In a sleepy resort town, Maud Chadwick waits tables at the Rainbow Cafe. Her confidant is Sheriff Sam DeGheyn and what they have in common is obsession. Maude doesn't want her son to leave home, and Sam cannot let go of the unsolved murders of three local women -- or his intuition that the killer is still out there. How these lives intertwine reveals a rich and startling story of parents and children and the pain they cause one another. "Gripping." CHICAGO SUN TIMES

Martin Collier is a stagehand on “Seaside Spectacular” where he falls for an unattainable dancer and where he suspects that Gerry Neon, the star of the show, may be his father. Only his mother knows for sure… Set in the summer of 1985 in the northern coastal town of Grumby, The End of the Pier explores the Great British seaside resort and the much-loved Variety show. There is sea air and sand castles, comedians and jugglers; but this is no postcard from the good old days as sex and violence are never far away. …and when Martin learns something about his mother - a secret, a lie - he is compelled to search into her dark past and to confront his own painful history. “Striking, compelling… A sharply observed evocation of a dying world. The writing is superb, the characters unforgettable and the ending incredibly moving. One of the best debuts I've read. Highly recommended.” Stav Sherez, Author of A Dark Redemption “Lifts the curtain on the dark reality of summer season shows. Characters recognisable but stripped of cheap sentiment. A great read.” Tony Peers, veteran comedian, actor and producer “Fantastic! Gripping. Nostalgic. Brought back memories. I was there!” Kevin McFarlane, Technical Stage Manager, Lyceum Theatre, Crewe

Bobby was once a household name with 20 million TV viewers but now the laughter has faded. Resigned to a life of solitude and second-rate panto performances, his glory days are behind him. When Michael, the nations favourite comedian, arrives at his door asking for help to save his career, Bobby is unwillingly thrown into the limelight once again. A dark question lurks behind the laughs: What if, inside, youre not the person everyone thinks you are? This is a powerful new black comedy from acclaimed writer Danny Robins (Rudys Rare Records, starring Lenny Henry at Hackney Empire and on Radio 4, and Radio 4s The Cold Swedish Winter).

A teen without a family. A town with a dark history. A body in the lake. Abandoned by her own parents, forgotten by the foster care system, Bailey's learned to weather every storm-except the one that rages inside. Is a family of her own too much to ask for? Her only anchor is Tommy, captain of the famous Lake Geneva Mailboat for the past fifty years, as reliable as the mail itself. Delivering letters by boat in the Wisconsin resort town, Bailey's learned that the occasional splash into the lake as she jumps to the piers is just part of her job. But discovering a dead body tied to a pier post is far from routine... Bailey's fears only grow when the police investigation spills over into her abusive foster home-threatening to take her away from Lake Geneva entirely. When it comes to the surface that Tommy has close ties to the chief suspect, his wounds from the past threaten to close him off from Bailey completely, snuffing out her last beacon of hope. Will the mystery of the body in the lake be solved before a killer destroys Bailey's last chance at finding a family? Or will a madman's sinister plot leave her marooned forever? The End of the Pier is the first book in the thrilling Mailboat Suspense Series. If you like twists that leave you breathless, complex characters you can't help but love, and a real-life setting that comes to life on the page, then you'll love Danielle Lincoln Hanna's enthralling tale! Buy The End of the Pier to dive into the suspense today!

*THE PIER AT THE END OF THE WORLD is on the CBC NSTA 2016 Outstanding Science List* With lyrical writing and stunning underwater photography, this picture book follows a day in the life of the denizens lurking in the cold, tide-swept waters beneath a remote pier on the shore of a northern sea.

George Orwell provides a vivid and unflinching portrayal of working-class life in Northern England during the 1930s. Through his own experiences and meticulous investigative reporting, Orwell exposes the harsh living conditions, poverty, and social injustices faced by coal miners and other industrial workers in the region. He documents their struggles with unemployment, poor housing, and inadequate healthcare, as well as the pervasive sense of hopelessness and despair that permeates their lives. In the second half of the The Road to Wigan Pier Orwell delves into the complexities of political ideology, as he grapples with the shortcomings of both socialism and capitalism in addressing the needs of the working class. GEORGE ORWELL was born in India in 1903 and passed away in London in 1950. As a journalist, critic, and author, he was a sharp commentator on his era and its political conditions and consequences.

The first collection of stories from the author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and The Porpoise. 'Terrifically compelling' Guardian A seaside pier collapses. An expedition to Mars goes terribly wrong. A thirty-stone man is confined to his living room. One woman is abandoned on a tiny island in the middle of the ocean. Another woman is saved from drowning. Two boys discover a gun in a shoebox. A group of explorers find a cave of unimaginable size deep in the Amazon jungle. A man shoots a stranger in the chest on Christmas Eve. 'The real redemption in these superbly gripping stories comes from their canny human detail, and the vivid, unsettling clarity they bring to our lives’ Sunday Times

Bill Noels debut novel, Folly, introduced Chris Landrum and his adventures on the small, quirky island of Folly Beach, South Carolina, where he spent an extended vacation, purchased a retirement home, and solved a murder. In this second installment of A Folly Beach Mystery series, murder and mayhem continue to interfere with Chriss laid-back retirement plans. Praise for The Pier Louisville author Bill Noel, himself a seasoned photographer, has followed his debut offering, Folly, with another engaging Folly Beach Mystery. Armed with a gift for creating ultra-quirky yet believable characters, Noel shows how a healthy dose of cynicismeven among untrained, nonprofessional typescan lead to solving a murder mystery that the police had initially decided wasnt even a homicide. Kentucky Monthly Spend a little time at the Lost Dog Caf (Coffee and a bite) with Landrum and his troupe of amateur sleuths, and I bet youll be glad you made the trip. The Voice-Tribune

Bailey Johnson landed the coolest summer job ever: mail jumper on the historic Lake Geneva Mailboat. Falling into the lake is pretty much a hazard of the job. Finding a dead body underwater is pretty much not. One mistimed jump restarts a manhunt, unsolved since before she was born, and reopens old wounds that were only half healed. As if that weren't bad enough, she's stuck in the most epically abysmal foster home ever, since she first entered "the system" eleven years ago. Abuse at home, bullets flying in the street ... and she thought prom was bad. All she wants is a family of her own. Is that so much to ask for? A forever family--provided she survives the summer.

Swim out into the Pacific and look back to the shore. To the couple kissing in the hot afternoon, and the young girl rollerskating along the front, and the family setting up camp on the soft, warm sand. To the blues and yellows and pinks of fierce, determined revelry. Santa Monica, where the wooden pier juts out into the Pacific Ocean, marks the end of Route 66. The great American journey west culminates here, and it is on this short stretch of coast that Sarah Lee began shooting her photographic series in 2015. In West of West Sarah Lee and Laura Barton explore the idea of the West in shaping American identity, with its idealism and notions of the frontier, and what the American West means in an age of political turbulence, when the East is the rising global force and the frontier is shifting once more.