Playing with fire
Buckle up for a wild ride with these books, where we meet characters who bravely tackle the new and unprecedented.
Disappearing Earth
Author: Julia Philips Publisher: Knopf, mystery
IN a community as small and close as this one, it’s personal when two girls go missing and the police don’t have a clue. Lives are changed by this abduction: a mother is shaken, a neighbour wonders if anything else could have been done, a detective mulls over potential clues.
This is also a journey through the lives of different women and their relationships with each other. In their search for answers and closure, there will always be someone who ends up being the scapegoat. Whether they are truly guilty or not remains to be proven.
The Gifted School
Author: Bruce Holsinger
Publisher: riverhead Books, contemporary fiction
HOW far would you go to get into the school of your dreams? Here is a small town set abuzz with news of the opening of an elite school, and it seems parents and students alike will do anything to snag a coveted spot init.
In this timely book (that brings to mind the recent scandal over celebrities influencing admissions decisions at top American universities), we follow four families in their pursuit of prestige and fame. They’ve known each other for over a decade but will stop at nothing to outdo each other just this one time. When ambition collides with resentment, and relationships and secrets start unravelling, will anyone put the brakes on the drama? Once upon a time, they were all living happy lives. And then school happened.
The Water Dancer
Author: Ta-nehisi Coates Publisher: one World, historical fiction
HIRAM doesn’t remember anything about his mother; he lost all memory of her when she was sold away. When he almost drowns in a river and a mysterious power within himself leads him to safety, he decides to pack up and escape from the only home he has ever known to find out more about himself, his past and the world.
From Virginia’s plantations to guerrilla cells and an underground war brewing between slaves and masters, Hiram must learn to be quick on his feet to not only survive, but thrive.
Sword Of Kings (The Saxon Stories #12)
Author: Bernard Cornwell
Publisher: Harper Collins, historical fiction
KING Edward is dying and those with an eye on the throne of England are gathering. None of it concerns Uhtred of Bebbanburg, who cares only that his beloved Northumbria remains independent.
The problem is, Uhtred is an honourable man to whom an oath is sacred, and he once gave his oath to support Aethelstan – and his onetime companion in arms is now a potential king. With a small band of loyal warriors at his back, Uhtred travels south, heading into a world of uncertain loyalties and ambitious men where attack can come from any quarter. This the 12th instalment of author Bernard Cornwell’s series chronicling the making of England.
Agent Running In The Field
Author: John le Carré Publisher: Viking, spy thriller
LONG-REIGNING spy thriller king John le Carré allows the anger and confusion over Britain’s upcoming exit from the European Union to inform his latest Secret Service tale.
Nat, at 47, is facing his expiration date as a covert agent when Moscow’s increasing interference in British affairs gives him a final chance: Reestablish the Haven, a London cell comprising Russian defectors and informants. Now Nat has his hands full with eccentric old soldiers, ambitious whippersnappers and angry idealists who are all leading him down a dark path that promises to end up right in the middle of Brexit confusion.