Author surnames A-E

A novel in which peaks of humour and troughs of tragedy intermingle as Flip Mellis tries to get his life together, after a suicide (read more)

A novel in which peaks of humour and troughs of tragedy intermingle as Flip Mellis tries to get his life together, after a suicide attempt - like much else in his life - fails to achieve its goal. Overweight, weak-willed, and quick to criticise others, Flip has a self-fulfilling fatalism which leads him to stumble through each day, hoping against hope that he can get a job, mend his marriage and rebuild his life. Perceptively observed characters from American small-town life populate the book in hilarious cameos and get in the way of Flip's well-meaning attempts to reform himself. (hide)

Grace is thirty-nine and not remotely convinced that life begins at forty. When her grandmother dies she volunteers to pick up her (read more)

Grace is thirty-nine and not remotely convinced that life begins at forty. When her grandmother dies she volunteers to pick up her belongings from the sheltered accommodation. It is the last place she expects to have a chance encounter with the first man she has been instantly attracted to in a very long time, particularly as she is dressed almost head to toe in her grandmother's clothing and accessories.

Grace's granny alter ego elicits a conversation with the man about love, death and the universe, which she is convinced would not have happened otherwise. This inspires her to throw caution to the wind and turn what should have been a simple case of mistaken identity into a dating introduction opportunity for the real her. A decision which sets Grace on a rollercoaster adventure of lies, secrets and lust, making her thirty ninth year one she won't forget, but might well regret... (hide)

Stocked 6.2.14: It's the early 1980s and rookie fireman Malcolm Castle is set to take on the biggest challenge of his life. After (read more)

Stocked 6.2.14: It's the early 1980s and rookie fireman Malcolm Castle is set to take on the biggest challenge of his life. After three years bouncing around in the back of the country fire-engine, he's about to start driving it! At just 22-years-old - less than half the age of many of his colleagues - he's set to thunder through the narrow streets of one of England's most beautiful medieval towns and speed out across the glorious Shropshire countryside. But while his responsibilities are changing fast, almost everything else in Malcolm's life stays the same.

Despite facing his fair share of car accidents, house and farm fires, he still seems to spend an awful lot of time answering a string of unlikely and unexpected emergency calls. He rescues shortsighted dogs from frozen lakes, newborn lambs from flooded golf-courses, a pair of angry cows from a busy dual carriageway - and even a hot-footed hamster from a burning cage. Backed up by a heartwarming cast of fellow firemen, Malcolm's enthusiasm for his job and his life are as infectious as ever. (hide)

In the small hours of January 1st, a man begins to write, having watched Le Grand Concert de la Nuit, a film in which a former lover (read more)

In the small hours of January 1st, a man begins to write, having watched Le Grand Concert de la Nuit, a film in which a former lover - Imogen - plays a major role. For the next year, he writes something every day. His journal is a ritual of commemoration and an investigation of the character of Imogen and her relationships - with himself; with her family and friends; with other lovers.

Published:8 May 2018 (hide)

The Border country - a wild moorland barrier between the Scots and English - had, in the late 18th century started to settle down (read more)

The Border country - a wild moorland barrier between the Scots and English - had, in the late 18th century started to settle down after years of lawlessness. Reivers, the vagabond thieves who plundered across the Cheviots, had all but disappeared. Jack Charlton is an independent drover, herding cattle across the fells of Northumbria, living largely on his wits with his companion, Phillips, a feisty red haired Scot.

On a grim stormy night in an out-of-the way hostelry, he hears of the passing of his Aunt Meg, a spinster owning a hundred acres of rough farmland and a dwelling, Greays Hill - a small fortified farmhouse. Jack accepts the challenge of his inheritance and begins his integration with the local community and the realisation that he needs a wife. Murder, mischief, intrigue and skulduggery abound alongside Jack's conquests, including the flirty and conniving Squire's daughter. (hide)

Pub Date:24/09/2015 - Dreamer. Rebel. Hero. Wadjda has one simple wish - to race her friend Abdullah on her very own bicycle. But (read more)

Pub Date:24/09/2015 - Dreamer. Rebel. Hero.

Wadjda has one simple wish - to race her friend Abdullah on her very own bicycle. But in Saudi Arabia, it is considered improper for girls to ride bikes and her parents forbid her from having one. Sick of playing by the rules, Wadjda schemes different ways to make money and buy the bike herself.

But freedom comes at a high price...Set against the shifting social attitudes of the Middle East, The Green Bicycle explores gender roles, conformity, and the importance of family, all with wit and irresistible heart. (hide)

With an introduction by Christopher Hitchens. Richard Hannay is tasked to investigate rumours of an uprising in the Muslim world (read more)

With an introduction by Christopher Hitchens. Richard Hannay is tasked to investigate rumours of an uprising in the Muslim world and takes off on a hair-raising journey through German-occupied Europe to meet up with his old friend Sandy Arbuthnot in Constantinople, where they must thwart the Germans' plans to use religion to help them win the war. Set during World War I, Greenmantle is a contraversial meditation on the power of political Islam (it was pulled from Radio 4's schedule at the time of the 7 July bombings) (hide)

The search for a legendary automobile . . . A mission to clear an innocent man's name . . . The hunt for an artefact so rare that (read more)

The search for a legendary automobile . . .

A mission to clear an innocent man's name . . .

The hunt for an artefact so rare that people would kill to find it . . .

________The LATEST EXPLOSIVELY THRILLING ADVENTURE from the #1 New York Times bestselling master of adventure. In 1906, an American named Isaac Bell stops the groundbreaking Grey Ghost - a legendary prototype Rolls-Royce - from vanishing from Manchester, England forever. But not even the legendary detective can save the good name of the man accused of stealing the car. (hide)

David Almond says of this unique collection, "Stories on the page are so beautifully neat. All that lovely black print; those lovely (read more)

David Almond says of this unique collection, "Stories on the page are so beautifully neat. All that lovely black print; those lovely straight lines and paragraphs and pages. But stories are living things, creatures that move and grow in the imaginations of writer and reader.

They must be solid and touchable, like the land, and must have fluid half-known depths, like the sea. These stories take place in a real world - but in fiction, real worlds merge with dreamed worlds. Real people walk with ghosts and figments.

Pub Date:07/04/2016 (hide)

Suspicious deaths are not usually the concern of PC Peter Grant or the Folly, even when they happen at an exclusive party in one (read more)

Suspicious deaths are not usually the concern of PC Peter Grant or the Folly, even when they happen at an exclusive party in one of the most expensive apartment blocks in London. But Lady Ty's daughter was there, and Peter owes Lady Ty a favour. Plunged into the alien world of the super-rich, where the basements are bigger than the house and dangerous, arcane items are bought and sold on the open market, a sensible young copper would keep his head down and his nose clean.

But this is Peter Grant we're talking about. He's been given an unparalleled opportunity to alienate old friends and create new enemies at the point where the world of magic and that of privilege intersect. Assuming he survives the week ... (hide)