Amish aunt, Rachel Milligan sets out to do whatever it takes to ensure that Holly has the loving family she needs. Rachel never imagined that she and her seven-year-old niece would spend the week before Christmas on a quaint Amish farm in Ohio.
Andrew's brain, E.L. Doctorow.
Takes us into the life and the mind of a man - his marriages, mistakes, dreams - as he attempts to make sense of his life and times.
Cartwheel, Jennifer duBois.
The story of an American foreign exchange student in Argentina who's arrested for murder and the struggle of her father to hold his family together.
The bird skinner, Alice Greenway.
Forced to abandon his ornithology work after being wounded in combat, World War II veteran Jim Carroway secludes himself on a tiny island off the coast of Maine, where an old friend's captivating daughter draws him out of isolation during the month before she starts college.
The affairs of others, Amy Grace Loyd.
In the five years since her young husband's death, Celia Cassill has retreated from view. She has moved from one New York neighbourhood to another but she has not moved on. The owner of a small apartment building, she has chosen tenants who will not intrude upon her grief. Privacy is the byword; self-containment the aim. Everything will change when a new tenant, Hope, moves in upstairs.
Starry night, Debbie Macomber.
Carrie Slayton, a big-city society-page columnist, longs to write more serious news stories. So her editor hands her a challenge: she can cover any topic she wants, but only if she first scores the paper an interview with Finn Dalton, the notoriously reclusive author who lives up in Alaska.
The wind is not a river, Brian Payton.
Following the death of his younger brother in Europe, journalist John Easley is determined to find meaning in his loss. Leaving behind his beloved wife, Helen, he heads north to investigate the Japanese invasion of Alaska's Aleutian Islands, a story censored by the U.S. government. Interesting treatment of a facinating time and place.

Australian fiction

Hades, Candice Fox.
Hades Archer, the man they call the Lord of the Underworld, surrounds himself with the things others leave behind. Their trash becomes the twisted sculptures that line his junkyard. The bodies they want disposed of become his problem for a fee. Then one night a man arrives on his doorstep, clutching a small bundle that he wants 'lost'.
The grass castle, Karen Viggers.
Story of two remarkable women - a woman whose family was forced off their land and a lonely woman struggling with a terrible event in her earlier years - and the way they seek forgiveness, love and a sense of belonging.

British Fiction

The pure gold baby, Margaret Drabble.
2009 and Margaret Drabble announced that her fiction writing days were over. Not so as she is back with a tale of motherhood where a student becomes pregnant after an affair with a married professor.
Ghost moth, Michele Forbes
Impressive first novel taking place in Northern Ireland duing two summers twenty years apart- 1949 and 1969 - and a woman whose choices change as the times become more difficult.
The deaths, Mark Lawson.
Two in one: a consummately plotted crime novel and a forensic social satire from one of Britain's most highly regarded broadcasters. Four families live in a beautiful stretch of English countryside in magnificent listed houses, built for the old aristocracy. They are the new aristocracy and the elite of their village: financiers, business tycoons, lawyers, doctors, magistrates.
The undertaking, Audrey Magee.
German soldier finds a bride through a marriage bureau so he can leave and make a temporary escape from the Eastern Front. The couple end up falling in love which brings them danger in the dark times ahead.
A place to call home, Carole Matthews.
In the dead of night, Ayesha takes her daughter, Sabina, and slips quietly from her home, leaving behind her abusive husband and a life of pain and heartache. Boarding a coach to London, Ayesha has her sights set on a new life for herself and her little girl.
The defections, Hannah Michell.
Half-English Mia works as a translator at the British Embassy in Seoul and her infatuation with a troubled diplomat puts her in danger. Author is British born but grew up in Korea.
Survivor, Lesley Pearse.
London, 1939. Eighteen-year-old Mari is defiant, strong-willed and selfish. She has craved independence her entire life and now, with the World on the brink of war, Mari has finally escaped the sleepy fishing village of her childhood in New Zealand. Latest from one of the biggest selling author's of womens fiction.
The thing about December, Donal Ryan.
Second novel from the author of the much praised "The spinning heart" returns to the recession-struck Ireland and to a year in the life of Johnsey Cunliffe whose world is going out of control.

Fiction from the rest of the World

At night we walk in circles, Daniel Alarcon.
Set in a South American country which had great political upheaval. Story of an actor/playwright who takes his play on the road.
Radiance of tomorrow, Ishmael Beah.
Debut novel set in the aftermath of the war in Sierra Leone, where a village comes together to regain the beauty of life as it was in the past.
For today I am a boy, Kim Fu.
First novel from Canadian/Asian author about a young gay man and his sisters struggling to find their place in the world.
You disappear, Christian Jungersen
Psycholgical drama about a teacher whose husband has an accident that reveals a brain tumour which alters his personality. Danish author's novel which was a big bestseller in Europe.

Graphic Novels

The other side, ason Aaron ; artist, Cameron Stewart ;
An American soldier and a Vietnamese solder, each unaware of the other's existence, suffer the horrors of the Vietnam
Uncanny X-Men. [2, Broken, Brian Michael Bendis
The all-new, all-revolutionary Uncanny X-Men have barely had time to find their footing as a team before they must face that evil sorcerer from the Dark Dimension: Dormammu!
Crimson empire : circumstances to serve a noble. Vol. 3, Hazuki Futaba
Featuring a strong heroine who is a deadly assassin yet awkward when dealing with the many male suitors who surround her, this book combines romance, fantasy, and swashbuckling adventure.
Sankarea. 4, Mitsuru Hattori
Nightwing. Volume 2, Night of the owls, Kyle Higgins, Tom DeFalco, writers
Dick Grayson must face his past and a deadly adversary in the present as he learns of his connection to the mysterious Court of Owls.
Attack on Titan. 9, Hajime Isayama
Tune. Book 2, Still life, Derek Kirk Kim and Les McClaine.
In the second installment of the Tune series, our hapless hero, Andy Go, is settling into life in an alien zoo.
The Authority. Volume 2, Mark Millar, Dosell Young, Tom Peyer
The Authority, now under Jack Hawksmoor's leadership following Jenny Sparks' death at the end of the 20th Century, face multiple foes such as a mad scientist and his army of superhumans who wanted to influence the 21st Century.
Bad houses, Sara Ryan
Teenagers Anne and Lewis cross paths and together refuse to succumb to the fate of the older generation as they discover the secrets of their hometown and their own families.
Black bird. 17, Kanoko Sakurakouji
Despite knowing that it spells her doom, Misao is determined to bear her child. But her insistence on enjoying her last days to the fullest only fuels Kyo's determination to save her. Kyo is so desperate for answers that he's even willing to listen to his father's wild ideas, although though they might put Misao as far beyond his reach as death would.
Shooters, Eric Trautmann & Brandon Jerwa
Shooters is the story of Terry Glass, a warrior whose spirit and soul have been hardened in countless battles. When a horrible accident shatters his world, Glass finds himself waging a private war on several fronts--against his career, his marriage, and ultimately his faith.
Rurouni Kenshin restoration. 2, Nobuhiro Watsuki
Fairest in all the land, Bill Willingham
Fairest has explored the secret histories of the most stunning beauties in Fabletown: Cinderella, Snow White, Briar Rose, Rapunzel, and the list goes on and on. In Fairest in all the land, the best names in comics take their turns fleshing out the pasts of the loveliest Fables in existence.

Mystery

A darker shade of Sweden : original stories by Sweden's greatest crime writers, Edited and translated by John-Henri Holmberg.
The purity of vengeance, Jussi Adler-Olsen
4th in the Department Q series about a perplexing cold case with sinister present day consequences.
Chilled to the bone, Quentin Bates.
Icelandic female detective investigates a murder in one of the best hotels in Reykjavik.
On Cringila Hill, Noel Beddoe.
When a teenage boy is killed in a drive-by shooting, the events that unfold rock the lives of the migrant families of Cringila. School friends Jimmy and Piggy have witnessed the violent crime, but need to protect their fledgling drug business. A gritty Aussie crime story.
The dead in their vaulted arches, Alan Bradley.
On a spring morning in 1951, eleven-year-old chemist and aspiring detective Flavia de Luce gathers with her family at the railway station, awaiting the return of her long-lost mother, Harriet. Yet upon the train's arrival in the English village of Bishop's Lacey, Flavia is approached by a tall stranger who whispers a cryptic message into her ear.
The star of Istanbul, Robert Olen Butler.
Christopher Marlowe ("Kit") Cobb, an American war correspondent reporting on World War I, has been tasked to follow a man named Brauer, a German intellectual and possible covert SS agent, into perilous waters aboard the ship Lusitania, as the man is believed to hold information vital to the war effort.
Blood guilt, Ben Cheetham.
Crime debut. Inspector who'd gone to prison for murder has to find the abducted child of the man he'd killed.
Cell, Robin Cook.
Medical thriller with a smartphone called iDoc which seems to be leading to the death of patients.
Long way home, Eva Dolan.
Launch of a new mystery series about Hate Crimes Unit working in Britain where racial tensions and violent cime coexist.
The last dead girl, Harry Dolan.
The dark past of David Loogan is revealed in this prequel to "Bad things happen." Very clever psycholgical thriller.
The shroud maker, Kate Ellis.
D.I. Wesley Peterson and the case of the dead woman floating out to sea on a dinghy at the time of a local festival.
Refusal, Felix Francis.
Third solo outing for the son of Dick sees Sid Halley forced back into investigating some suspicious racing results.
Casting the first stone, Frances Fyfield.
Young widow and art collector is asked to rediscover her talents as an art expert and thief to recover stolen paintings.
Fear nothing, Lisa Gardner.
Tale of two sisters, one a successful doctor who can't feel pain, the other already incarcerated for multiple murders.
The way of all fish, Martha Grimes.
Sequel to her "Foul matter" where two hit men are asked to "take out" a literary agent. Sharp and witty thriller.
The red pole of Macau, Ian Hamilton.
Family ties are stressed to the limit when intrepid forensic accountant Ava Lee must rescue her half brother, Michael, and his business partner, Simon, from a disastrous multimillion-dollar real-estate deal in Macau.
The Mangle Street murders, M.R.C Kasasian.
Gower Street, London, 1882: Sidney Grice, London's most famous personal detective, is expecting a visitor.
Red 1-2-3, John Katzenbach.
Sharing nothing in common except their red hair, three women from drastically different backgrounds receive chilling letters in the mail from a killer who makes them fear for their lives until they find one another and use the clues he has left behind to work together and protect one another.
Sacrifice, Max Kinnings.
London, Christmas morning. 09:13am. Disgraced hedge fund manager Graham Poynter hides shamefully in his Belgravia mansion. All that separates him from the media hounds baying for his blood are wrought iron railings and an elite security team.
You're mine now, Hans Koppel
Married couple are quite happy when she has a brief fling and lives to regret it as the man involved is a psychopathic stalker. Scandinavian crime novel.
A song for the dying, Stuart MacBride.
Gruesome thriller from the master of Scottish noir. Nothing here for the fainthearted in the story of a violent killer who disappears. Later murders using the original method of the killer recur.
Death at the British Embassy, Norma Moss.
Encounter between the British Ambassador's dog and the Gurkhas' cat leads to the discovery of the body in the embassy lake. Everybody believed that the body of a young Thai female had been intended to be discovered at the Embassy Fair.
One boy missing, Stephen Orr.
Boy goes missing in a small town and then turns up traumatised in this tale of a detective, whose son had died in an accident, is put on the case to find out what happened.
Private L.A., James Patterson & Mark Sullivan.
Jack Morgan investigates the disappearance of the biggest superstar couple in Hollywood.
Hunted, Karen Robards.
A top hostage negotiator is facing a former colleague who has the Mayor and the Chief of Police at the end of his gun.
Covenant with hell, Priscilla Royal.
1277 and prioress Eleanor is on the job as a medieval mystery sleuth.
The dead can wait, Robert Ryan.
Doctor John Watson is home from the First World War trenches but enemy spies have inflitrated the home front and a number of murders need to be solved.
Pietr the Latvian, Georges Simenon
This is the first novel which appeared in Georges Simenon's famous Maigret series.
The late Monsieur Gallet, Georges Simenon
The circumstances of Monsieur Gallet's death all seem fake: the name the deceased was travelling under and his presumed profession, and more worryingly, his family's grief. Their haughtiness seems to hide ambiguous feelings about the hapless man.
Tatiana : an Arkady Renko novel, Martin Cruz Smith.
8th in the Arkady Reno series set in a vividly described Russia.
Standup guy, Stuart Woods.
Stone Barrington has a seemingly well mannered client whose activities are of interest to a lot of people.

Romance

Wings of morning, Kathleen Morgan.
Orphan heiress and Scotswoman, Regan MacLaren, is a bride of but one day when her husband is murdered. As a result, Regan loses her memory and with it her place in the world. Laird and warrior, Iain Campbell, is waiting for the love he knows God will bring him. But a woman near death and without a memory isn't quite what he expected.
A little light magic, Joy Nash.
After a New Age shop owner performs a summoning spell, a handsome, eligible male walks in. Is it magic that he can also handle the renovations to her shop before the busy tourist season on the Jersey shore begins? Either way, this will be a summer to remember.
Dark witch, Nora Roberts.
Iona Sheehan has just taken the biggest gamble of her life. Leaving her job, her home and her family in Baltimore, she has come to Ireland in search of adventure and answers. Iona has always felt a powerful connection to the home of her ancestors. So when her beloved grandmother confesses an extraordinary family secret, she can't resist visiting County Mayo to discover the truth for herself.

Saga & Historical

Rome's fallen eagle, Robert Fabbri.
Fourth in series about the life of Vespasian sees him leading a dangerous mission into the forests of Germania after Caligula's death.
A Christmas promise, Annie Groves.
An emotional and heart-warming portrayal of the lives of four women living in wartime London.
The last dragon, M.K. Hume.
Last in the series, "Twilight of the Celts."
The invention of wings, Sue Monk Kidd.
Deep South and a young slave is given as a birthday present and over the next 35 years the girl finds herself while her white mistress radicalises and joins the abolitionist movement.
The dancing master, Julie Klassen.
Regency fiction about a London dancing master who moves his mother and sister to rural Devon where he meets the daughter of a wealthy matriarch.
Dare to love again, Julie Lessman.
Second in the "Heart of San Francisco" series.
Belle Cora, Phillip Margulies.
Sweeping historical saga based on the life and times of the daughter of a New York merchant who became a millworker, a prostitute, a notorious madam and a murderess and ended up a revered woman of San Francisco high society.
Firestorm, Tamara McKinley.
Becky Jackson's family has been managing the bush hospital in far-flung Morgan's Reach for three generations. When Becky's husband is tragically lost at war, she and her young son Danny must leave the city where she's been living since marriage and return to her birthplace to start over.
Larkswood, Valerie Mendes.
1896 and disaster strikes an aristocratic family. A tale that spans three generations of a family with dark secrets.
Birthright, T.K. Roxborogh.
Fleance, King of Scotland, has made a political marriage to Rachel, the sister of dead King Duncan. It may seem that happiness is not far around the corner with a royal baby expected, but things are far from peaceful in the realm.
The perfect wife, Katherine Scholes.
Kitty Hamilton arrives in Tanganyika with high hopes for her new life. An exciting adventure halfway across the world could be just what she and Theo need to recover from the scandal that almost tore them apart.
The kept, James Scott.
Strong novel about the journey of a mother and son in search of the men responsible for brutally slaying the rest of their family.
The silversmith's wife, Sophia Tobin.
1792 London and a silversmith is murdered. His wife holds the secrets of her bullying late husband. Author has been an antique dealer and has researched the silversmith trade.

Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror

The time traveller's almanac, Ann and Jeff VanderMeer.
Collection of time travel themed stories from the likes of Stephen King, H.G. Wells, George R.R. Martin, Douglas Adams
Work done for hire, Joe Haldeman.
A lone war veteran against a mysterious enemy who's watching his every move and wanting him to kill for them.
Tarnished, Rhiannon Held.
Shape-shifter pack leader Andrew Dare has found his mate in Silver, but they haven't found the pack they can call home.
When it's a jar, Tom Holt.
Maurice kills a dragon with a breadknife and has true love spirited away in this zany fantasy comedy.
Ancillary justice, Ann Leckie.
Advance publicity says this "signals the arrival of a hard SF author who just might fill the gap left by Iain Banks."
Channel blue, Jay Martel.
Satirical SF debut. Alen TV executives are cancelling their reality show in which the star is Earth and only one man can save the planet.
Rex Regis, L. E. Modesitt.
The saga of the Imager Quaeryt, Commander in the forces of Lord Bhayar, reaches a new climax as the great struggle to unify the continent of Lydar enters its final phase
Mayhem, Sarah Pinborough.
Horror story abour a Jack the Ripper killer in Victorian London. Supernatural horror story.
Fiddlehead, Cherie Priest.
Latest in the Clockwork Century, alternate history series.
The black guard, A.J. Smith.
First in a series called "Long War," allegedly 12 years in the making, an epic fantasy saga described by a fan magazine as George R.R. Martin meets H.P. Lovecraft
The echo, James Smythe.
Sequel to "The explorer." 20 years after the disappearance of the first manned spacecraft that travelled deeper into space than ever before.
The emperor's blades, Brian Staveley.
Impressive debut. First book of Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne has an empire in turmoil after the emperor's murder.