A topical novel about branding, code breaking, insidious marketing and strangely powerful toys from Scarlett Thomas.

Suze is used to trouble, but this time she's in deep: Ghostly Jesse has her heart, but Paul Slater, a real flesh — and — blood guy, is warm for her form. And mediator Paul knows how to send Jesse to the Great Beyond. For good. Paul claims he won't do anything to Jesse as long as Suze will go out with him. Fearing she'll lose Jesse forever, Suze agrees. But even if Suze can get Jesse to admit his true feelings for her, what kind of future can she have with a guy who's already dead?

The Trojan War rages at the foot of Olympos Mons on Mars — observed and influenced from on high by Zeus and his immortal family — and twenty-first-century professor Thomas Hockenberry is there to play a role in the insidious private wars of vengeful gods and goddesses. On Earth, a small band of the few remaining humans pursues a lost past and devastating truth — as four sentient machines depart from Jovian space to investigate, perhaps terminate, the potentially catastrophic emissions emanating from a mountaintop miles above the terraformed surface of the Red Planet.

Collins English Dictionary is a rich source of words for everyone who loves language. Not only is the dictionary comprehensive and authoritative, but it also offers outstanding coverage of world, regional and dialect English. Including a much wider range of words than ever before, the extensive coverage of geographical, scientific, and technical entries has been updated by our team of leading academic experts. Fully-revised language notes give advice on using the right word in the right place, and thousands of word histories trace the roots of modern English. All this has been complemented with a refreshingly clutter-free design, which is easy to use and easy on the eye, taking you straight to the information you need with the minimum of fuss. Have confidence Discover all the latest words as they appear in the language. Get it right You can rely on Collins; all our definitions, examples, idioms and usage notes are based on the Collins Word Web – our unrivalled and constantly updated 2.5 billion-word database of today’s English. Get there fast Accessible brand-new layout that’s easy on the eye, guiding you quickly to what you want.

It should be the most natural thing in the world. But in Tony Parsons' latest bestseller, three couples discover that Mother Nature can be one hell of a bitch.

The undisputed master of the high-concept thriller has written his most gripping and entertaining book yet In Paris, a physicist dies after performing a laboratory experiment for a beautiful visitor. In the jungles of Malaysia, a mysterious buyer purchases deadly cavitation technology, built to his specifications. In Vancouver, a small research submarine is leased for use in the waters of New Guinea. And in Tokyo, an intelligence agent tries to understand what it all means. Thus begins Michael Crichton's exciting and provocative techno-thriller State of Fear. Only Crichton's unique ability to blend scientific fact with pulse-pounding fiction could bring such disparate elements to a heart-stopping conclusion. This is Crichton's most wide-ranging thriller. State of Fear takes the reader from the glaciers of Iceland to the volcanoes of Antarctica, from the Arizona desert to the deadly jungles of the Solomon Islands, from the streets of Paris to the beaches of Los Angeles. The novel races forward on a roller-coaster thrill ride, all the while keeping the brain in high gear. Gripping and thought-provoking, State of Fear is Michael Crichton at his best.

The story of an independent young woman whose life is changed forever by a chance encounter with a childhood friend. A magical blend of compelling action, exotic locations and intriguing characters, told with Paulo`s characteristic power and insight. Pilar is an independent and practical young woman who is feeling bored and frustrated by the daily grind of her university life. Looking for a deeper meaning to her existence, she happens to meet an old childhood friend, now a handsome, mesmerizing spiritual teacher — and a rumoured miracle worker. As he leads her on a magical journey through the Fench Pyrenees, Pilar begins to realize that this chance encounter is going to transform her life forever. With Paulo`s trademark blend of mysticism, magical realism and folklore, Pilar`s story is a poignant and deeply inspiring tale.

From the acclaimed master of action and suspense. The all time classic. An airliner crashes in the polar ice-cap. In temperatures 40 degrees below zero, six men and four women survive. But for the members of a remote scientific research station who rescue them, there are some sinister questions to answer — the first one being, who shot the pilot before the crash?

A classic thriller from the bestselling master of action and suspense. The atomic submarine Dolphin has impossible orders: to sail beneath the ice-floes of the Arctic Ocean to locate and rescue the men of weather-station Zebra, gutted by fire and drifting with the ice-pack somewhere north of the Arctic Circle. But the orders do not say what the Dolphin will find if she succeeds – that the fire at Ice Station Zebra was sabotage, and that one of the survivors is a killer…

Shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction. Hilarious and sinister, ‘Beyond Black’ is a tale of dark secrets and secret forces in suburban England. Alison Hart is a medium by trade: dead people talk to her, and she talks back. With her flat-eyed, flint-hearted sidekick, Colette, she tours the dormitory towns of London's orbital road, passing on messages from dead ancestors: 'Granny says she likes your new kitchen units.' Alison's ability to communicate with spirits is a torment rather than a gift. Behind her plump, smiling and bland public persona is a desperate woman. She knows that the next life holds terrors that she must conceal from her clients. Her days and nights are haunted by the men she knew in her childhood, the thugs and petty criminals who preyed upon her hopeless, addled mother, Emmie. They infiltrate her house, her body and her soul; the more she tries to be rid of them, the stronger and nastier they become. ‘Beyond Black’ is a witty and deeply sinister story of dark secrets and forces, set in an England that jumps at its own shadow, a country whose banal self-absorption is shot through by fear of the engulfing dark.

The nightmare continues… Vampire War Trilogy comprising: Hunters of the Dusk, Allies of the Night and Killers of the Dawn. Join Darren Shan’s descent into the darkness. HUNTERS OF THE DUSK Darren Shan leaves Vampire Mountain on a life or death mission. Darren scours the world in search of the Vampaneze Lord, bu the road ahead is lined with the bodies of the damned. ALLIES OF THE NIGHT Darren Shan faces his worst nightmare yet – school! But bodies are piling up and the past is catching up with the hunters fast! KILLERS OF THE DAWN Darren Shan becomes public enemy Number One. As the vampires prepare for deadly confrontation, is this the end for Darren and his allies?

Assembled here for the first time in book form are the very best of several decades' worth of occasional writings from perhaps the best-loved and most-admired of Britain's great female writers. A selection of the very best of Doris Lessing's essays, never before collected together and published in book form. Articles on writers as diverse as Jane Austen, Muriel Spark, Virginia Woolf, D.H. Lawrence, Mikael Bulgakov sit alongside autobiographical looks at the beliefs that have shaped Lessing's thinking. There are adoring and adorable pieces on the beloved cats that she has allowed to share her life, and insightful looks at the Africa in which she grew up, and London and England, the place where she made her home. The range of subjects, cultures and periods within these essays is huge but the collection is utterly consistent in one key regard: Doris Lessing's clear-eyed vision and clearly-expressed prose are present throughout. There is a huge amount of wisdom and entertainment in these pages, and fans of Doris' infectiously forthright, zestful and impish spirit will love to own and read this book.

«Paris James has come to Las Vegas to take the sting off turning the dreaded «Three-O». But one glass of bubbly leads to another — and when the redhead wakes up the next morning, she finds to her astonishment she's in bed with ... Elvis! The good news is it's the young, sexy Elvis. The bad news is there's a diamond ring on her finger. Sometime during the evening she actually married The King of Rock 'n' Roll! Well, what happened in Vegas better stay in Vegas, right? But not if Turner Pruitt has anything to say about it. Because years before he put on his first pair of blue suede shoes, Turner knew the real Paris ... She's running away, as usual, but he knows her deepest secrets, and as much as she struggles against love, Paris is going to need him by her side as she faces her demons head-on. Because this time, Paris James has met her match.»

Fire alone can save our clan... Fireheart's traitorous enemy Tigerclaw has been vanquished and exiled from ThunderClan—but Fireheart can't shake the feeling that he's lurking out there in the forest, waiting for the chance to strike. That's not the only problem facing the young ThunderClan deputy in these blazing summer months, as he struggles to handle ominous omens, a disrespectful apprentice with a shocking secret, and a devastated Clan leader who is a shell of her former self. Meanwhile the forest gets hotter and hotter...and everyone braces for the coming storm...

ShadowClan has a dark new leader, but will he be satisfied with his power now — or does his desire for revenge burn even more strongly? Fireheart fears that there is a connection between the rise of Tigerstar and the terrible dreams that haunt his nights, murmuring of danger and death. Meanwhile, a mysterious and vicious threat unlike any other has invaded the forest, placing every cat's life in peril. Fireheart's beloved leader has turned her back on their warrior ancestors, and Fireheart can't help but wonder if she's right. Has StarClan abandoned them forever?

«ThunderClan's darkest hour is upon them, as Tigerstar's quest for power plunges all the Clans into the most terrible danger any cat has ever faced. In order to save his Clan and his friends, Fireheart must uncover the meaning of an ominous proclamation from StarClan: «Four will become two. Lion and tiger will meet in battle, and blood will rule the forest.» The time has come for prophecies to unfold, and for heroes to rise ...»

«The international bestselling author of «Kisscut» and «Blindsighted» shows off her superb talent with this brilliantly conceived, skillfully executed tale of a suspenseful hostage situation.»

It's a tough life for witch Rachel Morgan, sexy, independent bounty hunter, prowling the darkest shadows of downtown Cincinnati for criminal creatures of the night. She can handle the leather-clad vamps and even tangle with a cunning demon or two. But a serial killer who feeds on the experts in the most dangerous kind of black magic is definitely pressing the limits. Confronting an ancient, implacable evil is more than just child's play — and this time, Rachel will be lucky to escape with her very soul.

Rachel Morgan's back! Bestselling author Kim Harrison returns with a new supernatural adventure that fans of Laurell K. Hamilton and Charlaine Harris won't want to miss. Some days, you just can't win. Witch and former bounty hunter Rachel Morgan's managed to escape her corrupt company, survive living with a vampire, start her own runner service, and face down a vampire master. But her vampire roommate Ivy is off the wagon, her human boyfriend Nick is out of town indefinitely and doesn't sound like he's coming back while the far-too-seductive vampire Kisten is looking way too tempting, and there's a turf war erupting in Cincinnati's underworld. And there's a greater evil still. To put the vampire master behind bars and save her family, Rachel made a desperate bargain and now there's hell to pay—literally. For if Rachel cannot stop him, the archdemon Algaliarept will pull her into the sorcerous ever-after to forfeit her soul as his slave. Forever.