Cамолет, направлявшийся в Коста-Рику, терпит крушение в джунглях. Девятнадцать подростков чудом остаются в живых. Джоэль Аспинолл – спокойный и рассудительный член школьного совета, который берет на себя руководство группой до прибытия спасателей. Том Кэлловэй – нелюдимый подросток, который не должен был оказаться в этой поездке с этими людьми, но теперь вынужден делать все, чтобы спастись. Количество выживших начинает стремительно уменьшаться. В джунглях легко потеряться. Как и в том, кто станет героем, а кто приведет других к гибели.

When fifteen-year-old American Hailey Portman goes missing in Switzerland, her desperate parents seek the help of their neighbor, Finn Harrington, a seemingly quiet historian rumored to be a former spy. Sensing the story runs deeper than anyone yet knows, Finn reluctantly agrees to make some enquiries. He has little to go on other than his instincts, and his instincts have been wrong in the past - sometimes spectacularly wrong. But he gets involved anyway, never imagining that Hailey's disappearance might be linked to the tragic events that ended his career six years earlier, drawing him back into a deadly world that has neither forgiven nor forgotten.

Alex Stratton is haunted by the past, by the part he played in the accidental death of a fellow student. Now, with the death of two of the other people involved, that past is brought back to the surface. Is someone else eliminating all the witnesses?

[SHORT STORY] Patrick Jeffers is an Englishman on a job in Dublin. It's his first time in the city and his progress is seen from the point of view of the Dublin natives who encounter him, from the taxi driver who picks him up at the airport to the academic he's been sent to kill. He's keen to tell them of his Irish ancestry, pointing out that Jeffers is an Irish name - the locals aren't so sure, but then, is the man with the awkward smile really Patrick Jeffers anyway...? This short story first appeared in "Dublin Noir", edited by Ken Bruen (Akashic Books, 2006).

Sitting in the sun in a small Tuscan town, her boyfriend beside her and a drink in her hand, Ella Hatto's life seems beautiful and calm. But someone is watching her. Something unimaginable is about to happen, and Ella's life will never be the same again. Drawn suddenly into a dark and deadly world, one that has already claimed the lives of her parents and brother, Ella is forced to face the unbearable truth of her new reality. Gone are the aspirations and dreams she once had-the expectation of a normal life. The new Ella must be ruthless and unforgiving if she is ever to survive. With the help of Lucas, a retired hitman with his own painful past to escape, Ella goes in search of the enemy...

[SHORT STORY] Karsten Groll cuts a solitary figure moving through a wintery Cologne as preparations are made for the opening of the city's Christmas markets. It's a time of year that brings bittersweet memories for this young man, reminders of all the things he's lost. But tonight he'll strike back against the bad luck that's slowly claimed his family. Tonight he's determined he'll kill the drug dealer, Mohr. Tonight, also, Karsten Groll knows that he will die himself.

When an old university friend is murdered in Copenhagen, Sam Webster is determined to uncover the truth of what happened to him, and to unearth the conspiracy which might have played a part in his death. The Danish police don't want Sam to get involved, the CIA want him out of the city, but what none of them knows is that Sam is perfectly placed to uncover such a crime, because creating conspiracies was once his job. This time, though, even Sam might be out of his depth - is it possible that his old friend's death is linked not just to a conspiracy, but to the biggest news event of this century...? Kevin Wignall is the author of five novels, including the Edgar-nominated "Who is Conrad...

Who is Conrad Hirst? Knowing the answer could get you killed. Not knowing could get him killed. Conrad Hirst is a hired killer working for a German crime boss. Disturbed by the death of his girlfriend ten years earlier and still bearing the scars of post-traumatic stress after serving as a mercenary, he's valued precisely because of how broken he is, by how coldly he kills, by the solitary existence he leads. But something has happened on Conrad's most recent job that's shattered his equilibrium and left him determined to quit. Fortunately for him, there's a simple way to leave the business and begin life anew: Only four people know who he is and what he's done -- kill those four people,...

Dan Hendricks is a man in need of a lifeline. A former CIA operative, he is now an agent for hire by foreign powers on the hunt for dangerous fugitives. It's a lethal world at the best of times, and Dan knows his number is almost up. His next job could be his last-and his next job is his biggest yet. The target sounds trackable enough: Jacques Fillon, who gave up his life trying to save a fellow passenger following a bus crash in northern Sweden. But the man was something of an enigma in this rural community, and his death exposes his greatest secret: Jacques Fillon never existed at all. Dan is tasked with uncovering Fillon's true identity-but can he do so before his own past catches up...

An anthology of stories edited by Maxim Jakubowski Leading crime critic Maxim Jakubowski presents this year's must-have collection of British crime fiction. This latest volume of the acclaimed annual collection presents over 20 short stories of murder mystery, selected from the very cream of new British crime fiction. Contributors include Lee Child, Colin Dexter, Val McDermid, Mark Billingham, Len Deighton, John Harvey, and many more. This is an ideal present for anyone who has ever enjoyed a good murder-mystery. A page-turning compendium of British talent to capture the imagination of readers around the world.