But there's no room for him in the 1980s. Thatcher's government is destroying working-class communities across Britain, and the post-war certainties of full employment, educational opportunity and a welfare state are gone. When his family starts to fracture, Mark's life swings out of control and he succumbs to the defeatism which has taken hold in Edinburgh's grimmer areas. The way out is heroin.It's no better for his friends. Spud Murphy is paid off from his job, Tommy Lawrence feels himself being sucked into a life of petty crime and violence - the worlds of the thieving Matty Connell and psychotic Franco Begbie. Only Sick Boy, the supreme manipulator of the opposite sex, seems to ride the current, scamming and hustling his way through it all.Skagboys charts their journey from likely lads to young men addicted to the heroin which has flooded their disintegrating community. This is the 1980s: a time of drugs, poverty, AIDS, violence, political strife and hatred - but a lot of laughs, and maybe just a little love; a decade which changed Britain for ever. The prequel to the world-renowned Trainspotting, this is an exhilarating and moving book, full of the scabrous humour, salty vernacular and appalling behaviour that has made Irvine Welsh a household name.

    An Englishman plans to assassinate the dictator of a European country. But he is foiled at the last moment and falls into the hands of ruthless and inventive torturers. They devise for him an ingenious and diplomatic death but, for once, they bungle the job and he escapes. But England provides no safety from his pursuers - and the Rogue Male must strip away all the trappings of status and civilization as the hunter becomes a hunted animal.

    An epic chronicle of one man's judgement and death, "The Death of Bunny Munro" is an achingly tender portrait of the relationship between father and son.

    But few know that within its bowels rests a priceless pre-Columbian antiquity—a treasure that now holds the key to a puzzle that is costing people their lives. For Kurt Austin, the leader of a courageous National Underwater Marine Agency (NUMA) exploration team, the killing begins when he makes a daring rescue of a beautiful marine archaeologist. The target of a powerful Texas industrialist named Halcon, Nina Kirov was attacked off the coast of Morocco after her discovery of a carved stone head that may prove Christopher Columbus was not the first European to discover America.Soon Kurt and Nina embark on a deadly mission to uncover Halcon's masterful plan—an insidious scheme that would have him carve out a new nation from the southwest United States and Mexico, and ride to power on a wave of death and destruction. With Austin's elite NUMA crew attacking the murderous conspiracy from different sides, an extraordinary truth emerges; that Columbus may have made a fifth, unknown voyage to America in search of a magnificent treasure. And that the silent, steel hull of the Andrea Doria not only holds the answer to what the explorer may have found—but the fate of the United States itself.

    The son of a wealthy stock trader, he lives estranged from his family - until he is asked to investigate his father’s sudden death. Thus Weaver descends into the deceptive world of the English stock jobbers, gliding between coffee houses and gaming houses, drawing rooms and bordellos. The more Weaver uncovers, the darker the truth becomes, until he realizes that he is following too closely in his father’s footsteps - and they just might lead him to his own grave. An enthralling historical thriller, A Conspiracy of Paper will leave readers wondering just how much has changed in the stock market in the last three hundred years ...

    But the rhythm of her life is disrupted when attorney Mitchell Reece requests her help in locating a stolen document that could cost him not only the multimillion-dollar case he's defending but his career as well. Eager to get closer to this handsome, brilliant, and very private man, Taylor signs on . . . only to find that as she delves deeper and deeper into what goes on behind closed doors at Hubbard, White & Willis, she uncovers more than she wants to kno--including a plentitude of secrets damaging enough to smash careers and dangerous enough to push someone to commit murder. Yet who is capable of going to that extreme? With her life on the line, Taylor is about to learn the lethal answer. . . ."The characters are well drawn, the plot is fast paced, and the writing avoids totally the usual trappings of blockbusterdom. . . . An intelligently written thriller."--Booklist

    Covered by F-14 fighters, accompanied by security men, the planes carry warriors, pacifists, lovers, enemies, dignatories - and a bomb planted by a terrorist mastermind. Suddenly they're forced to crash-land at an ancient desert site. Here, with only a handful of weapons, the men and women of the peace mission must make a desperate stand against an army of crack Palestinian commandos - while the Israeli authorities desperately attempt a rescue bid. A story of compulsive excitement, rich in personal drama and political tension that must rank as one of the greatest of our times.

    She has lost her home to foreclosure, and her long-time boyfriend has married someone else. Then, just when she has almost given up hope for a better future, an opportunity presents itself for her to become a Level 1 Planner for a newly created federal agency that will implement the Retire America Act of 2013.After persuading her own aging parents to sign over all of their assets, Kris learns that the government’s plan to confiscate the wealth and property of America’s retirees in exchange for lifelong care in the Smart Seniors community has some serious downsides. As she relinquishes more and more personal freedom to hold onto her job, she discovers what it means to trade liberty for a steady government paycheck.

    There's a bonus, a story not seen for more than 70 years!'My name is Hercule Poirot and I am probably the greatest detective in the world.' The dapper, moustache-twirling little Belgian with the egg-shaped head, curious mannerisms and inordinate respect for his own 'little grey cells' has solved some of the most puzzling fictional crimes of the century. Appearing in Agatha Christie's very first novel in 1920 and her very last in 1975, Hercule Poirot became the most celebrated detective since Sherlock Holmes, appearing in 33 novels, a play, and these 51 short stories. These short stories provide a feast for hardened Agatha Christie addicts as well as those who have grown to love the detective through his many film and television appearances. This edition also includes Poirot in "The Regatta Mystery, "an early version of an Agatha Christie story not published since 1936!Some may dispute whether "all" is the correct word. Several Poirot short stories have earlier, alternate, or expanded versions, and we shouldn't forget the dozen or so not here; they were re-purposed into the 1927 novel "The Big Four." Others appeared under different titles. Most importantly, "Hercule Poirot The Complete Short Stories" will delight newcomers to Christie's famous detective, as well as those who just want to remember how good their read was the first time around.The stories in order are: (1) The Affair at the Victory Ball, (2) The Jewel Robbery at the Grand Metropolitan, (3) The King of Clubs, (4) The Disappearance of Mr. Davenheim, (5) The Plymouth Express, (6) The Adventure of The Western Star, (7) The Tragedy at Marsdon Manor, (8) The Kidnapped Prime Minister, (9) The Million Dollar Bond Robbery, (10) The Adventure of the Cheap Flat, (11) The Mystery of Hunter's Lodge, (12) The Chocolate Box, (13) The Adventure of the Egyptian Tomb, (14) The Veiled Lady, (15) The Adventure of Johnnie Waverly, (16) The Market Basing Mystery, (17) The Adventure of the Italian Nobleman, (18) The Case of the Missing Will, (19) The Incredible Theft, (20) The Adventure of the Clapham Cook, (21) The Lost Mine, (22) The Cornish Mystery, (23) The Double Clue, (24) The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding, (25) The Lemesurier Inheritance, (26) The Under Dog, (27) Double Sin, (28) Wasps' Nest, (29) The Third-Floor Flat, (30) The Mystery of the Spanish Chest, (31) Dead Man's Mirror, (32) How Does Your Garden Grow? (33) Problem at Sea, (34) Triangle at Rhodes, (35) Murder in the Mews, (36) Yellow Iris, (37) The Dream, (38) The Labours of Hercules, the Foreword, (39) The Nemean Lion, (40) The Lernean Hydra, (41) The Arcadian Deer, (42) The Erymanthian Boar, (43) The Augean Stables, (44) The Stymphalean Birds, (45) The Cretan Bull, (46) The Horses of Diomedes, (47) The Girdle of Hyppolita, (48) The Flock of Geryon, (49) The Apples of the Hesperides, (50) The Capture of Cerberus, and (51) Four-and-Twenty Blackbirds.Librarian's note: this entry is for the collection, "Hercule Poirot The Complete Short Stories." Entries for each of the individual stories can be found elsewhere on Goodreads.

    Set at the time of the Spanish Inquisition in the fifteenth century, Rose of Fire tells the story of the origins of the mysterious labyrinthine library, the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, which lies at the heart of Carlos Ruiz Zafón’s novels The Shadow of the Wind, The Angel’s Game, and now The Prisoner of Heaven.

    The regime is corrupt and harsh, the expatriates are hard-drinking money-grubbers, and her Muslim neighbours are secretive, watchful. The streets are not a woman's territory; confined in her flat, she finds her sense of self begin to dissolve. She hears whispers, sounds of distress from the 'empty' flat above her head. She has only rumours, no facts to hang on to, and no one with whom to share her creeping unease. As her days empty of certainty and purpose, her life becomes a blank -- waiting to be filled by violence and disaster.

    Cambridge student Serena Frome's beauty and intelligence make her the ideal recruit for MI5. The year is 1972. The Cold War is far from over. England's legendary intelligence agency is determined to manipulate the cultural conversation by funding writers whose politics align with those of the government. The operation is code named "Sweet Tooth." Serena, a compulsive reader of novels, is the perfect candidate to infiltrate the literary circle of a promising young writer named Tom Haley. At first, she loves his stories. Then she begins to love the man. How long can she conceal her undercover life? To answer that question, Serena must abandon the first rule of espionage: trust no one. Once again, Ian McEwan's mastery dazzles us in this superbly deft and witty story of betrayal and intrigue, love and the invented self.

    The "Story of the Young Man with the Cream Tarts," "Story of the Physician and the Saratoga Trunk," and "The Adventure of the Hansom Cab" chronicle the exploits of Prince Florizel of Bohemia and Colonel Geraldine through some of 19th-century London's most dangerous haunts.

    Never has the partisan drama been so tense or the paranoia so rampant. In the midst of contentious political turf wars, the White House chief of staff is found dead in his house. A tenacious intern discovers a single, ominous clue that suggests he died from something other than natural causes, and that a wide-ranging conspiracy is running beneath the surface of everyday events: powerful government figures are scheming to undermine the rule of law—and democracy itself. Allies are exposed as enemies, once-dependable authorities fall under suspicion, and no one seems to be who they say they are. The unthinkable is happening. The Deep State is real. Who will die to keep its secrets and who will kill to uncover the truth?

    "Red Harvest" is more than a superb crime novel: it is a classic exploration of corruption and violence in the American grain.The Op was in Personville, derogatory nickname aside, as the result of a letter to the Continental Detective Agency in San Francisco from Donald Willsson, publisher of the local paper, asking for an agent to visit. No other information. As soon as the OP arrives, the body count begins. It starts with his client!