Books to Look Forward to from Quercus

The Dark is by V M Giambanco and is due to be published in September 2014.  Seattle Homicide Detective Alice Madison is bound to jailed murderer John Cameron and attorney Nathan Quinn by a debt that cannot be repaid, by a nightmare that changed their lives forever.  When the remains of Quinn's younger brother - murdered when he was a boy - are discovered in a shallow grave, Madison vows to follow the trail of brutal deaths that leads to the truth.  A sadistic killer stalks the investigation, as Madison's own demons threaten her future career with the police and darkness closes in.  How far is she prepared to go to save a life?

Graham Weber has been the director of the CIA for less than a week when a Swiss kid in a dirty T-shirt walks into the American consulate in Hamburg and says the agency has been hacked, and he has a list of agents' names to prove it.  This is the moment a CIA director most dreads.  Weber turns to a charismatic (and unstable) young man named James Morris who runs the Internet Operations Centre.  He's the CIA's in-house geek.  Weber launches Morris on a mole hunt unlike anything in spy fiction one that takes the reader into the hacker underground of Europe and America and ends up in a landscape of paranoia and betrayal.  Like the new world of cyber-espionage from which it's drawn, The Director is a maze of deception and double dealing, about a world where everything is written in zeroes and ones and nothing can be trusted.  The CIA has belatedly discovered that this is not your father’s Cold War, and Weber must play catch-up, against the clock and an unknown enemy, in a game he does not yet understand.  The Director is by David Ignatius and is due to be published in June 2014.

The Arc of the Swallow is by Sissel-Jo Gazan and is due to be published in November 2014.When controversial Immunology Professor Kristian Storm is found hanged in his office his assistant Marie Skov refuses to believe that he has committed suicide. Grappling with Storm’s disputed legacy, she uncovers a scandal behind vaccination programmes in West Africa, leading her behind the scene of the cut-throat pharmaceutical industry.

The Root of all Evil is the second book in the Commissario Michele Balistreri series  by Roberto

Costantini and is due to be published in August 2014.  Tripoli, 1960s. During the years in which post-colonial Libya fell prey to the sprawling greed of the West, Michele Balistreri suffered a succession of blows that would scar him for life.  The death of his mother; the unspeakable horror that befell his best friend's family; his father's role in Gaddafi's ascent to power; and the innocent blood pact that would corrupt the course of his future.  Rome, 1982. In the wake of a ruinous blunder, a ground-down Commissario Balistreri escapes his regrets through sex, alcohol, and gambling.  His sole responsibilities are now a stilted investigation into the death of a South American student, and a tiresome obligation - as a gratitude to the man who saved his career - to a rising television starlet needing protection from the pitfalls of fame.  As the risks to this girl, Claudia Teodori, begin to rise along with her reputation, the sorrows of Balistreri's past also start to push back into his present.  Both of their fates are inextricably linked - and this driven, obsessive young woman must help this damaged detective fight a foe that follows her and refuses to forget him.

  

Research is by Philip Kerr and is due to be published in July 2014.  The rolling strip across the bottom of the screen shouts the news: BESTSELLING NOVELIST JOHN HOUSTON'S WIFE FOUND MURDERED AT THEIR LUXURY APARTMENT IN MONACO.  Houston is the richest writer in the world, a book factory publishing many bestsellers a year - so many that he can't possibly write them himself. He has a team that feeds off his talent; ghost writers, agents, publishers.  So when he decides to take a year out to write something of quality, a novel that will win prizes and critical acclaim, a lot of people stand to lose their livelihoods.  Now Houston, the prime suspect in his wife's murder, has disappeared.  He owns a boat and has a pilot's licence - he could be anywhere and there are many who'd like to find him.  First there's the police. If he's innocent, why did he flee?  Then again, maybe he was set up by one of his enemies.  The scenario reads like the plot of one of Houston's million-copy-selling thrillers...

A suspicious device is found inside a suitcase near a nursery in Holon, Tel Aviv.  The children are

taken to safety; a man is caught fleeing the scene.  Then comes the phone call: ‘thee suitcase is only the beginning.’  And it is.  Chaim Sara's son is glad not to be at nursery that day.  He has been bullied - there are bruises.  Chaim, taking care of both his children since the sudden absence of his wife, watches with anticipation as the police search for clues.  Inspector Avraham is thrust into the investigation, still haunted by the failure of his last case.  Witnesses are unforthcoming; suspects are eliminated.  Then a frightening act of violence shifts his understanding.  The suitcase has alerted him to a greater danger; one more private, and deeply disturbing.  No one believes in it but him.  And he will do anything to stop it in its tracks.  A Possibility of Violence is by D A Mishani and is due to be published in September 2014.

Bavaria, Germany, 1947.  At the end of the war, Afra Zauner returns to her parents' cottage on the edge of Mauther Forest.  Unmarried, and pregnant. As she struggles to raise her child, her father's shame, her mother's fury, and the loud whispers of the neighbours begin to weigh upon her.  She doesn't believe in her sin.  But everyone else does.  And someone brings judgement down upon her.  Many years later, Hermann Muller is throwing a drunk out of his tavern.  A traveller, who won't stop ranting about a murder left unsolved, about police who never investigated.  Out of curiosity, the file is reopened.  And in the cold light of hindsight, a chilling realisation creeps upon the community.  No one ever atoned for Afra's death.  But her story is waiting to be told. The Dark Meadow is by Andrea Maria Schenkel and is due to be published in August 2014.

Lake Wales, Central Florida.  Ten years ago, a political fundraiser became a bloodbath when a hooded assassin carried out a savage public execution.  Three men were massacred, casting a dark shadow over the Sunshine State.  A decade on, history is threatening to repeat itself.  The widow of one victim, herself now running for governor, has received an anonymous threat - a newspaper clipping from that fateful day, along with the chilling words 'I'm back.’  Florida detective Cab Bolton agrees to investigate the threat against this candidate, Diane Fairmont: an attractive politician who has a complicated history with Cab's mother, Hollywood actress Tarla Bolton - and with Cab himself.  But by doing so, Cab is entering dangerous waters.  Fairmont's political party is itself swamped in secrecy - a fact that, unknown to Cab, has led one of its junior staff to start asking very sensitive questions about the death of a party employee.  Both Cab and this young researcher, Peach Piper, are digging up the kind of dirt that ten years can't wash away.  And as the powerful crosswinds of state politics swirl around Cab and Peach, and the threat of a tropical storm hangs over Florida, this whirlwind of pressure and chaos will ultimately unearth a poisonous conspiracy, and reawaken a killer who has lain dormant for a decade.  Season of Fear is by Brian Freeman and is due to be published in July 2014.

Arab Jazz is by Karim Miské and is due to be published in August 2014.  Kosher sushi, kebabs, a second hand bookshop, and a bar: the 19th arrondissement in Paris is a cosmopolitan neighbourhood where multicultural citizens live, love, and worship alongside one another.  This peace is shattered when Ahmed Taroudant's melancholy daydreams are interrupted by the blood dripping from his upstairs neighbour's brutally mutilated corpse.  The violent murder of Laura Vignole, and the roast pork placed next to her, set imaginations ablaze across the neighbourhood, and Ahmed finds himself the prime suspect.  However detectives Rachel Kupferstein and Jean Hamelot have plenty to go on, as they uncover a volatile underworld of drug trafficking and religious fundamentalism.  In this his debut novel, Karim Miské demonstrates a masterful control of setting, as he moves seamlessly between the sensual streets of Paris and the synagogues of New York to reveal the truth behind a horrifying crime.

A devastating analysis of the human capacity for violence and redemption. 1957: a pacifist goes to war.  2008: a policeman on the warpath.  Set between Paris and Algeria, the overlapping fates of these two men reveal a dark conspiracy to mask the blackest chapter of French history, which can only be undone by the most unlikely hero: a thuggish ex-boxer who’ll do anything for cash . . . Loser’s Corner is by Antonin Varenne and is due to be published in December 2014.

Stockholm, September 2011.  Carina Dymek is on a fast track for promotion at the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, when she is approached by a stranger and given a USB stick containing a report to circulate in her department.  Unwittingly, she delivers a time bomb of classified information that sends her career up in flames and puts her on the radar of the security service, Sapo.  Tasked with investigating how Dymek gained access to the confidential report, the formidable Bente Jensen of Sapo is quietly approached by the British MI6, who have an undisclosed interest in the leak. She finds out that Dymek's boyfriend is an Egyptian Swedish national.  But it's MI6 who link his family to an extreme faction within the Muslim Brotherhood in Cairo. The case explodes into an international manhunt.  Liaising with the ruthless MI6, Bente uncovers the secretive plans contained in that leaked report: plans for an omnipotent Europe-wide Intelligence Service.  Forces hone in on Dymek, while Bente begins to suspect she is a red herring caught in a far wider net: one in which social media is abused for intelligence and civil rights are sacrificed to national security.  Into a Raging Blaze is by Andreas Norman and is due to be published in July 2014.

Four lives are about to come crashing together...Devastated by the murder of his sister in Soho seven years ago, Mark Davis travels to London to carry out an act of violence that he believes will avenge her death.  PhD student Stella is returning to London with her partner Paula to visit a fertility clinic.  But Stella is hiding a secret that could tear their lives apart.  Recovering alcoholic Seb has left his wild days behind him.  As he helps his wife prepare to launch her restaurant in Soho, he feels that his life is finally back on track. But a chance encounter with a stranger brings back tragic memories and puts his family in serious danger.  Kerstin Engel is a brilliant but troubled research analyst.  Haunted by the events of 7/7 when she narrowly escaped death, she has spent the last seven years carrying out a self-imposed penance.  But an unseen enemy lies in wait and threatens to destroy her career and her mind.  As crowds gather in Soho to mark the restaurant launch, a terrifying sequence of events brings these characters together and the last days of summer to a shocking end.  Summer Lies Bleeding is by Nuala Casey and is due to be published in August 2014.

Poisoned Ground is by Barbara Nadel and is due to be published in September 2014.  Ex-soldier Lee Arnold and his Muslim assistant Mumtaz Hakim run a detective agency in London's ethnically diverse, crime-ridden East End.  An Egyptian woman, Salwa, whose husband is in Belmarsh on terrorism charges, approaches Mumtaz.  Salwa convinces Mumtaz of her husband's innocence and persuades her to go undercover to prove it.  But Salwa is not what she seems.  Trapped in an old tunnel that leads to the London docks, will Mumtaz escape with her life?

The Bosch Deception is by Alex Connor and is due to be published in July 2014. A TRUTH CONCEALED.  Brabant, 1473. A clandestine brotherhood hides a secret that could bring down the Catholic Church.  Their chosen hiding place - the art of Hieronymus Bosch. A TERRIBLE CONSPIRACY. London, 2014. An excommunicated priest approaches both the Church and the art world, claiming to possess an artefact that will destroy their reputations.  A TICKING CLOCK. This man, Nicholas Laverne, is poised to end over 500 years of silence and injustice.  Yet, unknown to Nicholas, he has just summoned a killer intent on silencing him.

You'd know if someone close to you was capable of lethal violence, right?  Dead wrong.  Accused of grassing up a fellow officer and driven brutally out of home and job, Grace Fisher is thankful to survive some dark times and find haven with the Major Investigation Team in Essex.  One female student is missing, last seen at a popular bar in Colchester.  When a second student, also out drinking, is murdered and left grotesquely posed, the case becomes headline news.  Someone is leaking disturbing details to a tabloid crime reporter.  Is it the killer?  Or a detective close to the case? With another victim, and under siege by the media, the murder enquiry hits a dead end.  The review team brought in to shake things up is headed by Grace's old DCI.  Who is going to listen to her now?  Good Girls Don’t Die is the first in a new series by Isabelle Grey featuring Detective Grace Fisher.  It is due to be published in September 2014.

London,  1657. All that is known of the Seeker is that he is utterly loyal to Cromwell, and that nothing can be hidden from him.  In  a fashionable coffee house, a murder takes place and a lawyer, Elias Ellingworth, found holding a knife over the bleeding body.  Despite the damning evidence, the Seeker is not convinced of Ellingworth’s guilt.  He will stop at nothing to bring the real killer to justice.  The Seeker is by S G Maclean and is the first in a new historical thriller series featuring Damian Seeker, one of Cromwell’s most trusted and feared adherents.  The Seeker is due to be published in October 2014.

In Mark Sullivan’s latest high-octane blockbuster, robin Monarch must seek out and steal a mysterious and much-coveted elixir of life, while at the same time attempting to reclaim something – or, more accurately, someone – cruelly stolen from him.  The perilous trail begins in the deepest recesses of the Brazilian rainforest, and will lure Monarch into a deadly trap where his nemesis will be waiting, and where the fate of those dearest to him will be decided.  Thief is due to be published in December 2014.

Two hours to get away, 22 more to survive.  Security consultant and private investigator Michael Sander is tasked with the investigation of a video that seems to show two people being hunted to their deaths.  His job is to find out who they are, and why they were murdered.  But this isn’t just another case, and these deaths are only one piece of the puzzle.  Michael is investigating the darkest reaches of humanity, uncovering crimes that reach further than he ever imagined.  Trophy is by Steffen Jacobsen and is due to be published in October 2014.

Talking to Ghosts is by Hervé Le Corre and is due to be published in July 2014.  With his son Pablo's kidnapping still unsolved, and his marriage ruined by the torment of hope, the brutal murder of a single mother in her own home is an almost welcome diversion for Commandant Vilar.  The woman leaves behind a son, Victor, thrown into the foster system with only his mother's urn for company.  Struggling with bullies, trauma and the first pangs of teenage love, Victor carries a secret that followed his mother to her grave.  Struggling for leads, Vilar is shaken when the colleague investigating Pablo's kidnapping disappears.  When a sadistic caller claims to have information about his son, Vilar is torn between duty and a desperate chance of redemption.