Wendy Everly can barely remember what it was like to feel like a normal girl. She'd wished for her life to be different but everything is so much more complicated than she'd expected. And she certainly hadn't dreamt she'd be getting married at eighteen to man she didn't love all for the sake of duty. As the big day approaches, Wendy can't stop thinking about two different men and neither of them are her husband-to-be. Finn, quiet, strong and determined to do what's right and Loki, dark and seductive a sworn enemy who once saved her life... With an all-out war just days away, Wendy needs to act quickly if she is to save her friends and family. But while her loyalties and duties are to her people deeper passions are leading her elsewhere. And as her worlds collide Wendy must sacrifice everything she loves to save them. But will it be enough?

This is an another outstanding adventure from one of the world's best loved storytellers. Hazel Bannock is the owner of the Bannock Oil Corp, one of the major global oil producers. While cruising in the Indian Ocean, her yacht is hijacked by Somalian pirates and her nineteen year old daughter Cayla kidnapped. Major Hector Cross is an ex-SAS operative and the man behind Cross Bow Security, the company contracted to Bannock Oil to provide all their security. His loyalty to the Bannock family goes beyond the call of duty. The pirates demand a crippling ransom for Cayla's release, and complicated political and diplomatic sensitivities render the major powers incapable of intervening. With growing evidence of the horrific torture to which Cayla is being subjected, Hazel calls on Hector to help her rescue her daughter. Between them, Hazel and Hector are determined to take the law into their own hands.

Rennie Airth was born in South Africa and has worked as a foreign correspondent for Reuters. The first novel in his John Madden trilogy, River of Darkness, was published in 1999 to huge critical acclaim, was shortlisted for four crime fiction awards and won the Grand Prix de Litterature Policiere in France. The sensational sequel was The Blood-Dimmed Tide, and The Dead of Winter forms the final part of the trilogy.

1588. In the height of her power is the legendary Elizabeth Tudor, history's most enigmatic queen. She is the virgin with many suitors; the victor of the Armada who hated war; the jewel-bedecked woman always pinching pennies. Elizabeth's flame-haired cousin, Lettice Knollys, is her bitter rival. In love with Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, and mother to the Earl of Essex, the mercurial nobleman who challenged Elizabeth's throne, Lettice has been intertwined with Elizabeth since childhood. This is a story of two women of fierce intellect and desire: one trying to protect her country and throne; the other trying to regain power and position for her family. Their rivalry soon involves everyone close to Elizabeth from the famed courtiers who enriched the crown to the legendary poets and playwrights. And, for Elizabeth, to be married to her people meant she must rule as much with her heart as with her head...

Rust and Bone conjures a savage world of prizefighters, gamblers and sex addicts; dogs fight to the death and bare-knuckled men fight for survival on the most extreme margins. And yet these gritty stories are tempered by gentleness, the quiet understanding in the most intimate relationships. A whale trainer's accident, a boy's life endangered — where human vulnerability is so close to the surface, the humanity of these characters heralds redemption and hope.

First published in 1985, White Noise won the National Book Award. It is now regarded as a classic of postmodern literature. Jack Gladney is a pioneering professor in the field of Hitler Studies at the bucolic Midwestern College-on-the-Hill. Married five times, he has a brood of children and stepchildren with his current wife, Babette. Over the course of an absurd, tragic year, Jack and Babette will each be forced to confront the question that keeps them awake at night: who will die first? In 2012 Picador celebrates its 40th anniversary. During that time we have published many prize-winning and bestselling authors including Bret Easton Ellis and Cormac McCarthy, Alice Sebold and Helen Fielding, Graham Swift and Alan Hollinghurst. Years later, Picador continue to bring readers the very best contemporary fiction, non-fiction and poetry from across the globe.

The long-awaited third installment of the worldwide phenomenon and number-one international bestseller Tales of the Otori.

After a health scare, Brighton-based Lou is forced to confront the fact that her time to have a baby is running out. She can't imagine a future without children, but her partner doesn't seem to feel the same way, and she's not sure whether she could go it alone. Meanwhile, up in Yorkshire, Cath is longing to start a family with her husband, Rich. No one would be happier to have a child than Rich, but Cath is infertile. Could these strangers help one another out? Combining Sarah Rayner's deft exploration of raw emotions with the joy and resilience of friendship, The Two Week Wait is a memorable, moving page-turner about two very different women, each yearning to create a family of her own.

Caleb and Camille Fang have dedicated their lives to making great art. But for their children, Annie and Buster, who have been unwillingly involved in their parents' crazy performances for as long as they can remember, their art is an embarrassment. As soon as the children grow up they flee home, desperate to escape chaos of their parents' world.

Coroner Jenny Cooper returns in her most explosive journey yet. When Flight 189 plunges into the Seven Estuary, Coroner Jenny Cooper finds herself handling the case of a lone sailor whose boat appears to have been sunk by the stricken plane, and drawn into the mysterious fate of a ten year-old girl, Amy Patterson, a passenger on 189, whose largely unmarked body is washed up alongside his. While a massive and highly secretive operation is launched to recover clues from the wreckage, Jenny begins to ask questions the official investigation doesn't want answered. How could such a high tech plane — virtually impregnable against human error — fail? What linked the high powered passengers who found themselves on this ill-fated flight? And how did Amy Patterson survive the crash, only to perish hours later? Under pressure from Amy's grieving mother, and opposed by those at the very highest levels of government, Jenny must race against time to seek the truth behind this terrible disaster, before it can happen again...

Why would suicide need a witness? On the east coast of Ireland, Victor Delahaye, one of the country's most prominent citizens, takes his business partner's son out sailing. But once at sea, Davy Clancy is horrified to witness Delahaye take out a gun and shoot himself dead. This strange event captures the attention of Detective Inspector Hackett and his friend Pathologist Doctor Quirke. The Delahayes and Clancys have been rivals for generations and the suicide lays bare the perplexing characters at the heart of the mystery, from Mona, Delahaye's toxic young widow, to Jonas and James, his strange, enigmatic twin sons; and Jack Clancy, his down-trodden, womanizing partner. And when a second death occurs, one even more shocking than the first, Quirke begins to realise that terrible secrets lie buried within these entangled families; and that in this world of jealousy, ruthless ambition and pride — nothing is quite as it seems...

I laughed out loud in places and had tears in my eyes as I turned the last page. I can't wait to watch Julie Kibler's star rise! Diane Chamberlain 89-year-old Isabelle McAllister has a favour to ask her hairdresser Dorrie Curtis and it's a big one. Isabelle wants Dorrie, a black single mother in her thirties, to drop everything to drive her from her home in Arlington, Texas, to a funeral in Ohio. As they drive, Isabelle starts to tell her story: as a willful teen in 1930s Kentucky, she fell deeply in love with Robert Prewitt, the black son of her family's housekeeper — in a town where blacks weren't allowed after dark. The tale of their forbidden relationship and its tragic consequences makes it clear that Dorrie and Isabelle are headed for a gathering of the utmost importance, and that the history of Isabelle's first and greatest love just might help Dorrie find her own way. With tenderness and searing emotion, Calling Me Home illuminates the hardships, passions and dreams that link women across race, generations and time.

Cursed to be a siren, Gemma’s life is slowly being destroyed. Struggling to move away from the savage darkness she needs to survive, she’s desperate to break the curse that has turned her into a monster and is keeping her from the family – and boy – that she loves. But the alluring yet lethal sirens, Penn, Thea and the newly initiated, Liv have no intention of letting her go. The key to her freedom lies with an ancient scroll and Gemma’s frantic search leads her to someone who might be able to help—the mysterious immortal Diana, who cursed Penn and her sisters thousands of years ago. But Diana will not give up her secrets easily and unless Gemma and her sister Harper can unlock the scroll’s powers then Penn will trap Harper’s boyfriend Daniel and destroy the two sisters for good.

The Present: Rebecca Bradley, a young American actress, escapes the bright lights and her well-known actor boyfriend after his unexpected proposal to deepest Dartmoor in Devon, after landing a leading role in a prestigious 1920s-set British film. Hiding from the media glare, she is welcomed by the mysterious Lord Anthony Astbury, who has opened his stately home, Astbury Hall, to the film crew. When Rebecca is transformed into her screen role as a 1920s debutante, Lord Anthony is shocked by the resemblance to his late grandmother and reveals to her his quest to discover his family's past. As Rebecca is cut off from the modern world and drawn deeper into the atmosphere of a bygone age by the role, her grasp on present-day reality begins to slip... The Past: India, 1911. At the Coronation Durbar of George V, eleven-year-old Anahita, a spiritually gifted Indian girl, meets Indira, a wealthy and privileged Indian Princess. They form a deep, lasting friendship, and Anahita is persuaded by Indira to become her companion. Indira's mother sends them both to England to be educated, but, once there, World War I strikes. Instead of returning to India, they travel to Astbury Hall for the holidays, where Anahita meets the sixteen-year-old Lord Donald Astbury, the reluctant heir to the estate. Their relationship grows stronger after the war, but with it so too does the pressure from the callous and conniving Lady Maud Astbury, Donald's mother, for him to marry Violet, a rich American heiress, to save Astbury Hall.

WINNER OF THE DEANSTON SCOTTISH CRIME BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD How does a gunman retire? Frank MacLeod was the best at what he does. Thoughtful. Efficient. Ruthless. But is he still the best? A new job. A target. But something is about to go horribly wrong. Someone is going to end up dead. Most gunmen say goodbye to the world with a bang. Frank's still here. He's lasted longer than he should have... The breathtaking, devastating sequel to lauded debut The Necessary Death of Lewis Winter, How a Gunman Says Goodbye will plunge the reader back into the Glasgow underworld, where criminal organisations war for prominence and those caught up in events are tested at every turn. The final book in the Glasgow Trilogy The Sudden Arrival of Violence will follow soon... Praise for The Necessary Death of Lewis Winter, longlisted for both the CWA John Creasey Dagger for Best Debut Crime Novel of the Year and the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger for Best Thriller of the Year: 'A truly exceptional debut' Paul Bailey, Independent 'Brutal, witty and well-written... a brilliant debut' Sunday Telegraph 'Remarkable...' tartan noir 'will have a new star' Daily Mail 'Mackay ratchets up the tension like a master' Daily Telegraph 'Remarkably original... a wholly believable and unnerving portrait of organised crime.'

A rainy night, an Amish father returning home with his three children, a speeding car hurtling toward them out of nowhere. What at first seems like a tragic, but routine car accident suddenly takes on a more sinister cast as evidence emerges that nothing about the crash is accidental. But who would want to kill an Amish deacon and two of his children? He leaves behind a grieving widow and a young son who clings to life in the intensive care wing of a hospital, unable to communicate. Desperate to find out who killed her best friend's husband and why, Kate begins to suspect she is not looking for a reckless drunk, but instead is on the trail of a cold blooded killer in the heart of Painter's Mill. It is a search that takes her on a chilling journey into the darkest reaches of the human heart and strikes at the heart of everything she has ever believed about the Amish culture into which she was born.

When Patrick Grant meets Ella, he seizes the opportunity of a new life with her. He imagines the future with his beautiful second wife by his side: the years ahead filled with all that is bright and promising. When Ella gives birth to Daniel, Patrick's happiness is complete. A son at last. Patrick adores Daniel: a golden child, talented, artistic, loving. And then, when Daniel is fourteen, tragedy strikes. Without warning, Patrick and Ella's world is shattered beyond repair and Patrick is forced to re-evaluate everything: his own life, his role as husband and father, all his previous assumptions about family. Together with Ella, he is forced to embark on a voyage of discovery. He must confront uncomfortable truths about himself and about the privileged world he and his wife inhabit. This is the story of a family torn apart by conflict, suspicion and loss. It is also a story, ultimately, of redemption and forgiveness — and the strength of severely-tested family bonds.

North Carolina, 1960. Newlywed Jane Forrester, fresh out of university, has sought what most other women have shunned: a career. But life as a social worker is far from what she expected. Out amongst the rural Tobacco fields of Grace County, Jane encounters a world of extreme poverty that is far removed from the middle-class life she has grown up with. But worse is still to come. Working with the Hart family and their fifteen-year-old daughter Ivy, it's not long before Jane uncovers a shocking secret, and is thrust into a moral dilemma that puts her career on the line, threatens to dissolve her marriage, and ultimately, determines the fate of Ivy and her family forever. Soon Jane is forced to take drastic action, and before long, there is no turning back.

In this house there are many secrets... It is 1965 and young Alexandra Crewe obediently marries the man her father has selected for her. But very soon both she and her husband Laurence realize that their marriage is a disaster. When real love finds Alexandra, plucking her out of her unhappy existence, she is powerless to resist. Her home becomes Fort Stirling, a beautiful Dorset castle, but Alexandra fears that there will be a price to pay for this wonderful new life. When tragedy strikes, it seems that her punishment has come, and there is only one way she can atone for her sins... In the present day, Delilah Young is the second wife of John Stirling and the new chatelaine of Fort Stirling. The house seems to be a sad one and Delilah hopes to fill it with life and happiness. But when she attempts to heal the heartbreak in John's life, it seems that the forces of the past might be too strong for her. Why does John have such a hatred for the old folly on the hill, and what happened to his mother when she vanished from his life? As Delilah searches for the truth, she realizes that perhaps some secrets are better left buried...

Incisive and deliciously readable Daily Express Over a century ago, a young cavalry lieutenant wrote a riveting account of what he saw during his first major campaign, a vicious war against tribal insurgents on the North-West Frontier. Winston Churchill's The Story of the Malakand Field Force, published in 1898, made his reputation as a writer — and as a soldier. More than 120 years later it is still reading for military commanders on the ground, both British and American. Now, acclaimed author and foreign correspondent Con Coughlin tells the story of that campaign, combining colourful historical narrative, interviews with contemporary key players and the journalist's eye for both a good story and deep analysis. Churchill's First War is not only a dramatic and vivid piece of military history but affords us a rare insight into both the nineteenth-century 'Great Game' and the twenty-first century conflict that has now raged longer than the Second World War and taken more lives than the Falklands.