Search Results for: the river home

Budapest has always been an important place. Almost at the centre of Europe, it is at the crossroads of geographical regions and of civilizations, at the intersection of ancient trade routes. Mountains that gradually slope into gentle hills converge on a great river, the Danube, and the regions of Buda and Pest sprang up on either side.

Throughout history the centre of gravity in Budapest and among Hungarians has shifted between this division of East and West – culturally, politically, emotionally. Invaders have come and gone, empires have conquered, occupied for centuries or decades, and left a few footprints behind: the remains of a Roman bath house complete with wonderfully preserved mosaics stand next to a Soviet-style ‘five-year-plan’ apartment block. The city bears the scars of the rise and fall of multiple empires, two world wars, fascism, Nazi German occupation, Soviet Communism. It has been home to some of the world’s greatest writers, artists and musicians. Hungary is a place of extremes, a small country that has often in history punched well above its weight. At many moments, events that began in Budapest have proved to be of world significance. This is the story of that tumultuous, often divided, but always fascinating city.

THE HIGHLY-ANTICIPATED BRAND NEW NOVEL IN THE #1 BESTSELLING RIVERS OF LONDON SERIES

There is a world hidden underneath this great city…

The London Silver Vaults – for well over a century, the largest collection of silver for sale in the world. It has more locks than the Bank of England and more cameras than a celebrity punch-up. Not somewhere you can murder someone and vanish without a trace – only that’s what happened.

The disappearing act, the reports of a blinding flash of light and memory loss amongst the witnesses all make this a case for Detective Constable Peter Grant and the Special Assessment Unit.

Alongside their boss DCI Thomas Nightingale, the SAU find themselves embroiled in a mystery that encompasses London’s tangled history, foreign lands and, most terrifying of all, the North!

And Peter must solve this case soon because back home his partner Beverley is expecting twins any day now. But what he doesn’t know is that he’s about to encounter something – and somebody – that nobody ever expects…

Effortlessly original, endlessly inventive and hugely entertaining – step into the world of the much-loved, Number One bestselling Rivers of London series.

PRAISE FOR BEN AARONOVITCH & THE RIVERS OF LONDON SERIES:

‘Highly entertaining’
SUNDAY EXPRESS

‘Charming, witty, exciting’
THE INDEPENDENT

‘Ben Aaronovitch has created a wonderful world full of mystery, magic and fantastic characters. I love being there more than the real London’
NICK FROST

‘As brilliant and funny as ever … Masterfully crafted – gives the late, great Terry Pratchett a run for his money’
THE SUN

‘An incredibly fast-moving magical joyride for grown-ups’
THE TIMES

‘Funny and wildly inventive’
MAIL ON SUNDAY

Discover why this incredible series has sold over two million copies worldwide. If you’re a fan of Terry Pratchett, you will love the imaginative, irreverent and all-round irresistible RIVERS OF LONDON books.

The new Rivers of London novella, from Sunday Times Number One bestselling author Ben Aaronovitch.

Ghost hunter, fox whisperer, troublemaker.

It is the summer of 2013 and Abigail Kamara has been left to her own devices. This might, by those who know her, be considered a mistake. While her cousin, police constable and apprentice wizard Peter Grant, is off in the sticks, chasing unicorns, Abigail is chasing her own mystery. Teenagers around Hampstead Heath have been going missing but before the police can get fully engaged, the teens return home – unharmed but vague about where they’ve been.

Aided only by her new friend Simon, her knowledge that magic is real, and a posse of talking foxes that think they’re spies, Abigail must venture into the wilds of Hampstead to discover who is luring the teenagers and more importantly – why?

Praise for the Rivers of London novels:

‘Ben Aaronovitch has created a wonderful world full of mystery, magic and fantastic characters. I love being there more than the real London’
NICK FROST

‘As brilliant and funny as ever’
THE SUN

‘Charming, witty, exciting’
THE INDEPENDENT

‘An incredibly fast-moving magical joyride for grown-ups’
THE TIMES

Discover why this incredible series has sold over two million copies around the world. If you’re a fan of Terry Pratchett or Douglas Adams – don’t panic – you will love Ben Aaronovitch’s imaginative, irreverent and all-round irresistible novels and novellas.

A moving, compelling story about three women fighting to break free, from the Richard & Judy recommended bestselling author Julie Cohen.

‘Haunting, tender and true – this story cast a spell on me’ Kirsty Logan
‘Wonderfully written and evocative’ Woman & Home, BOOK OF THE MONTH
‘This haunting story about the power of love will give you the shivers’ Best

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Viola has an impossible talent. Searching for meaning in her grief, she uses her photography to feel closer to her late father, taking solace from the skills he taught her – and to keep her distance from her husband. But her pictures seem to capture things invisible to the eye . . .

Henriette is a celebrated spirit medium, carrying nothing but her secrets with her as she travels the country. When she meets Viola, a powerful connection is sparked between them – but Victorian society is no place for reckless women.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, invisible threads join Viola and Henriette to another woman who lives in secrecy, hiding her dangerous act of rebellion in plain sight.

Faith. Courage. Love. What will they risk for freedom?

Driven by passionate, courageous female characters, SPIRITED is your next unforgettable read!

Perfect for fans of other bestselling historical novels The Binding by Bridget Collins, The Familiars by Stacey Halls, and Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield.

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Praise for SPIRITED:

‘A testament to the enduring power of love’ Sunday Mirror
‘Mindful, vivid, and strong Spirited explores death, grief, faith, class and gender, while at its heart relationships expand to make this such an engaging and rewarding novel’ Love Reading
‘This vivid tale is simmering with passions – some more repressed than others’ The People
‘A tender and haunting tale, this is a slow-burn read which sparks into flame, as passion kindles in the heart of her beautifully realised characters’ Daily Mail
‘A thrilling, spooky tale that has all the ingredients of a bestseller’ Cambridge Independent

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Praise for the Richard & Judy Bookclub Pick TOGETHER by Julie Cohen:

‘A bold, breathtaking and truly compelling love story’ Lisa Jewell
‘Moving and beautiful’ Joanna Cannon
‘One of the most beautiful and heart-breaking stories I’ve read’ Emma Flint
‘Reminded me of One Day & The Time Traveler’s Wife’ Erin Kelly
‘The kind of novel that will stay with you forever’ Rowan Coleman
‘A page-turner with real emotional punch’ Catherine Isaac
‘Original, poignant and beautifully told’ S Magazine
‘A must read’ Good Housekeeping
‘A taut, beguiling love-story-in-reverse that reveals just how far people will go to protect themselves from facing the truth’ Elle
‘Every now and again, a novel comes along that is so different, so affecting and so unforgettable, that you simply must tell everyone you know to read it’ Heat

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Praise for the Polari Prize 2019 longlisted novel THE TWO LIVES OF LOUIS & LOUISE by Julie Cohen:

‘Brilliant . . . I enjoyed it hugely’ Marian Keyes
‘Hugely original and heartbreakingly real’ Rosie Walsh
‘Not often does a story remind us of what beautifully complex creatures we are. Julie Cohen has given us that rare gift’ Christina Dalcher
‘Elegant, thoughtful and powerful’ Daisy Buchanan
‘So cleverly done and authentic’ A J Pearce
‘Beautifully written and thought-provoking’ Kate Eberlen
‘A timely read that will stay with you long after you put it down’ Libby Page
‘A cobweb of a book: beautifully intricate and delicate’ Veronica Henry
‘Engaging, moving, arresting’ Sunday Times
‘A powerful and memorable story’ Sunday Express
‘A modern tale told with heart’ Grazia

DISAPPEAR INTO THE WORLD OF THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING CHOCOLAT . . .

‘So wise, so atmospheric, so beautifully written’ Marian Keyes
‘The most magical, stunningly beautiful novel’ Joanna Cannon
‘It will intrigue and charm readers every bit as much as Chocolat‘ Monica Ali

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Faith. Secret. Magic. Murder…?

Vianne Rocher has settled down. Lansquenet-sous-Tannes, the place that once rejected her, has finally become her home. With Rosette, her youngest child, she runs her chocolate shop in the square, talks to her friends on the river, is part of the community. Even Reynaud, the priest, has become a friend.

But when old Narcisse, the florist, dies, leaving a parcel of land to Rosette and a written confession to Reynaud, the life of the sleepy village is once more thrown into disarray. Then the opening of a mysterious new shop in the place of the florist’s across the square – one that mirrors the chocolaterie, and has a strange appeal of its own – seems to herald a change: a confrontation, a turbulence – even, perhaps, a murder . . .

What will the wind blow in today?

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Return to the world of the multi-million-copy bestselling Chocolat….

‘A writer whose wit and sharp observation enhances her engaging story-telling’ Salley Vickers

‘The most magical, stunningly beautiful novel . . . I sobbed at the end because I couldn’t bear to leave. Joanne is truly one of the world’s finest storytellers’ Joanna Cannon

‘A place of magic and mysteries, and Harris excels in this delicate balance of realism and enchantment . . . It will intrigue and charm readers every bit as much as Chocolat‘ Monica Ali

‘Sheer pleasure from start to finish. The Strawberry Thief is a delight’ James Runcie

‘I devoured it in one go’ Christopher Fowler

‘Compelling, captivating, incredibly moving, The Strawberry Thief whirls you into a thrilling world you will never forget . . . A perfect novel that shimmers with brilliance and truth’ Kate Williams

‘Heart-rending’ CLARE MACKINTOSH

‘Utterly gripping’ VERONICA HENRY

‘Beautiful and gripping’ LIBBY PAGE

‘There’s something I need to tell you.’

Eight years ago, Margot Sorrell left the crumbling family home in the Somerset countryside under a dark cloud, hoping never to return. And until she tells her two sisters why she ran away, they refuse to forgive her…

But with her sisters’ perfect lives starting to unravel, Margot knows she must go back. The river by her home has kept her secret all this time – as well as the memories of the terrible night that tore her family apart.

As the past threatens to surface, will the truth destroy the Sorrell family – or bring them back together?

Don’t miss this heartrending and utterly gripping book club read from Richard & Judy recommended author Hannah Richell!

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More praise for THE RIVER HOME:

‘An unforgettable read’ Bella
‘Beautifully written and a real tearjerker’ Woman’s Way

Return to the world of Rivers of London in this first short story collection from #1 Sunday Times bestselling author, Ben Aaronovitch. Tales from the Folly is a carefully curated collection that gathers together previously published stories and brand new tales in the same place for the first time.

Each tale features a new introduction from the author, filled with insight and anecdote offering the reader a deeper exploration into this absorbing fictional world. This is a must read for any Rivers of London fan.

Join Peter, Nightingale, Abigail, Agent Reynolds and Tobias Winter for a series of perfectly portioned tales. Discover what’s haunting a lonely motorway service station, who still wanders the shelves of a popular London bookshop, and what exactly happened to the River Lugg…

With an introduction from internationally bestselling author of the Sookie Stackhouse series, Charlaine Harris.

This collection includes:
The Home Crowd Advantage
The Domestic
The Cockpit
The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Granny
King of The Rats
A Rare Book of Cunning Device
A Dedicated Follower of Fashion
Favourite Uncle
Vanessa Sommer’s Other Christmas List
Three Rivers, Two Husbands and a Baby
Moments One, Two and Three

Escape to the seaside with three irresistibly feel-good Veronica Henry titles in one ebook boxset!

High Tide

Pennfleet might be a small town, but there’s never a dull moment in its narrow winding streets …

Kate has only planned a flying visit to clear out the family home after the death of her mother. When she finds an anonymous letter, she is drawn back into her own past.

Single dad Sam is juggling his deli and two lively teenagers, so romance is the last thing on his mind. Then Cupid fires an unexpected arrow – but what will his children think?

Nathan Fisher is happy with his lot, running picnic cruises up and down the river, but kissing the widow of the richest man in Pennfleet has disastrous consequences.

Vanessa knows what she has done is unseemly for a widow, but it’s the most fun she’s had for years. Must she always be on her best behaviour?

As autumn draws in and the nights grow longer, there are sure to be fireworks in this gloriously engaging novel from Veronica Henry, author of A Night on the Orient Express.

The Long Weekend

In a gorgeous quay-side hotel in Cornwall, the long weekend is just beginning . . .

Claire Marlowe owns ‘The Townhouse by the Sea’ with Luca, the hotel’s charismatic chef. She ensures everything runs smoothly – until an unexpected arrival checks in and turns her whole world upside down.

And the rest of the guests arrive with their own baggage. There’s a couple looking for distraction from a family tragedy; a man trying to make amends for an affair he bitterly regrets . . . and the young woman who thinks the Cornish village might hold the key to her past.

Here are affairs of the heart, secrets, lies and scandal – all wrapped up in one long, hot weekend.

Love on the Rocks

When the rundown Rocks Hotel comes up for auction in Mariscombe, Lisa and her boyfriend George make a successful bid to escape and live the dream. But their dream quickly becomes a nightmare. Their arch-rival, Bruno Thorne, owner of the Mariscombe Hotel, seems intent on sabotage.

Meanwhile, local chambermaid Molly is harbouring a secret that will blow the whole village apart. Then an unexpected visitor turns up on the doorstep. It seems everyone in Mariscombe is sailing a little too close to the rocks …

Escape with three irresistibly feel-good Veronica Henry titles in one ebook boxset!

‘An utter delight’ Jill Mansell

The Forever House

‘A delight from start to finish’ Jill Mansell

Hunter’s Moon is the ultimate ‘forever’ house. Nestled by a river in the Peasebrook valley, it has been the Willoughbys’ home for over fifty years, and now estate agent Belinda Baxter is determined to find the perfect family to live there. But the sale of the house unlocks decades of family secrets – and brings Belinda face to face with her own troubled past. . .

A Family Recipe

What’s the secret ingredient to your happiness?

Laura Griffin is preparing for an empty nest. The thought of Number 11 Lark Hill falling silent – a home usually bustling with noise, people and the fragrant smells of something cooking on the Aga – seems impossible.

Feeling lost, Laura turns to her greatest comfort: her grandmother’s recipe box, a treasured collection dating back to the Second World War. Inspired by a bit of the old Blitz spirit, Laura finds a new sense of purpose and her own exciting path to follow.

But even the bravest woman needs the people who love her. And now, they need her in return…

A Home from Home

Sunshine, cider and family secrets…

Dragonfly Farm has been a home and a haven for generations of Melchiors – arch rivals to the Culbones, the wealthy family who live on the other side of the river. Life there is dictated by the seasons and cider-making, and everyone falls under its spell.

For cousins Tabitha and Georgia, it has always been a home from home. When a tragedy befalls their beloved Great-Uncle Matthew, it seems the place where they’ve always belonged might now belong to them…

But the will reveals that a third of the farm has also been left to a Culbone. Gabriel has no idea why he’s been included, or what his connection to the farm – or the Melchiors – can be.

As the first apples start to fall for the cider harvest, will Dragonfly Farm begin to give up its secrets?

‘As uplifting as summer sunshine’ Sarah Morgan

Sunshine, cider and family secrets…

Dragonfly Farm has been a home and a haven for generations of Melchiors – arch rivals to the Culbones, the wealthy family who live on the other side of the river. Life there is dictated by the seasons and cider-making, and everyone falls under its spell.

For cousins Tabitha and Georgia, it has always been a home from home. When a tragedy befalls their beloved Great-Uncle Matthew, it seems the place where they’ve always belonged might now belong to them…

But the will reveals that a third of the farm has also been left to a Culbone. Gabriel has no idea why he’s been included, or what his connection to the farm – or the Melchiors – can be.

As the first apples start to fall for the cider harvest, will Dragonfly Farm begin to give up its secrets?

A Home from Home is the very best of Veronica Henry’s storytelling – gorgeous scenes you wish you could step into, a cast of characters who feel like friends, and an irresistibly feel-good family drama crossing three generations.

Discover Veronica Henry – your favourite authors’ favourite author:

‘Wise, insightful, beautifully written. A delicious treat of a book’ Milly Johnson

‘An utter delight’ Jill Mansell

‘Truly blissful escapism’ Lucy Diamond

‘A heart-warming, triumphant story combined with Veronica’s sublime writing – the perfect mix!’ Cathy Bramley

‘Veronica Henry has such a deft hand with families and their complications’ Katie Fforde

A captivating story about friendship, making changes, and learning to live life to the fullest from SUNDAY TIMES bestseller Erica James

A cherished home, a circle of friends and a summer that will change everything…

Linston End has been the summer holiday home for three families for many years. A rambling thatched house nestled on the water’s edge on the Norfolk Broads, it’s a haven of long, lazy picnics on the river, gin and tonics in the garden; a place to spend time together.

But this year, the friends are rocked by unexpected news, and it seems that Linston End will never be the same again. For some, this summer feels like the end. For others, it might just be the beginning. . .

‘Joyously readable’ Woman & Home

‘I wanted it to go on forever’ Cathy Bramley

‘Mason Cross is a fast-paced, high octane thriller writer.’ Simon Kernick

THEN

Fifteen years ago, an unidentified killer terrorised northern Georgia, killing hikers with two shots from a pistol, before disposing of the bodies along the remote trails and in the rivers in the vicinity of Blood Mountain.

The killer was never brought to justice.

NOW

Carter Blake has returned home for the first time in many years. The visit stirs old memories, including a girl from school who vanished without a trace.

Blake runs into the mother of the girl, who mentions a case she’s come across in Georgia, where someone is convinced their relative is still alive, fifteen years on.

Adeline Connor was the Blood Mountain Killer’s last suspected victim. She vanished without a trace.

So why is her brother so convinced she’s still alive?

‘One of the best new series characters since Jack Reacher’ Lisa Gardner

OBSERVER FOOD MONTHLY’S #1 FOOD BOOK OF THE YEAR

WINNER OF FORTNUM & MASON AWARDS DEBUT COOKBOOK OF THE YEAR

‘This is a cookbook everyone should have in their kitchen. I will certainly have it in mine.’ – Ruth Rogers

From Joseph Trivelli, co-head chef of the world-renowned River Café, comes the ultimate classic guide to laid-back, comforting Italian food.

Trivelli first learned to cook watching his Italian grandmother transform a few simple ingredients into something mouth-watering within their family kitchen. In this, his first book, he brings up-to-date all the traditional Italian food he grew up with alongside his own inventive creations.

Featuring over 150 original recipes that cater for quick dinners right up to family feasts, Joe’s focus is on fewer ingredients, exquisitely prepared. With chapters on pasta, fish, meat, vegetables and baked dishes, these are recipes sympathetic to the home cook – easy to throw together but look and taste incredible every time.

Beautifully designed with evocative photography throughout, this is the Italian cookbook every modern kitchen needs.

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‘This is a book I shall be referring to very often. All the recipes are the real classic ones and yet they all have a touch of originality which gives them a new and welcome dimension. Bravo Joe.’ – Anna del Conte

‘I still haven’t met a chef who has such a genuine love of food and its role in bringing people together.’ – Stephen Harris, The Sportsman

‘A truly personal collection of inspired recipes: all at once clever, quirky, thoughtful and witty. A joy.’ – Simon Hopkinson

‘Already one of my favourite cookery writers, this is next-level Joe Trivelli. Seasoned with good writing, saturated in great recipes, there is so much to love about this book. Like its writer, The Modern Italian Cook is a quiet triumph. I love it.’ – Allan Jenkins

‘Wonderful.’ – Giorgio Locatelli

‘Excellent . . . the writing is simple, clean, humble and evocative; the recipes are special and all seem so delicious.’ – Itamar Srulovich, Honey & Co

‘Her worlds have a magic sheen … She is unique. She is legend’ THE TIMES

‘Le Guin is a writer of phenomenal power’ OBSERVER

Among the less-travelled mountains and plains of Central Europe, a little east of Austria perhaps and north of Slovenia, lies the old kingdom of Orsinia. A land of forests and quiet farmlands and towns, with its capital city Krasnoy on the broad Molsen River, Orsinia has always found itself, like all the countries of Europe, subject to forces beyond its borders.

Val Malafrena is an estate in the rural western provinces of Orsinia, far removed from the engines of European politics and content for it to remain so. When Itale Sorde, the idealistic young heir to Val Malafrena, leaves his family home to venture to the bustling capital city of Krasnoy, it is therefore very much against his father’s wishes. Sorde’s intention is to work as a journalist, but he will soon find himself moving from reporter on the great events of the day to active participant in the rising tide of revolution that seems destined to sweep the continent.

From the Sunday Times bestseller, comes a story of hope, love and finding your forever home…

‘A delight from start to finish’ Jill Mansell

Hunter’s Moon is the ultimate ‘forever’ house. Nestled by a river in the Peasebrook valley, it has been the Willoughbys’ home for over fifty years, and now estate agent Belinda Baxter is determined to find the perfect family to live there. But the sale of the house unlocks decades of family secrets – and brings Belinda face to face with her own troubled past. . .

Your favourite authors’, favourite author

‘Truly blissful escapism – I loved it’ Lucy Diamond

‘A delicious treat of a book’ Milly Johnson

‘A beautiful book. Warm, emotional and full of hope’ Sarah Morgan

‘A heart-warming, triumphant story combined with Veronica’s sublime writing – the perfect mix!’ Cathy Bramley

A gorgeous escapist read for anyone needing a hug in a book – pick up The Forever House now!

JAM BUTTIES AND A PAN OF SCOUSE is a gritty yet heart-warming memoir set against the backdrop of Liverpool’s tightknit working-class docklands community. The story covers Maggie Clarke’s upbringing in the tenements close to the docks, the River Mersey and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal: an area notorious for having the worst slums in Britain, yet the closest community as well.

At the tender age of 11, Maggie Clarke finds herself the matriarch of the family when her Irish mother runs off with another man. Leaving school at 14 to work at a local factory putting sticks into lollies, she is determined to make a better life for herself and her family – before starting her own family with her childhood sweetheart, who she marries at 19 after ‘falling in the family way’. She has one night of married life with her husband before he is sent to India with the Navy and is devastated when she never hears from him again, presuming him a casualty of the war that is raging at home and abroad.

Another tragedy strikes when Maggie’s brother Tommy is also claimed by the war, leaving her father inconsolable, but Maggie knows life has to go on and falls in love with Joseph, an Irish settler who she has 8 children with. But her happiness is short-lived as her first husband suddenly appears out of the blue demanding a divorce, and her new husband drinks away what little money they have, returning in fits of rage that leave Maggie and her children hungry and afraid. Many times she is only able to feed her brood by the kindness of neighbours putting a ‘pan of scouse’ on the range for her, or feeding her kids jam butties to help out.

Maggie’s story sweeps across the changing face of Liverpool, from its squalid dock streets, the tenement blocks and cobbled roads to the decline of the docklands, new council housing, the rise of the Mersey beat, the Beatles and the energy and passion of a city that is home to a cast of colourful characters with the resilience to withstand the heartbreak and hardships that only the poorest can know.

DON’T MISS THE STUNNING AND ROMANTIC NEW NOVEL FROM SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR VERONICA HENRY – ORDER THE SECRET BEACH NOW!

*Shortlisted for the RNA Contemporary Romantic Novel of the Year 2016*

Pennfleet might be a small town, but there’s never a dull moment in its narrow winding streets …

Kate has only planned a flying visit to clear out the family home after the death of her mother. When she finds an anonymous letter, she is drawn back into her own past.

Single dad Sam is juggling his deli and two lively teenagers, so romance is the last thing on his mind. Then Cupid fires an unexpected arrow – but what will his children think?

Nathan Fisher is happy with his lot, running picnic cruises up and down the river, but kissing the widow of the richest man in Pennfleet has disastrous consequences.

Vanessa knows what she has done is unseemly for a widow, but it’s the most fun she’s had for years. Must she always be on her best behaviour?

As autumn draws in and the nights grow longer, there are sure to be fireworks in this gloriously engaging novel from Veronica Henry, author of A Night on the Orient Express.

Confluence – a long, narrow, artificial world, half fertile river valley, half crater-strewn desert. A world beyond the end of human history, served by countless machines, inhabited by 10,000 bloodlines who worship their absent creators, riven by a vast war against heretics.

This is the home of Yama, found as an infant in a white boat on the world’s Great River, raised by an obscure bureaucrat in an obscure town in the middle of a ruined necropolis, destined to become a clerk – until the discovery of his singular ancestry. For Yama appears to be the last remaining scion of the Builders, closest of all races to the revered architects of Confluence, able to awaken and control the secret machineries of the world.

Pursued by enemies who want to make use of his powers, Yama voyages down the length of the world to search for answers to the mysteries of his origin, and to discover if he is to be the saviour of his world, or its nemesis.

A thousand miles east of Mirgorod, the great capital city of the Vlast, deep in the ancient forest, lies the most recent fallen angel, its vast stone form half-buried and fused into the rock by the violence of impact. As its dark energy leeches into the crash site, so a circle of death expands around it, slowly – inexorably – killing everything it touches. Alone in the wilderness, it reaches out with its mind.

The endless forest and its antique folk lore are no concern to Inspector Vissarion Lom, summoned to the capital in order to catch a terrorist – and ordered to report directly to the head of the secret police. A totalitarian state, worn down by an endless war, must be seen to crush home-grown terrorism with an iron fist. But Lom discovers Mirgorod to be more corrupted than he imagined: a murky world of secret police and revolutionaries, cabaret clubs and doomed artists. Lom has been chosen because he is an outsider, not involved in the struggle for power within the party. And because of the sliver of angel stone implanted in his head at the children’s home.

Lom’s investigation reveals a conspiracy that extends to the top echelons of the party. When he exposes who – or rather what – is the controlling intelligence behind this, it is time for the detective to change sides. Pursued by rogue police agents and their man-crushing mudjhik, Lom must protect Kantor’s step-daughter Maroussia, who has discovered what is hidden beneath police headquarters: a secret so ancient that only the forest remembers. As they try to escape the capital and flee down river, elemental forces are gathering. The earth itself is on the move.

Shon knew that the Taken must die. Death had touched them, and the evil spirits which issued from Death’s Place to the east beyond the valley Took away the souls of the living. It was the law of Shon’s people, who seldom ventured far from their simple huthouses in Pine Walk, except to hunt boar in the forest. And even the forest was not completely safe, for across the river at its eastern edge lay Crow Mork, Death’s Place, and in the stories Crow himself, who was Death, rode there with Crow’s People, Death’s children, on strange four-legged beasts shod with white metal and swift as the wind.

Lost in the dark forest, Shon encountered Death’s Children. ‘Don’t go home,’ the dead girl told him – he was almost sure it was a girl, though her face was a black void in the night. But there was nowhere else to go. They would kill him, of course; being Taken, they would have to.

Yet Shon escaped that death – though he was to meet Death in Death’s Place, and learn the extraordinary truth about it.

Confluence – a long, narrow man-made world, half fertile river valley, half crater-strewn desert. It is a world at the end of its time, a place of savagery, bureaucracy and war, inhabited by countless flying micro-machines and ten thousand bloodlines ruled by devotion to absent gods.

It is the home of a singular young man named Yama. An infant who was discovered in a bier on the river, he was raised by the prelate of Aeolis until it was learned that his ancestry was unique. Yama appeared to be the last remaining scion of the Builders, closest of all races to the worshipped architects of Confluence.

Now, awed and fearful of his increasing ability to awaken the machines the Builders left behind, Yama searches for his identity and a history that is both his and his world’s.

Book 4 in the Rivers of London series, from Sunday Times Number One bestselling author Ben Aaronovitch.

A mutilated body in Crawley. Another killer on the loose. The prime suspect is one Robert Weil – an associate of the twisted magician known as the Faceless Man? Or just a common garden serial killer?

Before PC Peter Grant can get his head round the case, a town planner going under a tube train and a stolen grimoire are adding to his case-load. So far so London.

But then Peter gets word of something very odd happening in Elephant and Castle, on an housing estate designed by a nutter, built by charlatans and inhabited by the truly desperate. Is there a connection? And if there is, why oh why did it have to be south of the River?

Praise for the Rivers of London novels:

‘Ben Aaronovitch has created a wonderful world full of mystery, magic and fantastic characters. I love being there more than the real London’
NICK FROST

‘As brilliant and funny as ever’
THE SUN

‘Charming, witty, exciting’
THE INDEPENDENT

‘An incredibly fast-moving magical joyride for grown-ups’
THE TIMES

Discover why this incredible series has sold over two million copies around the world. If you’re a fan of Terry Pratchett or Douglas Adams – don’t panic – you will love Ben Aaronovitch’s imaginative, irreverent and all-round irresistible novels.

When the rains came they found the girl’s face. Just her face. At least that was how it appeared…
From the Richard & Judy Book Club-selected author of A QUIET BELIEF IN ANGELS.

On a summer evening in 1954, 16-year-old Nancy Denton walked into the woods of her hometown of Whytesburg, Mississippi. She was never seen again.

Two decades on, Sheriff John Gaines witnesses a harrowing discovery. A body has been unearthed from the riverbank, perfectly preserved, yet bearing evidence of a brutal ritualistic killing. Nancy has come home at last.

Already haunted by his experiences in Vietnam, Gaines must now find out what really happened to the beautiful and vivacious Nancy. As he closes in on the truth, Gaines is forced to not only confront his own demons, but to unearth secrets that have long remained hidden. And that truth, so much darker than he could ever have imagined, may be the one thing that finally destroys him.

“If you run round the church seven times in an anti-clockwise direction, you’ll wake the Seven Sleepers. Then, if you look through the keyhole of the church door, you’ll see the Devil walking up the aisle towards you…”

When David Wisher’s mother inherits a house in the peaceful Yorkshire village of Longbarrow, David feels he is coming home. For he’s seen the house in his dreams. And when he eventually arrives in Longbarrow, he finds a place touched by the stories and beliefs of the past. There’s old Jonas Dyer, whose mystical visions have driven him to the verge of madness; Mr Toot, who uses magic to cure all ills; the little men, too small to be human, who are said to come out of the river; and Black Shuck, a ghostly dog with glowing eyes, whose appearance heralds approaching death. Most extraordinary of all, there’s the legend of the Seven Sleepers, defeated in an ancient battle and trapped throughout the centuries, their evil powers dormant.

Redcap, Uther, Vinegar Tom, Gerennius, Shuck, Pyewackett and Cullen. Together they spread terror, pestilence and destruction. And now, because of David’s unwitting actions, they are stirring once more…