Urbane Publications – förlag

The Life Assistance Agency finds itself at a loss after returning from their latest adventures in Europe. Ben intends to stay away from anything involving Angels but pressing rent demands in London forces the agency to accept an invitation to write the biography of a self-deluded singer from defunct rave group Elev-8. At his mansion in Sussex they meet his right-hand man Billy 'blind' Fury, a retired wrestler, and his beautiful secretary Amber. Both of whom have plans for the Life Assistance Agency far beyond writing down half-recalled anecdotes from the early 90s pop charts...trouble soon ensues involving secret societies, scrying and abandoned American theme parks. For everyone concerned, there's unfinished business. The Life Assistance Agency: 'The most important book since How to Avoid Huge Ships by Cpt. John. W. Trimmer.' Unfinished Business is the second novel in an increasingly well-described trilogy.

Lukitt Bachman is waiting in his Lanterne de Mortes, a Tower of the Dead, in the middle of a cemetery. He's had a complicated life: son of a Herrnhuter Brother thrown out of his sect; help-meet to a pastor; sailor; fisherman; boar-hunter; and student and lecturer, exploring the varied histories of the Knights Teutonic and the bone-chapels their descendants left behind them. He has become an assassin and a murderer, learned the terrible highs and lows of friendships made and lost, and is awaiting now his last remaining friend to set him free so he can put right past wrongs. As Lukitt is let loose on a world gone mad, can this avenging angel finally find solace for his soul?

After the break-up of her marriage, Imogen escapes to her aunt's converted lighthouse on Beachy Head. Writing for an online magazine but hoping to start a novel, she wants to be alone ... until she finds an entrancing flamenco CD in her borrowed car and contacts the artist via Twitter. It turns out that actor-musician Santiago needs help with English, and is soon calling her profesora. Through her window, the other lighthouse winks at her across the sea. The one where her father was a keeper, until he mysteriously drowned there in 1982. Her aunt is sending extracts from his diary, and Imogen is intrigued to learn that, like her and Santi, her father had a penfriend. Meanwhile, despite their differences - Imogen is surrounded by emotional and geographical barriers, Santi surrounded by family and land-locked Madrid - their friendship develops. So, she reads, did her father's; but shocking revelations cause Imogen to question whether she ever really knew him. Two stories of communication: the hilarious mistakes, the painful misunderstandings, and the miracle - or tragedy - of finding someone out there with whom you have an unforeseen, irresistible connection.

Tess Rosa Ruiz is a powerful new voice on the American literary scene, redolent of Kerouac and Rollins in a battle of words. Freefall into Us is a compelling collection of unique poetry and prose that provides an emotional mosaic of the path of relationships. This is a raw and visceral insight into how women and men desire, need, want and ultimately love each other in the most beautiful, passionate and honest ways. The carefully structured flow of poetry and short stories provides the reader with a constantly challenging and engaging snapshot of humanity, leading them through different stages of desire, sex, lust, obsession and passion in adult relationships. These are the feelings we have all felt, but are often afraid to voice. Freefall into the words and perhaps, just perhaps, you'll recognise a piece of you.

Following the success of his previous book The Commando Way, Damian McKinney delves deeper into the links and lessons of achieving high performance in the military and business worlds. Drawing on his own experience as a Royal Marine and as a highly successful international business consultant, McKinney writes about the values of being a Marine that have served him well in his commercial life. He suggests that the ‘commando entrepreneur’ is a particularly vital and valuable role in business success, the strengths offered by a disciplined ‘maverick’, able to innovate outside the restrictions of everyday business. What are the characteristics of a commando entrepreneur? McKinney explores these through interviews with renowned global business leaders, case studies of work undertaken by his consultancy, and stories from military history. From this unique range of advice and experience he provides guidance for senior business people to help them discover and unleash their commando entrepreneur, and improve both individual and company performance.

Tom listened to Mrs McLaughlin’s brogues briskly clump across the marble floor towards the exit at the back of the Church. When the wooden door thumped closed, he looked around the Church to make sure that he was alone, then heaved himself to his feet, opened the Confessional, blessed himself, and in the darkness whispered to Father Anthony, “Father, get me a gun.”Northern Ireland, 1972. On the Crumlin Road, Belfast, the violent sectarian Troubles have forced Tom Martin to take drastic measures to protect his family. Across the divide William McManus pursues his own particular bloody code, murdering for a cause. Yet both men have underestimated the power of love and an individual’s belief in right and wrong, a belief that will shake the lives of both families with a greater impact than any bomb blast.This is a compelling, challenging story of conflict between and within families – driven by religion, belief, loyalty and love. In a world deeply riven by division, how can any individual transcend the seemingly inevitable violence of their very existence?

The turn of the last century and Theodore Stubb’s manor house resides in the quirky village of Muchmarsh. A renowned entomologist, he is often within the attic adding another exotic specimen to his extensive collection of insects. But Theodore is also a master hypnotist, holding the household in thrall to his every whim. Theodore’s daughter-in-law Eleanor is a haunted figure, believing that her stillborn child Alastair lives and hides in the shadows. Then she falls pregnant again, but this time by the hypnotic coercion and wicked ravishment of Theodore. A dreadful act begets terrible secrets, and thirteen years later the boy Alastair Stubb begins to lose his identity, and it is not long before mystery, intrigue and murder follow gleefully in his wake. This is gothic terror of the highest order, a dream-like and hallucinatory reading experience that promises to reveal secrets both disturbing and astonishing.

Simon Templar was named after a suave and heroic man of action, but he seems to lack the finer points of his namesake. Slightly hapless, occasionally hopeless, and prone to being chased by angry strangers, he is the everyman who doesn't fit. When his drunken father-in-law divulges a shocking truth about the love of Simon's life and takes away his one chance at happiness, it seems the world will always kick him where it hurts. Yet in the aftermath of this revelation Simon is determined to rebuild his life, hopes and dreams. Or at least have a life, hopes and dreams. With the support of his best buddy Sean, and embracing a dating frenzy that would put a lothario to shame (albeit a not particularly successful lothario), Simon goes on a journey of self-discovery. Can he learn to trust again, and finally understand the true meaning of love? In the best traditions of Richard Curtis and David Nicholls, Simon says is a wonderful bittersweet comedy of love, life and longing, and the perfect read for any rom-com fan.

The Rwandan Hostage is the second volume of Christopher Lowery's African Diamonds Trilogy and continues the tale of corruption, murder and greed that began with the bestselling The Angolan Clan. Heroine Jenny Bishop is back with a vengeance! The abduction of her nephew at the world cup final in South Africa brings to light a long-hidden event in her sister's history, which heralds a terrifying threat to the lives of her closest family. In a desperate attempt to find her nephew and bring him to safety, Jenny joins forces with ex-Chief Inspector, now private investigator, Pedro Espinoza. Together they uncover an international conspiracy dating back to the horrific events of the Rwandan genocide in 1994. Jenny is in a race against time to find the abductors, before the damning revelations threaten to tear her family apart. Set against a European-African backdrop, the fast-paced plot twists and turns in a gripping series of events and action. The Rwandan Hostage is a compelling international mystery that will enthral all thriller fans, in the best traditions of Gerald Seymour, Frederick Forsyth and Richard North Patterson.

Do you want to live forever? Ben Ferguson-Cripps is a struggling writer with a surname that gets more comments than his waning blog. In desperation Ben sets aside his literary ambitions to join the newly established and enigmatic Life Assistance Agency. The agency's first case is to trace a missing person with links to the Elizabethan angel-caller Dr John Dee. Pursued by a shadowy organisation - and the ghosts of Ben's past - the trail leads them on a white-knuckle ride through Europe into the historic streets of Prague. As forces meet in a deadly climax, the long-buried secrets of Dr Dee's achievements are finally revealed...and Ben will discover there is always more to life.

John is an actor. He is a man. A man who wants. A man who needs. A man who takes. And he takes from those who always expect him to give. To give them love, loyalty, affection - to give them his soul, his loyalty, his life. Why can't they just let him thrive? Why can't they understand the desires and passions that drive him? Why is he a man alone? John has crossed the line from performance to reality, from stage to street, from imagination to visceral breath - and he needs to wrest control before all is lost. Challenging themes that haunt the Berkoff canon are ever-present in this startling novel: his luxurious verbosity; his counterpoint of crude street patter and elegiac proclamation; sex wars; class wars; dislocation and abandonment of love in a thankless and unyielding world. This is a powerful, divisive and brutally honest novel that will inspire, enrage and provoke - and live on long after the final word.

Arnold Appleforth claims getting old is all about attitude. And if that's the case he needs all the attitude he can get, because his journalistic career is on life support, his sex life non-existent (except for a recent regrettable incident at a well-known chain restaurant), his financial position precarious and his alcohol consumption prodigious. Add to that his abysmal parenting of his three (or is it four?) children and the biohazard status of his flat, and life isn't a bed of roses.So Arnold decides to keep a diary, a daily dose of inspiration to keep his blood pumping. It'll deal with his own life with intimate, eye-watering honesty and also include pungent political comment on the disgraceful state of contemporary Britain. With a view to publication of course - who wouldn't want to enjoy his wit and wisdom? Join Arnold as he drops pearly bon mots before swine and makes one last grab for literary immortality. And struggles to survive in a sadly unappreciative world...

A young blind woman receives the world's first and miraculous binocular eye transplant, but questions surround the operation. Why was she selected? And why is a major charity so keen to put up the huge amount of collateral to make the operation happen? Enter Niall Burnet, unemployed and visually impaired journalist, who believes all is not as it appears and searches for answers. Using his network of contacts he begins to unearth a conspiracy in the higher echelons of the charity, a conspiracy determiend to ensure the transplant is a "heroic failure." When an ex-girlfriend is blinded, his guide dog is knocked down in a hit and run, and a doctor commits suicide, Niall joins forces with the "miracle patient" to find out the truth a truth that will threaten their very lives.

With An Honest Deceit, Guy Mankowski has invented a new sub-genre in crime fiction. This novel would satisfy even the most discerning reader. I was hooked. I loved it. --Ruth Dugdall, bestselling author of The Sacrificial Man and Nowhere GirlA mesmerising observation of speaking truth to power. Reminded me of Murakami. Mankowski writes characters that are painfully human and fallible. I finished it in one night. --Hanna Jameson, author of Something You Are and Girl SevenThe beauty of this book resides in his actuality, and in the way the author eases the reader into it by choosing to tell the story directly from Ben's perspective. I was increasingly intrigued by the sharp descriptions of the characters that after a few pages take up a life of their own. --Daniella Quaglia, Huffington PostWhen Ben and Juliette's young daughter dies in a tragic accident on a school trip, they begin searching for answers. But will they ever know the truth? What was the role of the teacher on the trip - and are the rumours about his past true? As Ben and Juliette search for the truth and the pressure rises, their own secrets and motivations are revealed.... An Honest Deceit is an intelligent and gripping contemporary psychological thriller that questions not just the motives of others, but the real reasons for discovering the truth.

The Soldier's Home is the stunning sequel to the bestselling debut, The Single Soldier, by actor and writer George Costigan. The war is over and his home was built ... but a home is just a set of empty rooms without people and love. After surviving the devastation, secrets, lies and tragedies of a community under German occupation, can people now rekindle their lives, and rediscover their reasons for suriviving? As the soldier waits for the return of his love, the world keeps moving, threatening to leave his hopes and dreams behind. History, secrets and painful truths collide in this astonishingly human, warm and emotive sequel from writer George Costigan.

Dogs are reported for their constant barking ...and so begins one of the strangest stories you will ever read. Audrey Ackerman, sent to visit the dogs at a 17th century coach house, is unsettled by paranormal sightings. Stella Bridgeport - manager at The Animal Welfare Union - communicates with Audrey via emails. And those Stella receives are as startling as they are incredible: descriptions of extraordinary events concerning a science fiction writer's journal; giant swans; bizarre android receptionist; a ghost dog. Insanity or fantasy? Fact or fiction? The only given is, it all starts and ends with two dogs at The One Dog Inn...and other stories: 12 short stories with aspects of the macabre, the surreal or the strangeness of magical realism to entertain and delight you.

It is said that home is where the heart is, but when war rips a young man from everything he knows and loves, will he be able to find his way back to what truly matters? In post-war rural France, following the devastation, physical and emotional, of WW II, a man moves his house, using only a cow and a cart, six kilometres to the other side of his village. Where he painstakingly re-builds his home. By hand. It takes him seven years. Why would anyone do such a thing? The war was won – could he now win the peace? History, secrets and painful truths collide in this astonishingly human, warm and emotive debut from writer George Costigan.

When Doctor Jemma Sands' five-year-old son goes missing, only she believes that a vengeful patient has stolen her child. How do youconvince police to search for a dead woman? As her world falls apart, Jemma realises she is the only one who can save her son. If somebody took your only child, how far would you go to get him back?

How much is your child worth? That's the question Hugo and Emily Cox must answer when they get a ransomdemand for their child – from Alice, the surrogate mother they paid to carry their baby. The police are helpless. No law has been broken -- the baby belongs to their surrogate. And Hugo has a secret he's keeping from hiswife that makes their search even more desperate. Now Hugo and Emily must find their missingdaughter... even if it costs them everything they own. Fans of Elizabeth Haynes, Sophie Hannah and Mark Edwards will love thisgripping and fast-moving thriller.

Strontian, a village on Ardnamurchan Peninsula, is inhabited by mining folk and crofters, eking out a living from the unforgiving land and turning a blind eye to the smugglers who plague the coast. A bag of bones is pulled out of the water; the assistant to Gustav Wengler, eccentric owner of the lead mines, is brutally murdered; what is the connection? And what do either have to do with the sundial in Ockle churchyard and the collection of monuments on Wengler's island known locally as the White Cathedral? Sholto McKay and Brogar Finn of the Pan-European Mining Company - in pursuit of a potentially valuable mineral from the Strontian mines - begin their own investigations, unaware their discoveries will tear more than one life apart.

Scotland and Ireland 1798. Three people, two murders, one oath. Golo Eck is searching for the lost library of The Lynx, the first scientific society in Europe founded in 1603. His friend, Fergus, is sent over to Ireland on its trail, getting embroiled in the uprising of the United Irish against English rule. His only contact here is Greta, who works as a messenger for the United Irish; and then come the bloody battles of New Ross and Vinegar Hill. Fergus is missing, Greta on the run. But all is not well. Someone else is on the trail of the Lynx, and when Golo’s ship founders on the way to Holland Golo disappears, leaving Ruan, his ward, to fend for himself, a foreigner in a foreign land. What secrets does the Lynx Library hold? Will Golo or Fergus be found? Will Greta get out of Ireland with her life? How will Ruan carry on the Legacy of the Lynx? A gripping adventure story with a couple of brutal murders thrown in, and a real historical background, The Legacy will have you gripped from the start. Praise for the author: 'A brilliant story set against a fascinating backdrop.' - Robert Foster, best-selling author of 'The Lunar Code'. Clio Gray lives in the Highlands. She is also the author of ‘Deadly Prospects’ , 'Burning Secrets' and the Stroop Mystery series.

The near future. Climate change and geopolitical tension have given rise to a new international threat - a world war for water. This most vital of resources has become a precious commodity and some will stop at nothing to control its flow. When a satellite disappears over Iceland, Sim Atkins thinks he knows why. He is given the chance to join the hallowed Overseas Division and hunt for the terrorists responsible. But his new partner Freda Brightwell is aggrieved to be stuck with a rookie on such a deadly mission. Freda's misgivings are well founded when their first assignment ends in disaster - a bomb destroys a valuable airship and those responsible evade capture. Seeking redemption, the British agents follow the trail to a billionaires' tax haven in the middle of the Atlantic ocean and uncover a web of deceit that threatens global war. Whom can they trust? As the world edges ever closer to destruction Sim and Freda must put their lives on the line to prevent Armageddon - and protect the future of 'blue gold'. David Barker's gripping debut will thrill fans of Richard North Patterson, Scott Mariani and Steve Berry.

Spanish Crossings is an epic tale of love, politics and conflict, with the yearning but elusive possibility of redemption. A woman's life has been cast in shadow by her connection to the Spanish Civil War. We meet Lorna in Spain, 1937 as she falls in love with Harry, a member of the International Brigade who had been at Guernica when it was bombed. Harry is then killed in the fighting and Lorna fears she might have lost her best chance of happiness. Can she fill the void created by Harry's death by helping the child refugees of the conflict? She finds a particular connection to one boy, Pepe, and as he grows up below the radar of the authorities in England their lives become increasingly intertwined. But can Lorna rely on Pepe as he remains deeply pulled towards the homeland and family that have been placed beyond his reach? Coming through the war, then the post-war rebuilding, Lorna and Pepe's relationship will be tested by their tragic and emotive history.

The second in the Hampstead Murders series opens with a sudden death at an iconic local venue, which some of the team believe may be connected with an unsolved murder featuring Cold War betrayals worthy of George Smiley. It soon emerges that none other than Agatha Christie herself may be the key witness who is able to provide the missing link. As with its bestselling predecessor, Death in Profile, the book develops the lives and loves of the team at 'Hampstead Nick'. While the next phase of a complicated love triangle plays itself out, the protagonists, struggling to crack not one but two apparently insoluble murders, face issues of national security in working alongside Special Branch. On one level a classic whodunit, this quirky and intelligent read harks back not only to the world of Agatha Christie, but also to the Cold War thrillers of John Le Carre, making it a worthy successor to Death in Profile which was dubbed 'a love letter to the detective novel'.

Deirdre Quiery’s follow up to the critical success Eden Burning, The Secret Wound draws the reader into a complex web of relationships within the ex-pat community in Mallorca, discovering their dangerous secrets...and a potential murderer in their midst. Cornelia carries a dark and deadly secret from her past, and has murderous plans for one of her fellow ex-pats. Can any of the close knit community unmask her brutal plans before they are all put in mortal danger? Deirdre Quiery's gripping thriller is not just an addictive page turner, but provides a compelling exploration of human emotion and desires, and the terrible costs of jealousy and ambition…. Perfect for fans of Jane Corry and Amanda Brooke.

'Malice' is book 3 in the bestselling Rina Walker series, following 'Harm' and 'Threat'. London 1964. Gang warfare is breaking out and Rina Walker's struggle to survive amid the battles and betrayals of a gruesome cast of racketeers and gangsters requires all her considerable skills as an assassin. Playing one side off against the other to protect those she loves, Rina is caught in a deadly game of cat and mouse where her life is just one of many at stake…

Kendra Blackmore’s half Iranian daughter Ariana (Rani) undergoes an identity crisis which results in her cutting of all contact with her family. Her son Adam, a doctor, explains it’s a normal part of development and that it wouldn’t last. Sick with worry and desperate to understand why her home loving daughter would do this, the hyper- rationale Kendra turns to clairvoyants and psychic hotlines for answers. Her growing obsession with the supernatural turns Kendra away from her field of conventional psychology and pushes her to the edge of irrationality and denial. Living in a world of facts, logic and rituals her brilliant but eccentric husband David is unable to provide her with emotional support. His sudden death, her growing relationship with the unusual Marco and the prospect of becoming a grandmother brings Kendra back to earth. But where is Rani?

The Dark Web, is a breathless race against time to prevent deadly threats against our known world. When a computer scientist dies mysteriously in Dubai, Jenny Bishop's nephew, Leo Stewart, is hired to replace him. Leo's life is soon in danger, but he is the only person who can find the key to prevent an impending global cyber-attack. With the help of Jenny and old and new friends, he must find a way to neutralise the threat before the world's vital services are brought to a halt. A shadowy figure, known only as Tsunami, is working behind the veil of international offshore company structures in an attempt to redraw international borders once again and enrich the ruthless authors of the conspiracy. From Moscow and Iraq to Shanghai, Washington, London and Continental Europe, the gripping narrative exposes the tentacles of the Dark Web wrapped around the Earth, giving access and anonymity to the authors of these deadly conspiracies. The Dark Web is a thrilling final chapter in the African Diamonds trilogy.