Penguin Books strana 17 z 487

‘He was lying sprawled on his stomach just outside the open doorway of his office, with his head and shoulders out of sight . . .’ Frank Morningside, assistant at The National Press Archives on Fleet Street, is receiving nasty poison pen letters. His superior Toby Lorn wants to put a stop to it, so he calls on his friends Sally and Johnny Heldar. Married amateur sleuths, Sally and Johnny agree to go undercover, posing as researchers to scout out the many suspects in the Archives. After all, Fleet Street is home to plenty of seedy types and murky happenings. But, soon after they begin, they find a body – bludgeoned to death by a box of glass negatives. Suddenly, the genteel world of the Archives is a tangled web of suspicion and deadly danger. When another murder swiftly follows, the Heldars worry they are in over their heads. And it is only a matter of time before one of them is next . . .

LIFE THREATENING ODDS. DANGEROUS GODS. AND A PROPHECY ONLY SHE CAN FULFIL . . . Danae has fought monsters, crossed oceans and stared into the face of death. It is the price of the prophecy. The prophecy that names her as the mortal that will destroy Olympus. But gods do not fall without a fight. As they hunt her, Danae descends into the shadows of the Underworld to search for help and the sister she lost to its depths. Accompanied by her faithful winged horse and a handful of companions, whose true allegiance remains uncertain, Danae uncovers secrets long hidden. Secrets about Zeus powerful hold on the mortal world and the fate she is bound to. But the deeper she journeys, the closer the gods watch. Hera seethes. Poseidon plots. And Zeus will stop at nothing to destroy this mortal girl who dares challenge him. Because the gods will never give up their power. Just as Danae will never give up her destiny . . .

Strategy, alliances, pitched battles, betrayal . . . It all makes for great fun and even greater television. The ninth floor. Faction Wars. Nine armies enter, led by rich and powerful aliens from across the galaxy. The winning team must capture and hold the castle at the very centre of the battlefield. But thanks to Carl, Donut, and Katia, this season is different. For the first time ever, the crawlers have their own army. The NPCs, who are normally used as nothing but cannon fodder, have become fully self-aware and have formed an unprecedented team of their own. And it’s not just the crawlers who are at risk this Faction Wars. Any combatant who dies on the battlefield stays in the ground. For Donut and Katia, the stakes are even higher. No matter who wins the war, only one of them will be allowed to leave this level. If they all want to survive, they’re going to need a little help. This is it. This is what they’ve been fighting toward. This is war.

Idealistic Alexandra is throwing a party to meet a more glamorous crowd. Marianne, more sardonic, worries it’ll be the usual sort. The party is in Alexandra’s attic flat. Marianne will contribute a few bottles of red optimistically labelled Bordeaux. Can it be judged a success? There’s Donald the bus conductor with high-brow dreams, nervous bespectacled Bernhardt and Marius the ghostwriter. Not to mention a brace of Peters. It’s left to sexy, young Pisa and riotous, middle-aged Mummy (neither invited) to steal the show. Yet, after the party both Marianne and Alexandra find themselves caught in unexpected – sometimes far from romantic – relationships. Meeting people, it turns out, has the most peculiar consequences. Is that really the cost of living?

The ocean is calling... With the return of the Shadowling, Astrid, Jonas and Gwen find themselves summoned by the Queen herself. They are assigned a crucial task: to retrieve an ancient weapon that the Bloom Bloods hope can stop the rising evil once and for all. But as Gwen and the twins embark on their journey, the goal of this mission leaves Gwen uneasy. And they all soon learn that the sea is full of wild and untameable magic – magic that could reveal answers Astrid and Jonas have been searching for their whole lives. With a rag-tag crew and the fate of the world at stake, who can be trusted? And what terrible things might be waiting for them in the deep?

If he has the ability to wield magical powers, everyone will rejoice – especially the girl who loves him. But what happens when they realize she has the gift? In a world where dragons stalk the skies and magical abilities are an elite privilege, the ruling family of Ailm’s Keep is on a knife edge: can Ionáin, the heir apparent, channel magic, or will the family be cast out and replaced? So when Éadha, a servant girl who loves Ionáin, discovers that she can draw power, she finds herself in grave danger. It’s extremely rare for a girl to have this talent, and certainly never outside the great families. At Ionáin’ s moment of truth, Éadha makes a desperate gamble – a trick – to save him, Ailm’s Keep, and herself. But how long can this ruse last? Sent to the very heart of the Masters’ control, Éadha and Ionáin enter a whirlwind of patriarchy, class, jealousy and heartache, as Ionáin must make a suitable match and Éadha finds herself undeniably attracted to the enigmatic Gry. Here they also learn the true, terrible cost of channelling magic – a price the Masters willingly pay. How far would you go to empower the one you love?

Sunday Times bestselling author and Instagram sensation Jessica Urlichs returns with a new collection of beautifully observed poems about the ever-evolving journey of motherhood - the hard, the magic, and the fleeting. A mother is born the moment her children are, growing and blossoming alongside them. They Bloom Because of You is a celebration of that profound journey - a testament to the significance of mothering, and the quiet, extraordinary beauty of watching our children unfurl into who they are meant to be. Through words that have comforted millions, Jess Urlichs has become that gentle, unwavering friend - the voice that walks beside mothers through shimmering highs and the darkest, sleepless nights. In this new and deeply personal collection, her poetry resonates with fresh meaning as she reflects on the ever-changing joys and challenges of raising her growing family. Whether Jess’s words have already touched your heart or you are discovering them for the very first time, this collection will leave you feeling held, seen, and deeply moved - with an ever-deepening love for your children and the journey of motherhood itself.

Millions, hearts, and lives are on the line in this heart-stopping sequel to The Grandest Game by #1 bestselling author Jennifer Lynn Barnes. Seven players arrived on Hawthorne Island, each with their own secrets and motivations to win the Grandest Game. Millions are at stake, but so are hearts-and lives. The players now must race to win the game, solve myriad mysteries, and survive the twists and turns of Glorious Rivals. The stakes get higher, the game gets twistier, and everything heats up in this newest instalment in the TikTok sensation Inheritance Games Saga - now over 6 MILLION COPIES sold. Catch every thrilling twist and turn of The Inheritance Games Saga, including the Grandest Game, the thrilling new series set in the world of the Inheritance Games: The Inheritance Games (The Inheritance Games #1) The Hawthorne Legacy (The Inheritance Games #2) The Final Gambit (The Inheritance Games #3) The Brothers Hawthorne (The Inheritance Games #4) Games Untold The Grandest Game (The Grandest Game #1) Glorious Rivals (The Grandest Game #2) The Gilded Blade (The Grandest Game #3) The Same Backward as Forward

Like a long winter’s dream, this haunting and visionary new novel from 2024 Nobel Prize winner Han Kang takes us on a journey from contemporary South Korea into its painful history. Beginning one morning in December, We Do Not Part traces the path of Kyungha as she travels from the city of Seoul into the forests of Jeju Island, to the home of her old friend Inseon. Hospitalized following an accident, Inseon has begged Kyungha to hasten there to feed her beloved pet bird, who will otherwise die. Kyungha takes the first plane to Jeju, but a snowstorm hits the island the moment she arrives, plunging her into a world of white. Beset by icy wind and snow squalls, she wonders if she will arrive in time to save the bird – or even survive the terrible cold which envelops her with every step. As night falls, she struggles her way to Inseon’s house, unaware as yet of the descent into darkness which awaits her. There, the long-buried story of Inseon’s family surges into light, in dreams and memories passed from mother to daughter, and in a painstakingly assembled archive documenting a terrible massacre on the island seventy years before. We Do Not Part is a hymn to friendship, a eulogy to the imagination and above all an indictment against forgetting.

Step into the incredible lives of the women artists who have gone uncelebrated for too long. Journey through history, from the Renaissance to the Second World War, and across the globe, from Cornwall to Manhattan, Nigeria, Japan and more, to discover the stories of women who changed the world with their incredible art. You'll learn about the extraordinary lives of freedom fighters, game changers and adventurers - and be astounded by the art they made, with its striking landscapes, hidden messages and calls for women's rights. Based on the bestselling book The Story of Art Without Men, this version includes breathtaking illustrations and a host of new art and artists to discover.

Get ready for bed with Bluey in this Bedtime Little Library. These chunky mini books are perfect for little hands. Stories include Fruit Bat, Daddy Putdown, Burger Shop and Sleepytime. It’s the perfect little gift for big Bluey fans. Night-night Bluey!

Celeste Muldoon is alone when the Big One finally hits San Francisco, because, for the first time ever, her best friend, Nicky, stood her up after school. The two of them share a birthday, matching tattoos, an obsession with the upcoming Mars mission, dreams of MIT, and pretty much everything else. So why didn’t he meet her the way they’d planned? The earthquake has a huge death toll, and Nicky and Celeste's parents fear the worst, but Celeste doesn’t buy it. Nicky spent their senior year selling essays to rich kids and was about to be exposed. Celeste knows he had a plan to vanish, reinvent himself and escape the disaster he’d created, but can’t convince anyone else that he could still be alive. Only Meo, a mysterious boy Nicky was somehow mixed up with, seems to believe, but she has every reason to distrust him – even if her heart races every time he shows up. When Celeste finds Nicky’s notebook, it sends her and Meo on a quest across her broken city, up the coast through towns sheltering quake refugees, and eventually all the way to Florida, where the mission to Mars is about to lift off.

From celebrated writer Robert Macfarlane comes this brilliant, perspective-shifting new book – which answers a resounding yes to the question of its title. At its heart is a single, transformative idea: that rivers are not mere matter for human use, but living beings – who should be recognized as such in both imagination and law. Is a River Alive? takes the reader on an exhilarating exploration of the past, present and futures of this ancient, urgent concept. The book flows first to northern Ecuador, where a miraculous cloud-forest and its rivers are threatened by goldmining. Then, to the wounded rivers, creeks and lagoons of southern India, where a desperate battle to save the lives of these waterbodies is under way. And finally, to north-eastern Quebec, where a spectacular wild river – the Mutehekau or Magpie – is being defended from death by damming in a river-rights campaign. At once Macfarlane’s most personal and most political book to date, Is a River Alive? will open hearts, spark debates and lead us to the revelation that our fate flows with that of rivers – and always has

A prescient, thoughtful and chilling examination of the current state of the world. If there are lessons from history, now is the time when we need to heed them, so that we do not end up in another Great Power war because of the fatal combinations of jingoism, fear, fatalism, and sheer stupidity that set off the first major war of the 20th century. The great majority of people alive today have come of age in a world of remarkable stability, presided over by either one or two superpowers. This is not to say the world has been peaceful; but it has to an extent been predictable. As an increasing number of Great Powers now jostle for regional supremacy our world has become more fragile, unpredictable – and combustible. To understand the threats that face us in this complex new terrain, we must look to the lessons of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century – a time when Great Powers clashed and sought regional dominance, when nationalism and populism were on the rise, and many felt that globalization had failed them: a time, in other words, that carries eerie parallels with our own.

Aya has gone missing after Kakos’ brutal attack on Dunmeaden. Will is desperately searching for her, joined by Aidon, who’s on the run after revealing his forbidden power. But what no one knows is that Aya has been abducted by the vindictive first saint, Evie, who plans to join Kakos and help destroy the gods who killed her 500 years ago. Aya must decide her true fate. Can she fulfil the prophecy and save the realm from the destruction Evie will inevitably bring in her search for vengence? Or should the gods pay for what they’ve done?

Onizuka Kumako is a fierce woman: tall, beautiful, and not afraid to speak her mind. In Tokyo bars, she seduces customers and commits petty crime, using her connections to the local yakuza to get by. When she meets Shirakawa Fukutaro, a rich widower desperate for companionship and unaware of her shady past, the two hit it off and are soon married. But their newlywed bliss is suddenly cut short: one rainy July evening, their car veers off course, plunges into the harbour and Fukutaro is pulled beneath the waves. Suspected of murder and labelled a femme fatale, Kumako is hounded by the press, but stays firm, repeatedly proclaiming her own innocence. As pressure from dogged journalists mounts, the tide of public opinion is rising against her. But when a scrupulous defence lawyer takes on her case, doubt begins to creep in . . . In this intricate, psychological noir, masterfully translated into English for the first time, Seicho Matsumoto draws out the hidden demons that guide our convictions, our biases and our deepest desires.