Saturday 25 February 2012

Forthcoming books to look forward to from Atlantic and Corvus books

Rome, 1605: a city of grand palazzos and frescoed cathedrals. But for the poverty-stricken artist Caravaggio, the city shows her other face, that of rough bars and grubby whores. Suddenly the Pope himself notices his talent, and Caravaggio is the most celebrated artist in Italy. But when he falls for Lena, a fruit seller, society is outraged. Discredited, but desperate to defend the honour of the woman he loves, Caravaggio is forced into a duel and kills a member of nobility. Even his powerful patrons cannot protect the lowborn Caravaggio from the death sentence and the artist is forced to flee. Exiled in Malta, his paintings continue to tell of his love for Lena. But before he can return to her, Caravaggio, Italy’s most famous artist, simply disappears …. A Name in Blood is by Matt Rees and is due to be published in July.

He play’s the oldest children’s game in the world, hide and seek. He plays it with your sons and daughters, but in his own way, with his own rules. The Eye Collector begins by killing mothers, then abducting children; he gives fathers 45 hours to find them. When time runs out, he kills the victim and removes the left eye as a grisly trophy. His method never varies and the Eye Collector never loses , until now. Just before the latest deadline expires, a mysterious witness comes forward. Alina Gregoriev is a physiotherapist. She is also blind and yesterday , she may have met the Eye Collector …. The Eye Collector is by Sebastian Fitzek and is due to be published in August.

The Divine Sacrifice is the second in the Dark Age Mysteries series featuring Malgwyn ap Cuneglas by Anthony Hays. Welcome to fifth-century Britain: the Romans have left, the Saxons have invaded, the towns are decaying and the countryside is dangerous. Malgwyn ap Cuneglas, an embittered ex-soldier who lost a limb in the Saxon wars, has become the trusted counsellor to Arthur, High King of all Britannia. So when a monk dies in horrific circumstances in Glastonbury Abbey, the Abbott calls for Malgwyn to investigate. His search for the truth will draw him into an intricate web of religious, economic and political deceit – and a conspiracy that could endanger everything Arthur has fought for. The Divine Sacrifice is due to be published in November.

The Blind Goddess is the first book in the Hanne Wilhelmsen series by Anne Holt. Somewhere in the grimy outskirts of Oslo, a drug dealer has been battered to death. Meanwhile, a young Dutchman, wandering the city is covered in blood, is taken into custody. He refuses to talk, except to the woman who found the body: lawyer Karen Borg. Days later, a notoriously shady lawyer is found dead. Is there a link between the two killings? It’s Homicide Detective Hanne Wilhelmsen’s job to find out. Hanne is a lone wolf, disdainful of her bosses and prone to dangerous shortcuts. But in a world where the Goddess of Justice is blindfolded, she always gets to the truth. The Blind Goddess is due to be published in December.

Lisa is a plastic surgery addict with severe self-esteem issues. The only hospital that will let her go under the knife is New Hope: a grimy, grey-walled facility dubbed 'No Hope' by its patients.  Farrell is a celebrity photographer. His last memory is a fight with his fashion-model girlfriend and now he's woken up in No Hope, alone. Needle marks criss-cross his arms. A sinister nurse keeps tampering with his drip. And he's woken up blind... Panicked and disorientated, Farrell persuades Lisa to help him escape, but the hospital's dimly lit corridors only take them deeper underground - into a twisted mirror world staffed by dead-eyed nurses and doped-up orderlies. Down here, in the Modification Ward, Lisa can finally have the face she wants... but at a price that will haunt them both forever.  The Ward is by SL Grey and is due to be published in December.

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