Harlequins are lost souls, so loved by the devil that he would not take them to hell, but left them to roam the earth. In French, the word is hellequin -- the name given to the English archers who crossed the Channel to lay waste the towns and countryside. In the fourteenth century the English were just beginning to discover their national identity, and one of the strongest elements of this was the overwhelming success in battle of the English bowmen. England's archers crossed the Channel to lay a country to waste. Thomas of Hookton was one of those archers. When his village is sacked by French raiders, he escapes from his father's ambition to become a wild youth who delights in the opportunities which war offers -- for fighting, for revenge and for friendship. But Thomas is hounded by his conscience. He has made a promise to God to retrieve a relic stolen in the raid from Hookton's church. The search for the relic leads him into a world where lovers become enemies, enemies become friends and always, somewhere beyond the horizon that is smeared with the smoke of fires set by the rampaging English army, a terrible enemy awaits him. That enemy would harness the power of Christendom's greatest relic -- the grail itself. In this, the first book of a new series, Thomas begins the quest that will lead him through the fields of France, until at last the two armies face each other on a hillside near the village of Crecy.

The third instalment in Bernard Cornwell's King Alfred series, following on from the outstanding previous novels The Last Kingdom and The Pale Horseman, both of which were top ten bestsellers. The year is 878 and Wessex is free from the Vikings. Uhtred, the dispossessed son of a Northumbrian lord, helped Alfred win that victory, but now he is disgusted by Alfred's lack of generosity and repelled by the king's insistent piety. He flees Wessex, going back north to seek revenge for the killing of his foster father and to rescue his stepsister, captured in the same raid. He needs to find his old enemy, Kjartan, a renegade Danish lord who lurks in the formidable stronghold of Dunholm. Uhtred arrives in the north to discover rebellion, chaos and fear. His only ally is Hild, a West Saxon nun fleeing her calling, and his best hope is his sword, with which he has made a formidable reputation as a warrior. He will need the assistance of other warriors if he is to attack Dunholm and he finds Guthred, a slave who believes he is a king. He takes him across the Pennines to where a desperate alliance of fanatical Christians and beleaguered Danes form a new army to confront the terrible Viking lords who rule Northumbria. 'The Lords of the North' is a powerful story of betrayal, romance and struggle, set in an England of turmoil, upheaval and glory. Uhtred, a Northumbrian raised as a Viking, a man without lands, a warrior without a country, has become a splendid heroic figure.

A woman has vanished while digging a dinosaur bone bed in the remote wilderness of Canada. Somehow, the only evidence has made its way to the inbox of Chief Medical Examiner Kay Scarpetta, over two thousand miles away in Boston. She has no idea why. But as events unfold with alarming speed, Scarpetta begins to suspect that the paleontologist’s disappearance is connected to a series of crimes much closer to home: a gruesome murder, inexplicable tortures, and trace evidence from the last living creatures of the dinosaur age.

When she turns to those around her, Scarpetta finds that the danger and suspicion have penetrated even her closest circles. Her niece Lucy speaks in riddles. Her lead investigator, Pete Marino, and FBI forensic psychologist and husband, Benton Wesley, have secrets of their own. Feeling alone and betrayed, Scarpetta is tempted by someone from her past as she tracks a killer both cunning and cruel.

This is Kay Scarpetta as you have never seen her before. The Bone Bed is a must read for any fan of this series, or an ideal starting point for new readers.

New York Times bestselling author Bernard Cornwell makes a dramatic departure with this enthralling, action-packed standalone novel that tells the story of the first production of A Midsummer’s Night Dream —as related by William Shakespeare’s estranged younger brother

Lord, what fools these mortals be . . .

In the heart of Elizabethan England, Richard Shakespeare dreams of a glittering career in one of the London playhouses, a world dominated by his older brother, William. But he is a penniless actor, making ends meet through a combination of a beautiful face, petty theft and a silver tongue. As William’s star rises, Richard’s onetime gratitude is souring and he is sorely tempted to abandon family loyalty.

So when a priceless manuscript goes missing, suspicion falls upon Richard, forcing him onto a perilous path through a bawdy and frequently brutal London. Entangled in a high-stakes game of duplicity and betrayal which threatens not only his career and potential fortune, but also the lives of his fellow players, Richard has to call on all he has now learned from the brightest stages and the darkest alleyways of the city. To avoid the gallows, he must play the part of a lifetime . . . .

Showcasing the superb storytelling skill that has won Bernard Cornwell international renown, Fools and Mortals is a richly portrayed tour de force that brings to life a vivid world of intricate stagecraft, fierce competition, and consuming ambition.

Summer 1779.Seven hundred and fifty British soldiers and three small ships of the Royal Navy. Their orders: to build a fort above a harbour to create a base from which to control the New England seaboard.Forty-one American ships and over nine hundred men. Their orders: to expel the British.The battle that followed was a classic example of how the best-laid plans can be disrupted by personality and politics, and of how warfare can bring out both the best and worst in men. It is a timeless tale of men at war, written by a master storyteller. **

Rider Sandman, having fought Napoleon in the French wars, expected to lead the life of an English country gentleman, but now, two years after Waterloo, his family is impoverished, his name is disgraced and he has been forced to relinquish the woman he loves from her obligation to marry him. Desperate to earn money he accepts the job of being the government's Investigator; an official who discovers whether petitions for mercy sent by condemned criminals should be granted. His first case concerns a portrait painter who is due to hang for murder in a week's time and the government makes it clear that they want the verdict confirmed.

But Rider Sandman, whose qualifications for the post are nonexistent, discovers that the painter is almost certainly innocent and, as he peels back the layers of a corrupt penal system, he finds himself pitted against some of the wealthiest and most ruthless men in Regency England who want to keep the truth hidden.

In a country at war, a secret inheritance reveals a dark conspiracy ... On a sunlit afternoon in seventeenth-century Dorset, a young girl falls in love with a stranger. But when her Puritan brother tries to force her into an unbearable marriage she flees, taking with her only the gift left to her by her unknown father, a gold pendant sealed by an engraving of an axe, and the words: St Matthew. One of four intricately wrought seals - each holding a secret within - it can, when combined with the other three, bring great wealth and power. This power is her true inheritance - but it's a perilous legacy others will kill for ... **

A highly entertaining, wonderfully colourful story, now revealed to be written by one of our favourite historical novelists. The gilded family had been the envy and the pride of England for centuries. Never had the Lazenders seemed more powerful or more wealthy. And never had the unseen means of their destruction seemed so close! Yet the heir to the estate was absent. Toby Lazender worked for the British in Revolutionary France -- where he hunted down the men who had murdered the innocent girl he loved. It was his sister, Campion, who oversaw the family's affairs at the 'little kingdom' of Lazen Castle. But Lazen is, unknowingly, a house under siege. The Fallen Angels -- among the most powerful and dangerous men in Europe -- are plotting to bring revolution to England. To succeed, they need money, and the Lazender fortune can provide it. The key to the fortune is control of Campion's future. A web of deceit closes around Lazen, drawing Campion ever closer to a subtle trap that has been laid just for her. Her only hope for survival lies with the Gypsy -- her brother's broodingly aloof horse-master -- a man whose loyalties are at best uncertain. The Fallen Angels is a powerful blend of passion, adventure and intrigue, played out in the shadow of the guillotine and the sunlit splendour of an English estate. It is a worthy successor to A Crowning Mercy, the first chronicle of the Lazender family. **

From New York Times bestselling author Bernard Cornwell, now available in paperback—the first book in the Grail Series--a spellbinding tale of a young man, a fearless archer, who sets out wanting to avenge his family's honor and winds up on a quest for the Holy Grail.

At dawn on Easter morning 1343, a marauding band of French raiders arrives by boat to ambush the coastal English village of Hookton. To brave young Thomas, the only survivor, the horror of the attack is epitomized in the casual savagery of a particular black-clad knight, whose flag -- three yellow hawks on a blue field -- presides over the bloody affair. As the killers sail away, Thomas vows to avenge the murder of his townspeople and to recapture a holy treasure that the black knight stole from the church.

To do this, Thomas of Hookton must first make his way to France; So in 1343 he joins the army of King Edward III as it is about to invade the continent -- the beginning of the Hundred Years War. A preternaturally gifted bowman, Thomas quickly becomes recognized as one of England's most deadly archers in King Edward's march across France. Yet he never stops scanning the horizon for his true enemy's flag.

When Thomas saves a young Frenchwoman from a bloodthirsty crowd, her father -- French nobleman Sir Guillaume d'Evecque -- rewards his bravery by joining him in the hunt for the mysterious dark knight and the stolen holy relic. What begins as a search for vengeance will soon prove the beginning of an even higher purpose: the quest for the Holy Grail itself.

From New York Times bestselling author Bernard Cornwell, the sequel to The Archer's Tale —the spellbinding tale of a young man, a fearless archer, who sets out wanting to avenge his family's honor and winds up on a quest for the Holy Grail.

In 1347, a year of conflict and unrest, Thomas of Hookton returns to England to pursue the Holy Grail. Among the flames of the Hundred Years War, a sinister enemy awaits the fabled archer and mercenary soldier: a bloodthirsty Dominican Inquisitor who also seeks Christendom's most holy relic. But neither the horrors of the battlefield nor sadistic torture at the Inquisitor's hands can turn Thomas from his sworn mission. And his thirst for vengeance will never be quenched while the villainous black rider who destroyed everything he loved still lives.

"Cornwell writes the best battle scenes of any writer I've read past or present."—George R.R. Martin

“A gifted storyteller and orchestrator of suspense.”
— Philadelphia Inquirer “Bernard Cornwell is to the yachting adventure novel what ex-jockey Dick Francis is to the racetrack thriller.”
— Orlando Sentinel The New York Times bestselling author of The Fort , the Saxon Tales, and the immensely popular Richard Sharpe novels, Bernard Cornwell has been called, “perhaps the greatest writer of historical adventure novels today” ( Washington Post ). He demonstrates another side of his extraordinary storytelling talents with Scoundrel , a contemporary tale of excitement and danger on high and treacherous seas. A gripping tale of an outlaw yacht captain who decides to cross the Irish Republican Army for a $5 million payday only to find himself pursued by intelligence agents, terrorists, and killers across perilous open waters, Scoundrel is a masterful thriller in the Tom Clancy vein—a masterwork of suspense from one of today’s most versatile and accomplished popular novelists.

**

From the Back Cover

From the incomparable New York Times bestselling master of gripping adventure, Bernard Cornwell, comes a relentlessly suspenseful contemporary thriller set in the lethal world of international terror. Bostonian Paul Shanahan is many things: part-time marine surveyor, smuggler, gunrunner, suspected CIA agent. A full-time scoundrel with ties to nothing and no one—except to an ex-lover who died years before in a hail of bullets—he has agreed to transport five million dollars in gold across the ocean by sailboat, money earmarked by the Irish Republican Army for the purchase of fifty-three Stinger missiles. Shanahan's instincts are telling him there's more to this deal below the surface and that he's not meant to survive after delivery. But, if he can elude British Intelligence and several terrorist organizations' most efficient killers—and with only his life left to lose—$5 million might just be enough to get a desperate rogue out of the game for good.

About the Author

BERNARD CORNWELL is the author of the acclaimed New York Times bestselling Saxon Tales series, which includes The Last Kingdom, The Pale Horseman, Lords of the North, Sword Song, The Burning Land, Death of Kings, The Pagan Lord , and, most recently, The Empty Throne and Warriors of the Storm , and which serves as the basis for the hit television series The Last Kingdom. He lives with his wife on Cape Cod and in Charleston, South Carolina.

In muddy waters, even heroes drown Trouble at sea for an ex-war hero ... His father in prison for fraud, his ex-wife bleeding him dry and his spine shattered by a bullet, Falklands war hero Nick Sandman, VC, has no money and no prospects. Only his boat - Sycorax -and his dream of sailing her away from his troubles is keeping him alive. But Sycorax is as crippled as Nick. To rebuild his wrecked and stranded dream, Nick is forced into a devil's bargain with egomaniacal TV star Tony Bannister. Bannister is the owner of Wildtrack, an ocean racer, and he wants Nick to be part of the crew that will sail the ship to victory. Bannister, though, has made some powerful enemies who are out for revenge, leaving Nick caught in the middle. Can he keep Wildtrack and his dreams of escape aboard Sycorax afloat? **

Honour and drugs don't always mix in the Caribbean . . . Nick Breakspear thinks he's opted for the easy life, but acting as nursemaid for the idle rich aboard the luxury yacht Wavebreaker in the Bahamas does have its downside. Especially when you come across a bullet-ridden boat not far from the infamous drug baron's hideaway island of Murder Cay. Most people would turn a blind eye. But Nick Breakspear isn't most people. Before long, Nick and the crew of Wavebreaker find themselves caught in the middle of a drug war between two equally matched and just as deadly forces. And neither side is taking prisoners . . . **