The moving true story of a little girl with Asperger syndrome, controlled and abused by the one person she called her friend. Taylor had always struggled to make friends – she felt ‘different’. Taylor never knew her father and her mother wasn’t around much. She just didn’t understand people, and was alone and scared most of the time. That was until, aged just 11, an older married man called Tom befriended her. She loved having someone who would talk to her, listen to her, a protector. But when he moved away a few months later she was easy prey to the gang of drug dealers and petty criminals who groomed and abused her, using her as a form of currency to appease their debtors and amuse their friends. Increasingly isolated and desperate, it began to look as though the pattern of Taylor's life had been set – until she started to fight back, determined to build a safe future for herself, however long it took.

Dorothy Must Die meets Alice in Wonderland! This is not a story of happily ever after – it’s the twisted YA sequel in the origin story of an infamous villain… The once-future Queen of Hearts, Princess Dinah, has been exiled from Wonderland. Her vicious father who she always feared has framed her for a brutal murder and turned the kingdom against her. Now hiding in the mysterious Twisted Wood with only her war steed at her side, Dinah is faced with a choice – to leave Wonderland forever or stay and fight for the throne. A chance encounter with a long-lost enemy of the kingdom brings Dinah more allies than she ever could have imagined. But before battle, Dinah must confront truths about her heart and her destiny – no matter how dark those secrets may be. Revolution is rising in Wonderland. Dinah’s war has begun.

The final book in the epic fantasy-adventure series from ‘the Godmother of Fantasy’, Diana Wynne Jones. Now back in print! ‘Mitt arrived at the top of the steps, panting, and pushed open the door. “Oh, there you are,” said the Countess. “We want you to kill someone.”’ Since his arrival in the North of Dalemark Mitt has become disillusioned. The North seems no more free than the Holand he fled, a fugitive accused of attempted murder. And now he is trapped by the order to kill someone he doesn’t know or else risk the lives of his friends. Forced once more to flee, Mitt is joined by Moril, the quietly powerful musician, and Maewen – out of her time, but mysteriously fated to play a part in their quest. For the evil powers of the mage Kankredin are re-assembling, and only the Adon’s gifts – the ring, sword and cup – can once more unit Dalemark.

It all started when we found the body. Then nothing was ever the same. The Dry meets Stand by Me and True Detective in this stunningly written tale of the darkness at the heart of a small mid-Western town and the four kids who uncover it. In the heatwave summer of 1971, four kids find a body by a lake and set out to solve a murder. But they dig too deep and ask too many questions. Larson is a town reeling in the wake of the Vietnam draft, where the unrelenting heat ruins the harvest, and the people teeter on the edge of ruin. As tension and paranoia run rife, rumours become fact, violence becomes reflex. The unrest allows the dark elements of the close-knit farming community to rise and take control. And John, Jenny, Gloria and Rudy are about to discover that sometimes secrets are best left uncovered…

‘The perfect thriller’ Elle ‘Immensely gripping’ Sophie Hannah ‘Gripping, creepy and very addictive!’ BA Paris ‘He’s so handsome and clever and romantic. I just wished he hadn’t forced Tilda under the water and held her there so long.’ Callie loves Tilda. She’s her sister, after all. And she’s beautiful and successful. Tilda loves Felix. He’s her husband. Successful and charismatic, he is also controlling, suspicious and, possibly, dangerous. Still, Tilda loves Felix. And Callie loves Tilda. Very, very much. So she’s determined to save her. But the cost could destroy them all… Sometimes we love too much.

‘A modern day Nancy Mitford.’ Sir Elton John ‘Fans of Downton Abbey will love this.’ Davina McCall ** The #1 eBook bestseller! ** Christmas morning, 1969. All eleven-year-old Esme Munroe wants for Christmas is for her mother to be on one of her ‘good’ days – and, secretly, for a velvet riding hat. So when she finds an assortment of wet towels and dirty plates in her stocking, she’s just relieved Father Christmas remembered to stop at The Lodge this year. But later that day Esme’s mother disappears in the heavy snow. Even more mysteriously, only the Earl of Culcairn seems to know where she might have gone. Torn between protecting her mother and uncovering the secrets tumbling out of Culcairn Castle’s ornate closets, Esme realises that life will never be the same again after the snow… Susannah Constantine provides a rare glimpse into the secret lives of the scandalous upper classes. Perfect for fans of Downton Abbey and The Crown

An unpredictable, poignant, and captivating tale for readers of all ages, by the critically acclaimed author of Only Forward. There are a million stories in the world. Most are perfectly ordinary. This one… isn’t. Hannah Green actually thinks her story is more mundane than most. But she’s about to discover that the shadows in her life have been hiding a world where nothing is as it seems: that there's an ancient and secret machine that converts evil deeds into energy, that some mushrooms can talk ― and that her grandfather has been friends with the Devil for over a hundred and fifty years, and now they need her help.

Sometimes, home really is where the heart is… Leaving behind her hi-flying career in London, Isla Brookes has had enough. Burnt out and tired of an unfulfilling profession and lousy boyfriends, it’s time for her to go home. Arriving back in cosy Bibury to stay with her grandmother, Bridget, everything is charmingly familiar. Even her childhood sweetheart, Ben, is as handsome as she remembered… And when she discovers a stack of long-forgotten Valentine’s Day cards, Isla, with the help of Ben, begins to realise exactly what is most important in life.

’Remarkable’Paul Finch; ‘Impressive’Daily Mail; ‘Fresh and enthralling’Roz Watkins A dead girl. A wall of silence. DI Maya Rahman is running out of time. A headmistress is found strangled in an East London school, her death the result of a brutal and ritualistic act of violence. Found at the scene is a single piece of card, written upon which is an ancient Buddhist precept: I shall abstain from taking the ungiven. At first, DI Maya Rahman can’t help but hope this is a tragic but isolated murder. Then, the second body is found. Faced with a community steeped in secrets and prejudice, Maya must untangle the cryptic messages left at the crime scenes to solve the deadly riddle behind the murders – before the killer takes another victim. Turn a Blind Eye is the first book in a brand-new series set in East London and starring DI Maya Rahman.

‘Dexterously structured … [a] wise debut’ Observer ‘A hugely impressive debut’ Stella Duffy ‘Beautifully written’ Hannah Beckerman ‘A really accomplished debut’ Red Magazine On a hot October day in a London park, Stella sits in her red wedding dress opposite John. Pregnant and lost in thoughts of the future, she has no idea that lying in the grass, a stone’s throw away, is a man called Charlie. From this moment, Stella and Charlie’s lives are bound together in ways they could never imagine. But all they have is a shared glance and a feeling: have we met before? Entanglement is a bewitching novel of love and sacrifice which explore show our choices can reverberate across the generations, and the sparks of hope they can ignite.

Part 3 of the heart-pounding new thriller from the co-author of five No. 1 James Patterson bestsellers including Judge and Jury and Lifeguard, and the Sunday Times bestsellers The Blue Zone and Reckless.

You will love this moving and powerful novel from bestselling author Emma Heatherington. A must read for fans of Jojo Moyes. You always think you have more time… Juliette always thought she’d have more time. But as her fortieth birthday approaches she is dealt the deadliest of blows – she has just weeks to live. As the terrible news sinks in, Juliette’s only concern is for her fifteen-year-old daughter, Rosie. Who will take care of her precious child? Who will love her daughter with the same fierce love? The answer lies in a secret Juliette hoped never to reveal… Devastated at the loss of her own baby daughter, Shelley is barely managing to survive. Consumed by her grief, she has pushed everyone away – including the man who loves her the most. With her once happy marriage now in tatters, Shelley has nothing left to live for. But as the lives of these two women collide, could Juliette’s secret be the key to solving Shelley’s heartache? And could Juliette’s death give Shelley one final chance to live again… What readers are loving about A Part of Me and You: ‘One of THE most emotional books I have EVER read’ Angela Mellor, Netgalley ‘Heartbreaking…up there with Me Before You’ Tina Wakelin, Netgalley ‘Written from the heart, genuine emotion shining out from every page’ Audrey Cowie, Netgalley ‘An amazingly poignant story…the reader is left with tear filled eyes but a strong belief that love will prevail’ Jane Hunt Writer Book Reviews

This novel, based on the groundbreaking BBC TV drama series, shows how it takes both guts and a sense of humour to become a part-time policeman. It was adapted by the series’ creators from all twelve episodes, four of which are published here for the first time. ‘You’ll learn what it’s like out there in the streets, and we’ll learn whether you’re competent to wear the uniform.’ From nine to ?ve, they are like the rest of us. Come the twilight, they don the blue uniform with pride, and volunteer their spare time to share the night vigil of the Bobby on the beat. BOB LOACH, a partner in a coach tour business, is ‘all grease and few graces’, with an ambition to be the first millionaire Special. ANJALI SHA is an NHS physiotherapist who treads the mine?eld of con?icting traditions: ‘My family think it’s a bad business for a well brought-up Hindu girl to prowl the streets at night with a man.’ JOHN REDWOOD is a solicitor with an unshakable belief in the decency of his fellow-man. VIV SMITH is a young bank clerk: ‘It might come as a surprise to you, Sarge, but not all women come with a built-in maternal expertise of how to deal with kids.’ And FREDDY CALDER, an overweight salesman of ladies’ lingerie, conceals a shy and sentimental heart under a brash exterior. Five ordinary people whose commitment makes them extraordinary.

Christopher Sjuve is a chef and food editor. Based in Norway, his motto is your can never have too much bacon!

‘Heartwarming and poignant’ SUN ‘This book captured my heart’ Bestselling author Christie Barlow Meet Nancy… Single mum Nancy will do anything for her little boy. Jack’s autism makes life difficult at times, but she’s determined to ensure he lives the best life possible. So, when her best friend Harriet suggests a holiday to Ibiza, Nancy is torn: will Jack cope with the change in routine…will she? And Harriet… Workaholic mum Harriet convinces Nancy it’s the break they all need. A chance to have some fun with the kids, away from the stresses of normal life. And she’s determined to switch off her laptop, ignore her inbox, and just have fun with her kids for seven whole days… Cocktails and kids’ club – what could go wrong? Ibiza is beautiful, but Jack struggles with everything, Harriet refuses to put her laptop away, and Nancy begins to think she’s made a huge mistake. And then Nancy meets Cameron and his young son, Aiden and discovers that sometimes the best fun happens when you least expect it… Can these two single-mum’s swap their mummy guilt for sunglasses and sangria?

Rachel is a writer of words, drawer of pictures and thinker of happy thoughts. With a cacophony of quirky characters tumbling tirelessly from her imagination, she is one of the South West’s most prolific talents. Creating a growing portfolio of beautifully imagined children’s stories, an award-winning card and gift empire and a smorgasbord of delicate etchings, silk-screens and hand-printed poems, Rachel brings her own unique sunshine to the very young and the slightly older alike.

‘A beautiful read / a perfect primer for an explosive lesbian affair / an essential truth’ Lena Dunham ‘I have meditated repeatedly on what it was about Finn that had me so dismantled.' A young woman moves from the countryside to the city. Inexplicably, inexorably and immediately, she falls in love with another woman for the first time in her life. Finn is nineteen years older than her, wears men’s clothes, has a cocky smirk of a smile – and a long-term girlfriend. With precision, wit and tenderness, Women charts the frenzy and the fall out of love.

Combine the power of analytics and cloud computing for faster and efficient insights About This Book ? Master the concept of analytics on the cloud: and how organizations are using it ? Learn the design considerations and while applying a cloud analytics solution ? Design an end-to-end analytics pipeline on the cloud Who This Book Is For This book is targeted at CIOs, CTOs, and even analytics professionals looking for various alternatives to implement their analytics pipeline on the cloud. Data professionals looking to get started with cloud-based analytics will also find this book useful. Some basic exposure to cloud platforms such as GCP will be helpful, but not mandatory. What You Will Learn ? Explore the basics of cloud analytics and the major cloud solutions ? Learn how organizations are using cloud analytics to improve the ROI ? Explore the design considerations while adopting cloud services ? Work with the ingestion and storage tools of GCP such as Cloud Pub/Sub ? Process your data with tools such as Cloud Dataproc, BigQuery, etc ? Over 70 GCP tools to build an analytics engine for cloud analytics ? Implement machine learning and other AI techniques on GCP In Detail With the ongoing data explosion, more and more organizations all over the world are slowly migrating their infrastructure to the cloud. These cloud platforms also provide their distinct analytics services to help you get faster insights from your data. This book will give you an introduction to the concept of analytics on the cloud, and the different cloud services popularly used for processing and analyzing data. If you’re planning to adopt the cloud analytics model for your business, this book will help you understand the design and business considerations to be kept in mind, and choose the best tools and alternatives for analytics, based on your requirements. The chapters in this book will take you through the 70+ services available in Google Cloud Platform and their implementation for practical purposes. From ingestion to processing your data, this book contains best practices on building an end-to-end analytics pipeline on the cloud by leveraging popular concepts such as machine learning and deep learning. By the end of this book, you will have a better understanding of cloud analytics as a concept as well as a practical know-how of its implementation Style and approach Comprehensive guide with a perfect blend of theory, examples, and implementation of real-world use-cases

Get started with designing your serverless application using optimum design patterns and industry standard practices About This Book ? Learn the details of popular software patterns and how they are applied to serverless applications ? Understand key concepts and components in serverless designs ? Walk away with a thorough understanding of architecting serverless applications Who This Book Is For If you're a software architect, engineer, or someone who wants to build serverless applications, which are non-trivial in complexity and scope, then this book is for you. Basic knowledge of programming and serverless computing concepts are assumed. What You Will Learn ? Comprehend the popular design patterns currently being used with serverless architectures ? Understand the various design options and corresponding implementations for serverless web application APIs ? Learn multiple patterns for data-intensive serverless systems and pipelines, including MapReduce and Lambda Architecture ? Learn how to leverage hosted databases, queues, streams, storage services, and notification services ? Understand error handling and system monitoring in a serverless architecture a serverless architecture ? Learn how to set up a serverless application for continuous integration, continuous delivery, and continuous deployment In Detail Serverless applications handle many problems that developers face when running systems and servers. The serverless pay-per-invocation model can also result in drastic cost savings, contributing to its popularity. While it's simple to create a basic serverless application, it's critical to structure your software correctly to ensure it continues to succeed as it grows. Serverless Design Patterns and Best Practices presents patterns that can be adapted to run in a serverless environment. You will learn how to develop applications that are scalable, fault tolerant, and well-tested. The book begins with an introduction to the different design pattern categories available for serverless applications. You will learn the trade-offs between GraphQL and REST and how they fare regarding overall application design in a serverless ecosystem. The book will also show you how to migrate an existing API to a serverless backend using AWS API Gateway. You will learn how to build event-driven applications using queuing and streaming systems, such as AWS Simple Queuing Service (SQS) and AWS Kinesis. Patterns for data-intensive serverless application are also explained, including the lambda architecture and MapReduce. This book will equip you with the knowledge and skills you need to develop scalable and resilient serverless applications confidently. Style and approach Readers will be taken through a set of specific software patterns and learn, in detail, how to apply these patterns and build working software on top of a serverless system. At each step along the way, the reader will learn about the subcomponents and subsystems which comprise the larger system and which may be used in the future to solve different types of challenges.

Create succinct and expressive implementations with functional programming in Python About This Book ? Learn how to choose between imperative and functional approaches based on expressiveness, clarity, and performance ? Get familiar with complex concepts such as monads, concurrency, and immutability ? Apply functional Python to common Exploratory Data Analysis (EDA) programming problems Who This Book Is For This book is for Python developers who would like to perform Functional programming with Python. Python Programming knowledge is assumed. What You Will Learn ? Use Python's generator functions and generator expressions to work with collections in a non-strict (or lazy) manner ? Utilize Python library modules including itertools, functools, multiprocessing, and concurrent features to ensure efficient functional programs ? Use Python strings with object-oriented suffix notation and prefix notation ? Avoid stateful classes with families of tuples ? Design and implement decorators to create composite functions ? Use functions such as max(), min(), map(), filter(), and sorted() ? Write higher-order functions In Detail If you’re a Python developer who wants to discover how to take the power of functional programming (FP) and bring it into your own programs, then this book is essential for you, even if you know next to nothing about the paradigm. Starting with a general overview of functional concepts, you’ll explore common functional features such as first-class and higher-order functions, pure functions, and more. You’ll see how these are accomplished in Python 3.6 to give you the core foundations you’ll build upon. After that, you’ll discover common functional optimizations for Python to help your apps reach even higher speeds. You’ll learn FP concepts such as lazy evaluation using Python’s generator functions and expressions. Moving forward, you’ll learn to design and implement decorators to create composite functions. You'll also explore data preparation techniques and data exploration in depth, and see how the Python standard library fits the functional programming model. Finally, to top off your journey into the world of functional Python, you’ll at look at the PyMonad project and some larger examples to put everything into perspective. Style and approach This book provides a general overview of functional concepts and then delves deeper into the functional features, showing you how the Python standard library fits the functional programming model. It also demonstrates how to implement common functional programming design patterns and techniques in Python.

Design accessible and creative games across genres, platforms, and development realities About This Book ? Implement the skills and techniques required to work in a professional studio ? Ace the core principles and processes of level design, world building, and storytelling ? Design interactive characters that animate the gaming world Who This Book Is For Whether you are a student eager to design a game or a junior game designer looking for your first role as a professional, this book will help you with the fundamentals of game design. By focusing on best practices and a pragmatic approach, Practical Game Design provides insights into the arts and crafts from two senior game designers that will interest more seasoned professionals in the game industry. What You Will Learn ? Define the scope and structure of a game project ? Conceptualize a game idea and present it to others ? Design gameplay systems and communicate them clearly and thoroughly ? Build and validate engaging game mechanics ? Design successful business models and prepare your games for live operations ? Master the principles behind level design, worldbuilding and storytelling ? Improve the quality of a game by playtesting and polishing it In Detail If you are looking for an up-to-date and highly applicable guide to game design, then you have come to the right place! Immerse yourself in the fundamentals of game design with this book, written by two highly experienced industry professionals to share their profound insights as well as give valuable advice on creating games across genres and development platforms. Practical Game Design covers the basics of game design one piece at a time. Starting with learning how to conceptualize a game idea and present it to the development team, you will gradually move on to devising a design plan for the whole project and adapting solutions from other games. You will also discover how to produce original game mechanics without relying on existing reference material, and test and eliminate anticipated design risks. You will then design elements that compose the playtime of a game, followed by making game mechanics, content, and interface accessible to all players. You will also find out how to simultaneously ensure that the gameplay mechanics and content are working as intended. As the book reaches its final chapters, you will learn to wrap up a game ahead of its release date, work through the different challenges of designing free-to-play games, and understand how to significantly improve their quality through iteration, polishing and playtesting. Style and approach A practical step by step guide to get you up and running with Game Design from scratch