In The Last Wolf Jim Crumley explores the place of the wolf in Scotland
- past present & future
- & challenges many of the myths

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In The Last Wolf a philosophy professor is mistakenly hired to write the true tale of the last wolf of Extremadura a barren stretch of Spain His miserable experience is narrated in a single rolling sentence to a patently bored bartender in a dreary Berlin bar In Herman a master trapper is asked to clear a forest's last 'noxious beasts' Herman begins with great zeal although in time he switches sides deciding to track entirely new game In Herman II the same events are related from the perspective of strange visitors to the region a group of hyper-sexualised aristocrats who interrupt their orgies to pitch in with the manhunt of poor Herman These intense perfect novellas full of Krasznhorkai's signature sense of foreboding & dark irony are perfect examples of his craft ...

It is often assumed that the national identity must be a matter of values & ideas But in Robert Winder's brilliantly-written account it is a land built on a lucky set of natural ingredients the island setting that made it maritime; the rain that fed the grass that nourished the sheep that provided the wool & the wheat fields that provided its cakes & ale Then came the seams of iron & coal that made it an industrial giant In Bloody Foreigners Robert Winder told the rich story of immigration to Britain Now in The Last Wolf he spins an English tale Travelling the country he looks for its hidden springs not in royal pageantry or politics but in landscape & history Medieval monks with their flocks of sheep cathedrals built by wool the first shipment of coal to leave Newcastle marital contests on a village green mock-Tudor supermarkets
- the story is studded with these & other English things And it starts by looking at a very important thing England did not have wolves
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Michael Morpurgo has created a sweeping & dramatic story in the time of Bonnie Prince Charlie This spellbinding tale is complemented perfectly by Michael Foreman's illustrations Robbie Mc Leod & a wolf cub both orphaned venture far from their birthplace a land of rebellious fighters & vicious redcoats There is little constancy in Robbie's adventurous life save for the companionship of his wolf But when at last Robbie finds a place where he can peacefully make his home he knows in his heart that the wolf must find his own natural home too ...

What sort of a place is England? & who are the English? As the United Kingdom turns away from its European neighbours & begins to look increasingly disunited at home it is becoming necessary to ask what England has that is singular & its own 480 pages 25 integrated black & white pictures Winder Robert ...

Pia lives in a zoo in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with her parents (both ghosts) several old & cranky genies a devil & two young angels She spends her days trimming genie-beards trying to avoid being tricked into selling her soul & waiting for the angels to make a miracle big enough to save the world 320 pages Gayton Sam ...

CRIME NEVER SLEEPS'CRIME BOOK OF THE YEAR' Daily Mail ONE OF AMAZON'S BEST MYSTERYTHRILLERS OF THE YEAR Detective Renee Ballard works ' The Late Show' the notorious graveyard shift at the LAPD It's thankless work for a once-promising detective keeping strange hours in a twilight world of crime Some nights are worse than others & tonight is the worst yet Two shocking cases hours apart a brutal assault & a multiple murder with no suspects Ballard knows it is always darkest before dawn But what she doesn't know
- yet
- is how deep her investigation will take her into the dark heart of her city the police department & her own past The Late Show will keep you up all night it's time to meet Detective Renee Ballard ' The new novel from America's greatest living crime writer is a gripping thrill ride that will entrance you & keep you reading until the small hours' Daily Express' It has been more than ten years since Connelly one of the world's greatest crime writers last launched a major new character superb storytelling
- this cements Connelly's place at the very top of the crime-writing tree' Daily Mail' Classy & clever with a tenacious heroine' Sunday Mirror' Connelly achieves an enormous amount in these pages he creates a new character who immediately leaps into life; & controls a complex fast-paced plot full of surprises' Evening Standard' The Late Show introduces a terrific female character Detective Renee Ballard The pacing is breathless Ballard has astonishing resourcefulness & bravery
- she is complicated & driven' New York Times' Although the usual Connelly fingerprints are in evidence here
- the real achievement is the creation of his tenacious heroine Ballard' Guardian' Ballard is significantly more than a Bosch replacement or clone
- an absorbing character on her own terms Connelly has created yet another potentially iconic tarnished knight of those perennially mean streets' Irish Times'A characteristically complex tale of murder & police corruption' Mail on Sunday (Thriller of the Week)' First there was Detective Harry Bosch then Lincoln lawyer Mickey Haller & now comes Renee Ballard ace thriller writer Michael Connelly's first new protagonist in 10 years A nail-bitingly exciting investigation featuring a finely realised new character from one of America's finest contemporary novelists' Irish Independent





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CRIME NEVER SLEEPS'CRIME BOOK OF THE YEAR' Daily Mail ONE OF AMAZON'S BEST MYSTERYTHRILLERS OF THE YEAR Detective Renee Ballard works ' The Late Show' the notorious graveyard shift at the LAPD It's thankless work for a once-promising detective keeping strange hours in a twilight world of crime Some nights are worse than others & tonight is the worst yet Two shocking cases hours apart a brutal assault & a multiple murder with no suspects Ballard knows it is always darkest before dawn But what she doesn't know
- yet
- is how deep her investigation will take her into the dark heart of her city the police department & her own past The Late Show will keep you up all night it's time to meet Detective Renee Ballard ' The new novel from America's greatest living crime writer is a gripping thrill ride that will entrance you & keep you reading until the small hours' Daily Express' It has been more than ten years since Connelly one of the world's greatest crime writers last launched a major new character superb storytelling
- this cements Connelly's place at the very top of the crime-writing tree' Daily Mail' Classy & clever with a tenacious heroine' Sunday Mirror' Connelly achieves an enormous amount in these pages he creates a new character who immediately leaps into life; & controls a complex fast-paced plot full of surprises' Evening Standard' The Late Show introduces a terrific female character Detective Renee Ballard The pacing is breathless Ballard has astonishing resourcefulness & bravery
- she is complicated & driven' New York Times' Although the usual Connelly fingerprints are in evidence here
- the real achievement is the creation of his tenacious heroine Ballard' Guardian' Ballard is significantly more than a Bosch replacement or clone
- an absorbing character on her own terms Connelly has created yet another potentially iconic tarnished knight of those perennially mean streets' Irish Times'A characteristically complex tale of murder & police corruption' Mail on Sunday (Thriller of the Week)' First there was Detective Harry Bosch then Lincoln lawyer Mickey Haller & now comes Renee Ballard ace thriller writer Michael Connelly's first new protagonist in 10 years A nail-bitingly exciting investigation featuring a finely realised new character from one of America's finest contemporary novelists' Irish Independent





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CRIME NEVER SLEEPS'CRIME BOOK OF THE YEAR' Daily Mail ONE OF AMAZON'S BEST MYSTERYTHRILLERS OF THE YEAR Detective Renee Ballard works ' The Late Show' the notorious graveyard shift at the LAPD It's thankless work for a once-promising detective keeping strange hours in a twilight world of crime Some nights are worse than others & tonight is the worst yet Two shocking cases hours apart a brutal assault & a multiple murder with no suspects Ballard knows it is always darkest before dawn But what she doesn't know
- yet
- is how deep her investigation will take her into the dark heart of her city the police department & her own past The Late Show will keep you up all night it's time to meet Detective Renee Ballard ' The new novel from America's greatest living crime writer is a gripping thrill ride that will entrance you & keep you reading until the small hours' Daily Express' It has been more than ten years since Connelly one of the world's greatest crime writers last launched a major new character superb storytelling
- this cements Connelly's place at the very top of the crime-writing tree' Daily Mail' Classy & clever with a tenacious heroine' Sunday Mirror' Connelly achieves an enormous amount in these pages he creates a new character who immediately leaps into life; & controls a complex fast-paced plot full of surprises' Evening Standard' The Late Show introduces a terrific female character Detective Renee Ballard The pacing is breathless Ballard has astonishing resourcefulness & bravery
- she is complicated & driven' New York Times' Although the usual Connelly fingerprints are in evidence here
- the real achievement is the creation of his tenacious heroine Ballard' Guardian' Ballard is significantly more than a Bosch replacement or clone
- an absorbing character on her own terms Connelly has created yet another potentially iconic tarnished knight of those perennially mean streets' Irish Times'A characteristically complex tale of murder & police corruption' Mail on Sunday (Thriller of the Week)' First there was Detective Harry Bosch then Lincoln lawyer Mickey Haller & now comes Renee Ballard ace thriller writer Michael Connelly's first new protagonist in 10 years A nail-bitingly exciting investigation featuring a finely realised new character from one of America's finest contemporary novelists' Irish Independent





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Through his dreams George Orr can make alternate realities real' Le Guin is a writer of phenomenal power' OBSERVER ...