the FAITHLESS
To the outside world, Cynthia Tailor is a woman to envy; she has a devoted husband, a lovely home and two gorgeous children. But Cynthia is deeply unhappy with her lot; she has always craved the best things in life, and is determined to see that she gets them. Cynthia will let nothing stand in her way, even if it means devastation and tragedy for those nearest to her. And the casualties are many: her husband Jimmy, weak and unable to fight the wife he can never please; her sister Celeste, from whom Cynthia steals her most precious possession; and her parents, Mary and Jack, who pick up the pieces.
But the victims who suffer the most are Cynthia's children. For James Junior and Gabby, the pain she causes will stay with them for ever...
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spiral
Pacific Ocean 1946: Liam Connor of the British Army, a global expert on germ warfare, is sent to help the US Navy foil an attempt by a Japanese submarine to unleash the world's first biological super-weapon. The devastating decision is made to annihilate Spiral by releasing the world's fourth atomic bomb, obliterating the weapon before it can release its catastrophic payload.
New York, present day: Connor, now a world-renowned Nobel prize-winner, prayed that the spectre of Spiral would never return. But now it is back and the stakes are exponentially higher. Spiral would be virtually unstoppable with current technological advances and only Connor holds the key to its cure. Those who seek Spiral will stop at nothing to obtain Connor's knowledge. As the race begins for Spiral, will the world survive the Doomsday scenario about to unfold?
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the secret soldier Those in power always need an unofficial option. Meet John Wells. Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah fears he is fast losing control of his family and his people. A series of terrorist attacks has put his kingdom on edge and, with powerful factions turning against him, the king must turn to the one man he has been told will make the difference. Ex-CIA operative John Wells knows all too well how covert internal battles can undermine a nation. With the stability of a powerful Middle Eastern country at stake, he goes undercover to investigate King Abdullah's claims. But as Wells begins to unravel the conspiracy, it takes an unexpected twist. The plotters want more than the fall of a monarch. Their objective is to spark the final bloody conflagration between Islam and the West. Has time finally run out for John Wells?
BLINDSIDE
A passenger jet crashes in Denver, Colorado, with no survivors.
In Glasgow, Alex Cahill is surprised to hear from the wife of his former colleague in the US Secret Service - a man who was supposedly travelling on the doomed plane. The only catch is, there is no record of his name on the passenger list. And even Cahill's connections in the US intelligence agencies refuse to tell him what's going on.
In a desperate search to uncover the truth behind the disappearance of his old friend, Cahill and Logan Finch head to Denver and a confrontation with the FBI.
They are unaware however that a perfect storm of events is gathering across the globe. Events that stretch from Colorado, to the desolate expanse of war torn Afghanistan and to the mean streets of Glasgow - where DCI Rebecca Irvine is investigating a new drug that is killing users.
It is a deadly storm that will engulf them all.
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buried secrets
When private investigator Nick Heller returns home to Boston to set up his own agency, he soon gets an urgent case closer to home than expected.
Alexandra Marcus - teenage daughter of hedge fund titan and Heller family friend Marshall Marcus - has been kidnapped. But it's no ordinary kidnapping - she has been abducted by professionals, buried alive in an underground casket, a video camera streaming her desperate pleas live over the internet. With a limited supply of food and water, time is quickly running out.
Nick is determined to catch the perpetrators but when Marcus is arrested by the FBI for fraud, accused of operating a Ponzi scheme, Nick realises that he has some powerful enemies who may have the motivation to go after his daughter and a conspiracy that reaches up to the very highest levels of government. Nick must play a dangerous. (PAPERBACK OUT 2012)
game if he hopes to flush out those responsible before Alexa is buried for good...
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cuckoo
A dark, juicy, deliciously unsettling, read-it-in-one-sitting psychological drama.
Rose has it all - the gorgeous children, the husband, the beautiful home. But then her best friend Polly comes to stay. Very soon, Rose's cosy world starts to fall apart at the seams - her baby falls dangerously ill, her husband is distracted - is Polly behind it all? It appears that once you invite Polly into your home, it's very difficult to get her out again...
YOU BELONG TO ME
When forensic pathologist Lucy Trask stumbles across a mutilated body by the chess tables in her local Baltimore park, its face so badly damaged it is unrecognisable, her sole concern is that it might be her old school teacher Mr Pugh.
When the corpse is identified, Lucy is shocked to discover that the victim is actually another man from her past.
Who killed him and why his skin is burnt with the number '1' is unclear but it's evident that someone is demanding Lucy's attention.
The discovery of a second branded body raises worrying questions: how many more lives may be at risk before the killer's final message is revealed? And can Lucy solve the killer's gruesome puzzle before their thirst for revenge is complete?
the loner
A brilliant new stand-alone crime thriller from Scotland's Crime Master.
Xavier Aislado is a gentle giant, half Spanish, half Scot, brought up in Edinburgh by his grandmother, Paloma Puig, a ferocious old lady whose grim brand of care sees him into his teens, until his father moves back to Spain, leaving him to grow up fast. His emergence into manhood is colourful, and eventful. After a short career as a professional footballer, he turns to journalism, and has a bloody introduction to the trade, as his first assignment ends in violent death. Inevitably, remorselessly, as his autobiography unfolds, Xavi's life and his love become entwined with his work, and he is immersed in tragedy, loss and trayal, going halfway round the world in search of a truth that may destroy him.
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satori
A gripping thriller that follows assassin Nicholai Hel across Asia as he fights to regain his freedom.
Sugamo Prison, Japan, October 1951. Nicholai Hel has spent the last three years in solitary confinement for the murder of his mentor. A formidable assassin as well as a master of hoda korosu or 'naked kill', he has developed a supreme awareness of the presence of danger. Suddenly offered the chance of freedom, he feels it now as never before...
Can Hel succeed in winning his freedom and if so, at what cost? And can he ever achieve his ultimate goal of satori - the possibility of true understanding and harmony with the world?
plugged
Dan, an Irishman who's ended up in New Jersey, finds himself embroiled in a world of murder, kidnapping and corrupt cops.
Dan works as a bouncer in a seedy club, half in love with hostess Connie. When Connie is murdered on the premises, a vengeful Dan finds himself embroiled in an increasingly deadly sequence of events in which his doctor friend Zeb goes mysteriously missing, a cop-killing female cop becomes his only ally, and he makes an enemy of ruthless drug-dealer Mike Madden. Written with the warmth and wit that make the Artemis Fowl novels so irresistible, though with additional torture and violence, PLUGGED is a brilliant crime debut.
the death instinct
A spellbinding literary thriller about terror, war, greed, and the darkest secrets of the human soul, by the author of the million-copy bestseller, The Interpretation of Murder.
September 16, 1920. Under a clear blue September sky, a quarter ton of explosives is detonated in a deadly attack on Wall Street. Fear comes to the streets of New York. Witnessing the blast are war veteran Stratham Younger, his friend James Littlemore of the New York Police Department, and beautiful French radiochemist Colette Rousseau. A series of inexplicable attacks on Colette, a secret buried in her past, and a mysterious trail of evidence lead Younger, Littlemore, and Rousseau on a thrilling international and psychological journey - from Paris to Prague, from the Vienna home of Dr Sigmund Freud to the corridors of power in Washington, DC, and ultimately to the hidden depths of our most savage instincts. As the seemingly disjointed pieces of Younger and Littlemore's investigations come together, the two uncover the shocking truth about the bombing - a truth that threatens to shake their world to its foundations.
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nine inches
Dan Starkey, the ducking and diving hapless investigator, takes centre stage again in this brilliant new novel by the master of comic crime.
Radio shock-jock and self-styled people's champion Jack Caramac is used to courting controversy - but when his four-year-old son is kidnapped for just one hour, and then sent back with a warning note, he knows he may have finally gone too far. Jack has no choice but to turn to Dan Starkey for help. Recently chucked by his long-suffering wife Patricia, Dan has finally given up on journalism and is now providing a boutique, bespoke service for important people with difficult problems. Dan resolves to catch whoever kidnapped Jack's son - and very soon finds himself in the middle of a violent feud between rival drug gangs, pursued by jealous husbands, unscrupulous property developers and vicious killers as the case spirals ever more out of his control.
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88 killer
When the body of a young white male is discovered in a Harlem alleyway, NYPD detective, Tom Harper, is not convinced this is a straightforward homicide case. Determined to discover the truth, Harper investigates a spate of similar murders across the city with the help of police psychologist, Denise Levene. But Denise is battling her own demons, as Tom knows all too well.
The realisation that a serial killer could be on the prowl seems like frighteningly familiar territory to Tom and Denise. But hatred and fear take on many forms and Tom has never come across a case quite like this...
666 charing cross road
From olde London Town to the juicy heart of the Big Apple, something is waiting to bite.
In a Manhattan gallery, a strange, undead woman, who's been lost for centuries, is found in a basement and becomes the centrepiece of Shelley's new museum show. Nicknamed Bessie, the Scottish Bride, she becomes an overnight celebrity as Christmas approaches.
From the dusty vaults beneath the famed bookshops in Charing Cross Road, Shelley's bibliophile aunt Liza receives crumbling volumes by post, while her friend Jack prefers brand-new books and his brand-new lover. When a small leather-bound book of spells arrives, Liza finds it repellent. But its arcane magic brings Bessie to life.
BUY IT NOWenthrals Shelley's posh boyfriend Daniel - literally. It contains the quintessence of evil in the form of a dark bloodstain marking several pages: vampire blood. As Daniel's power grows, everyone's lives are infected. Soon the vicious vampire infestation rife in NYC threatens to spread to London - and only the Scottish Bride and her new friends can stop it...