This is the remarkable story of what were known by the British as 'Q' Ships & by the Germans as ' Decoy Raiders'. Disguised as harmless merchant ships they could be transformed in moments into powerful killers & were used by both sides in the First World War. The book describes the extraordinary lengths that both sides went to ensure secrecy & deception. Voyages often lasted several years without returning to port. Owing to the nature of the game evidence regarding their work is hard to come by but Tony Bridgland has produced a fascinating piece of detective history. ...

Alistair Moffats journey from the Scottish islands & Scotland to the English coast Wales Cornwall & Ireland ignores national boundaries to reveal the rich fabric of culture & history of Celtic Britain which still survives today. This is a vividly told dramatic & enlightening account of the oral history legends & battles of a people whose past stretches back many hundred of years. The Sea Kingdoms" is a story of great tragedies ancient myths & spectacular beauty. Alistair Moffat was born & raised in Kelso. He took degrees at the universities of St Andrews Edinburgh & London & played rugby for Kelso & his universities. In 1976 he took charge of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe as it grew into the largest arts festival in the world. He now lives in Selkirk. " The Sea Kingdoms" has previously been published by Harper Collins." ...

Humphrey & Ailsa meet as children by a grey northern sea. Humphrey is quiet serious
- & will in time explore the seas mysteries;
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The sea monster lives down at the bottom of the ocean but one day he swims up to the shore sits among the rocks & happens to see a boy & his little dog playing in the rock pools. Suddenly the current carries the boy's toy boat out among the waves & when he tries to reach it the boy is swept far out to sea. An old fisherman tries to rescue him but the sky is dark & the waves are big. Who will help the boy now? ...

A mysterious trip to the desolate Northern Isles soon turns into a terrifying adventure when Bill is kidnapped! Marooned far from the mainland on a deserted coast Philip Dinah Lucy-Ann & Jack find themselves playing a dangerous game with an unknown enemy. Will they escape with Bill & their lives? ...

Goa south India. A beautiful holiday hideaway where hippies & backpackers while away the hours. But beneath the clear blue skies lies a dirty secret&8230; Simran Singh is desperate for a break & some time away from her busy job as a social worker-come-crime investigator. & so the unspoilt idyll of Goa seems just the place
- white beaches blue seas & no crime. But when a disturbing video appears on her phone featuring a young girl being attacked by a group of men she realises that a darkness festers at the heart of this supposed paradise. & when she discovers out that the girl is Liza Kay a British teenager who has gone missing she knows she must act in order to save her. But first Simran must break through the web of lies & dark connections that flourish on these beaches. Everyone it seems knows what has happened to the girl but no one is prepared to say. & when more videos appear & Simran herself is targeted in order to keep her quiet the paradise soon becomes a living nightmare.
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Celestria always spends her summer holiday at Pendrift Hall the rambling shabby Cornish mansion adorned with wisteria & clematis that has been home to the Montague family for generations. In the summer of 1958 the highlight is a lavish ball in honour of Archie Montagues fiftieth birthday & the beautiful girl on the cusp of womanhood is looking forward to practising her flirtation skills on the Wilmotte boys. But what is supposed to be a night of celebration ends in catastrophe. As a result Celestrias grandfather encourages her to play detective to seek out an explanation for the bewildering events. The quest takes her to the heel of Italy to the rugged beauty of Puglia & the cool cloisters of the Convento di Santa Maria del Mare. Here Celestria meets an enigmatic stranger & confronts unwelcome truths about her family
- & about herself. Once she has done so she is able to transform herself from selfish girl to mature woman & save the family home.
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At the heart of this epic saga set just before the Opium Wars is an old slaving-ship The Ibis. Its destiny is a tumultuous voyage across the Indian Ocean its crew a motley array of sailors & stowaways coolies & convicts. In a time of colonial upheaval fate has thrown together a truly diverse cast of Indians & Westerners from a bankrupt Raja to a widowed villager from an evangelical English opium trader to a mulatto American freedman. As their old family ties are washed away they like their historical counterparts come to view themselves as jahaj-bhais or ship-brothers. An unlikely dynasty is born which will span continents races & generations.???? The vast sweep of this historical adventure spans the lush poppy fields of the Ganges the rolling high seas & the exotic backstreets of China. But it is the panorama of characters whose diaspora encapsulates the vexed colonial history of the East itself which makes Sea of Poppies so breathtakingly alive
- a masterpiece from one of the worlds finest novelists.
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Two girls with two very different lives come together in this beautiful & moving story of friendship & family by a major new voice in girls' fiction. Meet Maya. She has a cosy comfy life with her slightly hippy mum & dad by the sea in Cornwall. But as an only child Maya feels smothered by her parents' love & longs to be a given more freedom & independence; but what Maya wants more than anything is a sister. Meet Cat. She's never known her dad & her mum's an alcoholic & is not capable of looking after herself let alone her 11 year old daughter. Cat's spent her life protecting her mum & keeping some dark secrets; all she wants is to be left alone. But Cat & Maya's worlds collide when Cat is taken into care & Maya's parents make the life-changing decision to adopt her. Maya can't wait to welcome Cat into the family & hopes that by having a sister her parents might learn to 'chill out' & give Maya a bit more freedom. But Cat is angry & resentful & resists Maya's attempts at friendship & soon Maya's idea of a perfect family is blown out of the water. As tensions rise & secrets come out will the girls ever become friends let alone sisters? ...

Jack is an apprentice bard & just beginning to learn the secrets of his mysterious master when he & his little sister are captured by Viking chief Olaf One-Brow & taken to the court of Ivar the Boneless. Ivar is married to a half-troll named Frith an evil & unpredictable queen with a strange power over her husbands court. Jack is sent on to the kingdom of the trolls where he has to find the magical well & undo the charm he has cast on Frith. He is accompanied by Thorgill a shield maiden aged 12 who wants to be a berserker when she grows up. Together they are set for a magical & exciting adventure. ...