The first weapon I ever held was my mother's hand.

On a slave plantation in the Carolinas, Annis has survived in the light of her mother's resilience, comforted by stories of her African warrior grandmother. Everything she knows, she learned from her mother – how to fight, how to be strong, how to grow up in a world shrouded in darkness.

When she is sold south by the white enslaver who fathered her, Annis must venture onward through the rich but unforgiving landscapes of the American South alone: from the rice fields of the Carolinas to the slave markets of New Orleans, and into the fearsome heart of a Louisiana sugar plantation. Searching for relief in memories of her mother, she opens herself to a world beyond her own, teeming with spirits of earth, water, history and myth.

A reimagining of American slavery as beautifully rendered as it is heart-wrenching, Let Us Descend offers a magnificent portrait of the strength of the human spirit and its ability to emerge from darkness into light. This is a story of beauty, love, rebirth and reclamation – a masterwork for the ages.

Two modern classics in one volume. George Orwell is one of the finest and most influential writers of the twentieth century. Here in one volume, are two of his best-known works of electrifying political fiction, 1984 and Animal Farm. Winston Smith rewrites history. It's his job. Hidden away in the Ministry of Truth, he helps the Party and the omnipresent Big Brother control the people of Oceania. But a seed of rebellion has begun to grow in Winston's heart - one that could have devastating consequences. The animals of Manor Farm have tired of Farmer Jones. When the boar, Old Major, shares his revolutionary plans, the animals are convinced they can thrive on their own. But as the pigs vie for power, they begin to bear an uncanny resemblance to the very tyrants they had overthrown ... Captivating readers since the mid-twentieth century, the enduring popularity of 1984 and Animal Farm are testament to Orwell's powerful, prophetic prose.

FROM THE SHADOWS INTO THE LIGHT... When a fishing boat is wrecked off the treacherous North Sea coast and the body of a young woman washes up on the beach beside the iconic 'Marsden Rock', DCI Ryan cannot ignore the call to duty. With one already dead and more human cargo missing from the wreckage, Ryan and his team race to find the remaining souls - before it's too late, and their investigation turns to murder. As they uncover the seedy underbelly of Tyneside, cold and calculated opportunism clashes with the rock-hard arm of the Law, but there's one thing that proves stronger than stone... The human spirit. Murder and mystery are peppered with romance and humour in this fast-paced crime whodunnit set amidst the spectacular North Eastern landscape. "LJ Ross keeps company with the best mystery writers" - The Times "A literary phenomenon" - Evening Chronicle

Fourie, or Fury as he is known by the British, is among the most wanted of men. Rose, an English beauty pursued by an officer intent on capturing Fury, finds herself in a precarious position. Bound by a love that cannot be denied and separated by a war intent on destroying them, Rose and Fury find ways to meet and the line between patriotism and treachery becomes blurred.

From the greed and horror of the Anglo-Boer War, to the misery and death of the concentration camps and the bravery on the battlefield, comes a story of indominable courage that will hold you captive to the very end.

This is a story that weaves fictional characters into actual events that occurred during the second Anglo Boer War, without in any way modifying the role of real people involved or altering the actual outcome of historical events. Only the first battle scene is entirely fictional; all others are as recorded in history.

Petunia Moraleng, voormalige stasiebevelvoerder op Parys, is haar rang kwyt en oorgeplaas Mooibaai toe. Die bedompige klimaat voel soos ’n tronksel en sy mis die ooptes van die Vrystaat en, daarmee saam, bekostigbare blyplek. Speursersant JP Hendriks, aan wie sy deesdae rapporteer, toon boonop nie ’n greintjie simpatie nie.

Een Vrydagoggend in Desember vang ’n vakansieganger met sy hommeltuig se kamera ’n afgryslike toneel vas. Tussen die voetstukke van ’n geroeste windpomp in ’n afgeleë stuk veld wat grens aan ’n staproete, lê ’n bebloede bondeltjie mens. Minder as 24 uur later word ’n foto van nóg ’n slagoffer iewers in ’n stegie van die onderdorp soos ’n veldbrand op sosiale media versprei.

Wat het Die Clowns, ’n Russiese skeepskaptein en die matriarg van die vooraanstaande Heemstra-familie se testament gemeen? En waar kom die albaster wat in die eerste slagoffer se hand vasgeknyp is, vandaan?

Petunia en JP bevind hulself oornag as die hoofondersoekers in ’n duistere moordsaak.

Shortlisted for Crime Writers' Association International Dagger 2019 Traumatic stress causes Inspector Albertus Beeslaar to trade tough city policing for a backwater posting on the edge of the Kalahari Desert. But his dream of rural peace is soon shattered when a beautiful and eccentric artist and her four-year-old daughter are found murdered on a local farm. Brooding. Riveting. Brilliant. Deon Meyer, author of Dead at Daybreak This arresting English-language debut validates Karin Brynard's reputation as 'The Afrikaans Stieg Larsson.' An outstanding thriller. Booklist Crime fiction doesn't get any better. Mike Nicol, author of Payback Karin Brynard has established herself as one of a handful of great thriller writers in South Africa. Mail & Guardian

The epic that began with the HUGO and NEBULA Award-winning classic DUNE -- now a major motion picture from the director of Blade Runner 2049 and Arrival -- continues ...

The sand-blasted world of Arrakis has become green, watered and fertile. Old Paul Atreides, who led the desert Fremen to political and religious domination of the galaxy, is gone.

But for the children of Dune, the very blossoming of their land contains the seeds of its own destruction. The altered climate is destroying the giant sandworms, and this in turn is disastrous for the planet's economy.

Leto and Ghanima, Paul Atreides's twin children and his heirs, can see possible solutions - but fanatics begin to challenge the rule of the all-powerful Atreides empire, and more than economic disaster threatens ...

Dublin, 1943. Actress Julia Bridges disappears. The last sighting of her is entering the house of Gloria Fitzpatrick, who is later put on trial for the murder of another woman whose abortion she facilitated. But it’s never proved that Gloria had a hand in Julia’s death – and Julia’s body has never been found. Gloria, however, is sentenced to life in an institution for the criminally insane, until her apparent suicide a few years later, and the truth of what happened to Julia Bridges dies with her.

Until...

Dublin, 1968. Nicoletta Sarto is an ambitious junior reporter for the Irish Sentinel when the bones of Julia Bridges are discovered in the garden of a house on the outskirts of Dublin. Drawn into investigating the 25-year-old mystery of Julia’s disappearance and her link to the notorious Gloria Fitzpatrick, the story takes Nicoletta into the tangled underworld of the illegal abortion industry, stirring up long-buried secrets from her own past.

As much a murder mystery story as a look at a young woman’s struggle to succeed in a man’s world, Where They Lie is a beautifully atmospheric debut that will stay with you long after you’ve turned the last page.

Eric Blair stood out amongst his fellow police trainees in 1920s Burma. Nineteen years old, unusually tall, a diffident loner fresh from Eton, after five years spent in the narrow colonial world of the Raj – a decaying system steeped in overt racism and petty class-conflict – he would emerge as the George Orwell we know.

Drawing on all his powers of observation and imagination, Paul Theroux brings Orwell's Burma years to radiant life, tracing the development of the young man's consciousness as he confronts the social, racial and class politics and the reality of Burma beyond. Through one writer, we come to understand another - and see how what Orwell called 'five boring years within the sound of bugles' were in fact the years that made him.

Commissario Guido Brunetti returns with a gripping and powerful case about the murkiness of power and a test of loyalties

When two teenage gangs are arrested after clashing violently in one of Venice’s campi, the son of a local hero is implicated. But when Commissario Guido Brunetti is asked by a wealthy foreigner to vet this man, Monforte, for a job, he discovers that Monforte might not be such a hero after all.

This seeming contradiction, and a brutal attack on one of Brunetti’s colleagues by a possible gang member, concentrate Brunetti’s attentions. Soon, he discovers the sordid hypocrisy surrounding Monforte’s past, culminating in a fiery meeting of two gangs and a final opportunity for redemption.

A Refiner’s Fire is Donna Leon at her very best: an elegant, sophisticated storyteller whose indelible characters become richer with each book, and who constantly interrogates the ambiguity between moral and legal justice.

THERE'S NO PLANET LIKE HOME

After an 'incident' one wet Friday night where he was found walking naked through the streets of Cambridge, Professor Andrew Martin is not feeling quite himself. Food sickens him. Clothes confound him. Even his loving wife and teenage son are repulsive to him. He feels lost amongst an alien species and hates everyone on the planet. Everyone, that is, except Newton, (and he's a dog).

Who is he really? And what could make someone change their mind about the human race?

"Unlike anything I've ever read. Muir's writing is as sharp as a broken tooth, and just as unsettling." -V.E. Schwab on Gideon the Ninth "Deft, tense and atmospheric, compellingly immersive and wildly original." -The New York Times on Gideon the Ninth She answered the Emperor's call. She arrived with her arts, her wits, and her only friend. In victory, her world has turned to ash. After rocking the cosmos with her deathly debut, Tamsyn Muir continues the story of the penumbral Ninth House in Harrow the Ninth, a mind-twisting puzzle box of mystery, murder, magic, and mayhem. Nothing is as it seems in the halls of the Emperor, and the fate of the galaxy rests on one woman's shoulders. Harrowhark's health is failing, her magic refuses to cooperate, her sword makes her throw up, and even her mind threatens to betray her. What's worse, someone is trying to kill her. And she has to wonder: if they succeeded, would the universe be better off?

An epic dual timeline story which interweaves glory-seeking desert archaeologists, priceless treasures, Nefertiti’s tomb and the decadent cabarets of WW2 Cairo with restless expat lives in bohemian Beirut.

Archaeologist Lucie Fitzgerald's mother is dying – she's also been lying. As her home, the 'Paris of the East', Beirut, teeters on the brink of war in the ‘70s, Polly Fitzgerald has one last story to tell from her deathbed. It’s the story of her childhood best friend Juno and their life in 30s Cairo. Lucie travels home to be with her dying mother and discovers the truth about her family, Juno's work and their shared search for the greatest undiscovered tomb of all - Nefertiti's.

From the cities to the deserts, this transporting and moving story of a lost generation transformed by war is a study of great love and sacrifice in all its forms, the perfect novel for fans of Santa Montefiore, Lucinda Riley and Victoria Hislop.

Secrets emerge and romance sparks in this irresistible suburban romance from the USA Today bestselling author Kennedy Ryan.

The man she can never have . . .

Kerris Moreton should be the happiest woman in the world: She has a successful business and is about to start the family she's always wanted. But the man of her dreams-the one whose green eyes see straight into her soul and whose gentle hands make her body hum with pleasure-is not hers.

Each secret moment with Walsh Bennett serves to remind Kerris of what she's missing. And every stolen hour makes it harder to see her future without him. But being with Walsh would betray a sacred promise and upend her perfect life. When tragedy strikes, the razor's edge between love and loyalty grows sharper than ever. And Kerris must decide where her heart will fall . . .

Everyone here has killed someone.

There is no way off this island.

You will all either kill or be killed here.

One of these statements is a lie. But which one?

Amira’s less than thrilled to be spending the weekend with her husband’s university friends. Two of them are hosting a joint fortieth on a private Scottish island, with vintage champagne, expensive gifts, and soaks in the wood-fired hot tub. Despite the luxury, Amira knows she’s going to feel left out, not to mention freezing cold and cut off.

When they decide to play ‘two truths and a lie’, anonymously posting three statements about themselves into a box, years of resentment start bubbling to the surface. And then an extra slip of paper emerges, scrawled with three chilling threats. Who wrote it? And are two of the statements really true―have they all been responsible for someone’s death?

With no phone reception and no way off the island, the group are trapped here until the end of the weekend. And as tension rises and secrets are spilled, they can’t shake the feeling that they’re not the only ones here. Is someone watching them? Someone who wants them dead? Or is it one of them who has murder in mind?

When a late bloomer goes viral for coming out, she decides to use her newfound fame to get her first kiss—with the help of a sexy bartender—in this "funny, smart, and spicy" romance (Abby Jimenez).

Librarian Angela Gutierrez has never been kissed. But after posting a video about her late bloomer status and ace identity, she's finally ready to get some firsts out of the way. Using her new influencer status to come up with a scavenger hunt idea in which the winner earns her first kiss, Angela realizes she may need some help to pull off the event.

Enter Krystal Ramirez, hot bartender and Angela’s unrequited crush of five years. Despite vowing that romantic love isn’t for her, Krystal seems awfully determined to help Angela pull off the scavenger hunt and find true love.

There’s just one problem: the connection between Angela and Krystal is getting stronger and stronger the more they hang out, until Angela isn’t sure she wants to go through with the scavenger hunt after all. But Krystal is convinced that she isn’t capable of love and before long, Angela realizes she's falling head over heels for a woman who may never love her back.

The first in a stunning new series introducing the Marlow Murder Club! 'A hugely enjoyable murder mystery written with wonderful verve, humour and compassion. Utterly delightful' Robert Webb 'Agatha Christie with a modern twist' SUN From the creator of the BBC One hit TV series, Death in Paradise To solve an impossible murder, you need an impossible hero... Seventy-seven-year-old Judith Potts is blissfully happy. She lives alone in a faded mansion in Marlow, sets crosswords for The Times, and there's no man in her life to tell her what to do or how much whisky to drink. One evening, while out swimming in the Thames, Judith witnesses a brutal murder. When the local police don't believe her story, Judith and two unlikely friends decide to investigate for themselves. Together, they are the Marlow Murder Club. But soon another body turns up, and it seems they have a real-life serial killer on their hands. Now the puzzle they set out to solve has become a trap from which they might never escape... READERS LOVE THE MARLOW MURDER CLUB 'Miss Marple with attitude' 5* Amazon Review 'I want to be Judith Potts when I grow up' 5* Amazon Review 'Wonderful escapism!' 5* Amazon Review 'Absolutely loved it!' 5* Amazon Review 'My favourite book of the year!' 5* Amazon Review 'I had an absolute blast reading this book' 5* Amazon Review 'So enjoyable, I laughed out loud !' 5* Amazon Review

A high-powered lawyer learns firsthand the terrible truth about her client . . . a discovery that propels her on a quest for justice and revenge in this addictively readable thriller. Lawyer Kelly McCann, defends men accused of rape. She's fought to build a successful career as a criminal defence attorney, with a speciality in defending men accused of sex crimes – falsely accused, she always maintains. Her detractors call her a traitor to her gender, but she doesn't care: she loves to win. Kelly's most recent victory is securing an acquittal for a world-renowned scientist accused of sexually assaulting his female employees. But the thrill of her victory is short-lived. That very night she, too, becomes the victim of a brutal sexual assault. And almost as horrific as the attack is the fact that she can't tell anyone who the perpetrator is – not without destroying her career in the process. Kelly has never backed down from a fight and she's not about to start pulling her punches now. As she joins forces with her rapist's victims, for the first time it's not about winning ― these wronged women are out for justice and for revenge. "Her, Too is a timely, fast-paced, and unputdownable thriller with everything a reader craves. A sure standout for anyone involved in the #metoo movement" -- Jaime Lynn Hendricks, bestselling author of Finding Tessa "One of the most unique thriller setups I've ever read, and it keeps moving at warp speed. A must-read." -- Phillip Margolin, New York Times bestselling author of A Matter of Life and Death, on The Cage "An absolutely spellbinding thriller. . . . An utterly engrossing and thoroughly entertaining story." -- Booklist (starred review) on The Cage