Spring 2010 & when Charlie & Ros inherit Ashenden from their aunt Reggie a decision must be made. The beautiful eighteenth-century house set in acres of English countryside is in need of serious repair. Do they try to keep it in the family or will they have to sell? Moving back in time in an interwoven narrative spanning two & a half centuries we witness the house from its beginnings through to the present day. Along the way we meet those who have built the house lived in it & loved it; those who have worked in it & those who would subvert it to their own ends including Mrs Trimble housekeeper to the rackety spendthrift Mores; the wealthy Henderson family in their Victorian heyday; six-year-old Pudge; Walter Beckmann prisoner in its grounds; & Reggie & Hugo agents of its postwar revival. Through good times & bad the better we get to know the house the more we care about its survival. A novel about people architecture & living history Ashenden" is an evocative & allusive reflection on England & its past." ...

A celebrated writer by the time the war broke out in 1914 Somerset Maugham was dispatched by the Secret Service to Lucerne
- under
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Alex has run away & is hiking through the wilderness with her dead parents' ashes about to say goodbye to the life she no longer wants to live. But then the world suddenly changes. An electromagnetic pulse sweeps through the sky zapping every electronic device & killing the vast majority of adults. For those spared it's a question of who can be trusted & who has changed... Everyone still alive has turned
- some for the better (those who acquired a superhuman sense) while others for the worse (those who acquired a taste for human flesh). Desperate to find out what happened & to avoid the zombies that are on the hunt Alex meets up with Tom
- an Army veteran who escaped one war only to find something worse at home
- & Ellie a young girl whose grandfather was killed by the electromagnetic pulse. This improvised family will have to use every ounce of courage they have just to find food shelter while fighting off the ' Changed' & those desperate to stay alive. A tense & involving adventure with shocks & sudden plot twists that will keep teen & adult readers gripped.


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Ruby's life is changed forever when one night she stumbles across the gorgeous Kieran Ashaik. Almost immediately she is in danger by association stalked & threatened by those who want Kieran dead; not just because of his bad attitude & violent unpredictable nature. He is part of an ancient species of Phoenix capable of transforming into terrifying predators; a species Ruby soon realises she is part of. She is then presented with a choice: to follow this dark stranger & his family into a dangerous unfamiliar world of love lies & killing or risk dying alone without ever knowing her true potential. Either way she will die a brutal death; slowly burning from within until her body becomes nothing but ashes. Her choice will determine whether she will ever live again. ...

In the summer of 2013 cricket's greatest rivalry will be renewed as England take on Australia to see who can win the Ashes arguably sport's smallest trophy but one that has cricket lovers everywhere transfixed. With almost 140 years of history behind it the Ashes have provided some of the greatest & funniest stories in sport
- from touching moments as when Andrew Flintoff consoled a distraught Brett Lee after England's narrow Test victory in 2005 to the truth about who holds the record for downing the most beers on the flight between the two countries. With characteristic talk SPORT insight & irreverence Portnoi looks back at the greatest players & matches in Ashes history reveals some of the extraordinary goings-on in the changing rooms & unearths some of the most bizarre cricketing trivia. & yes: the bushiest tache of them all Merv Hughes does feature!
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The Calahrian Empire is collapsing. All across the realm native populations are rising up to throw off the shackles of colonial rule. Two key factors drive this -- the return of the Stars of Power & Knowledge & the spread of the Shadow Monarchs forest. The result is that the Calahrian Imperial Army is stretched thin trying to maintain order at the critical moment when it is needed to fend off the advances of the elf-witch. For the Iron Elves regiment their loyalty is tested to the breaking point. The Prince is devastated by the destruction of the Lost Library & the realization that the Empire he is to inherit is crumbling. Major Konowa Swift Dragon is determined to lead the living survivors of the regiment while Private Alwyn Renwar -- an emissary with his own agenda -- commands the dead. Together their only hope is to break the oath that binds them but doing so means making the perilous journey to the Shadow Monarchs mountain in a final confrontation that may be the ultimate trap. There is only one way to find out... ...

The Calahrian Empire is collapsing. All across the realm native populations are rising up to throw off the shackles of colonial rule. Two key factors drive this -- the return of the Stars of Power & Knowledge & the spread of the Shadow Monarch's forest. The result is that the Calahrian Imperial Army is stretched thin trying to maintain order at the critical moment when it is needed to fend off the advances of the elf-witch. For the Iron Elves regiment their loyalty is tested to the breaking point. The Prince is devastated by the destruction of the Lost Library & the realization that the Empire he is to inherit is crumbling. Major Konowa Swift Dragon is determined to lead the living survivors of the regiment while Private Alwyn Renwar -- an emissary with his own agenda -- commands the dead. Together their only hope is to break the oath that binds them but doing so means making the perilous journey to the Shadow Monarch's mountain in a final confrontation that may be the ultimate trap. There is only one way to find out... ...

A woman driven by blood. A man thirsting for vengeance... As night falls Claire Roth flees driven from her home by a fiery threat that seems to come from hell itself. Then from out the flames & ash a vampire warrior emerges. He is Andreas Reichen her one-time lover but now a stranger consumed by vengeance. Caught in the crossfire Claire cannot escape his savage fury
- or the hunger that plunges her into his world of eternal darkness & unending pleasure. Nothing will stop Andreas from destroying the vampire responsible for slaughtering his Breed brethren.. .even if he must use his former lover as a pawn in his deadly mission. Claire can lead Andreas to the enemy he seeks but it is a journey fraught with danger
- & deep desire. For Claire is the one woman Andreas should not crave & the only one hes ever loved. So a dangerous seduction begins
- one which blurs the line between predator & prey love & hate...


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Thora peered at the floor but couldnt see anything that could have frightened Markus that much only three mounds of dust. She moved the light of her torch over them. It took her some time to realize what she was seeing-- & then it was all she could do not to let the torch slip from her h&. Good God she said. She ran the light over the three faces one after another. Sunken cheeks empty eye-sockets gaping mouths; they reminded her of photographs of mummies shed once seen in National Geographic. Who are these people? I dont know said Markus... Bodies are discovered in one of the excavated houses at a volcanic tourist attraction dubbed The Pompeii of the North. Markus Magnusson who was only a teenager when the volcano erupted falls under suspicion & hires attorney Thora Gudmundsdottir to defend him
- but when his childhood sweetheart is murdered his case starts to look more difficult & the locals seem oddly reluctant to back him up. The third crime novel from international bestseller Yrsa Sigurdardottir & the third featuring her popular heroine Thora ASHES TO DUST is tense taut & terrifying. well-written pacey & wonderfully atmospheric. Guardian on MY SOUL TO TAKE
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OS Explorer Map is the Ordnance Survey's most detailed map & is recommended for anyone enjoying outdoor activities like walking horse riding & off-road cycling. Providing complete GB coverage the series details essential information such as youth hostels pubs & visitor information as well as rights of way permissive paths & bridleways. ...