He is a fat man. A fat man with thin limbs, like an egg with tentacles. And life is not going well. He’s alone, idle, and on the brink of a medical crisis when a childhood acquaintance makes him an offer he can’t understand, can’t talk about, but ultimately can’t refuse. A week later, he finds himself in the wilds of Scotland, plunged into an eccentric community at war over a wind farm. He’s supposed to be a backer, but he has no idea what side he’s on, even though it may bag him a lot of money. All he wants is to look like a hero in front of the woman with the bright blue eyes who brought him here. To do so he must run the gauntlet of a family with many dark secrets, some dangerous hippies and their hallucinogenic potions, and the wilderness itself with all its threats and dangers. Whirligig is a raucous, joyous, often poignant comedy about the redemptive power of the countryside. Written with peerless wit, it’s a timely fable that takes its place within the tradition of the Great English Comic Novel. It’s The Wicker Man as told by P.G. Wodehouse.

    He never expected to live it. Once power failed in Portland, the clock started ticking. Tom must scavenge supplies to get his friends to his home on the Oregon coast. Only some covet what he possesses. Death rides shotgun on this desperate drive. When power dies, civilization dies. “The Scorched Earth” chronicles the frantic fight for survival as society collapses around one man determined to save those closest him. And the price he must pay to do it. Bestselling author Terry Mixon writes in a number of major science fiction series: The Empire of Bones Saga, The Humanity Unlimited Saga, The Fractured Republic Saga, and The Scorched Earth Saga. Find your own adventure in their pages today.

    As her unnamed mother breathes her last, Sarah is taken in at the grand Meadow Hall in South Riding, Yorkshire. As soon as she can hold a scrubbing brush, her working life begins. Feisty and headstrong, Sarah's temper often leads her into trouble. At just 14 she decides to escape the life of a servant and run away. Dressed as a boy, she meets good-hearted Aidan and impulsive Danby, forming an unlikely but happy trio. Sarah's true identity eventually comes to the surface after nearly a year, along with new feelings for Aidan. However, knowing that the place for a teenage girl is definitely not with two young men, Aidan reluctantly takes Sarah to the workhouse. He plans to rescue her from this miserable place just as soon as he can, but something keeps Aidan from his promise—and nearly takes his life. Reunited as adults, and now strangers to each other, Sarah holds a secret about Danby, Aidan, and her unborn child. But can she do what is right for her baby, even if it means losing the love of her life?

    By trial… and eror error. Cullen is on jury duty, and the sleepy Scottish town of Melrose is experiencing a rare crime wave: the famous Rugby Sevens trophy is stolen, a dead body is unearthed, there is a spate of petty arson, and someone drives a van into Gloria’s front room.Why? And what is her husband doing every night up on Eildon hill?In this hilarious crime romp, misguided loyalties, thwarted love, and unbelievable gullibility reach crisis point on the one day in the year when the world pays a visit to Melrose.At the final whistle, Cullen will ensure that justice is done.Because sometimes twelve good men just isn’t enough.

    She finds London a very lonely place, until a charming young artist literally drops in on her rooftop garden... Across two quietly powerful novels, Bel's story unfolds as she moves from London to a fishing hotel in the rugged Scottish highlands and then finally to a picturesque cottage in the Cotswolds in need of repair, all while attempting to navigate unexpected friendships and romances. Filled with all the warmth and charm which D. E. Stevenson readers have come to anticipate, The Bel Lamington Novels are beautifully written gentle romances, sure to satisfy steadfast Stevenson fans and newcomers alike.

     He is handsome, ambitious - and an unwitting pawn in a game of thrones, played out by the rival queens of England and Scotland. As he escapes northwards, Darnley falls in love with the enigmatic Mary, Queen of Scots. But is the beautiful and regal woman all that she seems? As Darnley is drawn into Mary's web - and bed - he discovers that being a king does not mean wearing the crown. As one of the most passionate marriages in British history falters, Darnley must pit his wits against his wife. There will be blood. The end of their affair will shape their hearts - and history. Recommended reading for fans of Philippa Gregory, Alison Weir and Sarah Gristwood. Praise for Steven Veerapen: "A superb, page-turning debut. The author balances gimlet-eyed research with narrative drive and clever reveals... Danforth is a strong yet torn central character... I look forward to reading the second book in the series." Richard Foreman. Steven Veerapen was born in Glasgow and raised in Paisley. Pursuing an interest in the sixteenth century, he was awarded a first-class Honours degree in English, focussing his dissertation on representations of Henry VIII’s six wives. He then received a Masters in Renaissance studies, and a Ph.D. investigating Elizabethan slander. Steven is fascinated by the glamour and ghastliness of life in the 1500s, and has a penchant for myths, mysteries and murders in an age in which the law was as slippery as those who defied it.

    Nonetheless in this close community friendships go deep and the pub of an evening is a cheery place, at least until too much drink is taken. Fifteen years ago, Joe McBride left Westerbank under a cloud, and in his absence life has moved on, the secrets he took with him disturbing only occasionally those who were caught up in them. But now Joe McBride is coming home, a changed man, and one who needs to face up to the past before it's too late. The truth about the mysterious death of a young girl fifteen years ago is about to come out, and nothing in Westerbank will ever be quite the same again.

    First published in 1969, its 12 stories depict a vast cast of characters drawn from Orkney’s past and present, offering a range of emotions and incidents. They are elemental tales of the fishermen, crofters and farmers of the island and of the harsh, beautiful landscape in which they live.

    The author convincingly suggests, instead, that the distinguishing characteristic of the New England churches--the ideal of a church composed exclusively of true and tested saints--developed fully only in the 1630's and 1640's, some time after the first settlers arrived in New England. He also examines the influence of the Separatist colony at Plymouth on the later settlers of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and follows the difficulties created by a definition of the religious community so selective that the New England churches nearly expired for lack of saints to fill them.

    He lived in the same street as its fictional 'razor king', Johnnie Stark, and subsequently realised that a lot of the old characters represented in the book were still around as late as the 1960s. Men still wore bunnets and played pitch and toss; women still treated the steamie as their social club. The razor gangs were running amok once again, and filth, violence, crime, rats, poverty and drunkenness abounded, just like they did in No Mean City.MacFarlane witnessed the last days of the old Gorbals as a major regeneration programme, begun in 1961, was implemented, and, as a street boy, he had a unique insight into a once great community in rapid decline. In this engrossing book, MacFarlane reveals what it was really like to live in the old Gorbals.

    Written by a pastor with years of teaching and counseling experience, Why We Pray doesn't simply tell us why we should pray, but instead focuses on four blessing-filled reasons that will help us want to pray.Rather than feeling discouraged and disheartened by their inconsistency in prayer, you'll feel reinvigorated to approach God with confidence and joy, delighted by the privilege of talking directly to our loving heavenly Father.

    

    Leon McBeth's 'The Baptist heritage' is a definitive, fresh interpretation of Baptist history. Based on primary source research, the book combines the best features of chronological and topical history to bring alive the story of Baptists around the world.

    But in the first half of the nineteenth century, the foundations upon which the church had rested for centuries were shaken. In the eyes of many thoughtful people, liberalism in the guise of liberty, equality, and fraternity was the quintessence of the evils that shook those foundations. At the Vatican Council of 1869-1870, the church made a dramatic effort to set things right by defining the doctrine of papal infallibility.In Vatican I: The Council and the Making of the Ultramontane Church, John W. O'Malley draws us into the bitter controversies over papal infallibility that at one point seemed destined to rend the church in two. Archbishop Henry Manning was the principal driving force for the definition, and Lord Acton was his brilliant counterpart on the other side. But they shrink in significance alongside Pope Pius IX, whose zeal for the definition was so notable that it raised questions about the very legitimacy of the council. Entering the fray were politicians such as Gladstone and Bismarck. The growing tension in the council played out within the larger drama of the seizure of the Papal States by Italian forces and its seemingly inevitable consequence, the conquest of Rome itself.Largely as a result of the council and its aftermath, the Catholic Church became more pope-centered than ever before. In the terminology of the period, it became ultramontane.

    The entirety of our relationship with God can be summed up in this doctrine. Yet when people ask what this union actually is, we flounder. The incarnation shows that God has made us to be united with him, and God has given us his Word to enable us to understand the nature of this union. Set out with Robert Letham to explore this doctrine from Scripture using help from the church fathers to modern theologians.