Headline Hearts of Stone Скэрроу Саймон

Germany has conquered Poland. The world is praying for peace. At home, the Nazi Party's hold on power is absolute • One freezing night, an SS doctor and his wife cheerfully return home from an evening out. By sunrise, the doctor will be lifeless in a pool of blood • There is pressure to record the incident as a suicide, but the first evidence uncovered by Criminal Inspector Horst Schenke points to a chillingly staged murder. The investigation is swiftly blocked by Schenke's superiors, but he can't let it go. When he uncovers links to the mysterious death of a child, a terrifying secret begins to emerge • In times of war, under a ruthless regime, there are places no man should ever enter. And Schenke fears he may not return alive

1565, Malta: a vital outpost between the divided nations of Europe and the relentlessly expanding Ottoman Empire. Faced with ferocious attack by a vast Turkish fleet, the knights of the Order of St John fear annihilation. Amongst those called to assist is disgraced veteran Sir Thomas Barrett. Loyalty and instinct compel him to put the Order above all other concerns, yet his allegiance is divided. At Queen Elizabeth's command, he must search for a hidden scroll, guarded by the knights, that threatens her reign • As Sir Thomas confronts the past that cost him his honour and a secret that has long lain buried, a vast enemy army arrives to lay siege to the island

For nearly ten years, the Roman Empire has fought ceaselessly to strengthen its hold over Britannia. But opposition from native tribes led by the ruthless warrior Caratacus threatens to destroy everything • Prefect Cato and Centurion Macro are summoned by Governor Ostorius to Londinium. Tasked with leading a newly formed cavalry cohort into the heartland of Wales, they must destroy the growing resistance. But with Caratacus hatching increasingly ambitious plans and disorder threatening from within Macro and Cato's own ranks, this final test will push the soldiers to their limits • And if they do not emerge as victors, the Emperor Claudius's rule may be at stake, and the very foundations of the Roman Empire could be shattered irrevocably

A stunning novel of courage, camaraderie and deadly enemies from the Sunday Times bestselling author of Centurion and The Emperor's Exile • AD 59. Britannia. Tension is simmering. Danger lies round every corner for Rome's brave soldiers • Fifteen years after Rome's invasion of Britannia, centurion Marco is back. The island is settled now, bustling with commerce. Macro's goal is to help run his mother's Londinium inn, and exploit his land grant. He's prepared for the dismal weather and the barbaric ways of the people. But far worse dangers threaten all his plans • A gang led by an ex-legionary rules the city, demanding protection money and terrorising those who won't pay up. The Roman official in charge has turned a blind eye. Macro has to act

How was a man killed while alone in a locked room? Is it the perfect murder? • It's a case for FBI Special Agent Rose Blake. Still raw after a notorious serial killer slipped through her net, Rose will do whatever it takes - including putting her own life at risk - to nail the perpetrator this time • When a second body with identical wounds is discovered, Rose realises that a twisted murderer is playing a deadly game. A murderer who's not going to stop any time soon. But what links the victims? And who's next? No one is safe, and the clock is ticking

It is AD 25. Pirate ships strike terror in the hearts of those who brave the seas of the Roman Empire • When young Telemachus joins the crew of the merchant ship Selene, he's delighted to escape the rough streets of Piraeus. He knows little of the dangers of life at sea. And even past hardship has not prepared him for the terror on board when a pirate ship appears • The fight is bloody, but the result is never in doubt. Then the victorious pirate chief, Bulla, offers the beaten men a cruel choice: join us, or die. After surviving a brutal initiation rite, Telemachus impresses his new captain with his resourcefulness and strength, and swiftly rises through the pirate ranks. But dangerous rivals talk of mutiny and murder. While Prefect Canis, notorious commander of the imperial fleet, is relentless in his pursuit of the pirate brotherhood

The brutal backdrop of Ancient Rome provides the setting for the gripping story of the champion gladiator Pavo. Trained to kill, he has also become a pawn in the games of the powerful and ambitious • Pavo's journey begins when he encounters the Roman soldier Macro, who has been charged with his training. Bonds of friendship develop between the two men, both aware that their fates depend not only on Pavo's skills in the arena but also on the whims of powerful and ruthless senators. Can Pavo survive to fulfil his most cherished goal - revenge for the murder of his father at the hands of a champion gladiator?

AD 60. Macro and Cato - two battle-scarred heroes of the Roman army - face tribal uprisings and battles to the death with unmatched courage in barbaric Britannia • The hard-won province of Britannia is a thorn in the side of the Roman Empire, its tribes swift to anger, and relentless in their bloody harassment of the Roman military. Far from being a peaceful northern enclave, Britannia is a seething mass of bitter rebels and unlikely alliances against the common enemy. Corruption amongst greedy officials diverts resources from the locals who need them. For the military, it's a never-ending fight to maintain a fragile peace • Now it's time to quell the most dangerous enemy tribes. Two of Rome's finest commanders - Prefect Cato and Centurion Macro - are charged with a mission as deadly as any they have faced in their long careers

Berlin, December 1939 • As Germany goes to war, the Nazis tighten their terrifying grip. Paranoia in the capital is intensified by a rigidly enforced blackout that plunges the city into oppressive darkness every night, as the bleak winter sun sets • When a young woman is murdered, Criminal Inspector Horst Schenke is under pressure to solve the case, swiftly. Distrusted by his superiors for his failure to join the Nazi Party, Schenke walks a perilous line - for disloyalty is a death sentence • The discovery of a second victim confirms Schenke's worst fears. He must uncover the truth before evil strikes again • As the investigation takes him closer to the sinister heart of the regime, Schenke realises there is danger everywhere - and the warring factions of the Reich can be as deadly as a killer stalking the streets

Roman Britain, AD 44. The land is far from tamed. A puppet king is doing little to calm the hatred of the native tribes • Fighting is in Optio Horatius Figulus' blood. His Celtic ancestry gives him the toughness essential for survival. That toughness will be tested to the very limit when he is sent on a mission deep in hostile territory. And Figulus knows that, even utterly crushed in battle, their warriors routed and the Druids driven from their hill forts, the tribesmen of Britannia will sooner die than surrender

We have all heard the story of Cinderella, the beautiful child cast out to slave amongst the ashes. But what of her stepsisters, the homely pair exiled into ignominy by the fame of their lovely sibling? What fate befell those untouched by beauty ... and what curses accompanied Cinderella's looks? • Set against the backdrop of seventeenth-century Holland, Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister tells the story of Iris, an unlikely heroine who finds herself swept from the lowly streets of Haarlem to a strange world of wealth, artifice, and ambition. Iris's path quickly becomes intertwined with that of Clara, the mysterious and unnaturally beautiful girl destined to become her sister. While Clara retreats to the cinders of the family hearth, Iris seeks out the shadowy secrets of her new household - and the treacherous truth of her former life

Spring, 1312. Edward II of England is absorbed with his favourite, Peter Gaveston, while his young wife, Isabella, is with child. Isabella's father, the ruthless Philip of France, dreams of a grandson wearing the Crown of the Confessor and starts to meddle - even if that means murder • Amaury de Craon, Philip's Master of Secrets, is despatched to carry out his deadly deeds and Edward II summons Sir Hugh Corbett, Keeper of the Secret Seal, to intercept. Both master spies lodge at the Benedictine abbey of St Michael's in the forest of Ashdown. Supposedly a house of prayer, the abbey holds sinister secrets and treasures which include the world's most exquisite diamond, The Glory of Heaven. However, shortly after their arrival, the diamond is stolen and its guardian murdered