Hodder & Stoughton King Rat Clavell James

Dirk Struan rose from humble beginnings to build Struan & Company, also known as the Noble House, into the world's largest Far East trading company. He is now the Tai-Pan--Supreme Leader--of all Tai-Pans in China. Along the way, however, he made a powerful enemy. Tyler Brock, Struan's rival from their early opium-smuggling days, also heads a large trading fleet, second in size only to Struan's. But it is not only silks and spices that drive their mutual companies' wealth--the opium trade is still booming. War between England and China might be over, but the hostilities remain. Struan and Brock come to control much of England's trade with China yet neither can control their desires or their hatred of each other. Over the years, their two families will cross paths, threatening to rip both apart, with reverberations that will echo across the generations

Set in the turbulent days of the founding of Hong Kong in the 1840s, Tai-Pan is the story of Dirk Struan, the ruler - the Tai-Pan - of the most powerful trading company in the Far East. He is also a pirate, an opium smuggler, and a master manipulator of men. This is the story of his fight to establish himself and his dynasty as the undisputed masters of the Orient

It is 1862 and Japan is a land in chaos as the power of the Shogun wanes and the rival factions plan to restore the Emperor. In Yokohama, the gai-jin, the hated foreigners, seek to profit from the chaos. At the head of the Noble House - and heir to the title of Tai-Pan - stands Malcolm Struan, who is determined to become his own man and marry the woman he loves. At the head of the Shogunate party is the Lord Yoshi, a direct descendant of Shogun Toranaga, who shares all of his ancestor's cunning and ambition

Вошедшие в данный сборник рождественские рассказы Энид Блайтон по праву считаются нестареющей классикой детской литературы. Эта книга - отличный подарок для тех, кто насладился этими историями в детстве и хочет познакомить с ними новое поколение читателей • Книга «Enid Blyton`s Christmas Stories» оказалась столь популярной, что издательство Hodder & Stoughton по просьбам читателей выпустило второй праздничный сборник, и именно его вы держите в руках! Энид Блайтон передаёт атмосферу Рождества с несравненным мастерством, какой бы аспект праздника она ни описывала: колядки, ожидание подарков, праздничный стол и, конечно, посиделки с родными и близкими… Да, в историях Блайтон, как обычно, нашлось место для озорства и хаоса, но добро и веселье в них всегда на первом месте! • Рассказы из этой книги ранее не публиковались в «Enid Blyton`s Christmas Stories»

Frances Gorges has happiness within her grasp. King James would rather be hunting stags with her beloved husband Thomas than chasing witches, which means her medical skills and herbal knowledge no longer hang over her like a death sentence. Her family is growing and their estates are secure • But a new arrival at court brings intrigue, jealousy and danger. George Villiers is a young man with the face of an angel and the cunning heart of a devil • Soon James is besotted by this charismatic new lover. Former favourites are crushed with scheming and lies. Thomas's life is made a misery and Frances is back under suspicion as Villiers plots to marry her friend Katherine Manners and seize her fortune • Appalled at the courtier's greed and the King's weakness, Frances finds herself drawn back to her old friend Sir Walter Raleigh and his last, desperate plot to see a Catholic monarch on the throne

Already a great historian, Tracy Borman proves with this thrilling debut novel that she is also a born storyteller • As she helps to nurse the dying Queen Elizabeth, Frances Gorges longs for the fields and ancient woods of her parents' Hampshire estate, where she has learned to use the flowers and herbs to become a much-loved healer • Frances is happy to stay in her beloved countryside when the new King arrives from Scotland, bringing change, fear and suspicion. His court may be shockingly decadent, but James's religion is Puritan, intolerant of all the old ways; he has already put to death many men for treason and women for witchcraft • So when her ambitious uncle forcibly brings Frances to court, she is trapped in a claustrophobic world of intrigue and betrayal - and a ready target for the twisted scheming of Lord Cecil, the King's first minister

Celebratory tenth anniversary edition, with black and white illustrations, two new short stories - Cinderella, A Version and The Rat King, the latter introducing the Crooked Man who is central to the world of The Book of Lost Things - and an afterword from the author • 'Once upon a time, there was a boy who lost his mother . . .' • As twelve-year-old David takes refuge from his grief in the myths and fairytales so beloved of his dead mother, he finds the real world and the fantasy world begin to blend. That is when bad things start to happen. That is when the Crooked Man comes. And David is violently propelled into a land populated by heroes, wolves and monsters in his quest to find the legendary Book of Lost Things

John Connolly turns his pen to the short story to give us a volume of chilling tales of the supernatural. In this macabre collection, echoing masters of the genre from M R James to Stephen King, Connolly delves into our darkest fears - lost lovers, missing children, subterranean creatures and predatory demons • Framing the collection are two substantial novellas - The Cancer Cowboy Rides charts the fatal progress of a modern-day grim reaper, while The Reflecting Eye is a haunted house tale with a twist and marks the return of private detective Charlie Parker, the troubled hero of Connolly's crime novels. This edition contains two additional stories - The CyclE and Mr Gray's Folly - not previously included. Nocturnes is a masterly volume to be read with the lights on - menace has never been so seductive

The Cahill family are famous for two things: their wealth, and the scandals that surround them • James Cahill has always tried to make his own way in the world, though he has enjoyed the many women taken in by the easy charms of a handsome, soon-to-be-rich bad boy • Waking up in hospital, bandaged and bruised, James barely recognises the gorgeous blonde at his bedside; Sophia, his mistress • As James' memories gradually return, pieces of a terrifying puzzle begin to slot into place. His girlfriend, Megan, had found out about his affair. Megan is missing. His family is hounding him. The police are asking him questions • James insists he has no idea what happened to Megan. But the betrayal you can't remember may be worse than you can imagine

Welcome, dear reader! You have happened upon the delightful village of Shady Hollow, a place where rabbits and raptors, squirrels and snakes live together in civilised accord . . . with only the occasional murder to mar the peace of daily life • Keen journalist Vera Vixen is recovering from the Harvest Festival (and its bounty of local cheeses, cider and pies) when the calm is shattered by a scream from one of the small town's grandest houses. Dorothy Springfield, a rat with a reputation for eccentricity, claims her husband - who is standing right next to her - has been murdered. Has Dorothy finally lost her grip on reality? Or is the rat who claims to be Edward an imposter? Vera's fox nose scents a story. And it's not long before the discovery of a body, minus the head, complicates things further

Some people just look destined for great things. And sometimes, life has other ideas • Whatever happens to those kids at school who are always being tipped to be stars in adult life? • It's a question all of us find ourselves asking at some time and Mike Gayle's powerful, poignant novel answers it with regard to Danny Morgan and James McManus - rivals for top honours in everything throughout their school years in Birmingham • Whatever their friends and teachers might have expected, neither Danny nor James is currently running the country • Depressed and unemployed, Danny is facing an ultimatum from his girlfriend Maya: if he doesn't get out and get a job, she's leaving • It was an accident that changed James's life and now he is looked after affectionately by his parents

The seventh title in the number one bestselling CHERUB series! James uncovers corruption where he least suspects it • When an MI5 operation goes disastrously wrong, James Adams needs all of his skills to get out of Russia alive • Meanwhile, his sister Lauren is on her first solo mission, trying to uncover a brutal human trafficking operation • And when James does get home, he finds that his nightmare is just beginning • CHERUB agents have one crucial advantage: adults never suspect that children are spying on them • For official purposes, these children do not exist