Hodder&Stoughton

He's every womans fantasy! After a string of nightmare relationships, Emily Albright has decided she's had it with modern-day men. She'd rather pour herself a glass of wine, curl up with Pride and Prejudice and step into a time where men were dashing, devoted and honourable, strode across fields in breeches, their damp shirts clinging to their chests, and weren't into internet porn. So when her best friend invites her to Mexico for a week of margaritas and men, Emily decides to book a guided tour of Jane Austen country instead. She quickly realises she won't find her dream man here. The coach tour is full of pensioners, apart from one Mr. Spike Hargreaves, a foul-tempered journalist sent to write a piece on why Mr. Darcy's been voted the man most women would love to date! Until she walks into a room and finds herself face-to-face with Darcy himself. And every womans fantasy suddenly becomes one woman's reality!

John Connolly, bestselling author of seven brilliantly scary mystery novels, now turns his pen to the short story to give us a volume of chilling tales of the supernatural. In this macabre collection, echoing masters of the genre from M R James to Stephen King, Connolly delves into our darkest fears – lost lovers, missing children, subterranean creatures and predatory demons. Framing the collection are two substantial novellas – «The Cancer Cowboy Rides» charts the fatal progress of a modern-day grim reaper, while «The Reflecting Eye» is a haunted house tale with a twist and marks the return of private detective Charlie Parker, the troubled hero of Connolly's crime novels. This edition contains two additional stories – «The Cycle» and «Mr Gray's Folly» – not previously included. «Nocturnes» is a masterly volume to be read with the lights on — menace has never been so seductive...

Teach Yourself Presenting will appeal to the vast number of people who fiind presenting difficult or frightening because they have not had the proper coaching. By virtue of its logical structure, all-encompassing content and clear but engaging writing it will take the terror out of presenting on any occasion. While the text will be simple and straightforward to meet the needs of those new to presenting, it will have sufficient richness and depth to challenge those with plenty of experience. Not only does it teach you how to present with impact and confidence in a business context it will also guide you through the everyday challenges of communicating in every way, from speaking at weddings to impromptu speaking in an informal setting. Everything in life is a presentation and this book shows you how to overcome nerves and anxiety to bring the 'wow' factor to your presentation. As companies increasingly regard public speaking as an essential management skill, the demand for books that offer sensible, practical advice will continue to grow.As a readable, stimulating title full of knowledge that can be put into use straight away, Teach Yourself Presenting with Impact & Confidence will have popular and enduring appeal.

Now Alisa is living in the 21st Century, ready to take on an ancient and powerful enemy. She will do whatever it takes to protect herself and her secret, even if it means destroying the people she loves. For Alisa, human weakness must be battled against. The last vampire, will not die ...

The US government is pursuing Alisa, intent on obtaining her vampire DNA. She has no choice but to go on the run, her blood is way too deadly and dangerous to be allowed into the public domain! Then Alisa makes a discovery that could mean she will finally know happiness, but it goes wrong she faces untold tragedy and danger. And all the time a powerful force is watching over Alisa. Someone who knows all that ever was, and all that will be ...

Every night the whole nation watches the ultimate live game show on TV, as the contestants try to beat annihilation at the hands of the hunters in order to win the billion dollar jackpot. And now there is a new contestant, the latest «Running Man», staking his life while a nation watches.

This work features a secret store of stolen silver, a surprising view through a telescope, a shrill scream on a night out, a disappearing cash box and a dangerous accident and a trap for the Secret Seven! This collection includes the following short stories: The Secret of Old Mill; The Humbug Adventure; Adventure On The Way Home; An Afternoon with The Secret Seven; Where are The Secret Seven? and Hurry, Secret Seven, Hurry!

Taking you from ancient Ireland to modern day conflicts, this book gives you an understanding of the background to events that have dominated the headlines. It addresses the developments in Ireland, including the murder of Robert McCartney and Denis Donaldson, the IRA's formal order to end its 30-year armed campaign; and more.

It's a dank January in the Worcestershire village of Black Swan Green and thirteen-year-old Jason Taylor — covert stammerer and reluctant poet — anticipates a stultifying year in the deadest village on Earth. But Jason hasn't reckoned with a junta of bullies, simmering family discord, the Falklands War, an exotic Belgian emigre, a threatened gypsy invasion and the caprices of those mysterious entities known as girls. BLACK SWAN GREEN charts thirteen months in the black hole between childhood and adolescence, set against the sunset of an agrarian England still overshadowed by the Cold War. Wry, painful, funny and vibrant with the stuff of life, it is David Mitchell's subtlest and most captivating achievement to date.

When Inspector Chen Cao agrees to do a translation job for a Triad-connected businessman he is given a laptop, a 'little secretary' to provide for his every need, medical care for his mother. There are, it seems, no strings attached... Then, a murder is reported: Chen is loath to shorten his working holiday, so Sergeant Yu is forced to take charge of the investigation. The victim, a middle-aged teacher, has been found dead in her tiny room in a converted multi-family house. Only a neighbour could have committed the crime, but there is no motive. It is only when Chen returns and starts to investigate the past that he finds answers. But by then, he has troubles of his own.

At forty-eight, Tim Cranmer is a secret servant in a premature retirement to deepest rural England. His Cold War is fought and won, and he is free to devote himself to his stately manor house, his vineyard, and his beautiful young mistress, Emma.

A corporate lawyer from the House of Single & Single is shot dead in cold blood on a Turkish hillside for crimes that he does not understand. A children's entertainer in Devon is hauled to his local bank late at night to explain a monumental influx of cash. A Russian freighter is arrested in the Black Sea. A celebrated London financier has disappeared into thin air. A British customs officer is on a trail of corruption and murder. SINGLE & SINGLE is a thrilling journey of the contemporary human heart — intimate, magical, riotous and subtly architected, showing us John le Carre at the height of his dramatic and creative powers.

Aldo Cassidy is the naive and sentimental lover. A successful, judicious man, he is wrenched away from the ordered certainties of his life by a sudden encounter with Shamus, a wild, carousing artist and Helen, his nakedly alluring wife. Cassidy, plunged into a whirlpool of recklessness and spontaneity, becomes a man bewildered and agonised as he is torn between two poles of a nature more complex than he had ever imagined.

The final volume sees gunslinger Roland on a roller-coaster mix of exhilarating triumph and aching loss in his unrelenting quest to reach the dark tower. Roland's band of pilgrims remains united, though scattered. Susannah-Mia has been carried off to New York to give birth, Terrified of what may happen, Jake, Father Callahan and Oy follow. Roland and Eddie are in Maine, looking for the site which will lead them to Susannah. As he finally closes in on the tower, Roland's every step is shadowed by a terrible and sinister creation. And finally, he realises, he may have to walk the last dark strait alone! You've come this far, Come a little farther, Come all the way, The sound you hear may be the slamming of the door behind you. Welcome to The Dark Tower.

The final volume sees gunslinger Roland on a roller-coaster mix of exhilarating triumph and aching loss in his unrelenting quest to reach the dark tower. Roland's band of pilgrims remains united, though scattered. Susannah-Mia has been carried off to New York to give birth, Terrified of what may happen, Jake, Father Callahan and Oy follow. Roland and Eddie are in Maine, looking for the site which will lead them to Susannah. As he finally closes in on the tower, Roland's every step is shadowed by a terrible and sinister creation. And finally, he realises, he may have to walk the last dark strait alone! You've come this far, Come a little farther, Come all the way, The sound you hear may be the slamming of the door behind you. Welcome to The Dark Tower.

For Josh Harper, being in show-business means everything he ever wanted — money, fame, a beautiful wife, and a lead role on the London stage. For Stephen C. McQueen, it means a disastrous career playing passers-by and dead people. Stephen is stuck with an unfortunate name, a hopeless agent, a daughter he barely knows, and a job as understudy to Josh Harper, the 12th Sexiest Man in the World. And when Stephen falls in love with Josh's clever, funny wife Nora, things get even more difficult. But might there yet be a way for Stephen to get his Big Break? THE UNDERSTUDY is a scintillating comedy of ambition, celebrity, jealousy and love.

Beautiful, headstrong and unconventional, Catherine Cabot is twenty years old when she arrives in China. Against an uneasy political background a bittersweet, triangular love affair develops between Catherine and Edmund and George Airton. And all the while, she is trying to uncover the truth of her past, unaware of the danger this might pose to her. Who is Henry Manners, the mysterious man who once wrote to her mother, and who she knows now lives in China? Running in parallel is the extraordinary story of Yu-Fu-kuei, a Chinese revolutionary working as a Communist spy. She and Catherine met when they were at Oxford immediately after the Great War, and the friendship is deep and permanent. As the Japanese mass themselves on the borders, waiting for an excuse to invade, Catherine, ignorant of a history steeped in hatred, unwittingly becomes the perfect tool to settle the scores of two men who will stop at nothing to wreak their revenge. And Yu-Fu-kuei discovers that love might be the strongest weapon that any warrior has.

The Theory of Knowledge course is central to the philosophy of the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme. It encourages students to question the basis of knowledge and to develop the ability to evaluate critically information from a wide range of sources. Unlike most academic courses, where students are used to being given facts that they are expected to learn, in this course they are expected to question knowledge itself — What do I know? How do I know it? Is it likely to be true or not? Questions that have interested people over the centuries include: What is good art? Can I trust my senses? Will science tell us everything? How did the Universe start? Is there life after death? Theory of Knowledge 2nd edition"provides an introductory framework that looks at how to approach these and other questions. It covers ways to look for answers and highlights the problems that arise when we do so. To encourage this critical thinking and to stimulate discussion, this Student's Book also includes a wide range of material from other sources.This new edition includes a variety of new activities in each chapter plus a revised chapter on morality and two new chapters on truth and assessment. The accompanying Teacher's Book provides a model for the course and suggested teaching activities for each chapter.

In this enthralling and thought-provoking novel of Middle Eastern intrigue, Charlie, a brilliant and beautiful young actress, is lured into 'the theatre of the real' by an Israeli intelligence officer. Forced to play her ultimate role, she is plunged into a deceptive and delicate trap set to ensnare an elusive Palestinian terrorist. THE LITTLE DRUMMER GIRL is a thrilling, deeply moving and courageous novel of our times.

More energy, clearer focus, better sleep, a trimmer figure and a more positive outlook — these are the things that encompass real wellbeing and that Joshi can help you achieve. Incorporating elements of nutrition, meditation and visualisation techniques, exercise and yoga, health troubleshooting and beauty treatments, this is a clear, simple plan that will transform your life. Infused with Joshi's uniquely positive, pragmatic and sympathetic voice, HOLISTIC LIFE PLAN gives us the chance to be pampered and uplifted by the man the stars regard as their secret weapon. Make step-by-step changes and feel the difference: this is a life plan that really will become the basis for a new healthy and happy way of life.

It's Easter in Reading — a bad time for eggs — and no one can remember the last sunny day. Humpty Dumpty, well-known nursery favourite, large egg, ex-convict and former millionaire philanthropist is found shattered beneath a wall in a shabby area of town. Following the pathologist's careful reconstruction of Humpty's shell, Detective Inspector Jack Spratt and his Sergeant Mary are soon grappling with a sinister plot involving cross-border money laundering, the illegal Bearnaise sauce market, corporate politics and the cut and thrust world of international Chiropody. As Jack and Mary stumble around the streets of Reading in Jack's Lime Green Austin Allegro, the clues pile up, but Jack has his own problems to deal with.And on top of everything else, the Jellyman is coming to town...

Virginia Keile has a secret dream. To have a second chance at loving the tall, handsome Cornish farmer she met — and foolishly lost — the heady summer she was a debutante. Life has taught Virginia a great deal in twenty-seven years — about wedding a titled bachelor picked out by her mother, about a lonely marriage that ended in her husband's accidental death, and about nearly losing her children to her husband's mother and bossy Nanny. Now she has come back to picturesque Cornwall to rent a battered seaside cottage. For herself and for the children. And to discover if this time she can fill an empty house with love.

The big bedroom was lovely: all pale, blue and white, satin and muslin, cool and airy, the windows looking out over the garden to the creek. But to fourteen-year-old Emily, beautiful though it was, it was all wrong. Her stepmother's bedroom now: everything changed since her own mother had died.And stretched out on the bed: Stephanie, very white and pained. The new baby on its way, a month early. All of a sudden, with her father away on business, Emily had to take charge, keep calm, ring for the doctor and the ambulance. The time for looking back had gone.The Blue Bedroom is just one of Rosamunde Pilcher's magical collection of stories. Stories that will enchant everyone who has read and loved The Shell Seekers.

Magnus Pym, ranking diplomat, has vanished, believed defected. The chase is on: for a missing husband, a devoted father, and a secret agent. Pym's life, it is revealed, is entirely made up of secrets. Dominated by a father who is also a confidence trickster on an epic scale, Pym has from the age of seventeen been controlled by two mentors. It is these two, racing each other and time itself, who are orchestrating the search to find the perfect spy...