Meet Skulduggery Pleasant: detective sorcerer warrior. Oh yeah. & dead. Skulduggery Pleasant & Valkyrie Cain are back
- just in
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Just when you think you've saved the world... You will kill her?" the Torment asked. Skulduggery sagged. " Yes." He hesitated then took his gun from his jacket. "I'm sorry Valkyrie " he said softly. " Don't talk to me " Valkyrie said. " Just do what you have to do." Valkyrie parted her tunic & Skulduggery pointed the gun at the vest beneath. " Please forgive me " Skulduggery said then aimed the gun at the girl & pulled the trigger. With Serpine dead the world is safe once more. At least that's what Valkyrie & Skulduggery think until the notorious Baron Vengeous makes a bloody escape from prison & dead bodies & vampires start showing up all over Irel&. With Baron Vengeous after the deadly armour of Lord Vile & pretty much everyone out to kill Valkyrie the daring detective duo face their biggest challenge yet. But what if the greatest threat to Valkyrie is just a little closer to home...?" ...

Third bone-breaking belly-busting adventure in the series that puts the funny" back in...um...funny series. That didn't really work did it? If you've read the previous Skulduggery books then you know what the Faceless Ones are
- & if you know what the Faceless Ones are then you can probably take a wild guess that things in this book are going to get AWFULLY sticky for our skeletal hero & his young sidekick. If you haven't read the previous Skulduggery books then what are you doing reading this? Go & read them right now so that you know what all that stuff in the previous paragraph was about. Done? Good. So now you're on tenterhooks too desperately awaiting the answers to all your questions & instead you're going to have to wait to read the book. Sorry about that."
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Mystery hired to protect a beautiful but neurotic actress Cordelia Gray soon becomes embroiled in a case as dangerous to her own life as it is mysterious. Clarissa Lisle hopes to make a spectacular comeback in a production of The Duchess of Malfi to be played in Ambrose Gorringe's sinister castle at Courcy Isl&. Cordelia is there to ensure her safety following the appearance of a number of poison-pen letters. But it soon becomes clear that all are in danger. Trapped within the walls of the Gothic castle the treacherous past of the island re-emerges & everyone seems to have a motive for sending Clarissa 'down down to hell'. Marking the return of Cordelia Gray The Skull beneath the Skin" is a complex mystery which more than lives up to its predecessor " An Unsuitable Job for a Woman"." ...

Simon Winchester from the introduction to Skulls: Skulls tells the story of the skull in both the human & the animal world. Skulls-human in the main but by no means exclusively-have exerted for scores of thousands of years an almost inexplicable power over the human imagination. They are symbols both of existence & of former existence; they are freighted with terror & awe... Perhaps no other biological entity retains such a grip on human psychology as does this assemblage of hollow bone... People are fascinated & captivated by skulls. They always have been & always will be." At the centre of Skulls is a stunning never-before-seen-in-any-capacity visual array of the skulls of more than 300 animals. They skulls are from the collection of Alan Dudley a British collector & owner of what is probably the largest & most complete private collection of skulls in the world. Every skull is beautifully photographed to show off it most fascinating features & to give the reader the most intimate view possible. Where possible cross-sections & additional angles are also show. Along with the imagery each skull

Includes:: a short explanatory essay taxonomy biological data skull details comparative skeletal anatomy & other pertinent information. The text is written by bestselling & international renowned author Simon Winchester & covers the story of Alan Dudly & his collection as well as the biology history & iconography of skulls throughout the world.

Includes:: 550 visually arresting photographs throughout."



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Celebrating the 55th anniversary of The Sky at Night" this book collects questions sent in by viewers & fans answered by Sir Patrick Moore & " Sky at Night" co-presenter Dr Chris North. With sections on the solar system cosmology the bizarre & unexplained space missions the Moon & more this is an exciting journey into space for the novice astronomer & the lifelong stargazer alike." ...

Xinrans extraordinary second book takes the reader right to the hidden heart of one of the worlds most mysterious & inaccessible countries. In March 1958 a Chinese woman learns that her husband an idealistic army doctor has died whilst serving in Tibet. Determined to know what has happened to him she sets off courageously to join his regiment. To her horror instead of finding a Tibetan people welcoming their Chinese liberators she walks into a bloody conflict with the Chinese subject to terrifying attacks from Tibetan guerrillas. Before she can know her husbands fate she is taken hostage & embarks on a life-changing journey through the Tibetan countryside
- a journey that will last twenty years & lead her to a deep appreciation of Tibetan culture in all its beauty & brutality. She meets travellers who tell stories of a stranger given a Tibetan sky burial (his corpse left in the open where sacred eagles come down to take pieces up to paradise). Tragically when she finally discovers that her husband sacrificed himself to create peace between two fatally different societies she must carry her knowledge back to a China that in her absence has experienced the Cultural Revolution & changed beyond recognition...
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After a vicious plague swept through the world of Pern there are no longer enough dragons to fight off the current onslaught of Thread the deadly spore that falls like rain from the skies & devours everything organic in its path. Pern's last best chance to rebuild the decimated dragon population lies with a group of young dragonriders & their dragons left stranded on an unexplored isl&. Leadership of these dragons & riders falls to Xhinna female rider of a blue dragon who as the most experienced dragonrider in the new Weyr must earn the respect of all who follow her as not everyone is ready to accept a female wingleader. She must solve the problem of how to get sufficient numbers of dragon eggs although her newfangled ideas like letting green dragons mate & lay eggs to hatch new dragons cause uproar. All the while she must protect her people & baby dragons from the predators & worse traitors or all hope for Pern will be lost. ...

When Callum & his friends find Iona on Callum's farm they try to chase her back into the village. But Iona runs from them up into the hills. It is late & dark & snow lies in the mountain gullies. Worried for Iona's safety Callum follows to find her shivering with cold but refusing to leave. She is guarding a secret hidden in the forest above the dark waters of the loch. So they make a deal. Iona shares the secret & in return Callum allows her back onto the farm. They form a deep bond of friendship & make a promise to keep their secret safe. It is a promise that will change Callum's world forever.. . She turned her head & fixed me with her brilliant yellow eyes. She looked right into me. & suddenly I knew then in that one moment I was as much part of her world as she was of mine. Soar above the clouds in this enthralling tale of friendship loyalty & hope. ...

This is a vibrant deeply romantic & unmissable debut. Seventeen-year-old Lennie Walker spends her time tucked safely & happily in the shadow of her fiery older sister Bailey. But when Bailey dies abruptly Lennie is catapulted to centre stage of her own life
- & despite her nonexistent history with boys suddenly finds herself struggling to balance two. Toby was Bailey's boyfriend; his grief mirrors Lennie's own. Joe is the new boy in town with a nearly magical grin. One boy takes Lennie out of her sorrow the other comforts her in it. But the two can't collide without Lennie's world exploding...
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