Other books that might interest you

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  Viper in the Nest

  Georgina Clarke

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  London's streets are sinister. But what if the real danger lies closer to home? 
   
  London, June 1759. When a charmless civil servant takes his own life, few are interested in his death. But Lizzie Hardwicke, who plies her trade in the brothels of London whilst also working as an undercover sleuth for the magistrate, can see no reason why a man who had everything to look forward to would wish to end his life. 
   
  Lizzie's search for answers takes her from the smoke-filled rooms of fashionable gambling houses, where politicians mix ambition with pleasure, to the violent streets of Soho, ready to erupt with riots in the sultry summer heat. All the while, she is navigating her complicated feelings for the magistrate's trusted assistant, Will Davenport, and a disturbing situation at home. 
   
  Then a gambling house owner is brutally murdered, and Lizzie finds herself tangled in a chaos that she cannot control. The darkest of secrets threatens to turn Davenport against her forever; its exposure will send her to the gallows. 
   
  The third instalment of the gripping and vividly imagined historical mystery series set in 18th century London.

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  Arachne - A tale from the French...

  Marcel Schwob

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  Mayer André Marcel Schwob was born in Chaville, Hauts-de-Seine, France on 23rd August 1867 into a cultivated Jewish family.  
   
  As a child he devoured the works of Poe and Stevenson in French and then again in English.  His attachment to the bizarre and dark was already forming. 
   
  His education at the Lycée of Nantes earned him the 1st Prize for Excellence.  In 1881, he was in Paris with his maternal uncle to study at the Lycée Louis-le-Grand.  Schwob quickly developed his multilingual abilities and then studied philology and Sanscrit at the École pratique des hautes études before completing his military service in Vannes with the artillery. 
   
  After completing a Bachelor of Arts in 1888 he became a professional journalist and worked for the Phare de la Loire, the Événement and L'Écho de Paris. 
   
  The 1890’s marked his establishment as a brilliant writer with the publication of six short story collections.   
   
  He fell ill in 1896 with a chronic, incurable intestinal disorder.  He also suffered recurring bouts of influenza and pneumonia.  Intestinal surgery was given several times, at first with success but, by 1900, after two more surgeries, he was told that nothing more could be done for him.  Schwob now existed on kefir and fermented milk. 
   
  By the turn of the century, despite failing health, and often too ill to write, he embarked on several long travels, including to Vailima in the South Pacific where his literary hero Stevenson had died.  
   
  Schwob was regarded as a symbolist writer and a ‘precursor of Surrealism’.  He wrote over a hundred short stories, journalistic articles, essays, biographies, literary reviews and analysis, translations and plays.  
   
  Marcel Schwob died on 26th February 1905 of Pneumonia.  He was 37.

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  Heart of Darkness

  Joseph Conrad

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  Embark on a haunting journey into the depths of the human soul with Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad’s timeless literary masterpiece. Narrated with gripping intensity by Luke Oldham, this novella follows Charles Marlow as he navigates the treacherous Congo River in search of the enigmatic ivory trader, Mr. Kurtz. 
  As the steamboat pushes deeper into the jungle, Marlow’s physical journey mirrors a descent into moral ambiguity and existential dread. Through vivid storytelling and rich symbolism, Conrad explores the corrosive impact of imperialism and the unsettling truth about civilization’s thin veneer. 
  With moody atmosphere, philosophical depth, and psychological complexity, Heart of Darkness continues to challenge and captivate readers more than a century after its original publication. 
  Perfect for fans of introspective drama, historical fiction, and dark, thought-provoking literature.

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  Hostage to Death

  L. Ron Hubbard

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  For Lieutenant Bill Reilly, a Westerner at war in the desert, the dream of joining the Foreign Legion has turned into a nightmare. It all starts with a severed hand. In it is a message from a Berber chief: Save the American woman he holds captive or she's next up for dismemberment. But it's a trick, leading to a terrorist attack. But who set the trap? Caught in a triangle of treachery between the French, Spanish and native Berbers, Reilly's only hope is to uncover the truth in a desert of deception. The bugles blow, the rifles crack, and the sandstorms swirl as the audio version of Hostage to Death carries you off to an exotic land of surprising romance and sudden terror.

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  Until We Meet - We'll Meet Again...

  Rhonda Forrest

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  A small garrison of Australian soldiers is left to defend a town and its people against the might of the Japanese forces. This is a story of those who were left behind and those who waited for them to return. 
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  In early 1940, Bud joins the United States Navy, his aim, to become a US Submariner. Less than two years later, Japanese forces bomb Pearl Harbour. Those living on the islands of New Guinea lie directly in the path of the oncoming enemy. 
   
  In Rabaul, Joanie prepares to depart, leaving behind her fiancée, those who she loves and many who she has become friends with. As the volcano Tavurvur gathers its forces and bursts forth from its crater, the ill-equipped, small Australian defence known as Lark Force is left to secure the small town. Overwhelmed by the large enemy forces, the order is given, ‘every man for themselves.’ Although some will survive, 1053 men lose their lives when a US Submarine sinks the POW Japanese ship, Montevideo Maru. The seeds of destiny are sown and the lives of the American submariner, Bud, and those in Rabaul, intrinsically linked. 
   
  Will Michael return to fulfil his promise of marrying Joanie and what will be the fate of his young daughter, Gracie, who still turns to the evening star for guidance, for her questions to be answered, and above all to be reunited with her father. 
   
  Until We Meet is an epic saga, based on actual events that continues the story of Elizabeth’s Star. A tale of survival, love and family, set amidst the backdrop of World War II.

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  David Copperfield

  Charles Dickens

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  " 
  ""Alone among his contemporaries, Charles Dickens seems to possess that instinctive sympthaty with whatever is human and humane which is the fundamental condition of genial and varied characterization. … in individualities which make us in love with our kind, he is unapproached."" —The Atlantic Monthly, May 1867
   
  The Personal History, Adventures, Experience, and Observation of David Copperfield the Younger, of Blunderstone Rookery—or, as it's now more commonly known, David Copperfield—is considered one of literature's quintessential bildungsroman novels.
   
  Originally published in serial installments stretching from May 1849 through November 1850, the tale follows the titular David Copperfield throughout the course of his life in Victorian England. In parts a coming-of-age story, satire, and autobiographical novel, Dickens called David Copperfield ""a very complicated weaving of truth and invention""—as well as named it his favorite of his own works."

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