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Bella Pollen - Midnight Cactus

The author of the Richard and Judy Summer Book Club choice Hunting Unicorns has written an even better book. Set in the heat and the wilderness of the Arizona desert, this mixes an unlikely bunch of characters together in a tale of love, loss, obsession and loyalty. It's unexpectedly warm and witty while depicting the tough life of illegal immigrants and the ruthlessness of those out to expose them. Highly recommended.

Pan Mac Millan ISBN 1405005742

Lionel Shriver - We Need To Talk About Kevin

Winner of the Orange Prize for Fiction in 2005.

Lionel Shriver tells a compelling, absorbing, and resonant story while framing these horrifying tableaux of teenage carnage as metaphors for the larger tragedy - the tragedy of a country where everything works, nobody starves, and anything can be bought but a sense of purpose.

Serpents Tail ISBN 1852428899

Linda Howard - Killing Time

A detective-cum-science fiction story with a lost time capsule, a handsome law officer, visitors from the future, some murders and a delectable female; a fascinating, bubbly romp. Great fun.

Comparison: Douglas Adams, Nora Roberts writing as J D Robb.

Judy Piatkis ISBN 0749936657

Erica James - Gardens of Delight

Winner of The Romantic Novel of the Year 2006.

Warm, romantic fiction with the Italian Lakes and a love of gardening thrown in. She's a delight!

Comparison: Maeve Binchy, Isla Dewar, Amanda Brookfield.

Orion ISBN 0752877607

Ian Holding - Unfeeling

The events in this novel are based on what happened to a pupil of the author, and knowing that makes it even more frightening than if it were imagined. It is the tale of a 16-year-old white boy in Zimbabwe revenging the horrific slaughter of his parents. Harrowing, powerful and unforgettable.

Comparison: Andre Brink, J M Coetzee, Doris Lessing.

Simon & Schuster ISBN 1416522484

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