Sadly death at the races is not uncommon. However three in one afternoon was sufficiently unusual to raise more than an eyebrow." Its the third death that really troubles former champion jump-jockey Sid Halley. He knows the perils of racing all too well
- but in his day jockeys didnt usually reach the finishing line with three. 38 rounds in the chest. But this is precisely how he finds Huw Walker
- the new winner of the Triumph Hurdle & Halleys friend. Now former friend. Walker was riding one of Lord Enstones horses in the Hurdle & it was the inimitable owner who invited Halley in the first place. His brief: to make discrete enquiries into alleged race fixing. Are results being rigged? Are bookies taking a cut? & if so are trainers & jockeys playing a dangerous game with stakes far higher than they realise.. . Halleys quest for answers draws him ever deeper into the darker side of the race game in a life-or-death power-play that will push him to his very limits
- both professionally & personally."


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Its the third death on Cheltenham Gold Cup Day that really troubles super-sleuth Sid Halley. Former champion jockey Halley knows the perils of racing all too well -- but in his day jockeys didnt usually reach the finishing line with three. 38 rounds in the chest. But this is precisely how he finds jockey Huw Walker -- who only a few hours earlier had won the coveted Triumph Hurdle. Just moments before the gruesome discovery Halley had been called upon by Lord Enstone to make discreet enquiries into why his horses appeared to be on a permanent losing streak. Are races being fixed? Are bookies taking a cut? & if so are trainers & jockeys playing a dangerous game with stakes far higher than they realise? Halleys quest for answers draws him ever deeper into the darker side of the race game in a life-or-death power play that will push him to his very limits -- both professionally & personally. ...

Don Mc Rae grew up in a South Africa where his father would call the black men he met boy & where his mother insisted that their black servants used tin mugs plates & cutlery as they ate the familys left-over food in the backyard of their grand suburban property. The Mc Raes like so many white people seemed oblivious to the violent injustices of apartheid. As the author grew up the political differences between father & son widened & when Don refused to join up for National Service risking imprisonment or exile overseas the two were torn apart. It wasnt until years later that the author discovered that the father with whom he had fought so bitterly had later in his life transformed himself into a political hero. Risking everything one dark & rainy night Ian Mc Rae travelled secretly into the black township of Soweto to meet members of Nelson Mandelas then banned African National Congress to discuss ways to bring power to black South Africa. He had no political ambitions; he was just a man trying to replace the worst in himself with something better. Under Our Skin is a memoir of these tumultuous years in South Africas history as told through the authors family story. It offers an intimate & penetrating perspective on life under apartheid & tells a story of courage & fear hope & desolation & love & pain especially between a father & his son. ...

In Under Pressure" Thomas Keller shows us how sous vide which involves packing food in airtight plastic bags & cooking at low heat achieves results that other cooking methods simply cannot
- in flavour & precision. For example steak that is a perfect medium rare from top to bottom; & meltingly tender yet medium rare short ribs that havent lost their flavour to the sauce. Fish which has a small window of doneness is easier to finesse & salmon develops a voluptuous texture when cooked at a low temperature. Fruit & vegetables benefit too retaining their bright colour while achieving remarkable textures. There is wonderment in cooking sous vide
- in the ease & precision (salmon cooked at 123 degrees versus 120 degrees!) & the capacity to cook a piece of meat (or glaze carrots or poach lobster) uniformly."

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There's a reason why Stephen King is one of the best selling writers in the world ever. He knows how to write stories that suck you in & are impossible to put down. The New York Times describes it as a 'relentless tidal pull' & Stephen King has done it time & time again with stories like The Shawshank Redemption Misery The Green Mile & The St&. In Under the Dome he has produced another riveting masterpiece. The end of every chapter hooks you into the next drawing you inside a psychological drama that is so rich you don't read it you live it. It is the story of the small town of Chester's Mill Maine which is inexplicably & suddenly sealed off from the rest of the world by an invisible force field. No one can get in & no one can get out. The normal rules of society are suddenly changed & when food electricity & water run short the community begins to crumble. As a new & more sinister social order develops Dale Barbara Iraq veteran teams up with a handful of intrepid citizens to fight against the corruption that is sweeping through the town & to try to discover the source of the Dome before it is too late.. . ...

The memory of a brief visit to Burma had haunted Rory Mac Lean for years. A decade after the violent suppression of an unarmed national uprising which cost thousands of lives & all hopes for democracy he seized the chance to return. Travelling from Rangoon to Mandalay & Pagan into the heart of the Golden Triangle he hears stories of ordinary people struggling to survive under one of the most brutal & repressive regimes in the world & meets Aung San Suu Kyi perhaps the most courageous woman of our time & the embodiment of all Burmas hope. On his journey Mac Lean exposes the tragedy of a hundred betrayals. Under the Dragon" is a perceptive & heartbreaking portrayal of contemporary Burma a country that is shot through with desperation & fear but also blessed
- even in the darkest places
- with beauty & courage."

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' When people ask me what I do for a crust & I tell them that I'm a novelist they immediately assume that my life is a non-stop carousel of limos television appearances hair-dos devoted fans stalkers & all the glitzy paraphernalia of being a public figure. It's time to set the record straight. I write alone in a darkened bedroom wearing my PJs eating bananas my laptop on a pillow in front of me...' Her novels are read & adored by millions around the world
- now read Marian Keyes' collected pieces: regular bulletins from the woman under the duvet. Bursting with her hilarious observations
- on life in-laws weight loss & parties; her love of shoes & her LTFs (Long-Term Friends); the horrors of estate agents & lost luggage; & how she once had an office Christmas party that involved roasting two sheep on a spit Moroccan style
- it's the perfect bedtime companion & will have you wincing with recognition or roaring with laughter.


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The first novel in Simon Scarrow's bestselling Roman series. It is 42 AD & Quintus Licinius Cato has just arrived in Germany as a new recruit to the Second Legion the toughest in the Roman army. If adjusting to the rigours of military life isn't difficult enough for the bookish young man he also has to contend with the disgust of his colleagues when because of his imperial connections he is appointed a rank above them. As second-in-command to Macro the fearless battle-scarred centurion who leads them Cato will have more to prove than most in the adventures that lie ahead. Then the men discover that the army's next campaign will take them to a land of unparalleled barbarity
- Britain. After the long march west Cato & Macro undertake a special mission that will thrust them headlong into a conspiracy that threatens to topple the Emperor himself...
...

Tibor Fishers hilarious first novel follows the adventures of two young Hungarian basketball players through the turbulent years between the end of World War II & the anti-Soviet uprising of 1956. In this spirited indictment of totalitarianism the two improbably heroes Pataki & Gyuri travel the length & breadth of Hungary in a epic quest for food lodging & female companionship. ...

Under the Greenwood Tree is Hardy's most bright confident & optimistic novel. This delightful portrayal of a picturesque rural society tinged with gentle humour & quiet irony established Hardy as a writer. However the novel is not merely a charming rural idyll. The double-plot in which the love story of Dick Dewey & Fancy Day is inter-related with a tragic chapter in the history of Mellstock Choir hints at the poignant disappearance of a long-lived & highly-valued traditional way of life. ...