Blood And Granite

Blood and Granite is a chronicle of the most notorious homicides committed in Aberdeen over the last hundred years. Written by Norman Adams, a journalist who reported on many of the chilling crimes he now recalls so vividly, it is compelling reading for those who are too young to remember - and those who cannot forget. All are human tragedies from the dark side of life, including: • The grudge that ended in death in an East End pub when butcher James Harrow brutally stabbed two workmates in 1901. • The grisly discovery of a woman's arm on the Torry shore in 1945 that signalled the start of a mystery which to this day remains unsolved. • The tragic love affair that led to the gallows in 1963 - the first hanging in Aberdeen for 106 years. • The double life of brilliant scientist Dr Brenda Page of Aberdeen University, battered to death in her flat in 1978. Her murder remains unsolved. • The bar

The very first Logan McRae novel in the No.1 bestselling crime series from Stuart MacBride. DS Logan McRae and the police in Aberdeen hunt a child killer who stalks the frozen streets.

The world has become a battleground in a war which no side is winning. But for those determined to retain power, the prolonged stalemate cannot be tolerated so desperate measures must be taken. Max Halloran has no idea. He's living the brief and glorious life of a hunter-killer pilot. He's an ace in the air, on his way up through the ranks, in love, and with his family's every need provided for in thanks for his service, Max has everything . . . . . . right up until he hears something he shouldn't have, and refuses to let it go. Suddenly he's risking his life and the lives of all those he cares about for a secret which could expose corruption at the highest levels, and change the course of the war. One man, one brief conversation . . . a whole world of trouble . . .

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the author of Ghost Soldiers comes an eye-opening history of the American conquest of the West—"a story full of authority and color, truth and prophecy" (The New York Times Book Review). In the summer of 1846, the Army of the West marched through Santa Fe, en route to invade and occupy the Western territories claimed by Mexico. Fueled by the new ideology of “Manifest Destiny,” this land grab would lead to a decades-long battle between the United States and the Navajos, the fiercely resistant rulers of a huge swath of mountainous desert wilderness. At the center of this sweeping tale is Kit Carson, the trapper, scout, and soldier whose adventures made him a legend. Sides shows us how this illiterate mountain man understood and respected the Western tribes better than any other American, yet willingly followed orders that would ultimately devastate the Navajo nation. Rich in detail and spanning more than three decades, this is an essential addition to our understanding of how the West was really won.

Four chronically homeless people–Amelia One Sky, Timber, Double Dick and Digger–seek refuge in a warm movie theatre when a severe Arctic Front descends on the city. During what is supposed to be a one-time event, this temporary refuge transfixes them. They fall in love with this new world, and once the weather clears, continue their trips to the cinema. On one of these outings they meet Granite, a jaded and lonely journalist who has turned his back on writing “the same story over and over again” in favour of the escapist qualities of film, and an unlikely friendship is struck. A found cigarette package (contents: some unsmoked cigarettes, three $20 bills, and a lottery ticket) changes the fortune of this struggling set. The ragged company discovers they have won $13.5 million, but none of them can claim the money for lack proper identification. Enlisting the help of Granite, their lives, and fortunes, become forever changed. Ragged Company is a journey into both the future and the past. Richard Wagamese deftly explores the nature of the comforts these friends find in their ideas of “home,” as he reconnects them to their histories.

The sixth gripping thriller in the No.1 bestselling crime series from the award-winning Stuart MacBride. Scotland’s finest see first-hand how starting again can be murder... ‘MacBride is a damned fine writer’ Peter James

Family man Joe, 32, loses his job, and with a wife, two kids, and mounting debt, turns to all he knows: boxing. Conned into a brutal fight after meeting training pal Tim, he's on a dark path. Joe loves the rush of victory in unlicensed fighting. But, memories of his estranged father haunt him, a notorious street-fighter from Glasgow's Gorbals. Joe's family soon take second place, his addiction for notoriety overwhelming. And, his demons simmer: his father battering his mother; her committing suicide; Joe's vow to find and kill his father. He befriends gangster Mr Dean, who demands Joe becomes his fighter. Outcast by his wife, Joe befriends ex-con Micky, who turns Joe into a paranoid drug and alcohol addict, abusing his girl-friend. Gradually, he becomes like his dad. Monster Reaper has a fearsome reputation, the hardest bare-knuckle-fighter in Britain. Joe knows that the path to his father lies in defeating Reaper. The underworld community gathers to watch an unforgettable fight. Joe kills The Reaper, then his father reveals The Reaper was Joe's brother...

Where the Blood Mixes is meant to expose the shadows below the surface of the author's First Nations heritage, and to celebrate its survivors. Though torn down years ago, the memories of their Residential School still live deep inside the hearts of those who spent their childhoods there. For some, like Floyd, the legacy of that trauma has been passed down through families for generations. But what is the greater story, what lies untold beneath Floyd's alcoholism, under the pain and isolation of the play's main character? Loring's title was inspired by the mistranslation of the N'lakap'mux (Thompson) place name Kumsheen. For years, it was believed to mean "the place where the rivers meet"--the confluence of the muddy Fraser and the brilliant blue Thompson Rivers. A more accurate translation is: "the place inside the heart where the blood mixes." But Kumsheen also refers to a story: Coyote was disemboweled there, along a great cliff in an epic battle with a giant shape-shifting being that could transform the world with its powers--to this day his intestines can still be seen strewn along the granite walls. In his rage the transformer tore Coyote apart and scattered his body across the nation, his heart landing in the place where the rivers meet. Floyd is a man who has lost everyone he holds most dear. Now after more than two decades, his daughter Christine returns home to confront her father. Set during the salmon run, Where the Blood Mixes takes us to the bottom of the river, to the heart of a People. In 2009 Where the Blood Mixes won the Jessie Richardson Award for Outstanding Original Script; the Sydney J. Risk Prize for Outstanding Original Script by an Emerging Playwright; and most recently the Governor General's Literary Award for Drama.