Two of the UKs most exciting nature writers. A thoughtful adventure in learning simple skills that help connect people to nature. Guardian Skimming Stones & Other Ways of Being in the Wild is a book of simple skills that can help us to interact with nature achieve a deeper connection with it & even step inside another dimension. Rob Cowen & Leo Critchley teach us for example making & flying a kite making an elder whistle damming a stream & building a den
- & at the same time teach us about life. Their techniques are intended to be not only of practical value but also techniques for meditation. They help us to live in the moment recover ancient insights & rhythms & encourage nature to reveal to us her secrets & treasures. They write that.. .there are forces deep in everyones subconscious that find a pure expression in the simplest of activities. This book explains why we should be taking the time to do them. It is born out of a wish to share our passion for our landscape & the contemplative reflective pleasures & joys that were well-known to our grandparents but which are in danger of being lost & forgotten. They will help us get back to a place where we all belong. Skimming Stones was awarded the Robert Deakin Grant from the Authors Foundation by the Society of Authors. Essential reading. Daily Express At its simplest their book gives advice on connecting with nature through twelve activities...but Skimming Stones delves deeper. Each section draws the reader lyrically into deeper philosophical waters...I was simply carried along by the authors sense of awe & their quiet belief that our lives can be enriched through a deeper connection with nature. 4* BBC Wildlife Skimming stones teaches you how to get back to nature and: * Skim a stone * Find a fossil * Forage for food * Make a kite * Carve an elder whistle * Track an animal * Build a den * Light a fire * Build an igloo * Catch a fish * Dam a stream * Walk in the wild
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When the decomposed body of a young woman is found near railway tracks just outside Bristol one morning all indications are that she's committed suicide. That's how the police want it too; all neatly squared & tidied away. But DI Jack Caffery is not so sure. He is on the trail of someone predatory someone who hides in the shadows & can slip into houses unseen. & for the first time in a very long time he feels scared. Police Diver Flea Marley is working alongside Caffery. With the traumas of her past safely behind her she's beginning to wonder whether their relationship could go beyond the professional. But then she finds something that changes everything. Not only is it far too close to home for comfort
- it's so horrifying that she knows that nothing will ever be the same again. & this time no one
- not even Caffery
- can help her.. .


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The corpse of a young woman is found bludgeoned frozen & burnt to death. Then the post-mortem reveals that she recently gave birth. & evidence suggests the baby may still be alive. Detective Kate Farrer must find the missing newborn if it's going to have any chance of surviving. & catch the dead woman's murderer before her own personal demons overwhelm her... ...

On a cold January morning a nightmare awaits in a small Sussex village. A deranged young man goes on the rampage shooting everyone in his path before taking his own life. It is a senseless tragic event but sadly not an unfamiliar one. At least that's what everyone thinks. Only Julia Trent
- believed to be the sole survivor
- knows that there was a second man involved. But after being shot & badly injured her account of the massacre is ignored. But she cannot let it rest there. Together with Craig Walker the journalist son of one of the victims Julia sets out to find the truth. As they peel back the layers of a dark & dangerous conspiracy they discover the slaughter didn't begin on that bitter day in January. & worst of all it won't end there.

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The streets of Philadelphia are blistering in the summer heat the homicide rate is soaring & the nights belong to the mad. Detectives Kevin Byrne & Jessica Balzano are prowling the streets with a growing sense of unease. Where next will evil rear its ugly head? When a series of seemingly unrelated crimes shatter the restless silence of the city their worst fears are confirmed. A beautiful secretary is slashed to death in a grimy motel shower. A street hustler brutally murdered with a chainsaw. Piece by piece a strange & sickening puzzle presents itself: someone is meticulously recreating Hollywood's most well-known & horrifying murder scenes capturing them on film & inserting the clips into videos
- for an unsuspecting public to find. While Kevin Byrne begins furtive investigations of his own Jessica Balzano goes undercover to work the steaming back alleys of Philadelphia entering a violent world of underground film pornography & seedy nightclubs hidden to all but the initiated. Discovering that none of The Actor's victims are as innocent as they appear to be the two detectives arrive at a terrifying reality: They are not just chasing a homicide suspect. They are stalking evil itself.. .
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Maleeka suffers every day from the taunts of the other kids in her class. If theyre not getting at her about her embarrassing home-made clothes or her good grades at school its about her dark black skin
- a deeper shade than any of theirs. When a new teacher whose face is blotched with a startling white patch starts at their school Maleeka can see there is bound to be trouble for her too. But the new teachers attitude surprises Maleeka. Miss Saunders loves the skin shes in. Can Maleeka too? A deeply involving novel that will draw readers into Maleekas world & let them see it through her eyes.
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Kit Livingstone encounters his great-grandfather in a deserted London alley. Surprisingly as Cosimo long since disappeared thought dead. He urges Kit to join him on a quest through time & space in search of a strange map made by another intrepid explorer. Fearful of being trapped in the intersections between worlds & times this traveller from an early age had devised an intricate code a roadmap of symbols & tattooed it on his own skin. Now the race is on to find the Skin Map. Against his better judgement & rationality it is drawn into the hunt. But Kit & Cosimo are not the only ones searching for it. & their murderous rivals will stop at nothing to unlock its secrets...a prize beyond imagining. Taking in its sweep London Oxford Prague China & Egypt between the 17th & 21st centuries The Skin map is the first of the five volume Bright Empires series: a multi-dimensional time-bending fantasy of the highest order from a master storyteller. ...

Lena Adams has spent her life struggling to forget her childhood in Reece the small town which nearly destroyed her. She's made a new life for herself as a police detective in Heartsdale a hundred miles away
- but nothing could prepare her for the violence which explodes when she is forced to return. A vicious murder leaves a young woman incinerated beyond recognition. & Lena is the only suspect. When Heartsdale police chief Jeffrey Tolliver Lena's boss receives word that his detective has been arrested he has no choice but to go to Lena's aid
- taking with him his wife medical examiner Sara Linton. But soon after their arrival a second victim is found. The town closes ranks. & both Jeffrey & Sara find themselves entangled in a horrifying underground world of bigotry & rage
- a violent world which shocks even them. But can they discover the truth before the killer strikes again?


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Liz Earles millions of customers worldwide have long clamoured for this book because however good the products theyre not the whole answer. Here Liz explores real skin secrets. She describes which botanical ingredients are best for young skin which plant oils are the most effective wrinkle removers & why vitamin E is so good for you. Liz also emphasises the importance of a holistic approach
- what you eat how you sleep & how you relax are just as important as how you cleanse & detox. She gives you a long-term strategy recommending complementary therapies & supplements that will nourish your skin as well as recipes & exercise routines to keep your skin healthy & glowing. For the price of her Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth cleanser (over 4 million sold) this book will keep your skin looking good for life.
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The sensational new novel featuring vampire-hunting heroine Anita Blake Anita Blake's reputation has taken some hits. Not on the work front where she has the highest kill count of all the legal vampire executioners in the country but on the personal front. No one seems to trust a woman who sleeps with the monsters. Still when a vampire serial killer sends her a head from Las Vegas Anita has to warn Sin City's local authorities what they're dealing with. Only it's worse than she thought. Several officers & one executioner have been slain
- paranormal style... Anita heads to Las Vegas where she's joined by three other federal marshals including the ruthless Edward hiding behind his mild-mannered persona. It's a good thing Edward always has her back because when she gets close to the bodies Anita senses 'tiger' too strongly to ignore it. The were-tigers are very powerful which means the odds of her rubbing someone important up the wrong way just got a lot higher...
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