The brilliant sequel to the critically acclaimed PASHAZADE

Among many other things, Ashraf Bey is a fugitive from the US justice system (definitely); son of the Emir of Tunis (possibly); and chief of detectives in the El Iskandryian police force (apparently). Small wonder that he's a little confused...

Raf's ex-fiance Zara still doesn't want to see him, so she says. His nine-year-old niece is busy doing things with computers that are strictly illegal. And when the city suddenly starts to fall apart and Zara's father is accused of mass-murder, Raf begins to learn the true cost of loyalty...

As the US, France and Germany try to dominate both the present and future of the Middle East in this alternate 21st century - as they have the past - Ashraf Bey must become both saviour and avenger. It's not an easy trick, but someone has to do it...

Kit Nouveau didn't escape himself when he flew to Japan. He runs a bar in the Roppongi district of Tokyo and is having an affair with the wife of a High Yakusa ganglord. All things considered being held up at gunpoint isn't a complete shock. The pale girl in the black cloak appearing from nowhere and punching an ivory spike into the man's head on the other hand ...

Nijie has stolen fifteen million dollars, she's on the run, she's just killed a man and she has a cat who knows more than it should. It's a lot to deal with when you haven't even left school. But Nijie is really Lady Neku. And it is time for her to stop mewling in the darkness. And suddenly, the girl who became Lady Neku understands she's never really been anyone else. And in a sentient castle at the end of world Lady Neku otherwise known as Baroness Nawa-no-ukiyo, Countess High Strange and chatelaine of Schloss Omga realizes that a man called Kit has stolen some of her memories.

The third instalment in Jon Courtenay Grimwood's critically acclaimed series of Ashraf Bey mysteries

Detective. Diplomat. Uncle. Killer.

Ashraf Bey has been many things since arriving in El Iskandryia from Seattle. One thing he hasn't been, as yet, is a son to Moncef, Emir of Tunis - the father Raf has still to meet. Of course, Raf doesn't believe the Emir is his father anyway. (Given his mother's insistence that he's the son of a Swedish hitch hiker).

And now it may be too late, since the rumours that don't have Emir Moncef escaping assassination have him hovering on the edge of death. Despite refusing a plea for help from the Emir's chief of security, Raf still finds himself being drawn towards Tunis. It seems he has his own part in an unfolding political crisis that began decades earlier with US anti-globalisation riots and the Emir's refusal to ratify the 2005 UN Accord on Biotechnology.

The murder of an imperious North African noblewoman upsets the marriage plans of her nephew, who becomes the prime suspect. After Chief of Detectives Felix Abrinsky is called to an affluent home in Isk (El Iskandriya), Egypt, to examine the body of a recently murdered society matron, the story flashes back to the events that led up to the murder.

Young Ashraf Bey ("Raf") is united for the first time with his wealthy aunt, Lady Nafisa, who helped get him out of Huntsville, an American prison, where he went under the name of ZeeZee. (Alter ego or alternate reality? You decide.) Though Raf maintains that he worked as an attache, italicized chapters from ZeeZee's perspective paint a darker existence in Seattle.

Indeed, many of the characters have damaging secrets, including Abrinsky, who was fired from the LAPD. Raf is on his way to an arranged marriage to the beautiful and outspoken Zara when Nafisa deems Zara unsuitable for her jailbird nephew. Shortly thereafter, Nafisa is stabbed to death with her own pen. The suspicion cast on Raf is particularly dangerous for him because the higher his profile, the more vulnerable he is to his felonious former associates. Resourceful Raf determines to solve the crime himself.

In this first American installment of a trilogy published in England beginning in 2001, Grimwood (reMix, 1999, etc.) wraps gritty realism in layers of suspicion and suggestion (is Isk itself fantasy?), creating an antihero as unpredictable as Tom Ripley.

A circle may begin at any point - with a gun, or a an argument, or a butterfly blown by the wind. When someone shoots at the President on tour in Morocco, the shock is less than the mystery. Of all the recent Presidents, why this one? What to do with the shooter, dubbed Prisoner Zero? And - increasingly urgent - who IS Zero? Prisoner Zero will say nothing, and seems to have no past. He could be Arab. He could be American. He could be insane, he could be professional, he could be a lone gunman or represent a vast conspiracy. Maybe he has more than one past. Or maybe the answer lies in the future, where an emperor waits alone in the Forbidden City, for an assassin and a butterfly.

Jon Courtenay Grimwood's gripping and brilliantly clever new novel confirms what fans of his Ashraf Bey series have always known - that he is one of Britain's most innovative writers..

LizAlec is wired for sound, speed and anything else that money can buy. But she's abducted. Her mother's a French minister, who moves Heaven and Earth to find her. Fixx fixes things — recordings, people, anything that makes money. Some of him is almost human. Now he has to find LizAlec

Ex-assassin Axl Borja has agreed to do one last hit - only he hasn't told his gun yet. Cardinal Santo Ducque faces political ruin if he can't regain the Vatican's missing billions. Mai's a Japanese kinderwhore held hostage on a space habitat. As they collide their actions could change the world.

From Booklist

Aside from Grimwood’s penchant for borrowing motifs from other genres, the author’s previous novels, including his acclaimed End of the World Blues (2007), mostly bear the imprint of sf. Yet here Grimwood confidently steps into fantasy territory in this first volume of an ambitious trilogy featuring an alternate renaissance Venice populated by corrupt monarchs, a secret army of assassins, and a bewitching side cast of werewolves and vampires. This version of early-fifteenth-century Venice is ruled by the descendants of Marco Polo, specifically Alonzo, the uncle of the bona fide but incapacitated Duke, who rules with Machiavellian intrigue in the face of his Byzantine and Ottoman enemies. After Alonzo’s scheme to marry off the Duke’s cousin Giulietta leads to her kidnapping, Alonzo sends his lead assassin, Atilo, on her trail. When Atilo fortuitously crosses paths with a young vampire, Tycho, he quickly recruits the boy as a very difficult but useful apprentice. Grimwood’s well-seasoned skill with storytelling and dialogue makes this opening installment of the series both delightfully colorful and compellingly readable. --Carl Hays

Review

'Sharp as a stiletto, dark and dazzling as a masquerade. Grimwood's Venice is totally compelling' Mike Carey

La mort est un éternel recommencement… Quand Jeff décède d’une crise cardiaque à 43 ans, il se réveille 25 ans plut tôt dans sa chambre d’université, alors qu’il a 18 ans… Tout ce qui appartenait à son présent a disparu… dans le futur. Seuls les souvenirs subsistent. Un peu déstabilisant ? Toutefois, quand on a un quart de siècle d’avance sur l’humanité, on dispose de quelques atouts pour refaire sa vie. Ainsi, Jeff construira une fortune, un couple différent, essaiera en vain de changer le cours de l’Histoire, et ce jusqu’à ses 43 ans où il mourra d’une crise cardiaque… pour se réveiller à 18 ans, cette fois-ci dans un cinéma. Replay! Et ainsi de suite. La raison de ce cycle ? Jeff n’en a aucune idée. Peut-être Pamela, elle aussi sujette à ces retours à la vie, pourra-t-elle l’aider à comprendre. Humour, émotions, rebondissements à la pelle servant une intrigue admirablement ficelée, et Replay donne une dimension multiple au sens de la vie.

Jeff Winston, forty-three, didn’t know he was a replayer until he died and woke up twenty-five years younger in his college dorm room; he lived another life. And died again. And lived again and died again — in a continuous twenty-five-year cycle — each time starting from scratch at the age of eighteen to reclaim lost loves, remedy past mistakes, or make a fortune in the stock market. A novel of gripping adventure, romance, and fascinating speculation on the nature of time, asks the question: "What if you could live your life over again?"

A week later, Alex Marston, the headstrong fifteen year old daughter of the British Ambassador disappears. Army Intelligence Officer Tom Fox, posted to Moscow to keep him from telling the truth to a government committee, is asked to help find her. It’s a shot at redemption.

But Russia is reluctant to give up the worst of her secrets. As Fox’s investigation sees him dragged deeper towards the dark heart of a Soviet establishment determined to protect its own so his fears grow, with those of the girl’s father, for Alex’s safety.

And if Fox can’t find her soon, she looks likely to become the next victim of a sadistic killer whose story is bound tight to that of his country’s terrible past…

Un clásico de los viajes en el tiempo que lanza una pregunta provocadora: ¿qué pasaría si pudieras vivir tu vida otra vez, acordándote de los errores cometidos en el pasado? A Jeff Winston, de 43 años, se le da esta oportunidad varias veces. Atrapado en un matrimonio aburrido y un trabajo sin salidas, muere en 1988 y se despierta en 1963, con 18 años, en el dormitorio de su antigua universidad. Todo es igual que antes, pero con una gran diferencia: Jeff sabe lo que le depara el futuro. Sabe quién ganará cada partido, cada competición nacional, y hasta cómo hacer dinero en Wall Street. Lo único que ignora es por qué ha sido elegido para volver a empezar su vida, ni cuántas veces deberá ganar, y perder, todo lo que tiene. Y a la misma edad en que murió por primera vez vuelve a fallecer. Así sucesivamente a lo largo de varias ocasiones, estas repeticiones se producen tras su muerte por infarto, siempre en el mismo momento, y hacen que Jeff pueda experimentar varias vidas distintas o, para expresarlo de otro modo, tomar caminos distintos en su vida. Varias vidas más tarde, y con la sapiencia de sus otras experiencias, Jeff conoce a una mujer que está pasando por el mismo trance y tras enamorarse de ella vive de nuevo hasta su muerte. Pero la historia sigue repitiéndose, y aunque se encuentran en todas las vidas, cada vez es más difícil adaptarse a la situación.

Hó ​​és hideg félhomály borítja be a várost, és a befagyott kanálisokon ezernyi szellem kísért az árnyak közül… Velence továbbra is sötét erők mozgatta hatalmi játszmák színtere: kegyetlen gyilkosságok, hátborzongató jóslatok, mérhetetlen gonoszság, boszorkányság, alvilági szörnyetegek, titkos alkuk, ármány és szerelem tarkítják mindennapjait. A trilógia befejező részében a Lady Giulietta fiát ért erőszakos támadás hírére Tycho feladja új, boldog életét, és visszatér az udvar aljas intrikái közé. Giulietta kedvéért akár a világ végére is elmenne, csak hogy megtalálja a támadókat. Ám eközben Velence lassan a polgárháború küszöbére sodródik… Vajon eléri-e a célját a velejéig romlott Alonzo herceg? Vagy ellenfelének, Alexának sikerül meghiúsítania a terveit? Tetteti-e az őrültséget Együgyű Marco? És vajon hogyan alakul Lady Giulietta sorsa? A félig angyal, félig démon Tycho, vagy a visszatérő Frederick herceg, Zsigmond császár törvénytelen fia nyeri el a lány kezét és vele Velencét? Amikor az akaratok egymásnak feszülnek, egy végső, mindent eldöntő, véres hadjáratban dől el a város sorsa. Kérdés, hogy hőseink túlélik-e ezt a háborút…

Vigyázat! Cselekményleírást tartalmaz.
Passion diOrchi, egy milliomos maffiavezér családtól elkószált és elkallódott, de még mindig szégyentelenül gazdag leánykája úgy érzi, a létező országok nem tudják megadni neki, amit szeretne, ezért elhatározza, hogy létrehozza a saját kis birodalmát. Kiöregedett bálnavadászhajókból és gyorstenyésztett korallból, a Csendes-óceán kellős közepén, a régi Velencét pixelre lemásolva. Száz évvel később újVelence két részre szakadt: belső része gyönyörű, arisztokratikus város, média-nagyhatalom és virágzó szabadkikötő, a peremén lévő fémgettóban génmanipulált mutánsok élnek szigorúan elkülönítve. Egy nap azonban a tízéves dózse, újVelence hatalmának képviselője eltűnik, felturbózott testőrnője pedig Zürichben tér magához, holtan. Az újVelencei Tanács vezetőjének lánya titokban a gettóba szökve próbálja legyőzni Lucifer sárkányát, a tanulásra képes játékprogramot, miközben a dózse eltűnésének kivizsgálásával megbízott rendőr különös összefüggésekre bukkan…

A 'The Fallen Blade valójában két könyv egyszerre. Az első a reneszánsz Velence történelmi felidézése, amelyben megjelenik a város atmoszférája, építészete és sokszínű kultúrájának szépsége éppúgy, mint a korabeli politika könyörtelensége és brutális erőszakossága. A második ezzel szemben egy cseppnyi romantikával fűszerezett kalandos fantasy-történet, vámpírokkal, vérfarkasokkal és – természetesen – számos csatajelenettel. Grimwood mesterien keveri a két műfajt, és a regény folyamán végig képes fenntartani a feszültséget.

Los emperadores bizantino y germano traman la guerra, y el futuro de Venecia está en las manos de varios salvadores improbables: Tycho, nombrado caballero tras su victoria sobre la flota de los mamelucos. Sin embargo, torturado por sus secretos, rechazado por la mujer a la que ama, no ve ninguna razón para salvar Venecia.Lady Giulietta, aún de luto, debe cumplir su deber con la ciudad: los dos emperadores quieren su mano y una alianza con la ciudad más rica de Europa. Ella habrá de elegir sabiendo que el rechazado se convertirá en el enemigo más feroz de Venecia.Una muchacha desnuda, cubierta de barro, sale arrastrándose de una tumba en una isla de la laguna veneciana y empieza a asesinar a los hombres que la enterraron.Ellos decidirán el curso de la historia.

Es el siglo XV y Venecia está en la cima de su poder. En esta ciudad, mezcla de opulencia y hedor a cloaca, aparece el primer vampiro en Europa, setenta años antes que Drácula.Atilo, el jefe de los Assassini del duque Marco, descubre a un muchacho agachado sobre un hombre al que acaba de matar. La velocidad a la que huye el muchacho le asombra. Y Atilo sabe que tiene que encontrarlo, no para matarlo, sino porque finalmente ha encontrado a alguien digno de ser su aprendiz.Cruce de novela de intriga fantástica y Shakespeare, La Espada maldita presenta una galería de personajes que llegan a cualquier extremo para mantenerse en el poder, pero una ciudad no se convierte en la más rica del Mediterráneo respetando las normas.