A spare, sparkling tour de force about one woman's journey to becoming a cop, by master of noir James Sallis, author of Drive.
A spare, sparkling tour de force about one woman's journey to becoming a cop.
Sarah Jane Pullman is a good cop with a complicated past. From her small-town chicken-farming roots through her runaway adolescence, court-ordered Army stint, ill-advised marriage and years slinging scrambled eggs over greasy spoon griddles, Sarah Jane unfolds her life story, a parable about memory, atonement, and finding shape in chaos. Her life takes an unexpected turn when she finds herself named the de facto sheriff of a rural town, investigating the mysterious disappearance of her predecessor - and the even more mysterious realities of the life he was hiding from his own colleagues and closest friends.
In the tradition of James Crumley's The Last Good Kiss and Ivy Pochoda's Wonder Valley, this kaleidoscopic character study sparkles in every dark and bright detail - a virtuoso work by a master of both the noir and the tender aspects of human nature.
Set mostly in Arizona and L.A., Drive is a classic noir about a man who stunt drives for movies by day and drives for criminals at night. He is double-crossed and, though before he has never been involved in the violence ('I drive. That's all.'), he goes after the ones who double-crossed him and tried to kill him. This is the film tie-in edition.
Amerikanischer Autor, Debut Ray Boy Calabrese wird 16 Jahre nach dem Tod eines jungen Mannes aus dem Gefängnis entlassen.
Der Bruder des Opfers möchte Rache.
Set in the tangled world of Swiss finance, politics and the media, Montecristo is a pacy conspiracy thriller full of betrayal and underhand tactics a sharp and entertaining demonstration of the topical maxim that some banks are simply too big to fail.
At the centre of Foregone is famed Canadian American leftist documentary filmmaker Leonard Fife, one of sixty thousand draft evaders and deserters who fled to Canada to avoid serving in Vietnam. Fife, now in his late seventies, is dying of cancer in Montreal and has agreed to a final interview in which he is determined to bare all his secrets at last, to demythologize his mythologized life. The interview is filmed by his acolyte and ex-star student, Malcolm MacLeod, in the presence of Fife's wife and alongside Malcolm's producer, cinematographer, and sound technician, all of whom have long admired Fife but who must now absorb the meaning of his astonishing, dark confession.
Imaginatively structured around Fife's secret memories and alternating between the experiences of the characters who are filming his confession, the novel challenges our assumptions and understanding about a significant lost chapter in American history and the nature of memory itself. Russell Banks gives us a daring and resonant work about the scope of one man's mysterious life, revealed through the fragments of his recovered past.
'Absolute, utter perfection' Chloe Liese, bestselling author of Only and Forever
A married couple joins a week-long wilderness expedition to help them reconnect in this heartfelt companion novel to the viral TikTok sensation Out on a Limb.
High school sweethearts Sarah and Caleb Linwood have always been a sure thing. For the past seventeen years, they have had each other's backs through all of life's ups and downs.
But Sarah has begun to wonder... who is she without her other half?
When she decides to take on a fundraiser in memory of her late mother, Sarah wants nothing more than to prove that she doesn't need Caleb's help to succeed. But the event fails and Caleb uninvitedly steps in to save the day.
The rift that follows unearths a decade of grievances and doubts. Are they truly the same people they were when they got married at nineteen? Are they supposed to be?
Desperate to save what they know they once had, Sarah and Caleb join a grueling, week-long hiking trip intended to guide couples through rough patches. Can they fight their way out of the woods in order to find their way back to their roots?
A dazzling tapestry of love and faith, memory and imagination, The Magic Kingdom questions what it means to look back and accept one's place in history. With an expert eye and stunning vision, Russell Banks delivers a wholly captivating portrait of a man navigating Americana and the passage of time.
In 1971, a property speculator named Harley Mann begins recording his life story onto a reel-to-reel machine. Reflecting on his childhood in the early twentieth century, Harley recounts that after his father's sudden death, his family migrated down to Florida's swamplands - mere miles away from what would become Disney World - to join a community of Shakers. Led by Elder John, a generous man with a mysterious past, the colony devoted itself to labor, faith, and charity, rejecting all temptations that lay beyond the property. Though this way of life initially saved Harley and his family from complete ruin, when Harley began falling in love with Sadie Pratt, a consumptive patient living on the grounds, his loyalty to the Shakers and their conservative worldview grew strained and, ultimately, broke. As Harley dictates his story across more than half a century - meditating on youth, Florida's everchanging landscape, and the search for an American utopia - the truth about Sadie, Elder John, and the Shakers comes to light, clarifying the past and present alike.
A SUNDAY TIMES HISTORICAL FICTION BOOK OF THE MONTH
'Vivid, visceral and utterly immersive. Extraordinary' LIZ HYDER author of The Gifts
'You can smell the spit and sawdust rising from the pages of this atmospheric gothic novel.' - RED Magazine
'A Violent, disturbing gothic tale compellingly told.' - The Guardian
'If you love Sarah Waters and dark historical fiction, you will no doubt be hooked.' - Diva magazine
In the slums of 19th-century New York.
A tattooed mystic fights for her life.
Her survival hangs on the turn of a tarot card.
Powerful, intoxicating and full of suspense. The Knowing is a darkly spellbinding novel about a girl fighting for her survival in the decaying criminal underworlds.
Whilst working as a living canvas for an abusive tattoo artist, Flora meets Minnie, an enigmatic circus performer who offers her love and refuge in an opulent townhouse, home to the menacing Mr Chester Merton. Flora earns her keep reading tarot cards for his guests whilst struggling to harness her gift, the Knowing - an ability to summon the dead. Caught in a dark love triangle between Minnie and Chester, Flora begins to unravel the secrets inside their house.
The Knowing is a stunning debut inspired by real historical characters including Maud Wagner, one of the first known female tattoo artists, New York gang the Dead Rabbits, and characters from PT Barnum's circus.
THE TIMES AND SUNDAY TIMES THRILLER OF THE YEAR 2024
THE TELEGRAPH BEST BOOKS OF 2024
FINANCIAL TIMES BEST BOOKS OF 2024
WINNER OF THE 2024 EDGAR AWARD FOR BEST FIRST NOVEL
WINNER OF THE 2024 INTERNATIONAL THRILLER WRITERS AWARD FOR BEST FIRST NOVEL
WINNER OF THE 2024 BARRY BEST FIRST MYSTERY OR CRIME NOVEL AWARD
WINNER OF THE 2024 MACAVITY BEST FIRST MYSTERY AWARD
SHORTLISTED FOR THE ANTHONY AWARD FOR BEST FIRST NOVEL
NOMINATED FOR THE STRAND MAGAZINE BEST DEBUT MYSTERY OF THE YEAR
One of the "top spy novelists of the 21st Century" The Times
'Gritty, propulsive, dark and twisty' David McCloskey, author of Damascus Station
'It's fantastic, I loved it' Steve Cavanagh, author of Thirteen
'Deservedly garlanded with high praise' Adam Lebor, Financial Times
'..the most impressive debut of the year to date and a spy novel to rank alongside the best of Mick Herron's Slough House series.' The Irish Times
'Sensually atmospheric, deftly constructed and written with flair...immediately elevates IS Berry, a former CIA case officer, alongside David McCloskey and Paul Vidich.' John Dugdale, The Sunday Times
'Berry has all of le Carre's cynicism about Western intelligence services, and outsoars him in her ability to convincingly evoke a love affair against an espionage backdrop. This is a star in the making.' Jake Kerridge, The Daily Telegraph
'A cracking debut thriller' The New Yorker
'Sensational...feels like every inch of the real world of espionage' Alex Gerlis, author of Every Spy a Traitor
'I.S. Berry is at the vanguard of a new generation of American spy novelists who have electrified the genre.' Charles Cumming, author of Judas 62
The thrilling debut from author and former CIA officer I.S. Berry, following an American spy's last dangerous mission.
Shane Collins, a world-weary CIA spy, is ready to come in from the cold. Stationed in Bahrain for his final tour, he's anxious to dispense with his mission - uncovering Iranian support for the insurgency. But then he meets Almaisa, an enigmatic artist, and his eyes are opened to a side of Bahrain most expats never experience, to questions he never thought to ask.
When his trusted informant becomes embroiled in a murder, Collins finds himself drawn deep into the conflict, his romance and loyalties upended. In an instant, he's caught in the crosswinds of a revolution. He sets out to learn the truth behind the Arab Spring, win Almaisa's love, and uncover the murky border where Bahrain's secrets end and America's begin.
Now optioned for film by Scott Delman of Shadowfox productions (Producer of HBO Max hit series Station Eleven).
'Vidich has firmly established himself in the very top flight of espionage writers, with a series of slow-burn character studies putting him in the line of le Carre.' - CrimeReads
A stunning new espionage novel by a master of the genre, Beirut Station follows a young female CIA officer whose mission to assassinate a high-level Hezbollah terrorist reveals a dark truth that puts her life at risk.
Lebanon, 2006. The Israel-Hezbollah war is tearing Beirut apart and the country is on the brink of chaos.
The CIA and Mossad are targeting a reclusive Hezbollah terrorist. They turn to young Lebanese-American CIA agent, Analise, who has the perfect plan. However, Analise begins to suspect that Mossad has a motive of its own.
She alerts the agency but their response is for her to drop it. Analise is now the target and there is no one she can trust.
A tightly-wound international thriller, Beirut Station is Paul Vidich's best novel to date.
Drive, James Sallis's critically acclaimed thriller about a movie stunt-man who moonlights as a getaway driver for the mob, became an award-winning film, directed by Nicholas Winding Refn, starring Ryan Gosling and Carey Mulligan and introduced Sallis to a worldwide audience - this is the stunning sequelSeven years have passed since Driver ended his campaign against those who double-crossed him. He has left the old life, become Paul West and founded a successful business back in Phoenix.But walking down the street one day, he and his fiancée are attacked by two men and, while Driver dispatches both, his fiancée is killed.Sinking back into anonymity, aided by his friend Felix, an ex-gangbanger and Desert Storm vet, Driver realises that his past stalks him - and will not stop.He has to turn and face it.
Thelma and Louise meets Goodfellas when an unlikely trio of women in New York find themselves banding together to escape the clutches of violent figures from their pasts.
THELMA AND LOUISE MEETS GOODFELLAS when an unlikely trio of women in New York find themselves banding together to escape the clutches of violent figures from their pasts.
After Brooklyn mob widow Rena Ruggiero hits her eighty-year-old neighbour Enzio on the head with an ashtray when he makes an unwanted move on her, she steals his vintage Chevy Impala and retreats to the Bronx home of her estranged daughter, Adrienne, and her granddaughter, Lucia, only to be turned away at the door. Their neighbour, Lacey 'Wolfie' Wolfstein, a one-time Golden Age porn star and retired Florida Suncoast grifter, takes Rena in and befriends her. When Lucia discovers that Adrienne is planning to hit the road with her ex-boyfriend, she figures Rena is her only way out of a life on the run with a mother she can't stand. The stage is set for an explosion that will propel Rena, Wolfie, and Lucia down a strange path, each woman running from their demons, no matter what the cost.
A Friend is a Gift You Give Yourself is a screwball noir about finding friendship and family where you least expect it, in which William Boyle again draws readers into the familiar - and sometimes frightening - world in the shadows at the edges of New York's neighbourhoods.
'Underhill's tender, innovative debut is the smartest take on this trope I've ever read' Jodi Picoult, #1 Sunday Times bestselling author
'Underhill skilfully employs a clever set-up and a queer lens to explore the deep changes we all experience in growing up' Steven Rowley, New York Times bestselling author of The Guncle
A whimsical and healing novel about a trans man in New York who - almost 30, laid off, broke - moves back to his small Illinois hometown, walks into the bookstore he worked at in high school... and slips through time to come face to face with his pre-transition, teenage self.
If you had one chance to talk to your younger self... would you? What would you say?
When Darby left Oak Falls for university in New York City, all he wanted was to get as far away as possible, find a community where he could start afresh -- and finally forget about his childhood best friend Michael, and just how painfully their friendship ended.
Now, about to turn 30, Darby suddenly finds himself unemployed. With no better alternative, and questioning where he really belongs, he moves back to his hometown. But the changes in Oak Falls make him feel off balance. And Michael's still there, their relationship still distant and strained.
One thing is familiar: In Between Books, Darby's refuge growing up and high school job. When he walks inside, Darby feels an eerie sense of deja vu - everything is exactly the same. Even the newspapers are dated 2009. And behind the till is a teen who looks a lot like Darby did at sixteen... a teen who just might give him the opportunity to change his own present for the better - if he can figure out how before his connection to the past vanishes forever.
In City of Margins, the lives of several lost souls intersect in Southern Brooklyn in the early 1990s. There's Donnie Parascandolo, a disgraced ex-cop with blood on his hands; Ava Bifulco, a widow whose daily work grind is her whole life; Nick, Ava's son, a grubby high school teacher who dreams of a shortcut to success; Mikey Baldini, a college dropout who's returned to the old neighborhood, purposeless and drifting; Donna Rotante, Donnie's ex-wife, still reeling from the suicide of their teenage son; Mikey's mother, Rosemarie, also a widow, who hopes Mikey won't fall into the trap of strong arm work; and Antonina Divino, a high school girl with designs on breaking free from Brooklyn. Uniting them are the dead: Mikey's old man, killed over a gambling debt, and Donnie and Donna's poor son, Gabe.
These characters cross paths in unexpected ways, guided by coincidence and the pull of blood. There are new things to be found in the rubble of their lives, too. The promise of something different beyond the barriers that have been set out for them. This is a story of revenge and retribution, of facing down the ghosts of the past, of untold desires, of yearning and forgiveness and synchronicity, of the great distance of lives lived in dangerous proximity to each other. City of Margins is a technicolor noir melodrama pieced together in broken glass.
Mick Hardin, a combat veteran now working as an Army CID agent, is home on a leave that is almost done. His wife is about to give birth, but they aren't getting along. His sister, newly risen to sheriff, has just landed her first murder case, and local politicians are pushing for city police or the FBI to take the case. Are they convinced she can't handle it, or is there something else at work? She calls on Mick who, with his homicide investigation experience and familiarity with the terrain, is well-suited to staying under the radar. As he delves into the investigation, he dodges his commanding officer's increasingly urgent calls while attempting to head off further murders. And he needs to talk to his wife.
The Killing Hills is a novel of betrayal - sexual, personal, within and between the clans that populate the hollers - and the way it so often shades into violence. Chris Offutt has delivered a dark, witty, and absolutely compelling novel of murder and honor, with an investigator-hero unlike any in fiction.
