April Fiction Blurbs 2015Leather, Stephen - White Lies : The 11th Spider

Raj Chaudry, a British-born Pakistani working for MI6, is seized and tortured by al-Qaeda extremists in Pakistan. It's a blast from the past for Shepherd, since he previously trained Chaudry as an undercover agent in a terrorist case where both narrowly escaped with their lives. Determined to save his former apprentice, Shepherd embarks on a rescue mission with SAS and Pakistani Special Forces soldiers.

MacBride, Stuart - A Song For The Dying

Eight years ago, 'The Inside Man' murdered four women and left three more in critical condition - all of them with their stomachs slit open and a plastic doll stitched inside. And then the killer just ...disappeared. Ash Henderson was a Detective Inspector on the initial investigation, but a lot can change in eight years. His family has been destroyed, his career is in tatters, and one of Oldcastle's most vicious criminals is making sure he spends the rest of his life in prison. Now a nurse has turned up dead on a patch of waste ground, a plastic doll buried beneath her skin, and it looks as if Ash might finally get a shot at redemption , at earning his freedom, at revenge.

Mcgowan, Claire - The Dead Ground

A stolen baby. A murdered woman. A decades-old atrocity. Something connects them all.A month before Christmas, and Ballyterrin on the Irish border lies under a thick pall of snow. When a newborn baby goes missing from hospital, it's all too close to home for forensic psychologist Paula Maguire, who's wrestling with the hardest decision of her life.Then a woman is found in a stone circle with her stomach cut open and it's clear a brutal killer is on the loose.As another child is taken and a pregnant

woman goes missing, Paula is caught up in the hunt for a killer no one can trace, who will stop at nothing to get what they want

Mosse, Kate - The Taxidermist’s Daughter

In a churchyard, villagers gather on the night when the ghosts of those who will die in the coming year are thought to be seen. Here, where the estuary leads out to the sea, superstitions still hold sway.Standing alone is the taxidermist's daughter. At 17, Constantia Gifford lives with her father in a decaying house: it is all that is left of Gifford's once world-famous museum of taxidermy. The stuffed animals that used to grace every parlour are out

of fashion, leaving Gifford a disgraced and bitter man.The bell begins to toll and all eyes are fixed on the church. No one sees the gloved hand pick up a flint. As the last notes fade into the dark, a woman lies dead.

Nicholls, David - Us

Douglas Petersen understands his wife's need to 'rediscover herself' now that their son is leaving home.He just thought they'd be doing their rediscovering together.So when Connie announces that she will be leaving, too, he resolves to make their last family holiday into the trip of a lifetime: one that will draw the three of them closer, and win the respect of his son. One that will make Connie fall in love with him all over again.The hotels are booked, the tickets bought, the itinerary planned and printed.What could possibly go wrong?

Packer, Nigel - The Restoration Of Otto Laird

Elderly architect Otto Laird lives a peaceful existence in Switzerland. Once renowned for his radical and controversial designs he now spends his days communing with nature and writing eccentric (and unposted) letters to old friends. But his charmed life is rudely interrupted when he learns that one of his most significant buildings, Marlowe House, a 1960s tower block in south London is to be demolished. 

Purdy, Brandy - The Boleyn Bride

At sixteen, Elizabeth Howard envisions a glorious life for herself as lady-in-

waiting to the future queen, Catherine of Aragon. But when she is forced to marry Thomas Boleyn, a wealthy commoner, Elizabeth is left to stagnate in the countryside while her detested husband pursues his ambitions. There, she raises golden girl Mary, moody George, and ugly duckling Anne—while staving off boredom with a string of admirers. Until Henry VIII takes the throne. . .

Quick, Matthew - The Good Luck Of Right Now

For thirty-eight years, Bartholomew Neil has lived with his mother. When she gets sick and dies, he has no idea how to be on his own. His redheaded grief counselor, Wendy, says he needs to find his flock and leave the nest. But how does a man whose whole life has been grounded in his mom, Saturday mass, and the library learn how to fly?

Riordan, Rick - Blood Of Olympus

Though the Greek and Roman crewmembers of the Argo II have made progress in their many quests, they still seem no closer to defeating the earth mother, Gaea. Her giants have risen-all of them-and they're stronger

than ever. They must be stopped before the Feast of Spes, when Gaea plans to have two demigods sacrificed in Athens. She needs their blood - the blood of Olympus - in order to wake. 

Riordan, Rick - Percy Jackson And The Greek Gods

"If you like horror shows, blood baths, lying, stealing, backstabbing, and cannibalism, then read on, because it definitely was a Golden Age for all that." Dramatic full-color illustrations throughout by Caldecott Honoree John Rocco make this volume-a must for home, library, and classroom shelves-as stunning as it is entertaining.

Roberts, Nora - The Collector: Life Can Change In a Heartbeat

When professional house-sitter Lila Emerson witnesses a murder/suicide from her current apartment-sitting job, life as she knows it takes a dramatic turn. Suddenly, the woman with no permanent ties finds herself almost wishing for one. . . .

Rose, Karen - Closer Than You Think

Psychologist Faith Corcoran is desperate to escape the stalker who’s made her life a nightmare for the past year—desperate enough to run to the one place that has been her nightmare far longer. Both boon and bane, her recent inheritance of her grandmother’s old house in Cincinnati offers sanctuary in which she can start her life anew, but requires that she face the dark memories

that still resonate to this day. But she has no idea how close to home her fears still are.

Russell, Rachel Renee - Dork Diaries: Dear Dork

When Nikki Maxwell discovers that her arch-nemesis, Mackenzie, has started writing a gossip column for the school newspaper she's worried that Mackenzie might be about to reveal some secret info about Nikki's crush, Brandon, that she knows he won't want the whole school to find out about. To keep an eye on what Mackenzie's up to, Nikki decides to join the newspaper too, and somehow ends up working as the advice columnist, Miss

Know-It-All. At first it's fun to answer all the letters from the kids at school, but when Miss Know-It-All's inbox is suddenly overflowing with pleas for guidance, Nikki feels in need of some help herself.

Russell, Rachel Renee - Dork Diaries

After a bump on the head in gym class on April Fool’s Day, Nikki has a wild dream in which she, her BFFs Chloe and Zoey, her crush Brandon, and mean girl Mackenzie all end up playing the roles of some familiar classic fairy tale characters. Of course, the stories don’t go quite as expected—because they each have a very special Dork Diaries spin!

Cannon, Luke - Killing Room

In this highly charged, psychological thrill ride four strangers are recruited as volunteers in a scientific research study. But they soon find that they are pawns in a classified government program to determine the breaking point of the human mind. As the experiments are conducted with each unwilling participant, the sterile white room becomes a horrible nightmare where the end game is survival itself.

McGrath, M.J - Bone Seeker

Edie Kiglatuk works as a summer school teacher in the Canadian arctic. When one of her female students is found dead in nearby Lake Turngaluk, Edie enlists the help of Sergeant Derek Palliser to pursue the case, promising the girl’s Inuit family that they will uncover the truth. Meanwhile, lawyer Sonia Gutierrez investigates the toxicity of the lake and suspects that there might be a larger conspiracy involved.

Lette, Kathy - Courting Trouble

Tilly has the day from hell when she's sacked from her barristers' chambers in the morning, then finds her husband in bed with her former best friend in the afternoon. She escapes to her mother, Roxy - a sassy solicitor whose outrageous take on men, work and family life is the despair of her more conventional daughter. Roxy comes up with a radical plan for their future - they'll set up an all-female law firm which will only champion women who have been cheated, put upon, attacked, ripped off or ruined by the men in their lives.

Salaman, Clara - The Boat

It was supposed to be the trip of a lifetime...Johnny and his new bride Clem have arrived in Turkey for a year's honeymoon. Young, blissfully happy but poor, they are surviving on love, luck and a spirit of adventure. So when a boat appears out of a raging storm, crewed by a bohemian couple who represent everything Johnny and Clem want to be, they do not think twice about stepping on board. But all is not as it seems. And when they finally open their eyes to the truth, the boat is in the middle

of the vast open sea...With echoes of The Beach, this is a hypnotic,

emotionally charged novel about two sweet young lovers who lose their innocence in paradise.

Setterfield, Diane - Bellman & Black

As a boy, William Bellman commits one small cruel act that appears to have unforseen and terrible consequences.The killing of a rook with his catapult is soon forgotten amidst the riot of boyhood games. And by the time he is grown with a wife and children of his own he seems indeed to be a man blessed by fortune. Until tragedy strikes and the stranger in black comes and William Bellman starts to wonder if all his happiness is about to be eclipsed. Desperate to save the one precious thing he has left, he enters into a bargain. A rather strange bargain

with an even stranger partner to found a decidedly macabre business.

Shafak, Elif - The Architect’s Apprentice

In 1540, twelve-year-old Jahan arrives in Istanbul. As an animal tamer in the sultan’s menagerie, he looks after the exceptionally smart elephant Chota and befriends (and falls for) the sultan’s beautiful daughter, Princess Mihrimah. A palace education leads Jahan to Mimar Sinan, the empire’s chief architect, who takes Jahan under his wing as they construct (with Chota’s help) some of the most magnificent buildings in history. Yet even as they build Sinan’s triumphant masterpieces—the incredible Suleymaniye and Selimiye mosques—dangerous undercurrents

begin to emerge, with jealousy erupting among Sinan’s four apprentices.

Steele, Danielle - Pegasus

In a rich historical novel of family and World War II, #1 New York Times bestselling author Danielle Steel unfurls a powerful saga that spans generations and continents. This is a story of courage, friendship, and fate as two families face the challenges of war . . . and the magnificent stallion that will link them forever. PEGASUS Nicolas von Bingen and Alex von Hemmerle,

Swanson, Peter - The Girl With A Clock For A Heart

Already optioned for film, The Girl with a Clock for a Heart is Peter Swanson’s electrifying tale of romantic noir, with shades of Hitchcock and reminiscent of the classic movie Body Heat. It is the story of a man swept into a vortex of irresistible passion and murder when an old love mysteriously reappears

Tebbutt, Judith - A Long Walk Home: One Woman’s Story of Kidnap, Hostage, Loss and Survival

This is the story of how, over a period of one hundred and ninety-two days, I was torn away from the life I knew and loved, and dragged down to the depths of despair; of how I endured enforced isolation and near-starvation at the hands of Somali pirates; and of how I made a choice to survive by any and all means that I could muster.

Torre, A.R - The Girl in 6E

My life is simple, as long as I follow the rules.

1. Don't leave the apartment.

2. Never let anyone in.

3. Don't kill anyone.

I've obeyed these rules for three years. But rules were made to be broken

Williams, David - Ratburger

This story is of a little girl called Zoe. Things are not looking good for Zoe. Her stepmother Sheila is so lazy she gets Zoe to pick her nose for her. The school bully Tina Trotts makes her life a misery - mainly by flobbing on her head. And now the evil Burt from Burt's Burgers is after her pet rat! And guess what he wants to do with it? The clue is in the title…

Williams, David - Billionaire Boy

Joe has a lot of reasons to be happy. About a billion of them, in fact. You see, Joe's rich. Really, really rich. Joe's got his own bowling

alley, his own cinema, even his own butler who is also an orangutan. He's the wealthiest twelve-year-old in the land. Yes, Joe has absolutely everything he could possibly want. But there's just one thing he really needs: a friend...

Williams, David - Mr Stink

"Mr Stink stank. He also stunk. And if it was correct English to say he stinked, then he stinked as well..." It all starts when Chloe makes friends with Mr Stink, the local tramp. Yes, he smells a bit. But when it looks like he might be driven out of town, Chloe decides to hide him in the garden shed. Now Chloe's got to make sure no one finds out her secret. And speaking of secrets, there just might be more to Mr Stink than meets the eye...or the nose.

Williams, David - The Boy In The Dress

Dennis was different. Why was he different, you ask? Well, a small clue might be in the title of this book...Charming, surprising and hilarious - The Boy in the Dress is everything you would expect from the co-creator of Little Britain.

Watson, Christie – Where Women Are Kings

Watson, Christie Elijah, seven years old, is covered in scars and has a history of disruptive behaviour. His adoptive mother Nikki believes that she and her husband Obi are strong enough to accept his difficulties - and that being white will not affect her ability to raise a black son. Elijah’ s birth mother Deborah loves her son like

the world has never known. Elijah think it’s his fault they can’t be together. Each of them faces more challenges than they could have dreamed, but just as Elijah starts to settle in, a shocking event rocks their fragile peace and the result is devastating

Webster, Nora - Colm Toibin

Widowed at forty, with four children and not enough money, Nora has lost the love of her life, Maurice, the man who rescued her from the stifling world to which she was born. And now she fears she may be drawn back into it. Wounded, strong-willed, clinging to secrecy in a tiny community where everyone knows your business, Nora is drowning in her own sorrow and blind to the suffering of her young sons, who have lost their father. Yet she has moments of

stunning empathy and kindness, and when she begins to sing again, after decades, she finds solace, engagement, a haven—herself.