HERALD BOOK CLUB | Exciting reads for adults and kids

22 Seconds by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro

Best-selling author James Patterson and novelist Maxine Paetro have collaborated again on the latest instalment in the Women’s Murder Club thriller series, 22 Seconds.

Are you ready to go on another adventure with San Francisco Police Department  Sergeant Lindsay Boxer and her girlfriends including chief medical examiner Claire Washburn, journalist Cindy Thomas and top lawyer Yuki Castellano?

This time, Lindsay has guns on her mind. There is word of a last-ditch shipment of drugs and weapons crossing the Mexican border ahead of new restrictive gun laws. Before Lindsay can act, her top informant tips her off about a case that hits disturbingly close to home.

Former cops, professional hits, all with the same warning scrawled on their bodies: “You talk, you die”.

This is a gripping read that will keep you guessing until the last page.

My Name is Yip by Paddy Crewe

It is 1815 in the small town of Heron’s Creek, Georgia, when Yip Tolroy — mute, medical anomaly and social outcast — is born.

His father has disappeared in mysterious circumstances, so he is raised by his mother — a powerful, troubled, independent woman who owns and runs a general store.

By the time Yip reaches his fifteenth year he has not spoken a word. But his life is about to change irrevocably.

Gold is discovered nearby, and Yip commits a grievous crime that leaves him with no choice but to flee. In the company of a new and unlikely comrade, Dud Carter, Yip must take to the road, embarking on a journey that will thrust him unwittingly into a world of menace and violence, of lust and revenge.

As Yip and Dud’s odyssey takes them further into the unknown — via travelling shows, escaped slaves and the greed of gold-hungry men — the pull of home only gets stronger.

Genius by Bruce Whitfield 

Genius examines what it takes to thrive in an increasingly complex, fast-paced and divisive global environment. These are lessons for anyone looking to succeed anywhere against the odds.

Storm Tide by Tom Harper

Multimillion-copy bestselling author Wilbur Smith returns with a brand-new historical epic, set against the backdrop of the American Revolution. The Courtney family is torn apart as three generations fight on opposing sides of a terrible war that will change the face of the world forever.

Shockwave by Wilbur Smith and Chris Walking

Shockwave is the third high-octane instalment in the bestselling author’s compelling Jack Courtney adventures for readers 10 years and older, after Cloudburst and Thunderbolt.

On the pretext of making a film for his mother’s environmental protection work, Jack wangles an expedition to the Arctic with his friends Amelia and Xander and cousin Caleb. But Xander’s investigations into the mysterious backers funding their adventure raises Jack’s suspicions.

Then things start to go wrong. Wolves attack and their guide goes missing, leaving them to face a frozen wilderness alone.