Over ten feet long it weighs in at nearly a quarter of a ton. Covering its back are armoured plates made from bone. Five hundred stiletto-sharp teeth line its long crocodilian jaws. It's a prehistoric beast of staggering proportions; a fearsome creature from the time of the dinosaurs. But the Alligator Gar an air-breathing survivor from the Cretaceous period is still with us today patrolling inland rivers hunting in murky waters shared by human communities. & for Jeremy Wade described as the 'greatest angling explorer of his generation' the Gar & other outlandish freshwater predators have been an obsession for all his adult life. With names like Arapaima Snakehead Goonch Goliath Tigerfish & Electric Eel many of them have acquired an almost mythical status. In a quest that has taken him from the Amazon to the Congo & from North America to the mountains of India Wade has pursued the truth about these little known often misunderstood animals. Along the way he's survived a plane crash malaria & a fish-inflicted blow to the chest that according to a later scan caused permanent scarring to his heart. In RIVER MONSTERS Wade delivers a sometimes jaw-dropping blend of adventure natural history legend & detective work. It reads like a hunt for the Loch Ness Monster. But it's all true. These are fisherman's tales like you've never heard before. The stories of the ones that didn't get away.. . ...

A river cruise through ancient desert lands becomes a mysterious adventure when Bill disappears! While Philip Dinah Lucy-Ann & Jack are desperately searching for Bill they become trapped beneath a forgotten temple where no one has set foot for 7 000 years. What dangers lurk within & will they ever escape? ...

From the bestselling author of Times Legacy & Lady of Hay comes a thrilling new novel River of Destiny an epic story that spans Anglo Saxon Britain Victorian Suffolk & the present day. An Anglo Saxon burial ground that must not be disturbed. A Victorian tragedy of forbidden love. & an ancient curse whose power grows ever stronger... On the banks of the River Deben lies a set of barns dating back to the Anglo Saxons & within their walls secrets have laid buried for centuries. Zoe & Ken have just moved into one of the barns ready to start a new life away from the hustle & bustle of the city. To the outside world they seem like an ordinary couple but underneath they are growing ever more distant by the day. & the strange presence Zoe feels within their home & the shapes she sees through the cloying mists on the river are getting harder to ignore. Whilst farmers are ploughing the land surrounding them human bones are found & when the police arrive it becomes clear that the remains are much older than first suspected... Are they linked to a Victorian tragedy the locals whisper about? & what should they make of the grassy mound which has remained untouched across many centuries but has now been disturbed with seemingly devastating consequences? ...

From the bestselling author of Time's Legacy & Lady of Hay comes a thrilling new novel River of Destiny an epic story that spans Anglo Saxon Britain Victorian Suffolk & the present day. Perfect for fans of Kate Mosse's Labyrinth. An Anglo Saxon burial ground that must not be disturbed. A Victorian tragedy of forbidden love. & an ancient curse whose power grows ever stronger... On the banks of the River Deben lies a set of barns dating back to the Anglo Saxons & within their walls secrets have laid buried for centuries. Zoe & Ken have just moved into one of the barns ready to start a new life away from the hustle & bustle of the city. To the outside world they seem like an ordinary couple but underneath they are growing ever more distant by the day. & the strange presence Zoe feels within their home & the shapes she sees through the cloying mists on the river are getting harder to ignore. Whilst farmers are ploughing the land surrounding them human bones are found & when the police arrive it becomes clear that the remains are much older than first suspected... Are they linked to a Victorian tragedy the locals whisper about? & what should they make of the grassy mound which has remained untouched across many centuries but has now been disturbed with seemingly devastating consequences? ...

Vibrating with endeavours for Britains effort against the might of Nazi Germany Clydebank was
- in hindsight
- an obvious target

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Drawing both on his own familys stories & his years of hands-on political experience Thant Myint-U has written an illuminating account of how Burmas rich past informs its violent present & of how the world might transform the countrys future. This is the story of modern Burma & a narrative that is by turns lyrical dramatic & appalling. ...

An utterly engrossing historical romance from debut novelist Bee Ridgeway The River of No Return" is a must-read. ' Time is like a river. It always flows in one direction.' What if everything you thought was certain was not? 1812: On a lonely battlefield in Spain Lord Nicholas Falcott Marquess of Blackdown is about to die... But the next moment he inexplicably jumps forward in time nearly two hundred years
- very much alive. Taken under the wing of a mysterious organisation " The Guild" he receives everything he could ever need under the following conditions: He can't go back. He can't go home. He must tell no one. Accepting his fate Nicholas begins a life of luxury as a twenty-first century New York socialite living happily thus for the next ten years. But when an exquisite wax sealed envelope brings a summons from the Alderwoman of " The Guild" Nicholas is forced to confront his nineteenth century past. Back in 1815 Julia Percy's world has fallen apart. Her enigmatic grandfather the Earl of Darchester has died & left her with a closely guarded secret one she is only now discovering
- the manipulation of time. In terrible danger from unknown enemies Julia flees her home to the sanctuary of neighbouring Falcott House. In this strange place Julia & a recently returned Nicholas are drawn to each other & together they realise how little Julia knew about her beloved grandfather & begin to understand his ominous last words...' Pretend.' Bee Ridgeway's " The River Of No Return" is a truly unforgettable novel. If you loved " The Time Traveler's Wife" or " The Night Circus" then prepare to be swept away by this stunning debut novel. Bee Ridgway grew up in Amherst Massachusetts. She attended Oberlin College (B.A.) then worked for a year as an editorial assistant at " Elle" magazine. She studied literature at Cornell University (M.A. & Ph.D.). She has worked at Bryn Mawr College since 2001. She lives in Philadelphia PA."

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The latest novel in Robert V.S Redick's stunning & original fantasy epic is a taut race against time that takes the Chathrand ...

In September 1838 a storm blows up on the Indian Ocean & the Ibis a ship carrying a consignment of convicts & indentured laborers from Calcutta to Mauritius is caught up in the whirlwind. When the seas settle five men have disappeared
- two lascars two convicts & one of the passengers. Did the same storm upend the fortunes of those aboard the Anahita an opium carrier heading towards Canton? & what fate befell those aboard the Redruth a sturdy two-masted brig heading East out of Cornwall? Was it the storm that altered their course or were the destinies of these passengers at the mercy of even more powerful forces? On the grand scale of an historical epic River of Smoke follows its storm-tossed characters to the crowded harbors of China.? There despite efforts of the emperor to stop them ships from Europe & India exchange their cargoes of opium for boxes of tea silk porcelain & silver. Among them are Bahram Modi a wealthy Parsi opium merchant out of Bombay his estranged half-Chinese son Ah Fatt the orphaned Paulette & a motley collection of others whose pursuit of romance riches & a legendary rare flower have thrown together.? All struggle to cope with their losses
- & for some unimaginable freedoms
- in the alleys & crowded waterways of 19th century Canton.? As transporting & mesmerizing as an opiate induced dream River of Smoke will soon be heralded as a masterpiece of twenty-first century literature.


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Between 1970 & 1975 Jon Swain the English journalist portrayed in David Puttnams film The Killing Fields lived in the lands of the Mekong river. This is his account of those years & the way in which the tumultuous events affected his perceptions of life & death as Europe never could. He also describes the beauty of the Mekong landscape
- the villages along its banks surrounded by mangoes bananas & coconuts & the exquisite women the odours of opium & the regions other face
- that of violence & corruption.

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