A riveting psychological thriller now a major ITV drama from the Number One bestselling Queen of crime fiction Val Mc Dermid. In the Peak District village of Scarsdale thirteen-year-old girls didn't just run away. So when Alison Carter vanished in the winter of '63 everyone knew it was a murder. Catherine Heathcote remembers the case well. A child herself when Alison vanished decades on she still recalls the sense of fear as parents kept their children close terrified of strangers. Now a journalist she persuades DI George Bennett to speak of the hunt for Alison the tantalizing leads & harrowing dead ends. But when a fresh lead emerges Bennett tries to stop the story
- plunging Catherine into a world of buried secrets & revelations. Decades later he finally tells his story to journalist Catherine Heathcote but just when the book is poised for publication Bennett unaccountably tries to pull the plug. He has new information which he refuses to divulge new information that threatens the very foundations of his existence. Catherine is forced to reinvestigate the past with results that turn the world upside down. A Greek tragedy in modern England A Place of Execution is a taut psychological suspense thriller that uniquely explores exposes & explodes the border between reality & illusion in a multi-layered narrative that turns expectations on their head & reminds us that what we know is what we do not know. A monstrous tale of deception the technique of the telling is the greatest deception of all.
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From the double Man Booker prize-winner comes an extraordinary work of historical imagination
- this is Hilary Mantels epic novel
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24-year-old Caitlin Davies was studying in America when she met & fell in love with the enigmatic Ron. When Ron returned to his home in Botswana Caitlin joined him in Maun the Place of Reeds & the two began their lives together. Eager to absorb all that Setswana culture had to offer Caitlin found herself becoming part of Rons extended family falling in love with both the country & its people. Eventually with the birth of their daughter Caitlins happiness seemed complete. But the Botswana of the 1990s was changing. AIDS & urbanization had taken their toll violence was on the increase. When with her child in her arms Caitlin was brutally attacked Rons family closed ranks & Caitlin found herself ostracized by the very people she had grown to love. Passionate hilarious dramatic & heartbreaking in turn Place of Reeds" is a story of the clash of cultures the inflexibility of belief & traditions. Its a story about women
- about Caitlin & her daughter about Eliah & Madintwa Rons formidable mother & grandmother. Most of all its a story about one womans courage resilience
- & ultimately survival."

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Ex-vicar Lionel Lawrence believes that everyone deserves a second chance which is why he decides to open the old rectory to a stream of young offenders. All Lionel wants is to help these poor lost souls to find the right path
- he has no idea that the consequences of his good deed will include blackmail murder & a missing teenager. But Chief Inspector Barnaby is sure he knows whos behind the worrying disappearance of Lionels latest young charge -- a defiantly elusive suspect hes convinced is the incarnation of evil.
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When the world has failed you you need a place of safety... Hard-hitting crime from the author of Damaged Goods. The rape of a young asylum seeker plunges family care lawyer Lilly Valentine into the toughest case of her life. 14-year-old Anna lives in Hounds Place a hostel in Bedfordshire for youngsters seeking refuge from the atrocities being carried out in their homelands. A chance meeting with three public schoolboys ends in her being horrifically assaulted. When Artan Anna's friend & a fellow asylum seeker approaches Lilly about seeking justice through the courts she warns him that the law may not be on their side. Who will believe the words of an asylum seeker over the account of three privileged English boys? Despite this Lilly is loath to get involved. After all she is supposed to be putting her family & work commitments first. But Lilly quickly lives to regret that decision when Artan & Anna turn up at a school armed with guns determined to take matters into their own hands. The day turns to tragedy & Anna is arrested. Wracked with guilt Lilly is compelled to take on Anna's case despite the objections of her boyfriend Jack boss & most importantly her own son Sam
- a pupil at the school. Her decision to defend Anna attracts a huge backlash from the press & the community. & when local racist groups pick up on the story Lilly's family & friends become a target. Can Lilly follow her conscience & defend Anna
- or is this case just too close to home?

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Are you unsure about your medical nursing placement? Do you need guidance on what to prepare to get the most out of your practice learning? Will you have the range of clinical skills to care for individual patients? What learning opportunities will there be to meet your competencies? How can you maximise your learning during this placement? This book will help you with all these concerns. It will advise you on what to expect from the placement what you can learn how to link theory & practice & how to make the most of your learning opportunities & meet your competencies. ...

Rory Stewarts moving sparsely poetic account of his walk across Afghanistan in January 2002 has been immediately hailed as a classic. Caught between hostile nations warring factions & competing ideologies at the time Afghanistan was in turmoil following the US invasion. Travelling entirely on foot & following the inaccessible mountainous route once taken by the Mohgul Emperor Babur the Great Stewart was nearly defeated by the extreme hostile conditions. Only due to the help of an unexpected companion & the generosity of the people he met on the way did he survive to report back with unique insight on a region closed to the world by twenty-four years of war. This is traveling at its hardest & travel-writing at its best
- David Gilmour an astonishing achievement: a unique journey of great courage
- Colin Thubron wise funny & marvelously humane
- Michael Ignatieff [this] evocative book feels like a long lost relic of the great age of exploration -- Guardian His encounters with Afghans are tragic touching & terrifying.
- Daily Telegraph



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One of the most inspiring spiritual teachers of our time offers simple practical advice for living with less fear less anxiety & a more open heart. Bought in a hotly contested auction The Places That Scare You is now available in massmarket taking Pema Chodron s spiritual teachings to a wider audience. We always have a choice Pema Chodron teaches: we can either let the circumstances of our lives harden us & make us increasingly resentful & afraid or we can let them soften us & make us kind. This unique book shows us how to awaken our basic goodness & connect to others. In her lively contemporary voice Chodron translates the wisdom of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition for the layperson. Her wisdom cuts across all traditions & religions
- appealing to everyone from the Dalai Lamas followers to ordinary people trying to make sense of their lives. This title has gone straight onto the bestseller lists in the USA where it has just been published. Recently profiled in Oprahs O magazine Pema Chodron is a spiritual teacher for anyone
- whether they have a spiritual path or not. Her heartfelt advice & wisdom (developed in her 20 years of practice as a Tibetan Buddhist nun as well as her years previously as a normal housewife & mother) give her a wide appeal. Particularly in these difficult times this advice strikes just the right note offering us comfort & challenging us to live deeply & contribute to creating a more loving world.

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This is a blood-pumping white-knuckle sci-fi thriller of epic proportions. The FAYZ goes from bad to worse... The darkness has been foiled once again & the resurrected Drake has been contained. But the streets of Perdido Beach are far from safe with a growing army of mutants fighting against the humans for power in the town. In a small room of a house near the edge of town Little Pete lies ill on a bed. In his fevered dreams he continues his battle with the hidden evil that seeks to use his power to bring about anarchy & destruction. ...

With the city of Exeter ravaged by an outbreak of the yellow plague Sir John de Wolfe the county coroner must divide his time between visiting his sick brother William who has been struck down by the disease & dealing with a series of brutal murders which appears to be linked to a revival of heresy in the city. When some of the cathedral canons begin a crusade against this danger to the Church Sir John finds himself accused of being too sympathetic to the heretics bringing him into conflict with the ecclesiastic authorities. As the situation worsens the coroner must seek sanctuary in order to save his skin. Can he survive long enough to unmask the real killer? ...