Top list: True stories

She thought she’d left her past behind.

She was wrong…

Despite a childhood in the care system, Anna Price has beaten the odds and built for herself the perfect life, complete with beautiful seaside home, devoted husband and a job she loves.

Then a policeman appears at Anna’s door: her estranged brother Henry is a wanted serial killer, and the police need Anna’s help to catch him before he strikes again.

When an envelope turns up on her doorstep, Anna suddenly finds herself caught in a sick game. One that she remembers all too well from childhood – one that, this time, she must win at all costs…

Readers are obsessing over The Serial Killer’s Sister!

‘Loved every second of this. Finished it in 36 hours. And the twist…Didn’t see that coming!’ Real Reader Review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘An excellent read with a fantastic jaw-dropping ending.’ Real Reader Review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘Loved every bit of this book. I thought I knew exactly what was going on but oh how wrong I was…The story right until the very end is full of surprises.’ Real Reader Review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘Alice Hunter is the queen of thrillers!’ Real Reader Review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘The twist at the end is so clever that I was left thinking about it for days after.’ Real Reader Review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘Twists, turns, revenge, evil, family...so freaking good!!’ Real Reader Review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘WOW. This was such a page-turner, and I truly didn't expect that ending.’ Real Reader Review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘I devoured this book in just one sitting. This is an unputdownable, addictive and gripping read. Hunter has pulled me in and kept me captive until the very last page.’ Real Reader Review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘A true masterpiece, that ending just keeps on giving, with twist upon twist.’ Real Reader Review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘WOW WOW WOW. I could've read it in one sitting, but I had to restrain myself!’ Real Reader Review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

From the bestselling author of Blood and Money: A haunting true story of three people locked in a fierce struggle against time and the sea-and each other.

"Being a refugee is not a choice. Our choice is to die at home or risk death trying to escape." - Yusra Mardini

Yusra Mardini fled her native Syria to the Turkish coast in 2015 and boarded a small dinghy full of refugees bound for Greece. When the small and overcrowded boat's engine cut out, it began to sink. Yusra, her sister and two others took to the water, pushing the boat for three and a half hours in open water until they eventually landed on Lesbos, saving the lives of the passengers aboard.

Butterfly is the story of that remarkable woman, whose journey started in a war-torn suburb of Damascus and took her through Europe to Berlin and from there to the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

Yusra Mardini is an athlete, one of People magazine’s twenty-five women changing the world, a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador and one of Time Magazine’s thirty most influential teens of 2016.

“Once you start reading, be prepared, because you won’t want to stop.” —Oprah Winfrey

OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB PICK • New York Times bestselling author Lara Love Hardin recounts her slide from soccer mom to opioid addict to jailhouse shot caller and her unlikely comeback as a highly successful ghostwriter in this harrowing, hilarious, no-holds-barred memoir.

No one expects the police to knock on the door of the million-dollar two-story home of the perfect cul-de-sac housewife. But soccer mom Lara Love Hardin has been hiding a shady secret: she is funding her heroin addiction by stealing her neighbors’ credit cards.

Lara is convicted of thirty-two felonies and becomes inmate S32179. She finds that jail is a class system with a power structure that is somewhere between an adolescent sleepover party and Lord of the Flies. Furniture is made from tampon boxes, and Snickers bars are currency. But Lara quickly learns the rules and brings love and healing to her fellow inmates as she climbs the social ladder and acquires the nickname “Mama Love,” showing that jailhouse politics aren’t that different from the PTA meetings she used to attend.

When she’s released, she reinvents herself as a ghostwriter. Now, she’s legally co-opting other people’s identities and getting to meet Oprah, meditate with the Dalai Lama, and have dinner with Archbishop Desmond Tutu. But the shadow of her past follows her. Shame is a poison worse than heroin—there is no way to detox. Lara must learn how to forgive herself and others, navigate life as a felon on probation, and prove to herself that she is more good than bad, among other essential lessons.

The Many Lives of Mama Love is a heartbreaking and tender journey from shame to redemption, despite a system that makes it almost impossible for us to move beyond the worst thing we have ever done.

*HIGHLY COMMENDED FOR BEST AUDIOBOOK OF THE YEAR AT THE TRUE CRIME AWARDS 2023*

'A truly astonishing murder mystery – this is proper journalism' Jeremy Clarkson

Following a long investigation by the world-famous Sunday Times Insight team, David Collins tells the truly unique story of a string of murder-suicides in north-west England and poses the terrifying question: are they the work of a serial killer who has been operating undetected since the mid-nineties?

In 1996 and 1999, two elderly couples died in the small town of Wilmslow, Cheshire. In each case the husband was blamed for turning berserk and killing his wife using a horrifying level of violence. The police failed to make a link between the deaths – despite the similarities. That might have been the end of the matter. But when two coroner's officers began to piece together the evidence, it revealed a pattern which may prove the existence of a sadistic attacker known as 'the silver killer'. Using interviews with dozens of witnesses, including police investigators, forensic and crime scene experts, coroner's officers and family members, the author pieces together the clues in an attempt to solve the mystery of what really happened.

A gripping true-crime investigation, the book reveals how suspicions were aroused and set investigators on a new trail to uncover the truth. Collins, whose reporting helped the police to convict the serial killer Levi Bellfield of killing Milly Dowler, has written a brilliant account of a crime that nearly went undiscovered which is sure to become a classic of the genre.

THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER

A TIMES BEST MEMOIR OF 2023

‘Grippingly vivid and pacey’ THE TIMES

‘A seven-year old girl on a seventy-foot yacht, for ten years, over fifty thousand miles of sailing’ SIMON WINCHESTER

'An astonishing almost day-by-day account of [a] hazardous journey and its legacy’ TELEGRAPH

‘This is a story of an epic childhood journey, so exciting and so shocking it is hard to know whether you’re reading about a dream or a nightmare… Wavewalker is thrilling, horrifying, beautifully written – I couldn’t put it down’ ED BALLS

Aged just seven, Suzanne Heywood set sail with her parents and brother on a three-year voyage around the world. What followed turned instead into a decade-long way of life, through storms, shipwrecks, reefs and isolation, with little formal schooling. No one else knew where they were most of the time and no state showed any interest in what was happening to the children.

Suzanne fought her parents, longing to return to England and to education and stability. This memoir covers her astonishing upbringing, a survival story of a child deprived of safety, friendships, schooling and occasionally drinking water… At seventeen Suzanne earned an interview at Oxford University and returned to the UK.

From the bestselling author of What Does Jeremy Think?, Wavewalker is the incredible true story of how the adventure of a lifetime became one child’s worst nightmare – and how her determination to educate herself enabled her to escape

‘A classic memoir of childhood. This is a book that every parent should read to consider the consequences of their midlife crises, and every child should read to learn how to deal with impossible mums and dads, as well as boils and barnacles’ Mail on Sunday 5*

‘An electrifying story about an extraordinary childhood, and Heywood tells it with remarkable clarity and assurance . . . an engrossing book that pitches the reader into the highs and lows of a young life spent in the “Wavewalker School of the Sea”’TLS

'Bad Apple is a must-read for lovers of thrillers!’ Reader Review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

'I tore through this edge-of-your-seat, up-all-night thriller…Timely and gripping, don't miss this one.' – bestselling author Katy Brent

Trusted officer. Family man. Monster?

Becky Lawson’s life has been shattered.

When she discovered her husband, John – a trusted policeman – was a monster, she reported him. But her faith in the system was crushed when it didn't lead to any charges or consequences.

Now, John lives freely with a new girlfriend and her young daughter, while Becky battles guilt over missing the obvious signs.

Determined for justice, Becky hunts him down. But John wants her silenced – at any cost. Becky knows only one of them can survive, and she’ll do anything to make sure it’s her.

Becky must tread carefully though, because John isn’t the only bad apple lurking in the shadows…

A gripping heart-in-mouth psychological thriller that asks: What would you do if you found out the man you loved was rotten to the core? Perfect for fans of K.L. Slater, B.A. Paris and the Netflix hit TV series You.

___________

READERS ARE GRIPPED BY BAD APPLE!

‘I buzzed through this book in one sitting!’ Reader Review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘An addictive read, filled with suspense and clever twists right to the unexpected ending.' Reader Review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘I flew through this…a five-star read.’ Reader Review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘This book was extremely captivating…so many twists and turns that kept me on the edge of my seat!’ Reader Review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘The book explores themes such as trust and deception with everything else in between…I found myself eagerly flicking the page to see what would happen next!’ Reader Review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘This was one of my favourite thriller books I have read…absolutely fantastic!’ Reader Review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘A brilliant, twisty police procedural story.’ Reader Review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

THE BASIS FOR THE MAJOR 6-PART HBO® DOCUMENTARY SERIES

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR:

Washington Post | Maureen Corrigan, NPR | Paste | Seattle Times | Entertainment Weekly | Esquire | Slate | Buzzfeed | Jezebel | Philadelphia Inquirer | Publishers Weekly | Kirkus Reviews | Library Journal | Bustle

Winner of the Goodreads Choice Awards for Nonfiction | Anthony Award Winner | SCIBA Book Award Winner | Finalist for the Edgar Award for Best Fact Crime | Longlisted for the Carnegie Medal for Excellence

The haunting true story of the elusive serial rapist turned murderer who terrorized California during the 70s and 80s, and of the gifted journalist who died tragically while investigating the case—which was solved in April 2018.

The haunting true story of the elusive serial rapist turned murderer who terrorized California for over a decade—and of the gifted journalist who died tragically while investigating the case.

Introduction by Gillian Flynn • Afterword by Patton Oswalt

“A brilliant genre-buster.... Propulsive, can’t-stop-now reading.” —Stephen King

For more than ten years, a mysterious and violent predator committed fifty sexual assaults in Northern California before moving south, where he perpetrated ten sadistic murders. Then he disappeared, eluding capture by multiple police forces and some of the best detectives in the area.

Three decades later, Michelle McNamara, a true crime journalist who created the popular website TrueCrimeDiary.com, was determined to find the violent psychopath she called ""the Golden State Killer."" Michelle pored over police reports, interviewed victims, and embedded herself in the online communities that were as obsessed with the case as she was.

I’ll Be Gone in the Dark—the masterpiece McNamara was writing at the time of her sudden death—offers an atmospheric snapshot of a moment in American history and a chilling account of a criminal mastermind and the wreckage he left behind. It is also a portrait of a woman’s obsession and her unflagging pursuit of the truth. Utterly original and compelling, it is destined to become a true crime classic—and may at last unmask the Golden State Killer.

Cover Art 2020 © Home Box Office, Inc. All Rights Reserved. HBO is service marks of Home Box Office, Inc.

A thrilling exposé recounting how members of Opus Dei—a secretive, ultra-conservative Catholic sect—pushed its radical agenda within the Church and around the globe, using billions of dollars siphoned from one of the world’s largest banks.

For over half a century, Banco Popular was one of the most profitable banks in the world—until one day, in 2017, when the Spanish bank suddenly collapsed overnight. When investigative journalist Gareth Gore was dispatched to report on the story, he expected to find yet another case of unbridled capitalist ambition gone wrong. Instead, he uncovered decades of deception that hid one of the most brazen cases of corporate pillaging in history, perpetrated by a group of men sworn to celibacy and self-flagellation who had secretly controlled Popular and abused their positions there to help spread Opus Dei to every corner of the world.

Drawing on unparalleled access to bank records, insider accounts, and exclusive interviews with whistle-blowers from within Opus Dei, Gore reveals how money from the bank was used to lure unsuspecting recruits—some of them only children—into a life of servitude. He also tracks the ascent of Opus Dei within the United States, exposing its role in bankrolling many right-wing causes, including the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade.

In an era of disinformation and deep fakes, here is a real-life conspiracy which hid in plain sight for more than sixty years. Gore tells a shocking story of money and power that spans decades and continents. Documenting Opus Dei’s secret history for the first time, this thrilling work of investigative storytelling raises important questions about the dark forces that shape our society.

Demonstrating world-building finesse, Robin Hobb begins the climatic story of a seafaring clan and its tangled destiny.

The 32nd fostering memoir from international bestseller Cathy Glass

Struggling to cope with three young children, Janie turns to experienced foster carer Cathy Glass. Helping the family each morning, Cathy soon uncovers how dangerous their situation has truly become.

Riley and his two little siblings, Jayden and Lola, are not safe at home.

With all three children in her care, will Cathy be able to rebuild their lives – and Janie’s?

'A compelling, almost hypnotic read' - Lisa Jewell, bestselling author of None of This is True

Bright Young Women is a compulsive, extraordinary novel inspired by the real-life sorority targeted by America's first celebrity serial killer in his final murderous spree. From Jessica Knoll, author of the New York Times bestseller and #1 Netflix movie Luckiest Girl Alive.

January 1978. Tallahassee. When sorority president Pamela Schumacher is startled awake at 3 a.m. by a strange sound, she’s shocked to encounter a scene of implausible violence – two of her friends dead and two others, maimed. Thrust into a terrifying mystery, Pamela becomes entangled in a crime that captivates public interest for more than four decades . . .

On the other side of the country, Tina Cannon has found peace in Seattle after years of hardship. When Ruth, her best friend, goes missing from Lake Sammamish State Park in broad daylight, surrounded by thousands of beachgoers on a beautiful summer day, Tina devotes herself to finding out what happened to her.

When Tina hears about the tragedy in Tallahassee, she suspects the same man the papers refer to is responsible. Determined to make him answer for what he did to Ruth, she travels to Florida on a collision course with Pamela – and one last impending tragedy.

Praise for Bright Young Women:

'Jessica Knoll at her best: an unflinching and evocative novel' - Laura Dave, New York Times bestselling author of The Last Thing He Told Me

'Cleverly constructed [. . .] psychologically astute and written with flair' - The Sunday Times

'This book is extraordinary' - Catherine Ryan-Howard, author of Run Time

'Writing with pulse-pounding tension and urgency, Knoll expertly conjures an atmosphere of dread and anxiety . . . An utterly absorbing, disturbing, and absolutely essential read' - Booklist, Starred Review

Richard "The Ice Man" Kuklinski led a double life beyond anything ever seen on The Sopranos, becoming one of the most notorious professional assassins in American history while hosting neighborhood barbecues in suburban New Jersey. Now, after 240 hours of face-to-face interviews with Kuklinski and his wife and daughters, author Philip Carlo tells his extraordinary story.

Robert Keller presents Book 1 in the Cold Cases: Solved series. Contains mature themes.

From Harold Schechter, the much-acclaimed author of Deviant, Deranged, and Depraved, comes the ultimate resource on the serial killer phenomenon.

In this unique book, Peter Vronsky documents the psychological, investigative, and cultural aspects of serial murder, beginning with its first recorded instance in ancient Rome.

Poland, 1944The train slowed and halted with a squeal of the breaks. It felt like we waited in the carriage for an eternity, but eventually, the heavy doors opened, directly into the chaos inside.

Sara Leibovitz, a 16-year-old Jewish girl, was a passenger on the train with her family. They spent their final moments together on the platform in Auschwitz before their horrific fates were sealed. Sara’s mother and baby brothers were sent straight to their deaths. Her father was made to work in the Sonderkommando as one of the men forced to remove the bodies from the gas chambers, and was later executed. Sara survived.

This is the powerful true story of Sara Leibovits and the incredible pain and hardships she went through during her time in the death camp. Yet despite the horrors she faced, she always tried to maintain her family’s values of courage, faith and kindness to others. In this compelling memoir, Sara’s story is intertwined with that of her daughter, Eti. Seventy years after the horrors of the Holocaust, Eti reveals the inherited trauma of the second generation and completes the Holocaust survivor’s tale.

Let us never stop reading these novels‘. These memoirs are the ones that keep all the voices alive’

I finished reading it with a newfound sense of love and compassion‘Highly recommend… ’

life-changing memoir‘Reading this family’s memories is a rewarding experience in that it will ensure future generations will remember and learn. Many thanks to the author…for the trust in allowing me to review this .’

raw and gripping‘A Holocaust recount’

I was grateful to have a little glimpse into the mind of Eti and her absolute respect for her parents‘What I loved most about this book is that it is a dual perspective……together they learned, they grieved and they healed’

highly recommendkeep survivor's stories alive and never let this type of tragedy happen again‘It makes me really proud of my Jewish heritage and this story of perseverance. I this book for any and all to read so we can ’

Powerful, heartbreaking and inspiringwe need to know in memory of the six million innocents who died and of those who survived‘. We need to know what happened. It will make your heart break. It is beyond horrific. But ’

I give it a resounding 5 stars‘A haunting and beautiful read…’

I feel honored to have read this memoir‘We have the perspective of a woman who survived the holocaust as well as her daughter who had never known the horrrors her mother endured, yet asked…’

Anyone who reads this book will not be left untouched‘…truly moving'

one of those books everyone should read‘This is '

profoundly impactfulshould be required reading for everyone‘Remarkable… a book, one which '

She showed strength of character, resilience and maintained a kind heart'Sara Leibovits is an amazing lady. , as she shared what little she had with those around her in Auschwitz'

‘You are no longer a number’ What readers are saying about :The Girl Who Survived Auschwitz

In this provocative and eye-opening classic of investigative journalism, the #1 New York Times bestselling author and “America’s best true-crime writer” (Kirkus Reviews), Ann Rule, explores the nearly twenty-year long search for America’s most prolific and horrifying serial killer.

In 1982, the body of Wendy Coffield is discovered floating near the sandy shore of Washington’s Green River. Authorities have no idea that this tragic and violent death is only the beginning of a string of murders that will rock and terrify the Seattle area for two decades.

With her signature riveting prose and in-depth research, Ann Rule takes us behind the scenes of the search for the Green River Killer, a terrifying specter who ritualistically killed young women and eluded authorities for years. From seeking the help of incarcerated serial killer Ted Bundy to Ann Rule’s horrifying realization that the killer she was writing about had attended her book signings, Green River, Running Red is the suspenseful and unforgettable “definitive narrative of the brutal and senseless crimes that haunted the Seattle area for decades” (Publishers Weekly).

Time is precious. The world is waiting.

Rediscover yourself. The Great Alone is the epic adventure of a relatable explorer.

Why does a 44-year-old father leave his family for six months to walk 4,286 km across America on the Pacific Crest Trail? What effect does it have on his marriage? on his children? and on himself? Following his intuition, Tim Voors decided to embark on a life-changing hike, feeling alive, being afraid, pushing through pain, confronting emptiness and starting a passionate romance with the wilderness.

Tim Voors takes us through the physical, mental and spiritual journey he experienced on this epic hike. Climb into his backpack as he takes you through deserts, mountains, forests and raging rivers, where he forges magical friendships, rediscovers who he used to be, and implements those lessons on returning home.

The Forgotten Soldier recounts the horror of World War II on the eastern front, as seen through the eyes of a teenaged German soldier.