David Thorpe

In the Swiss Alps a teenage girl is thrown from a helicopter and her boyfriend is brutally abducted to Trieste, a city filled with undercurrents of past hatreds. Ruari, son of Irish media owner J.J. Breslin, is in desperate danger, at the mercy of ruthless kidnappers making impossible demands. Originally published: 2010

History and adventure, brutality and courage combine to powerful effect, making 'Vengeance' an outstanding opening to 'The Last Roman' trilogy following the career of Flavius Belisaurius, the general who re-conquered the old imperial provinces of the west.

Tom Bryce did what any decent person would do. But within hours of picking up the CD that had been left behind on the train seat next to him, and attempting to return it to its owner, he is the sole witness to a vicious murder. Then his young family are threatened with their lives if he goes to the police. But supported by his wife, Kellie, he bravely makes a statement to the murder enquiry team headed by Detective Superintendent Roy Grace, a man...

Eight days after the summer solstice, a man's corpse is found on the grounds of Stonehenge, strange symbols carved into the flesh. Amid a media frenzy, the case falls to Wiltshire policewoman Meg Redfern, who in turn appeals to young Cambridge historian Gideon Chase, an expert on ancient British archaeology.

What really goes on in the long grass? 'Meadowland' give an unique and intimate account of an English meadow's life from January to December, together with its biography. In exquisite prose, John Lewis-Stempel records the passage of the seasons from cowslips in spring to the hay-cutting of summer and grazing in autumn, and includes the biographies of the animals that inhabit the grass and the soil beneath: the badger clan, the fox family, the rabbit...

Deep in uncharted Peru, the holy town of Bedlam stands at the edge of a forest. The shrine statues move, and anyone who crosses the border dies. But somewhere inside are cinchona trees, whose bark yields quinine: the only known treatment for malaria. On the other side of the Pacific, it is 1859 and India is ravaged by the disease. The hunt for a reliable source of quinine is critical and in its desperation, the India Office searches out its last qualified...