The ​Regulators

George R. R. Martin - A ​Storm of Swords
The ​third volume of the high fantasy saga that began with A Game of Thrones and continued in A Clash of Kings is one of the more rewarding examples of gigantism in contemporary fantasy. As Martin's richly imagined world slides closer to its 10-year winter, both the weather and the warfare worsen. In the north, King Joffrey of House Lannister sits uneasily on the Iron Throne. With the aid of a peasant wench, Jaime Lannister, the Kingslayer, escapes from jail in Riverrun. Jaime goes to the other youthful ruler, Robb Stark, to secure the release of Joffrey's prisoners, Robb's sisters Arya and Sansa Stark. Meanwhile, in the south, Queen Daenarys tries to assert her claim to the various thrones with an army of eunuchs, but discovers that she must choose between conquering more and ruling well what she has already taken. The complexity of characters such as Daenarys, Arya and the Kingslayer will keep readers turning even the vast number of pages contained in this volume, for the author, like Tolkien or Jordan, makes us care about their fates. Those two fantasy greats are also evoked by Martin's ability to convey such sensual experiences as the heat of wildfire, the chill of ice, the smell of the sea and the sheer gargantuan indigestibility of the medieval banquet at its most excessive. Perhaps this saga doesn't go as far beyond the previous bounds of high fantasy as some claim, but for most readers it certainly goes far enough to command their attention.

George R. R. Martin - A ​Clash of Kings
The ​second novel of Martin's titanic Song of Ice and Fire saga (A Game of Thrones, 1996) begins with Princess Arya Stark fleeing her dead father's capital of King's Landing, disguised as a boy. It ends with the princess, now known as Weasel, having led the liberation of the accursed castle of Harrenhal. In between, her actions map the further course of a truly epic fantasy set in a world bedecked with 8000 years of history, beset by an imminent winter that will last 10 years and bedazzled by swords and spells wielded to devastating effect by the scrupulous and unscrupulous alike. Standout characters besides Arya include Queen Cersei, so lacking in morals that she becomes almost pitiable; the queen's brother, the relentlessly ingenious dwarf Tyrion Lannister; and Arya's brother, Prince Brandon, crippled except when he runs with the wolves in his dreams. The novel is notable particularly for the lived-in quality of its world, created through abundant detail that dramatically increases narrative length even as it aids suspension of disbelief; for the comparatively modest role of magic (although with one ambitious young woman raising a trio of dragons, that may change in future volumes); and for its magnificent action-filled climax, an amphibious assault on King's Landing, now ruled by the evil Queen Cersei. Martin may not rival Tolkien or Robert Jordan, but he ranks with such accomplished medievalists of fantasy as Poul Anderson and Gordon Dickson. Here, he provides a banquet for fantasy lovers with large appetites?and this is only the second course of a repast with no end in sight. Author tour.

Stephen King - Misery
Thrown ​from the wreckage of his '74 Camaro, Paul Sheldon, author of a bestselling series of historical romances, wakes up one day in a secluded Colorado farmhouse owned by Annie Wilkes, a psychotic ex-nurse who claims she is his number one fan. Immobilized from the pain of two shattered legs and a crushed knee, Sheldon is at Annie's mercy. Unfortunately for Sheldon, Annie is mad; mad that he killed off her favorite character, Misery Chastain, in his latest book; mad that he wants to escape; and of course, mad in the most extreme clinical sense of the word. To set the world straight, Annie buys Sheldon a typewriter and some paper, drugs him, locks him in a room, and forces him to bring Misery back to life in a novel dedicated to her. Fear of physical torture is Sheldon's greatest motivation. One wrong sentence and she is likely to smash his legs with a sledgehammer, cut his thumbs off with a hacksaw, or much, much worse. But writers have weapons too. . . .

Dan Brown - The ​Lost Symbol
The ​most anticipated publication of the decade, The Lost Symbol is the stunning new thriller featuring Robert Langdon. Six years in the writing, it is Dan Brown's extraordinary sequel to his internationally bestselling Angels & Demons and The Da Vinci Code. Nothing is ever what it first appears in a Dan Brown novel. Set over a breathtaking 12 hour time span, the book's narrative takes the reader on an exhilarating journey through a masterful and unexpected landscape as Professor of Symbology, Robert Langdon, is once again called into action.

Stephen King - Needful ​Things
There ​was a new shop in town. Run by a stranger. Needful Things, the sign said. The oddest name. A name that caused some gossip and speculation among the good folks of Castle Rock, Maine, while they waited for opening day. Eleven-year-old Brian Rusk was the first customer and he got just what he wanted, a very rare 1956 Sandy Koufax baseball card. Signed. Cyndi Rose Martin was next. A Lalique vase. A perfect match for her living room decor. Something for everyone. Something you really had to have. And always at a price you could just about afford. The cash price that is. Because there was another price. There always is when your heart’s most secret, true desire is for sale…

Stephen King - The ​Stand
When ​a man crashes his car into a petrol station, he brings with him the foul corpses of his wife and daughter. He dies and it doesn't take long for the plague which killed him to spread across America and the world.

Stephen King - Salem's ​Lot
Thousands ​of miles away from the small township of Salem's Lot, two terrified people still share the secrets of those clapboard houses and tree-lined streets. One is an eleven-year-old boy. He never speaks but his eyes betray the indescribable horror he has witnessed. The other is a man plagued by nightmares, a man who knows that soon he and the boy must return to Salem's Lot for a final confrontation with the unspeakable evil that lives on in the town where no-one is human anymore...

Stephen King - It
"A ​group of kids from Derry, Maine are terrorized by "IT". And now, 30 years later, they are being summond by "IT". And are faced with one final showdown with the evil that lives below Derry, and doesn't have a name..." William Henning, Resident Scholar "Little boy gets killed by monster brother remembers and wants revenge. him and his friends want to kill the monster because it is killing children" Gary Moles, Resident Scholar ""It" is your worst fear--literally. An ancient evil that returns periodically to feed upon the populace of a small town in Maine, the monstrous entity known as "It" can, and will, be everyone's worst nightmare come true. It attacked Derry years ago, but a group of kids defeated the monster--or so they'd believed. Now, they are adults, and "It" has come back. In fighting the monster, the adults recall what it was like to have fought it years before. The last time, they'd been lucky in one respect, at least. None of them had been killed. This time, one of them will die. A scary and suspenseful horror story that creates the world as it was in the late 1950's and early 1960's and as it was in the 1990's. " Gary Pullman, Resident Scholar "A group of friends faced a cruel monster dressed up like a clown when they were just kids. It killed children, because only children believed their fears. They thought they had killed it. They were wrong. 30 years later it is killing children again and the friends decide to meet again to destroy it." Katy, Resident Scholar "In this very discripted book these kids are all connected to "IT". And struggle to kill "IT"." Maggie Von, Resident Scholar "Kids in a small town called Derry are killed by "It". George, Bills brother, is one of these victims. Bill wants revenge. He and his other freinds try to kill it by going into the sewers. They think they killed it. They were wrong. Thirty years later they all find themselves back in Derry to fight It again." Janet Johnson, Resident Scholar

Agatha Christie - Evil ​Under the Sun
A ​quiet holiday at a secluded hotel in Devon is all that Hercule Poirot wants, but amongst his fellow guests is a beautiful and vain woman who, seemingly oblivious to her own husband’s feelings, revels in the attention of another woman’s husband. The scene is set for murder, but can the field of suspects really be as narrow as it first appears?

Agatha Christie - Three ​Act Tragedy
Thirteen ​guests arrived for dinner. In retrospect Sir Charles should have taken his secretary up on her offer to be the fourteenth. At the end of the evening one of the guests is dead – but when his glass is sent for analysis it is found to contain nothing but an excellent dry martini. It is just as Hercule Poirot predicted. What causes the famous detective greater trouble is the complete lack of a motive… ‘Makes uncommonly good reading.’ New York Times

Agatha Christie - Death ​in the Clouds
From ​seat No.9, Hercule Poirot was ideally placed to observe his fellow air passengers. To his right sat a pretty young woman, clearly infatuated with the man opposite; ahead, in seat No.13, sat a Countess with a poorly-concealed cocaine habit; across the gangway in seat No.8, a detective writer was being troubled by an aggressive wasp. What Poirot did not yet realize was that behind him, in seat No.2, sat the slumped, lifeless body of a woman… ‘It will be a very acute reader who does not receive a complete surprise at the end.’ Times Literary Supplement

Stephen King - Insomnia
Since ​his wife died, Ralph Roberts has been having trouble sleeping. Each night he awakens a little earlier until he's barely sleeping at all. During his late night vigils and walks, he observes some strange things going on in Derry, Maine. He sees colored ribbons streaming from people's heads. He witnesses two strange little men wandering the city under cover of night. He begins to suspect that these visions are something more than hallucinations brought about by sleep deprivation. Ralph and his friend, widow Lois Chasse, become enmeshed in events of cosmic significance.

Agatha Christie - Mrs. ​McGinty's Dead
Mrs ​McGinty dies from a brutal blow to the back of her head. Suspicion immediately falls on her shifty lodger, James Bentley, whose clothes reveal traces of the victim's blood and hair. Yet something is amiss: Bentley just doesn't look like a murderer. Poirot believes he can save the man from the gallows - what he doesn't realise is that his own life is now in great danger...

Agatha Christie - Murder ​in Mesopotamia
It ​was clear to Amy Leatheran that something sinister was going on at the Hassanieh dig; something associated with the presence of ‘Lovely Louise’, wife of celebrated archaeologist Dr Leidner. In a few days’ time Hercule Poirot was due to drop in at the excavation site. But with Louise suffering from terrifying hallucinations, and tension within the group becoming almost unbearable, Poirot might just be too late… ‘Smooth, highly original and completely absorbing.’ New York Times

Agatha Christie - Death ​Comes as the End
It ​is 2000 BC in Egypt and Imhotep the Ka-Priest brings home his beautiful young concubine Nofret. But not all the members of his family welcome her. When she is found dead Imhotep’s daughter, Renisenb, suspects it might not have been an accident. The death unleashes the greed and hate that have been building up within the family and the horrific events that follow tear it apart.

Agatha Christie - Five ​Little Pigs
Amyas ​Crale's passion for painting and women made him famous. His murder made him infamous. Sixteen years earlier his jealous wife was tried, convicted and sentenced to life for a notorious slaying. Now their daughter Carla, a young woman convinced her mother is innocent, has presented Hercule Poirot with a brilliant challenge: to clear her mother's name by returning to the scene of the murder and finding the fatal flaw in the perfect crime.

Agatha Christie - The ​Murder of Roger Ackroyd
Roger ​Ackroyd was a man who knew too much. He knew the woman he loved had poisoned her first husband. He knew someone was blackmailing her – and now he knew she had taken her own life with a drug overdose. The one thing he didn’t know was the identity of the mystery blackmailer… But the evening post brought Roger this last scrap of information. But before he’d finished reading the letter, Roger was dead – stabbed through the neck where he sat in his study… ‘A classic – the book has worthily earned its fame.’ Irish Independent

Agatha Christie - Problem ​at Pollensa Bay
All ​great crime writers have their favourite creations. Similarly, every great sleuth has their own preferred method of deduction. Take the charming Parker Pyne, who relies upon an intuitive knowledge of human nature to solve the Problem at Pollensa Bay. Or Mr Satterthwaite, who seeks inspiration through his collaboration with the enigmatic Mr Quin in The Harlequin Tea Set mystery. Then, of course, there’s Poirot, whose measured analysis of motive and opportunity is tested to the full in Yellow Iris, when he receives an anonymous call about a matter of life and death… ‘The acknowledged queen of detective fiction.’ Observer

Agatha Christie - The ​Seven Dials Mystery
Gerry ​Wade had proved himself to be a champion sleeper; so the other house guests decided to play a practical joke on him. Eight alarm clocks were set to go off, one after the other, starting at 6.30 a.m. But when morning arrived, one clock was missing and the prank had backfired with tragic consequences. For Jimmy Thesiger in particular, the words 'Seven Dials' were to take on a new and chilling significance... 'Pure genius.' Observer

Stephen King - Rose ​Madder
This ​is the story of Rose Daniels, "the most richly portrayed female King's ever created."* Escape from her macabre marriage is not as easy as fleeing to a new city, picking a new name, finding a new job, and lucking out with a new man. Not with a husband like Norman...