Recreation

New Titles Fiction February 2019 (arrived in January)

ADVENTURE

Nature of the lion, T.M. Clark.
Hiding from the law, they never expected to be caught in the crosshairs of a hunter. After relocating to South Africa on the heels of scandal five years ago, Chole and her invalid father, Mike, once wealthy Zimbabwean landowners, now have little.
The angry sea, James Deegan.
Former SAS Sergeant Major John Carr is relaxing on a Spanish beach, when a man with dark eyes attracts his attention. Fixated on a group of young Britons, the man doesn't notice Carr and soon moves on. Within the hour, the Costa del Sol will be plunged into one of the most audacious and horrifying terrorist attacks Europe has ever seen.
Oregon's hidden gold found, Spencer Friese.
Deep in the backwoods and badlands of Oregon, there lurk many mysteries. Can all the prints be of human feet or are they too big? Can there be gold in them there mountains or under the valleys, or is all that just an old joke now?
No traveller returns: a novel, Louis L'Amour
Fate is a ship. As the shadows of World War II gather, the SS Lichenfield is westbound across the Pacific carrying eighty thousand barrels of highly explosive naphtha. The cargo alone makes the journey perilous, with the entire crew aware that one careless moment could lead to disaster. But yet another sort of peril haunts the Lichenfield.
Flight risk, Michael McGuire.
Disgraced former pilot Ted Anderson works for a top-secret government organisation set up to investigate terror-related incidents. Sent to Jakarta to find out as much as he can about the pilot of a vanished Garuda flight, he discovers a flight simulator in the pilot's apartment. When the investigation turns sour, Ted escapes to New York as further disaster strikes.
Deep war: the war with China, the nuclear precipice, David Poyer.
The United States has suffered a devastating nuclear attack, and faces food shortages, power outages, cyber and AI assaults, and a wrecked economy. Admiral Dan Lenson leads an allied force assigned to turn the tide of war in the Pacific, using precisely targeted missiles and high-tech weapons systems. But as the campaign begins, the entire Allied military and defense network is compromised by Jade Emperor, a powerful Chinese artificial intelligence system that seems to anticipate and counter every move.
Battle sight zero, Gerald Seymour.
The Kalashnikov AK47 is a weapon with a unique image, symbol of freedom fighters and terrorists across the globe. In a fanatic's hands, inside a crowded shopping mall, it can bring death and mutilation to scores of people in a matter of seconds. MI5 have struggled for years to keep this rifle out of Britain.
Riot act, Zoë Sharp.
A self-defense expert with a motorbike and an attitude, Charlie Fox doesn't need to go looking for trouble. It generally finds her. House-sitting for a friend seemed like an easy favour at first, but the house in question is in the Lavender Garden Estate. Teenage gangs are running riot and Charlie's desperate neighbours have been forced to employ an expensive, and ruthless, security firm to apply rough justice where the legal kind has failed.
100 days of terror, Larry Temple.
The clock is ticking; every attack is less than 24 hours away. FBI agent Noah Reardon is at the center of the most devastating series of attacks in U.S. history. Singled out and taunted Reardon and his team attempt to thwart the next attack. Everyone struggles to understand how the attacks are linked to his time in Afghanistan or if it is simply a ruse to throw off the investigation.

FANTASY

The mortal word, Genevieve Cogman.
When a dragon is murdered at a peace conference, time-travelling Librarian spy Irene must solve the case to keep the balance between order, chaos and the Library.
The binding, Bridget Collins.
Young Emmett Farmer is working in the fields when a strange letter arrives summoning him away from his family. He is to begin an apprenticeship as a Bookbinder; a vocation that arouses fear, superstition, and prejudice among their small community but one neither he nor his parents can afford to refuse.
Siege of stone: sister of darkness, Terry Goodkind.
Set in the world of the Sword of Truth saga, a legendary battle may just destroy the ancient city of Ildakar. The sorceress Nicci, the wizard Nathan Rahl, and the young swordsman Bannon are under siege. Having liberated the legendary city of Ildakar from the despotic reign of the wizard's council, they now face the council's final act of vengeance.
Daughter of hounds, Caitlín R. Kiernan.
They are the Children of the Cuckoo. Stolen from their cribs and concealed in shadows to be raised by ghouls, they are now changelings in service to the creatures who rule the world Below and despise the world Above. Any human contact is strictly forbidden and punishment is swift and severe for those who disobey.
Alternate routes, Tim Powers.
Something weird is happening to the Los Angeles freeways; phantom cars, lanes from nowhere, and sometimes unmarked offramps that give glimpses of a desolate desert highway, and Sebastian Vickery, disgraced ex-Secret Service agent, is a driver for a covert supernatural-evasion car service.
The sky is yours: a novel, Chandler Klang Smith.
In the burned-out, futuristic city of Empire Island, three young people navigate a crumbling metropolis constantly under threat from a pair of dragons that circle the skies. When violence strikes, reality star Duncan Humphrey Ripple V, the spoiled scion of the metropolis' last dynasty; Baroness Swan Lenore Dahlberg, his tempestuous, death-obsessed betrothed; and Abby, a feral beauty he discovered tossed out with the trash; are forced to flee everything they've ever known.
The revolution trade, Charles Stross.
For one ex-journalist, the nightmare has just begun. Miriam Beckstein has said goodbye to her comfort zone. The transition from journalist to captive in an alternative timeline was challenging to say the least. As was discovering her long-lost family, the Clan, were world-skipping assassins.
The death of Dulgath, Michael J. Sullivan.
Three times they tried to kill her. Then they hired a professional. She hired Riyria. When the last member of the oldest noble family in Avryn is targeted for assassination, Riyria is hired to foil the plot. Three years have passed since the war-weary mercenary Hadrian and the cynical ex-assassin Royce joined forces to start life as thieves for hire.
Dragonshadow: a Heartstone novel, Elle Katherine White.
Sparring lovers Aliza and Alastair are fierce warriors who match wits, charm, and swords as they fight an epic war to save their world. The Battle of North Fields is over; or so Aliza Bentaine, now a Daired, fervently wants to believe. But rumors are spreading of an unseen monster ravaging the isolated Castle Selwyn on the northern border of the kingdom.

FICTION

Redemption song and other stories: the Caine Prize for African writing 2018.,
This collection brings together the five 2018 shortlisted stories, along with stories written at the Caine Prize Writers' Workshop, taking place April 2018.
Silence is my mother tongue, Sulaiman Addonia.
In a time of war, what is the shape of love? Saba arrives in an East African refugee camp as a young girl, devastated to have been wrenched from her school and forced to abandon her books as her family flees to safety. In this unfamiliar, crowded and often hostile community, she must carve out a new existence.
The winter of the witch: a novel, Katherine Arden.
The Winternight Trilogy introduced an unforgettable heroine, Vasilisa Petrovna, a girl determined to forge her own path in a world that would rather lock her away. Her gifts and her courage have drawn the attention of Morozko, the winter-king, but it is too soon to know if this connection will prove a blessing or a curse.
Kaleidoscope: an Aspie new adult novel set in an earthquake zone, Kevin Berry.
Chloe is different. She has Asperger's syndrome, bipolar disorder and a few other inconvenient conditions as well. She's quirky, resourceful and clever, but her world is literally about to be shaken apart.
White dancing elephants: stories, Chaya Bhuvaneswar.
In sixteen remarkable stories, Chaya Bhuvaneswar spotlights diverse women of colour; cunning, bold, and resolute, facing sexual harassment and racial violence, and occasionally inflicting that violence on each other.
An extra mile: a story of embracing God's call, Sharon Garlough Brown.
Mara is faced with the turmoil of divorce and chaos at home, while listening for a call to serve others. Hannah grieves the twin losses of her dear friend and her Chicago ministry position, while embracing the joys and challenges of a new marriage. Charissa is overwhelmed by her pregnancy and the demands of her teaching schedule.
A Cornish secret, Emma Burstall.
Esme Posorsky is an enigma. For as long as people can remember, she has been part of community life in the quaint Cornish fishing village of Tremarnock, but does anyone really know her? She is usually to be found working in her pottery studio or at home with her beloved cat, Rasputin. But when an old school friend turns up with a secret from the past, nothing will ever be the same again.
A winter kiss on Rochester Mews, Annie Darling.
Star baker Mattie has hated Christmas ever since she had her heart broken on Christmas Eve. The only thing she hates more is the insufferable Tom, who has rubbed her up the wrong way since she started running the tearoom next door to his bookshop.
One enchanted evening, Anton Du Beke.
Inside the spectacular ballroom of the exclusive Buckingham Hotel the rich and powerful, politicians, film stars, even royalty, rub shoulders with Raymond de Guise and his troupe of talented dancers from all around the world, who must enchant them, captivate them, and sweep away their cares. Accustomed to waltzing with the highest of society, Raymond knows a secret from his past could threaten all he holds dear.
The night of the party, Rachael English.
January 1982: In the village of Kilmitten, the Crossan family are holding their annual party during the biggest snowstorm Ireland has seen in decades. By the end of the night, the parish priest, Father Leo Galvin, is dead. The lives of four teenagers; Tom, Conor, Tess and Nina, who had been drinking beer and smoking in a shed at the back of the house, will never be the same.
Wait until spring, Bandini, John Fante; introduced by Dan Fante.
For Arturo Bandini, oldest son of Italian immigrants living in small-town Colorado during the Great Depression, the winter proves harsh. When his father seemingly abandons his family, Arturo is left to pick up the pieces, even as turmoil rages within him. With its evocative account of grinding poverty, tragic love affairs and tumultuous adolescence, this first novel from the Bandini quartet is a much-neglected masterpiece of modern American literature.
North of dawn, Nuruddin Farah.
For decades, Gacalo and Mugdi have lived in Oslo, where they've led a peaceful, largely assimilated life and raised two children. Their beloved son, Dhaqaneh, however, is driven by feelings of alienation to jihadism in Somalia, where he kills himself in a suicide attack. The couple reluctantly offers a haven to his family. But on arrival in Oslo, their daughter-in-law cloaks herself even more deeply in religion, while her children hunger for the freedoms of their new homeland, a rift that will have life-altering consequences for the entire family.
The Paragon Hotel, Lyndsay Faye.
The year is 1921, and "Nobody" Alice James is on a cross-country train, carrying a bullet wound and fleeing for her life following an illicit drug and liquor deal gone horribly wrong. Desperate to get as far away as possible from New York City and those who want her dead, she has her sights set on Oregon: a distant frontier that seems the end of the line.
In the courtyard of the kabbalist, Ruchama King Feuerman.
An eczema-riddled Lower East Side haberdasher, Isaac Markowitz, moves to Israel to repair his broken heart and becomes, much to his own surprise, the assistant to a famous old rabbi who daily dispenses wisdom (and soup) to the troubled souls who wash up in his courtyard. It is there that he meets the flame-haired Tamar, a newly religious young American hipster on a mission to live a spiritual life with a spiritual man.
The lighthouse keeper's daughter: a novel, Hazel Gaynor.
1838: Northumberland, England. Longstone Lighthouse on the Farne Islands has been Grace Darling's home for all of her twenty-two years. When she and her father rescue shipwreck survivors in a furious storm, Grace becomes celebrated throughout England, the subject of poems, ballads, and plays. But far more precious than her unsought fame is the friendship that develops between Grace and a visiting artist.
Craving, Esther Gerritsen
Elisabeth and her adult daughter Coco happen upon each other in the city, on opposite sides of the street. The accidental nature of their meeting is indicative of their estrangement. Elisabeth divorced Coco's father long ago, and contact with her daughter has been scant ever since. She takes the opportunity to share some bad news; she has terminal cancer and not long to live.
What we owe, Golnaz Hashemzadeh Bonde
Tehran, 1978: Nahid and Masood, both eighteen, are young lovers and young revolutionaries, determined to overthrow the Shah's regime and help to bring about democracy. Their clandestine activities are dangerous, but with youth, passion and right on their side, they feel invincible.
At dusk, Hwang Sok-yong
Park Minwoo is, by every measure, a success story. Born into poverty in a miserable neighbourhood of Seoul, he has ridden the wave of development in a rapidly modernising society. Now the director of a large architectural firm, his hard work and ambition have brought him triumph and satisfaction. But when his company is investigated for corruption, he's forced to reconsider his role in the transformation of his country.
Just after midnight: a novel, Catherine Ryan Hyde.
No longer tolerating her husband's borderline abuse, Faith escapes to her parents' California beach house to plan her next move. She never dreamed her new chapter would involve befriending Sarah, a fourteen-year-old on the run from her father and reeling from her mother's sudden and suspicious death.
The cotton lass and other stories, Anna Jacobs.
In each of these 17 stories, an ordinary person takes on an extraordinary journey to a new life, discovering facets and strengths they never knew they possessed. Across a variety of time periods and settings, these stories capture Anna Jacobs' unique style and showcase her mastery of emotional tales.
The silence of Bonaventure Arrow: a novel, Rita Leganski.
Conceived in love and possibility, Bonaventure Arrow didn't make a peep when he was born, and the doctor nearly took him for dead. No one knows that Bonaventure's silence is filled with resonance; a miraculous gift of rarified hearing that encompasses the Universe of Every Single Sound.
The happiness list, Annie Lyons.
When the three women hear about a 'happiness course' starting on Hope Street, surely it's the perfect opportunity to let their hair down, laugh with new friends and maybe even change their lives in ways they never expected.
Sugar run: a novel, Mesha Maren.
Jodi McCarty is seventeen when she's sentenced to life in prison for manslaughter. She's released eighteen years later and finds herself reeling from the shock of unexpected freedom. Not yet able to return to her lost home in the Appalachian mountains, she heads south in search of someone she left behind, as a way of finally making amends.
Send down the rain, Charles Martin.
Allie is still recovering from the loss of her family's beloved waterfront restaurant on Florida's Gulf Coast when she loses her second husband to a terrifying highway accident. Devastated and losing hope, she shudders to contemplate the future, until a cherished person from her past returns.
The importance of being Aisling, Emer McLysaght and Sarah Breen.
You can take the small-town girl out of the big city, but can you take the big city out of the girl? Job. Flat. Boyfriend. Tick. Tick. Tick. Aisling (seems) to be winning at life. But life has other ideas. Fired. Homeless. Dumped.
The frolic of the beasts, Yukio Mishima
Set in rural Japan shortly after World War II, The Frolic of the Beasts tells the story of a strange and utterly absorbing love triangle between a former university student, his would-be mentor, the eminent literary critic Ippei Kusakado; and Ippei's beautiful, enigmatic wife.
A keeper, Graham Norton.
The mystery of Elizabeth Keane's father is one that has never been solved by the people of Buncarragh. Her mother Patricia had been assumed a spinster, until she began dating a mysterious man from out of town, and within months had left Buncarragh and had married. Less than two years later, Patricia was back, with a new baby in her arms, but no new husband by her side and unbendingly silent about her recent past. A secret she would take with her to her grave. Now, as Elizabeth returns to the village after her mother's funeral, bringing with her her own regrets and wounds.
A river in the trees, Jacqueline O'Mahony.
Two women. Two stories. One hundred years of secrets. 1919. Hannah is nineteen years old and living on her family's farm in West Cork. Her peaceful world is shattered forever by the eruption of the War of Independence, Ireland's bid for freedom from Britain. Hannah's family hide rebel soldiers in their attic, putting them in great danger from the Black and Tans who roam the countryside. An immediate connection between Hannah and O'Riada, the leader of this band of rebels, will change her life and that of her family forever.
North, Frank Owen.
The USA has been ravaged by Civil War. It's been thirty years since the first wind-borne viruses ended the war between North and South. While the South has been devastated by disease, the North has emerged victorious, but terrified of reprisals. Both territories remain at the mercy of the vicious Northern dictator, Renard.
One part woman, Perumal Murugan
Rural South India, during the British colonial period. Kali and Ponna try everything to please their parents and have a child, but none of the offerings or rituals helps. A more drastic plan is required, so Kali and Ponna's mothers agree that Ponna should go to the annual chariot festival, a celebration of the half-male, half-female god Maadhorubaagan. On the eighteenth night of the festival there is an immense carnival, during which the rules of marriage are relaxed, and consensual sex between unmarried men and women is overlooked.
Mouthful of birds: stories, Samanta Schweblin
The stories in Mouthful of Birds burrow their way into your psyche and don't let go. Samanta Schweblin haunts and mesmerizes in this extraordinary collection featuring women on the edge, men turned upside down, the natural world at odds with reality.
The Tristan chord, Glenn Skwerer.
Based loosely on August Kubizek's 1953 memoir 'The Young Hitler I Knew', 'The Tristan Chord' recasts the story as fiction, in order to explore both the character and mental attitudes of the adolescent Hitler, and the dilemma of its narrator, Eugen Reczek, a man caught between the bonds of a complex friendship and the vast, tragic forces of history.
The ice house: a novel, Laura Lee Smith.
The Ice House follows the beleaguered MacKinnons as they weather the possible loss of the family business, a serious medical diagnosis, and the slings and arrows of familial discord.
Unmarriageable: pride and prejudice in Pakistan, Soniah Kamal.
It is a truth universally acknowledged that when a family's fortune is destroyed by scandal and rumour, they must look to their daughters to marry well. Alys Binat, however, loves life as it is: teaching English literature and encouraging her female students to aspire to more than society expects of them. She is resolute: she will not marry.
Turning point, Danielle Steel.
Four exceptional doctors are chosen for an honour and a unique project: to work with their counterparts in Paris in a mass-casualty training program. As professionals, they will gain invaluable knowledge from the program. When an unspeakable act of mass violence galvanizes them into action, their temporary life in Paris becomes a stark turning point: a time to face harder choices than they have ever made before with consequences that will last a lifetime.
Turbulence, David Szalay.
Twelve people on the move around planet Earth, twelve individual lives, each in turmoil, and each in some way touching the next. In this nuanced and deeply moving sequence, David Szalay's diverse protagonists circumnavigate the world in twelve plane journeys.
A winter beneath the stars, Jo Thomas.
Halley has been running from her problems for years. On a courier trip to Tallfors, deep in Swedish Lapland, everything is going to plan. Halley has her bag, with two precious wedding rings inside for delivery, until she doesn't. The only way to save the wedding is to team up with mysterious reindeer herder Bjorn, the one person who can lead her across the snowy tundra to be reunited with her bag.

GRAPHIC NOVEL

Heroes. Volume 1, written by Aron Eli Coleite
Tells the stories of ordinary individuals who discover that they have superhuman abilities, and also explores how these people adapt to the changes these abilities bring, and their roles in preventing catastrophes and saving humanity.
Old Man Logan. [9], The hunter and the hunted, writer, Ed Brisson
Old Man Logan is hunted by Kraven! It's a savage showdown in the Savage Land! Logan is wounded and on the run. But with unrelenting death around every corner, rock, mountain and tree, how long can the tired old man keep this up?
Marvels, Kurt Busiek, writer
Within the Marvel Universe, heroes soar high in the skies, ready to battle the villains who threaten their world. Yet living in the shadow of these extraordinary icons are ordinary men and women who view the "Marvels" with a mixture of fear, disbelief, envy and admiration.
Black Panther. [4], Avengers of the new world. Part one, writer, Ta-Nehisi Coates
Where next for the Black Panther? Long ago; before Black Panthers, before Wakanda, before time itself, there were only the Orishas!
Girl genius. [5], Agatha Heterodyne & the clockwork princess: a gaslamp fantasy with adventure, romance & mad science, story by Kaja & Phil Foglio
Agatha Heterodyne is the last heir to the Maddest of Mad Scientist families, and on the run from the current ruler of Europe. In a fairy-tale castle on a mountain pass, she finds herself at the center of an evil plan to bring back one of the deadliest enemies of recent history.
Red Hood and the Outlaws. Vol. 4, Good night, Gotham, Scott Lobdell
Is the Dark Trinity; Red Hood, Artemis and Bizarro, meeting their end? With their Superman clone on the brink of madness, do the Outlaws need to go on a recruiting drive? So, have you been thinking about breaking bad? There's never been a better time to help your favorite super-villain take over the world, defeat an archnemesis or rob a bank.
Attack on Titan. 26, Hajime Isayama
As the dangerous rebel Eren Yeager mows down civilians and deals a massive blow to the Marleyan army, the Eldian soldiers, including Mikasa, Connie, and Sasha, spread chaos in the city and disrupt military communications.
If you steal, Jason.
Jason's latest collection of full color comics indulges in his light and playful side, consisting of eleven wildly off-kilter stories that mix incongruous elements of pop culture and a variety of genres, pastiches and mash-ups in a delightful soupcon of graphic storytelling.
Weapon H. [1], AWOL, Greg Pak
With the strength of the Hulk and the rage and claws of Wolverine comes Weapon H! Now on the run, Clay only wants peace and solitude but when a new kind of Wendigo threatens lives, will the newly minted Weapon H be able to shirk his responsibility, or does some of his humanity remain buried deep within?
Weapon X. [2], The hunt for Weapon H, Greg Pak
The newly reformed Weapon X program took DNA form the most dangerous genetic anomalies in the world to create a rage-filled behemoth of epic proportions. Now the secrets behind their work will be revealed!
Weapon X. [4], Russian revolution, Greg Pak
After a shocking turn of events, Old Man Logan can't be the team's leader anymore! But taking charge of a deadly group like this isn't a popularity contest; it's about who's the biggest dog in the yard. And now Sabretooth is calling the shots!
Weapon X. [1], Weapons of mutant destruction prelude, writer,
An all-new Weapon X program unleashes an army of cyborgs dedicated to the eradication of mutants, causing Old Man Logan into an uneasy alliance with Sabretooth to take down the program.
Weapon X. [3], Modern warfare, Greg Pak
Old Man Logan, Warpath, Domino, Lady Deathstrike and Sabretooth have uncovered a shocking crime! Mutant genocide is being committed in a small, third-world country and now it's up to our savage squad to stop this massacre!
Retreat, Jaakko Pallasvuo.
The angst, ennui, and malaise of the queer apocalypse sublimated to the equally ravishing graphic novel. A gay couple flees the city from the impending apocalypse. They meet another artist on the way. Their clashing relationships, emotions, ideologies, hopes, and plans all transform unpredictably at the twilight of the human race.
Ice Cream Man. Volume two, Strange neapolitan, W. Maxwell Prince
This critically acclaimed series of not-so-sweet singular stories continues with four more tales of woe, redemption, and unlimited toppings.
Secret empire, Nick Spencer
Captain America, Sentinel of Liberty, has been living a lie! The world's greatest hero is secretly a true believer in the cause of Hydra, brought up since childhood to pursue their mission of progress through authority and unity through adversity!
Crossed + one hundred. Vol. 2, Simon Spurrier
Future Taylor's world was devastated by the realization that one of her closest friends led to the devastation of Chooga. Now as she helps a new town of survivors prepare for the organized attack of the evolved Crossed, she realizes that her best efforts may not be enough.
Crossed + one hundred. Vol. 3, Simon Spurrier
The world has continued to change as the Crossed have developed their own alien culture and grand plan. Towns continue to fall and suspicions about infiltrators are at an all-time high. But when Future finds an infected baby and decides to keep it alive, she begins to see another side to the snapping, snarling, fury that is innate within the Crossed.
Judge Dredd. The complete case files. 32, John Wagner
Mega-City One; a nightmarish enclosure located along the Eastern Seaboard of North America. Only the Judges; powerful law enforcers supporting the despotic Justice Department, can stop total anarchy running rife on the crime-ridden streets.

HISTORICAL

Half Moon Lake, Kirsten Alexander.
Inspired by the true story of a missing child who when eventually found was claimed by two mothers, Half Moon Lake is a captivating novel about the parent-child bond, identity, and what it really means to be part of a family.
Within my heart, Tamera Alexander.
Widow Rachel Boyd struggles to keep her ranch afloat and provide for her two young sons, though some days it feels as though her efforts are sabotaged at every turn. When her cattle come down with disease and her sons' lives are endangered, she must turn to Rand Brookston, Timber Ridge's physician and reluctant veterinarian. While Rachel appreciates his help, she squelches any feelings she might have for Rand.
The blue, Nancy Bilyeau.
For Genevieve Planché, an English-born descendant of huguenot refugees, porcelain holds far less allure; she wants to be an artist, a painter of interational repute, but nobody takes the idea of a female artist seriously in London. If only she could reach Venice. Sir Gabriel Courtenay offers her an opportunity she can't refuse.
Valley of the kings: the 18th dynasty: a novel, Terrance Coffey.
In the year 1355 BCE, the land of Egypt was the superpower of the known world. King Tut's father, Akenaten, the so-called 'heretic pharaoh', and his wife, Queen Nefertiti, are on the verge of catapulting Egypt into a revolution that will forever divide its people and rip the most powerful empire on the earth from its foundation.
Miss Marley: a seasonal tale of kindness and goodwill, Vanessa Lafaye with Rebecca Mascull.
Orphans Clara and Jacob Marley live by their wits, scavenging for scraps in the poorest alleyways of London, in the shadow of the workhouse. Every night, Jake promises his little sister tomorrow will be better' and when the chance to escape poverty comes their way, he seizes it despite the terrible price. And so Jacob Marley is set on a path that leads to his infamous partnership with Ebenezer Scrooge.
Under the midnight sun, Tracie Peterson and Kimberley Woodhouse.
Tayler Hale, a naturalist, loves adventure and the great outdoors of Yellowstone. Her remote job location also helps keep her away from the clutches of the man to whom she once made a foolish promise. Then her boss arranges a new job for her; at the popular Curry Hotel near Denali, Alaska.
Bodo the Apostate, Donald Michael Platt.
On Ascension Day May 22, 838, Bishop Bodo, chaplain, confessor, and favourite of both his kin, Emperor Louis the Pious, son of Charlemagne, and Empress Judith, caused the greatest scandal of the Carolingian Empire and the 9th century Roman Church. Bodo, the novel, dramatizes the causes, motivations, and aftermath of Bodo's astonishing cause celebre that took place during an age of superstition.
The land of angels, Fay Sampson.
Princess Bertha of Paris is shocked to learn of her impending marriage to the heathen king of Kent. But their barbaric world is dramatically changed by the coming of Augustine from Rome, on a mission to impress his hero, Pope Gregory the Great. As the new arrivals face hostility and murder, the powerful king sees a way of using Augustine to further his ambition..
Death of an eye, Dana Stabenow.
Alexandria, 47 BC. For three centuries, the House of Ptolemy has governed the Kingdom of Egypt. Cleopatra; seventh of her name, rules from Alexandria, that beacon of commerce and learning that stands between the burning sands of the desert and the dark waters of the Middle Sea. But her realm is beset by ethnic rivalries, aristocratic feuds and courtly intrigues..

HORROR

Thirteen days by Sunset Beach, Ramsey Campbell.
For Ray and Sandra, it's their first family holiday in Greece, on the mysterious island of Vasilema. The skies are cloudier than anywhere else and the visitors are puzzled by local eccentricities: the lack of mirrors, the outsize beach umbrellas, and the odd nocturnal rituals. Why do some islanders seem to follow the family wherever they go?
Sherlock Holmes and the miskatonic monstrosities, James Lovegrove.
It is the spring of 1895, and more than a decade of combating eldritch entities has cost Dr John Watson his beloved wife Mary, and nearly broken the health of Sherlock Holmes. Yet the companions do not hesitate when they are called to the infamous Bedlam lunatic asylum, where they find an inmate speaking in R'lyehian, the language of the Old Ones.
Ghost virus, Graham Masterton.
A young woman pours acid over her own body. A loving husband kills his wife. A headteacher throws her pupils out of a window. DC Jerry Pardoe and DS Jamila Patel of Tooting Police are at a loss. Why are such violent crimes being committed by the most unlikely of people?
The merry spinster: tales of everyday horror, Daniel Mallory Ortberg.
From Mallory Ortberg comes a collection of darkly mischievous stories based on classic fairy tales. Sinister and inviting, familiar and alien all at the same time, The Merry Spinster updates traditional children's stories and fairy tales with elements of psychological horror, emotional clarity, and a keen sense of feminist mischief.
A house of ghosts, W.C. Ryan.
Winter 1917. As the First World War enters its most brutal phase, back home in England, everyone is seeking answers to the darkness that has seeped into their lives. At Blackwater Abbey, on an island off the Devon coast, Lord Highmount has arranged a spiritualist gathering to contact his two sons who were lost in the conflict. But as his guests begin to arrive, it gradually becomes clear that each has something they would rather keep hidden.

MYSTERY

Mycroft and Sherlock: a novel, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
It is 1872, and a series of gruesome murders is the talk of London. Mycroft Holmes; now twenty-six and a force to be reckoned with at the War Office, has no interest in the killings; however, his brother Sherlock has developed a distasteful fascination for the macabre to the detriment of his studies, much to Mycroft's frustration.
Freefall: a novel, Jessica Barry.
When her fiancé's private plane crashes in the Colorado Rockies, Allison Carpenter survives but the fight for her life is just beginning. Allison knows secrets that powerful men will kill to keep buried. If they know she's alive, they will come for her.
In the presence of evil, Tania Bayard.
Paris, 1393. Recent widow Christine de Pizan became a scribe to support her family, but when she is called to the palace to work, she dreads going. There, everyone fears the king's attacks of unreason and they believe the charlatans who claim they can cure him with vile potions. But when a mysterious book of magic leaves a trail of real murdered bodies in its wake, Christine has more than black magic to worry about.
The fallen architect, Charles Belfoure.
Someone has to take the blame. When the Britannia Theatre's balcony collapses, killing over a dozen people, the fingers point at the architect. He should have known better, should have made it safer, should have done something. Douglas Layton knows the flaw wasn't in his design, but he can't fight a guilty verdict.
A deadly habit, Simon Brett.
Having landed a small part in a new West End play, The Habit of Faith, Charles Paris is dismayed to discover that his good fortune has been orchestrated by his bête noire, the now-famous screen actor Justin Grover. But why has Grover become involved in this relatively obscure production, and why has he roped in Charles to star?
The New Iberia blues, James Lee Burke.
Detective Dave Robicheaux's world isn't filled with too many happy stories, but Desmond Cormier's rags-to-riches tale is certainly one of them. Robicheaux first met Cormier on the streets of New Orleans, when the young, undersized boy had foolish dreams of becoming a Hollywood director. Twenty-five years later, when Robicheaux knocks on Cormier's door, it isn't to congratulate him on his Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations. Robicheaux has discovered the body of a young woman who's been crucified, wearing only a small chain on her ankle.
Nemesis, Rory Clements.
In a great English house, a young woman offers herself to one of the most powerful and influential figures in the land, but this is no ordinary seduction. She plans to ensure his death.
Absinthe: a thriller, Guido Eekhaut.
Walter Eekhaut, a veteran of the Belgian police force who has a problem with authority, has been dispatched to Amsterdam to aid in investigating the activities of a well- connected Russian oligarch, with ties to Putin. Some of the Russian's business is legitimate, but some may well not be. Seconded to Chief Superintendent Alexandra Dewaal of the Dutch security service, he begins to learn about the city's shady underside.
The boy who lived with the dead, Kate Ellis.
It is 1920 and Scotland Yard detective, DI Albert Lincoln, is still reeling from the disturbing events of the previous year. Trapped in a loveless marriage and tired of his life in London, he's pleased when he's called to a new case in the North West of England. Before the War, he'd investigated the murder of a child in the village of Alderley Edge in Cheshire and now a woman has been murdered there and another child is missing.
Schoolgirl missing, Sue Fortin.
When fourteen-year-old Poppy vanishes on a family boating trip, suspicion soon turns close to home; to the two people who should do everything to keep her safe, her parents, Kit and Neve. Can they really be responsible for their little girl's disappearance?
Those who go by night: a novel, Andrew Gaddes.
England, 1324; a land rife with superstition and gripped by fear of the Church's holy wrath. When a beggar is murdered in the quiet village of Bottesford, his body draped across the altar of St. Mary's church in a perverse pose of pagan sacrifice, the Pope's Inquisitor General places the small hamlet in his sights.
All the tears in China, Sulari Gentill.
Shanghai in 1935 is a 20th century Babylon, an expatriate playground where fortunes are made and lost, where East and West collide, and the stakes include life itself. Into this cultural melting pot, Rowland Sinclair arrives from Sydney to represent his brother at international wool negotiations. The black sheep of the family, Rowland is under strict instructions to commit to nothing; but a brutal murder makes that impossible.
Limitless, Alan Glynn.
Imagine a drug that made your brain function to its full potential. A drug that allowed you pick up a foreign language in a single day. A drug that helped you process information so fast you could see patterns in the stock market. Just as his life is fading into mediocrity, Eddie Spinola comes across such a pill:
Hunting Annabelle, Wendy Heard.
Sean Suh is done with killing. After serving three years in a psychiatric prison, he's determined to stay away from temptation. But he can't resist Annabelle; beautiful, confident, incandescent Annabelle, who alone can see past the monster to the man inside. The man he's desperately trying to be.
An anonymous girl, Greer Hendricks
When Jessica Farris signs up for a psychology study conducted by the mysterious Dr. Shields, she thinks all she'll have to do is answer a few questions, collect her money, and leave. But as the questions grow more and more intense and invasive and the sessions become outings where Jess is told what to wear and how to act, she begins to feel as though Dr. Shields may know what she's thinking, and what she's hiding.
The rainbow conspiracy, Stuart Hopps.
From a chance encounter with a handsome lifeguard on the beach in Cape Cod, attraction blooms for the young Clive Spoke. The US of the late sixties offers freedoms he has not yet tasted in Britain and ex-Marine Dennis Montrose is happy to oblige. Years later, and now a leading theatrical agent, Clive is devastated to learn of the early death of that first love. Rushing to the US to comfort Dennis' partner he finds there is more to his demise than meets the eye.
The program, Gregg Hurwitz.
Called back into the fold of the U.S. Marshals Service, Tim is tasked with retrieving Leah Henning, the daughter of a powerful Hollywood producer, from a mind-control cult. As Tim wends his way deep undercover into an insidious operation called The Program, he confronts a brand of mind-warping manipulation beyond his worst expectations.
IQ, Joe Ide.
East Long Beach. The LAPD is barely keeping up with the neighbourhood's high crime rate. Murders go unsolved, lost children unrecovered. But someone from the neighbourhood has taken it upon himself to help solve the cases the police can't or won't touch. They call him IQ.
Man at the window, Robert Jeffreys.
When a boarding master at an exclusive boys' school is shot dead, it is deemed accidental. A lazy and usually drunk detective is sent to write up the report. Cardilini unexpectedly does not cooperate, as he becomes riled by the privileged arrogance of those at the school. He used to have instincts. Perhaps he should follow them now.
River bodies, Karen Katchur.
A body just turned up in the small town of Portland, Pennsylvania. The crime is eerily similar to a twenty-year-old cold case: another victim, brutally murdered, found in the Delaware River. Lead detective Parker Reed is intent on connecting the two murders, but the locals are on lockdown, revealing nothing.
Among the ruins, Ausma Zehanat Khan.
On leave from Canada's Community Policing department, Esa Khattak is traveling in Iran, reconnecting with his cultural heritage and seeking peace in the country's beautiful mosques and gardens. But Khattak's supposed break from work is cut short when he's approached by a Canadian government agent in Iran, asking him to look into the death of renowned Canadian-Iranian filmmaker Zahra Sobhani.
Night of Camp David, Fletcher Knebel.
How can one man convince the highest powers in Washington that the President of the United States is dangerously unstable before it's too late?
She lies in wait: a novel, Gytha Lodge.
One night during the scorching summer of 1983, a group of teenagers go camping in the forest. The evening starts like any other; they drink, they dance, they fight, they kiss. Some of them slip off into the woods in pairs, others are left jealous and heartbroken. But in the morning, the youngest in the group, Aurora, has disappeared.
The body in the boat, A. J. MacKenzie.
Across the still, dark English Channel come the smugglers. But tonight they carry an unusual cargo: a coffin. Several miles inland, a respected banker holds a birthday party for his wife. Within days, one of the guests is found shot dead. What links this apparently senseless killing to the smugglers lurking in the mists along the Kent coast?
Mrs. Roosevelt's confidante: a Maggie Hope mystery, Susan Elia MacNeal.
Maggie Hope, travels across the pond to America, where a looming scandal poses a grave threat to the White House and the Allied cause.
The Paris spy: a Maggie Hope mystery, Susan Elia MacNeal.
Maggie Hope has come a long way since serving as a typist for Winston Churchill. Now she's working undercover for the Special Operations Executive in the elegant but eerily silent city of Paris, where SS officers prowl the streets in their Mercedes and the Ritz is draped with swastika banners.
The Prime Minister's secret agent: a Maggie Hope mystery, Susan Elia MacNeal.
World War II rages on across Europe, but Maggie Hope has finally found a moment of rest on the pastoral coast of western Scotland. Home from an undercover mission in Berlin, she settles down to teach at her old spy training camp, and to heal from scars on both her body and heart. Yet instead of enjoying the quieter pace of life, Maggie is quickly drawn into another web of danger and intrigue.
The queen's accomplice: a Maggie Hope mystery, Susan Elia MacNeal.
England, 1942. The Nazis' relentless Blitz may have paused, but London's nightly blackouts continue. Now, under the cover of darkness, a madman is brutally killing and mutilating young women in eerie and exact re-creations of Jack the Ripper's crimes.
The promised land, Barry Maitland.
Newly promoted Detective Chief Inspector Kathy Kolla investigates a series of brutal murders on Hampstead Heath. Under intense pressure to find answers, she arrests the unlikely figure of John Pettigrew, a failing London publisher who lives alone on the edge of the Heath. Pettigrew's lawyer calls on recently retired David Brock for advice, and soon, unable to resist the pull of investigation, the old colleagues, Brock and Kolla, are at loggerheads.
Points of danger, Edward Marston.
1861, East Anglia. Alone in a first-class carriage, the Swarbricks are robbed at gunpoint, but when the universally-admired Swarbrick fights back, the train robber takes more than money and jewellery, killing the man working to unify East Anglia's tangle of railway networks. Inspector Colbeck is brought in from London, as the only detective in Britain with enough expertise for the job.
Bridge of sighs, Priscilla Masters.
Two violent suicides leave Coroner Martha Gunn with some disturbing questions to answer, but the most difficult one of all lies closer to home. Gina Marconi was a beautiful young barrister with everything to live for; a loving fiancé, a young son and a successful career. So why did she leave her home in the middle of the night and drive her car into a stone wall?
Bloodline, Nigel McCrery.
When Isabel, a British university student, travels to a remote Spanish town it isn't only to enjoy the atmosphere. It's also to trace how and why her family name might have derived from the town, a quest her father, Sebastian made nine years ago, not long before his death in a car accident.
Before we were strangers, Brenda Novak.
Something happened to her mother that night. Something no one wants to talk about. But she's determined to uncover her family's dark secrets, even if they bury her.
The burglar: a novel, Thomas Perry.
Elle Stowell is a young woman with an unconventional profession: burglary. This is how Elle has always gotten by. She is good at it, and she thrives on the thrill. But after stumbling upon a grisly triple homicide while stealing from the home of a wealthy art dealer, Elle discovers that she is no longer the only one sneaking around.
The sideman, Caro Ramsay.
Detective Inspector Costello has resigned. No notice, no goodbyes. Convinced that George Haggerty murdered his wife and son despite his cast-iron alibi, Costello has gone solo, determined to expose a ruthless killer without being hampered by police protocol.
Looker: a novel, Laura Sims.
In this taut and thrilling debut, an unraveling woman, unhappily childless and recently separated, becomes fixated on her neighbour; the beautiful, famous actress. The unnamed narrator can't help noticing with wry irony that, though she and the actress live just a few doors apart, they are separated by a chasm of professional success and personal fulfillment.
The red door, Charles Todd.
In post-World War I England, Scotland Yard detective Ian Rutledge faces a wall of silence as he attempts to bring a ruthless killer to justice for the bludgeoning death of a Lancashire woman and the murder of a man who never came home from the Great War.
Bloodmoon, Peter Tremayne.
Ireland, AD 671. Sister Fidelma has a mission, and she is sworn by oath to reveal her purpose to no other. The secret investigation leads her and her companions to the abbey of Finnbarr to question the abbot. But before they have a chance to speak to him, the abbot is found murdered and the young girl suspected of the crime has fled the scene.
An elderly lady is up to no good, Helene Tursten
Maud is an irascible 88-year-old Swedish woman with no family, no friends, and no qualms about a little murder. This funny, irreverent story collection by Helene Tursten, author of the Irene Huss investigations, features two-never-before translated stories that will keep you laughing all the way to the retirement home.
The bleak midwinter, L.C. Tyler.
1668. John Grey is now a Justice of the Peace and lives in the manor house he has inherited on his mother's death with his new wife, Aminta. As the village is cut off from the rest of the world by a heavy snowfall, George Barwell is discovered dead in the woods. Grey is called to examine the horribly disfigured body amidst the rumours that the attack has been the work of the Devil as the victim had been cursed by reputed witch Alice Mardike just days before his violent death.
You were gone, Tim Weaver.
A woman walks into a police station and tells officers she's been missing for eight years. She has no phone and no ID, just a piece of paper with a name on it: Raker specializes in locating missing people. After his wife died, they became how he coped and moved on. Raker agrees to meet the woman. But this is no ordinary case, and no ordinary woman. She looks exactly like his dead wife.
A delicate touch, Stuart Woods.
When an old acquaintance reaches out to Stone Barrington requesting assistance, the job seems easy enough. She needs an expert in an esoteric field, someone with both the knowledge and careful dexterity to solve a puzzle. But the solution to one small problem blows the lid open on a bigger scandal going back decades, and involving numerous prominent New Yorkers.
Shoot first: (think later), Stuart Woods.
Stone Barrington is enjoying a round of golf in Key West when the game is violently interrupted and it seems as if the target of the disturbance may have been one of his playing companions, the brilliant businesswoman behind a software startup on the cutting edge of technology. Soon, it becomes clear that this incident is only the first thrust in a deadly scheme to push the beautiful young woman out of the way and put her company's valuable secrets up for grabs.

New Zealand Fiction

The life of De'Ath, Majella Cullinane.
The Life of De'Ath draws on historical events: New Zealand military involvement at the Western front, anti-German sentiment during World War I, and the New Zealand soldiers who were shot for desertion between 1916 and 1918. At its heart, though, is the story of a young man going against the tide of social and family pressure, and struggling to express his feelings for Elizabeth Paterson before it's too late.
?nangahua gold, Kathleen Gallagher
This book is for the bone diggers and the song carriers - those interested in the roots, the old connections, and for those who have listening ears.
Admissions: tales of life, death & love in a hospital not far from here…, Mira Harrison.
Here are the stories of eight women - doctors, nurses, cooks and cleaners at the heart of a hospital that connects them all in a public hospital in Aotearoa. Inspired by Mira Harrison's experiences in healthcare in the UK and NZ, these engrossing narratives unveil the shifting balance between professional and private worlds.
Call me Evie, J.P. Pomare.
Meet Evie, a young woman held captive by a man named Jim in the isolated New Zealand beach town of Maketu. Jim says he's hiding Evie to protect her, that she did something terrible back home in Melbourne. In a house that creaks against the wind, Evie begins to piece together her fractured memories of the events that led her here. Jim says he's keeping her safe. Evie's not sure she can trust Jim, but can she trust her own memories?
What you wish for, Catherine Robertson.
Dr Ashwin Ghadavi, the newly imported GP, is trying hard to fit into Gabriel's Bay. His challenges include the immoveable force of his office manager, Mac, the ambiguities of the Kiwi idiom, and his unrequited attraction to Mac's daughter, Emma.

ROMANCE

Best man for the wedding planner, Donna Alward.
Wedding planner Adele Hawthorne is prepared for wedding hitches; but not for the best man to be Dan, her ex! They're thrown together at every turn and Adele can't escape their chemistry, or the fact that her heartbreaking reason for leaving him all those years ago hasn't changed.
His pregnant Christmas princess, Leah Ashton.
When Princess Ana runs out on her wedding she needs a place to hide; fast! Family friend and sexy security tycoon Rhys North has an Italian hideaway that proves the perfect place to escape scandal.
Someone to trust, Mary Balogh.
During a rare white Christmas at Brambledean Court, the widow Elizabeth, Lady Overfield, defies convention by falling in love with a younger man. After her husband's passing, Elizabeth Overfield decides that she must enter into another suitable marriage. That, however, is the last thing on her mind when she meets Colin Handrich, Lord Hodges, at the Westcott Christmas house party. . They know there is no question of any relationship between them, for she is nine years older than he. They return to London the following Season, both committed to finding other, more suitable matches. Still they agree to share one waltz at each ball they attend.
The billionaire's Christmas wish, Tina Beckett.
In this Hope Children's Hospital story, since losing his wife, Theo Hawkwood hasn't enjoyed Christmas, and now his daughter Ivy is ill he has even less reason to celebrate. Unless visiting diagnostician Madison Archer can perform a miracle. While Madison works to find a cure Theo fights his growing attraction to her. Is Madison the miracle he's been waiting for?
Healed under the mistletoe, Amalie Berlin.
When Dr Lyons McKeag finds an anonymous gift in his locker he's furious! But nurse Belle Sabetta isn't fooled by his brooding, Scrooge-like exterior. Her own experiences of loss means she knows that a little kindness, especially at Christmas, can go a long way. And Belle's innocence and passion might be the gift that heals Lyons's damaged heart.
Their Christmas to remember, Amalie Berlin.
Dr Angel Conley will do anything to bring the joy of Christmas to her young patients! Only she doesn't count on gorgeous Scottish surgeon Wolfe McKeag being her reluctant partner in crime!
Claiming his Christmas wife, Dani Collins.
After their secret marriage ends in heartbreak, billionaire Travis Sanders never wants to see Imogen again. Yet when Imogen faints in the cold New York snow Travis is called to her very public rescue! To avoid a media scandal they must agree to a temporary reconciliation, at least until Christmas.
Snowbound with the single dad, Cara Colter.
Widower billionaire Aidan Phillips is determined to give his daughter the traditional country Christmas she wants. But his vibrant hostess Noelle McGregor is showing him that money can't buy happiness.
Bound by their Christmas baby, Clare Connelly.
When brooding bachelor Gabe Arantini learns the innocent beauty he shared a steamy festive night with is the daughter of his business rival, he's furious. The following Christmas Abby returns with shocking news; she's had his child!
The Italian's inherited mistress, Lynne Graham.
Yearning for a fresh start, Isla Stewart escapes to her recently inherited Sicilian villa. The last person she expects to meet there is Alissandru Rossetti, the ruthless billionaire who once helicoptered into her life and changed it irrevocably with his sizzling seduction!
An innocent, a seduction, a secret, Abby Green.
When brooding Argentinian Seb Rivas spies elfin Edie Munroe's talent for lavish interior decoration he makes her an irresistible job offer; to spend the festive season decorating his opulent home, no expense spared!
In the city of love's sleep, Lavinia Greenlaw.
This is a story about a woman and a man who meet by chance. Nothing of any importance is said, yet she suddenly turns away, leaves the room, and starts to run. She is in shock from what this man has brought back to life: an electrical affinity, a higher self, a feeling of having been woken, recognized, and desired.
Christmas with her bodyguard, Charlotte Hawkes.
Obstetrician Rae Rawlstone has worked hard to distance herself from her fame-seeking family and her scandalous past. Only now her past is catching up with her.
Married for his one-night heir, Jennifer Hayward.
Commanding Santo Di Fiore is stunned to see Giovanna Castiglione again. Her unexpected appearance at his luxurious party in the Bahamas leaves him craving answers.
ER doc's forever gift, Sue Mackay.
Sienna Burch finally has the stability she's longed for and a home to call her own. And, as tempting as her new neighbour sexy ER doc Harry Frost is, Sienna knows he's bad news!
The billionaire's Christmas Cinderella, Carol Marinelli.
Charismatic Manhattan tycoon Abe Devereux is famed for his cold heart. Meeting compassionate nanny Naomi, who's determined to see the good in him, is a novelty, as is the potency of their undeniable connection!
The army doc's Christmas angel, Annie O'Neil.
Paediatrician Dr Finn Morgan keeps himself fiercely private; after losing his leg in Afghanistan, he pushed everyone away. So his unexpected attraction to his colleague, physiotherapist Naomi Collins, infuriates him!
CEO's marriage miracle, Sophie Pembroke.
In this The Cattaneos' Christmas Miracles story, Sebastian's greatest mistake was watching his wife walk away with their young child. Now he has until Christmas to win Maria back.
His until midnight, Reese Ryan.
When Tessa Noble takes the stage at a charity auction after a sexy makeover, her best friend, Ryan Bateman, must place the winning bid. It's definitely not because he's jealous.
The virgin's Sicilian protector, Chantelle Shaw.
Hired to keep heiress Arianna Fitzgerald safe, wealthy bodyguard Santino Vasari is expecting to meet a pampered princess. But beautiful Arianna intrigues him with her hidden vulnerability and captivates him with her spirit!
Pregnant by the desert king, Susan Stephens.
Pregnant and alone, Lucy Gillingham is determined to protect her unborn child from her volatile family. Then Tadj, the enticing stranger she spent an unforgettable night with, returns with a royal revelation; Lucy is carrying the baby of a desert king!
The rival's heir, Joss Wood.
Darby Brogan has goals: single motherhood and a successful career. And she won't be distracted; even if rival architect Judah Huntley is the stuff of fantasies.
More than a feeling, Cate Woods.
In her twenties, Annie Taylor was sorted: she had her dream job, an amazing social life and was happily single. She had bags of confidence and played up her likeness to a young Barbra Streisand in turbans and winged eyeliner. Annie knew exactly who she was, and her future looked bright and full of adventures. Life, however, hasn't turned out quite how she expected.

SAGA

The bluebird girls, Rosie Archer.
Rainey Bird, Ivy Sparrow and Bea Herron all love to sing. The three of them sing in a choir run by the strict but kind Mrs Wilkes. The choir provides a couple of hours of stardust each week, away from school and work and family worries. When war breaks out, though, dreams must be put on hold. That is, until a mysterious stranger arrives with a proposition that just might change their lives.
Suitcase of dreams, Tania Blanchard.
After enduring the horror and chaos of post-war Germany, Lotte Drescher and her family arrive in Australia full of hope for a new life. It's a land of opportunity, where Lotte and husband Erich hope to give their children the future they have always dreamed of. The sacrifices they have made finally seem worth it until Erich's role in the trade union movement threatens to have him branded a communist and endanger their family.
Master of his fate, Barbara Taylor Bradford.
Alexis Malvern is an only child, raised by her father, Henry, who has built a real estate empire in London. Trained by her father and heir to his businesses, Alexis has no interest in marrying. But when James Falconer approaches her father for a job, she finally meets a man with an ambition and vision that matches hers.
The right place, Carla Caruso.
With her dreams of dominating Melbourne's fashion scene in tatters, Nella Martini has returned to the last place she wants to be; Torrente Blu, the market garden inherited from her late nonna. She just needs to clean up the property, sell it quickly, and avoid run-ins with her neighbour: surly Adrian Tomaso.
The Brooklands girls, Margaret Dickinson.
It is the early 1920s and the Maitland family are still coming to terms with the aftermath of the Great War. Pips is restless and without purpose. Determined to enjoy life after the years of misery, and to help her forget a broken love affair, she seeks excitement in the London parties and balls of the Roaring Twenties. Can she ever trust a man's promises and allow herself to love again?
Orphan boy, Elizabeth Gill.
Born to a mother who died in childbirth and an uninterested father, Niall McAndrew grows up a solitary child, without a home to call his own. His only friend is Bridget, a young girl forced prematurely into womanhood. Niall has brains, spirit and ambition, as well as being blessed with handsome good looks. But his loveless childhood has left its mark.
Workhouse nightingale, Holly Green.
After her mother's death, Dora is sent to live with her father and his other family. But Dora is mixed race and illegitimate, two facts that see her treated as little more than a servant by her step-mother and half siblings. This doesn't stop the son of the house abusing his position and Dora finds herself on the streets and pregnant. Sent to the local workhouse, Dora's future looks bleak but she still dreams of a better life.
A mind of her own, Rosie Harris.
Newly widowed after fifty years of marriage, Betty Wilson is determined to remain in the home she has lived in the whole of her married life and retain her independence. Deciding she doesn't need anyone to look after her, she won't even accept help from loyal family friend Peter Brown. But it's not always easy to cope when one is growing older.
The girl in the pink raincoat, Alrene Hughes.
With whispers of war across Europe, many are uncertain of what the future will bring. For Gracie Earnshaw, who works in German-Jewish owned Rosenberg's raincoat factory, life is turned upside down when she meets the boss's charismatic nephew, Jacob. Through Jacob, with his ambitions to be a writer, Gracie glimpses another world: theatre, music and prejudice. But their hidden romance is tested when war finally erupts and tragedy unfolds.
The lost sisters, Lindsey Hutchinson.
Orpha Buchanan and Peg Meriweather had a very different start in life. Orpha surrounded by wealth and riches, Peg dumped on a doorstep as a baby with nothing to her name. But one thing they had in common was a mother who despised them and wished them gone.
An orphan's courage, Cathy Sharp.
St Saviours children's home in London's East End has provided a safe refuge for local children for decades and Sister Beatrice and her team are as busy as ever. New staff member Jinny is glad to escape the lewd advances of her drunken and slovenly mother's rotten boyfriends, but can she prove she isn't a chip off the old block?

SCIENCE FICTION

Not one of us: stories of aliens on Earth, Neil Clarke.
In Not One of Us, over twenty bestselling and award-winning authors grapple with both the best and worst aspects of human nature in a collection of thorugh provoking and thrilling science fiction.
Splintered suns: a humanity's fire novel, Michael Cobley.
For Pyke and his crew it should have been just another heist. Travel to a backwater desert planet, break into a museum, steal a tracking device then use it to find a ship buried in the planet's vast and trackless sandy wastes. Except that the museum vault is a bio-engineered chamber, and the tracking device is sought-after by another gang of treasure hunters led by an old adversary of Pyke's, the devious Raven Kaligara.
The body library: a Nyquist mystery, Jeff Noon.
In a city where words come to life and reality is infected by stories, private eye John Nyquist wakes up in a room with a dead body. The dead man's impossible whispers plunge him into a murder investigation like no other.
Hell divers. II, Ghosts, Nicholas Sansbury Smith.
Ten years ago, Hell Diver Xavier "X" Rodriguez fell to Earth. Those he left behind went on without him aboard the airship he once called home. Michael Everhart; the boy once known as Tin, has grown into a man and the commander of Hell Diver Raptor Team. While Michael dives to help keep the Hive in the air, Captain Leon Jordan rules with an iron fist at the helm of the ship.
Orbs IV: Exodus, Nicholas Sansbury Smith and Anthony Melchiorri.
At the end of the world, who will escape? Operation Redemption, the final desperate mission in taking back the planet from the Organics has failed. Captain Rick Noble and his soldiers have been captured and imprisoned on an alien ship. But not all is lost.
The Book of Ralph, Christopher Steinsvold.
A message appears on the moon. It is legible from Earth, and almost no one knows how it was created. Markus West leads the government's investigation to find the creator. The message is simple and familiar. But those three words, written in blazing crimson letters on the lunar surface, will foster the strangest revolution humankind has ever endured and make Markus West wish he was never involved. The message is 'Drink Diet Coke.'
The Sky-Blue Wolves: a novel of the Change, S.M. Stirling.
Many years ago, when advanced technology failed and humanity found itself in a turbulent, postapocalyptic world, extraordinary men and women birthed a new society from the ashes. In this new world of emperors and kings, new leaders emerged, making the world their own. Two generations after the Change, Crown Princess Órlaith struggles to preserve the hard-won peace her father brought to Montival.
Occupy me, Tricia Sullivan.
A woman with wings that exist in another dimension. A man trapped in his own body by a killer. A briefcase that is a door to hell. A conspiracy that reaches beyond our world. Breathtaking SF from a Clarke Award-winning author. Tricia Sullivan has written an extraordinary, genre defining novel that begins with the mystery of a woman who barely knows herself and ends with a discovery that transcends space and time.
There before the chaos, K.B. Wagers.
The battle for the throne is over. The war for the galaxy is just beginning. Hail Bristol, infamous galactic gunrunner and former runaway princess, never expected to inherit the throne of Indrana. But after avenging the murder of her entire family and cleansing the Empire of usurpers in a bloody civil war, the former outlaw must fulfill her duties to her people.
A bad deal for the whole galaxy, Alex White.
A toxic cult with powerful magics, a turncoat treasure hunter with an ancient grudge, and a creature made of death and shadows. The crew of the Capricious has pissed all of them off. After their last haul, the crew is rich enough to retire in luxury for the rest of their days. But none of it matters if the galaxy is still in danger.

WESTERN

Bad name drifter, Frank Callan.
Sam Galway is settled in Dalton, Kansas, and is now a local dignitary and respected family man. However, Dalton is a town split in two: north of the railroad line life is decent and ordered, but south of the line, cowboys raise hell and the riff-raff of the world frequent the streets. Into this town comes Sam's younger brother, Wes. Wes has seen action fighting for the Union, and now lives by his wits and his gun.
Fire Wolf, Michael D. George.
The deadly hired killer Fire Wolf is heading to a remote settlement in answer to a telegraph message. On the way there he tangles with three wanted outlaws in the ghost town known as Gold Strike.
Gold rush, Bill Grant.
Union Army deserter Cody Black thinks Gold Hill is a safe place to hide out the war and make his fortune. But Cody finds prospecting to be a tough business and soon finds himself in debt to the local gold baron.
The legend of Keane O'Leary, P. McCormac.
When outlaw chief Keane O'Leary decides it's time to retire from a life of banditry he is unaware he is about to unleash a bloody sequence of events that will make his past misdeeds seem like a hillbilly shindig.
Silver bird, Ben Ray.
Samantha Gibbons was a tomboy, born and raised in Boston, from a wealthy family who tried in vain to turn her into a 'lady'. Samantha, or Sam as she preferred, was eager to explore and lead a life of adventure, rather the tea and cake circle she was being forced into.
Dead man's return, Derek Rutherford.
How far along the trail of violence and killing can a good man walk before he becomes as bad as those that he is hunting?
Jed Harker rides out, Simon Webb.
Jed Harker wishes for nothing more than to mind his own business while travelling north to Kansas. In the summer of 1861 though, men and women were taking sides all across the United States and Harker finds himself compelled to declare where he stands on slavery.