It's mid summer in Shetland, the time of the white nights, when birds sing at midnight and the sun never sets. Artist Bella Sinclair throws a party to launch an exhibition of her work and to introduce the paintings of Fran Hunter. The Herring House, the gallery where the exhibition is held, is on the beach at Biddista, in the remote north west of the island. When a mysterious Englishman bursts into tears and claims not to know who he is or where he's come from, the evening ends in farce. The following day the Englishman is found hanging from a rafter in a boathouse on the jetty, a clown's mask on his face. Detective Jimmy Perez is convinced that this is a local murder. He is reinforced in this belief when Roddy, Bella's musician nephew is murdered too. But the detective's relationship with Fran Hunter clouds his judgement. And this is a crazy time of the year when night blurs into day and nothing is quite as it seems.

They had only one thing in common... William Lowell Kane and Abel Rosnovski, one the son of a Boston millionaire, the other a penniless Polish immigrant — two men born on the same day on opposite sides of the world, their paths destined to cross in the ruthless struggle to build a fortune. The marvellous story, spanning sixty years, of two powerful men linked by an all-consuming hatred, brought together by fate to save... and finally destroy... each other. 'Archer has a gift for plot that can only be described as genius' — Daily Telegraph. 'Probably the greatest storyteller of our age' — Mail on Sunday.

More delightful tales from the legendary Finnish artist Drawn & Quarterly's bestselling Moomin series, created by the legendary children's author Tove Jansson, is now in its fourth installment. The series is the winner of the Harvey Award and has been nominated for multiple Eisner Awards.

In the 1960s, four ambitious new MPs take their seats at Westminster. Over three decades they share the turbulent passions and upheavals of the race for power with their wives and families, men and women caught up in a dramatic game for the highest stakes of all. But only one man can gain the ultimate goal — the office of Prime Minister.

Imagine being a teenage Viking with a lot of growing up to do. Imagine stealing the Shield of Odin, the talisman that offers protection to your entire village, just to impress a beautiful girl who has a mean way with an axe. Now imagine losing both the shield and the girl to an evil prince, leading to the destruction of your home, the death of your father and the possible annihilation of everything you hold dear, just as the Runes foretold. In the first book of the epic trilogy Sons of Thor, Dane the Defiant is a Viking with a destiny, but since that destiny is pretty depressing, he's doing his best to avoid it! Embarking on a quest to rescue the girl and defeat the prince, Dane has to deal with lethal doomfish, an enraged frost giant, a love rival with really great hair and his own fears in order to succeed.

Since his father disappeared under a dark cloud of scandal, Pin Carpue has been alone in the world. His work for the local undertaker keeps him busy, but his life is bleak. Then Pin encounters the Bone Magician, a man who can raise corpses and make the dead speak. As Pin pieces together the secrets of Bone Magic, his own life becomes fraught with grave danger...

Ort knows the sky is watching. He knows what it means to watch; he spends long hours listening at doors and peering through cracks. Things are terribly wrong. His father is withering away, his sister is consumed by hatred, his grandmother is all inside herself, and his mother, a flower-child of the 1960s, is brave but helpless. Then a strange man appears at the door. That Eye, The Sky is about love, about a boy's vision of the world beyond, and about the blurry distinctions between the natural and supernatural. This is Winton at his most powerful.

This is the first major biography of V.S. Naipaul, Nobel Prize winner and one of the most compelling literary figures of the last fifty years. With great feeling for his formidable body of work, and exclusive access to his private papers and personal recollections, Patrick French has produced a lucid and astonishing account of this enigmatic genius: one which looks sensitively and unflinchingly at his relationships, his development as a writer and as a man, his outspokenness, his peerless creativity, and, his extraordinary and enduring position both outside and at the very centre of literary culture. Its clarity, honesty, even-handedness, its panoramic range and close emotional focus, above all its virtually unprecedented access to the dark secret life at its heart, make it one of the most gripping biographies Ive ever read — Hilary Spurling, Observer.

Jasmine is thrilled when she gets to catsit for her neighbours while they're away on holiday for Christmas. She adores looking after the beautiful Star and only wishes she could keep her forever! Star loves playing with Jasmine, and soon the pair are inseparable. But what Jasmine doesn't know is that Star has a secret. Although it is cold and dark outside, the time has come for Star to leave Jasmine and her warm, safe home, and find a place to hide.

There's simply no limit to the sins people will commit for a tasty meal. The Japanese are notorious for their trade in bluefin tuna, while newlyweds in Bangkok, Shanghai and Singapore devour a gelatinous soup made from poached abalone and fins hacked from living sharks. But surely there's no need for you to feel bad about ordering sea bass in a London restaurant? Unless, of course, you consider that you may well be enjoying one of the very last members of the species. And that's before you contemplate the chemicals being pumped into the farmed prawns and salmon that now fill supermarket shelves.In Bottomfeeder we follow Taras Grescoe on a year-long, round-the-world trip, as he eats his way from the top to the bottom of the food chain with one purpose in mind: to find out whether he can continue to eat such delicacies in good conscience. As well as painting a vivid and often hilarious picture of the fascinating people Taras encounters, Bottomfeeder explores the impact we are having on sea life by overfishing and draws our attention to some of the ethical choices we can make. At a time when many of the fish we take for granted are on the verge of extinction, we need to face the fact that very soon jellyfish sandwiches may be all that is left for us to eat.

New Inside Out takes all the best elements of the original Inside Out series — including the emphasis on personalisation and meaning — and adds a host of brand-new features. Sue and Vaughan have gone back to the classroom to write this new edition, working with teachers and students to find out exactly what works in the real world. The result is one of the most relevant and exciting general English courses available. Key features A new, fully updated version of our classic general English course Retains all the character and personality users love from the original Inside Out series, whilst adding a range of great new features Every Student's Book comes with a multimedia CD-ROM with interactive practice and extension activities A brand-new Beginner level New components: DVD and DVD Teacher's Book, Interactive Whiteboard software New 'Useful phrases' and 'Vocabulary Extra' sections, and much more What's new? Multimedia CD-ROM included with every Student's Book — providing extra interactive practice, at home or in school Beginner level — New Inside Out now takes students from complete beginners to advanced users of English New topics engage students and bring the books up to date Expanded grammar sections offer comprehensive coverage of key language points, whilst the new 'Grammar Extra' sections recycle and review this language 'Useful Phrases' and 'Vocabulary Extra' sections provide real-world language The comprehensive, all-in-one Teacher's Book is the perfect companion to the course, providing teacher's notes, practical teaching tips, photocopiable activities and a CD containing editable tests.

Micah Sloane knows almost everything there is to know about Risa Clay, including the vicious betrayal she endured years ago and the distrust she's harbored ever since. The only way for the Elite Ops agent to uncover an assassin — and banish the ghosts of his own dark past — is to use Risa as bait. But nothing has prepared him for her disarming blend of innocence and sensuality, or for his overwhelming need to protect her... Risa has spent six years rebuilding her life. And now, to save it, she must pose as Micah's lover and draw a killer into the open. It's a risky plan — especially with a man as powerfully seductive as Micah. But, as their charade becomes reality, Risa realizes the greatest danger may lie in losing her heart forever...

In the Ichidian Universe where The League is law, most live in fear. We fight back. Welcome to a world where corrupt assassination politics dominate everyone. It's kill or be killed. Welcome back to the future and meet hell's new breed of heroes. Devyn Kell spent his life in service to the League until he learned of the double dealing and backstabbing that was costing innocent people their lives. Refusing to play those politics, he became a Runner someone who makes sure planets get the weapons, medicine and supplies they need to survive. May the gods have mercy on any who get in his way, because he definitely won't. Alix Garran is a woman on the run from a past she can't escape. Signing on to work for Devyn as a System's Engineer, she finds a cause she can fight for and a man she can respect. But as Alix's past catches up to her, and Devyn's old enemies turn lethal, they have to fight together or fall alone, in Born of Ice, the third bestselling League novel from Sherrilyn Kenyon.

In a universe where assassins make the law, everyone lives in fear?except for Syn. Born of an illicit scandal that once rocked a dynasty, he always knew how to survive on the bloodthirsty streets. But that was then, and the future is now… Syn was raised as a tech-thief until his livelihood uncovered a truth that could end his life. He tried to destroy the evidence, and has been on the run ever since. Now trained as an assassin, he allows no one to threaten him. Ever. He is the darkness that swallows his enemies whole. Shahara Dagan is the best bounty hunter in the universe. When Syn comes back on the radar, she's the only one who can bring him to justice. There's only one problem: Syn is a close family friend who's helped out the Dagans countless times. But if she saves him, both of their lives will be on the line. Is Syn's protection worth the risk? The only hope Shahara has is to find the evidence he buried long ago. Now it's kill or be killed?and they, the predators, have just become the hunted… Born of Fire is the second book in bestselling author Sherrilyn Kenyon's League series.

This highly personal book is a singular and open-spirited account of a writer's life. It has evolved entirely with its author, bringing pieces from various stages of Graham Swift's career together with new essays, observations, poetry and interviews. Swift writes about the intimacy of playing the guitar and the perils of reading in public; of the pleasures of spending time with Ishiguro and Rushdie or sharing a private moment with Montaigne; of youthful adventures in Greece, the experience of Czechoslovakia mid-Velvet Revolution, and of the rich material offered on his very own doorstep by the district of London in which he lives, walks and works. Making an Elephant is a book of encounters, between the writer and his younger selves, father and son, present and past, author and director, reader and the page — and between friends. Full of life, charm and candour, it illustrates and celebrates the layers of experience, history and interpretation that inform not only the process of writing, but also shape the writer himself.

On 7 December 2006, in a Highgate Cemetery drenched with London rain, a Russian was buried within a stone’s throw of the grave of Karl Marx. He was Alexander Litvinenko, Sasha to his friends, a boy from the deep Russian provinces who rose through the ranks of the world’s most feared security service. Litvinenko was the man who denounced murder and corruption in the Russian government, fled from the wrath of the Kremlin, came to London and took the shilling of Moscow’s avowed enemy … Now he was a martyr, condemned by foes unknown to an agonised death in a hospital bed thousands of miles from home. Martin Sixsmith draws on his long experience as the BBC’s Moscow correspondent, and contact with key London-based Russians, to dissect Alexander Litvinenko’s murder. Myriad theories have been put forward since he died, but the story goes back to 2000 when hostilities were declared between the Kremlin and its political opponents. This is a war that has blown hot and cold for over seven years; a war that has pitted some of Russia’s strongest, richest men against the most powerful president Russia has had since Josef Stalin. The Litvinenko File is a gripping, powerful inside account of a shocking act of murder, when Russia’s war with itself spilled over onto the streets of London and made the world take notice.

The internationally bestselling biography, fully updated in time for Madonna's fiftieth birthday. Whereas other books about Madonna have been based on previously published material, this biography is the result of fifteen years of exclusive interviews with people who are speaking publicly for the first time, including close friends, business associates and even family members. Acclaimed biographer J. Randy Taraborrelli has also interviewed the star herself on numerous occasions and he draws on these first-hand experiences to bring Madonna to life as not merely a tabloid delight, but as a flesh-and-blood woman with human foibles and weaknesses, as well as great strengths and ambitions. Newly updated and published to celebrate Madonna's fiftieth birthday, this paperback edition covers the last six years in the star's life, including her self-imposed exile from America and adoption controversy, all told in J. Randy Taraborrelli's wonderful trademark style.

Aviation English is a new course in English Language Communication Skills for pilots and air-traffic controllers. The Student's Book is based on ICAO document 9835: Manual on the implementation of ICAO Language Proficiency Requirements. Everything in it has been carefully designed to help you develop the very specific skills described in the ICAO level 4 Language Profile.

- Contains exercises to help teach and practise the vocabulary students need for academic purposes — Ideal for students who need to learn basic non-technical vocabulary to enable them to study any subject at college or university — The material uses a variety of exercises to test grammar, spelling and comprehension