First Mystery

For years, people have feared that sexual material removed from victims of alien abductions might lead to the creation of something that modern science considers impossible: hybrids of the alien and the human. They would think like aliens, but appear human, and be able to do something that full-blooded aliens can't: walk the earth freely.

What do you do when life keeps pushing you around, dealing you blow after blow? If you’re DJ slaughter, eventually you snap. Follow along from the beginning as a man you might recognize as the guy next door, transforms into one of the most lethal tools in the FBI’s arsenal. This box set includes the first three novels of the DJ Slaughter Series. Each one is included in its entirety with nothing removed. All 375,000 words are jam-packed with action, humor, and characters you feel like you already know.

Jack and Elsa knew one thing: Miami was magical - and full of wealthy businessmen just begging to be conned out of their money. Jack uses Elsa’s confidence as an erotic dancer to lure men into embarrassing situations that they will pay generously to escape from. Could this trick continue to bring in riches for this unscrupulous pair? When Jack and Elsa target Irish American tycoon Simon Walsh, Jack believes the payday could well be their last - and he may be right. The scam goes dangerously wrong.

A sparkling new translation of this flashback to the start of Inspector Maigret's career, part of the new Penguin Maigret series. The profession he had always yearned for did not actually exist...he imagined a cross between a doctor and a priest - a man capable of understanding another's destiny at first glance. The very first investigation by eager young police secretary Jules Maigret leads him to a wealthy Paris family's dark secrets.

The United Nations is thrown into chaos when an alien spacecraft is discovered buried beneath the ice in Antarctica. With no one nation able to lay claim to the craft, a multinational effort is undertaken to salvage the vessel, which is estimated to have crashed several hundred thousand years ago. Rather than leaving key decisions to hostile governments or their armies, a jury is established to represent the average global citizen, being selected from the five permanent members of the UN Security Council. Their job is to review findings and guide the process of discovery.

A deadly explosion rocks the nation’s capital... Three seemingly unconnected people—a British ex-Special Forces operative, an ex-Navy Seal, and a teenage girl—find themselves under suspicion for the attack. Soon, they’re in the middle of a conspiracy that threatens to unsettle the entire United States. If they have any hope to survive the dangerous situation they’ve found themselves in, these strangers must learn to rely on each other, all while the question remains: Did one of them cause the explosion?

Determined to make the First Edition Library a success, Hayley Burke wasn’t expecting to have to solve an old friend’s murder in this all-new mystery from USA Today best-selling author Marty Wingate.

When Libby receives an invitation to train with an elite group of figure skaters, deep in the Bavarian Forest, it seems almost too good to be true. Masterminded by the reclusive Lukas Wolff, a man notorious for his controversial methods, the skaters will be competing to learn the most dangerous move in history. The last one standing is promised fame and fortune, but at what cost? When one of the skaters dies in mysterious circumstances, the trainees start to question Lukas's motives. And with a blizzard raging and communications down, they are completely cut off from the outside world.

1915, London: Working in the dusty bookshop that her Aunt Violet mysteriously inherited, Hannah Merrill is accustomed to finding twists in every tale. But discovering her beloved best friend Lily-Anne – with a paperknife through her heart – in the middle of the bookshop, is not a plotline she saw coming. The case is anything but textbook. With the discovery of a coded German message, and Hannah’s instinct that Lily-Anne’s husband is keeping secrets, she determines to get to the bottom of it. She can’t do it alone though.

Former time vice detective Tom Mandel lost his wife after failing to stop Malcolm Wolfe from pulling off the biggest time heist in Unity history. Nine years later, with less than a day remaining on his government-allotted Life Tracker, Tom's ready to join her. But when his former partner, Alaina Raines, brings word that Wolfe has escaped prison and is gearing up for another heist, Tom must decide: spend his last hours on Earth in a drug-induced haze or return to the life he left behind to catch the man who broke him.

Jennifer Smythe escapes Earth's invasion by the insidious Kasari race, hijacks an alien starship, and survives the deadly passage through a wormhole. But escape is short-lived.... When Jennifer emerges on the new world of Scion, she is confronted by the same deadly enemy. Now the Kasari have sided with the planet's angel-like elite against the warrior underclass, but with the intent of ultimately ruling both.

When Auggie Lopez returns to Wroxall College, he’s determined that his second year will be different from the chaos he faced as a freshman. He’s living in the Sigma Sigma house, he’s got a good group of friends, and his social media presence is growing. Meeting a hot older guy on move-in day is just the cherry on top. All he has to do now is avoid getting dragged into another murder. That last part, though, turns out to be easier said than done, especially when Auggie’s ex-roommate, Orlando, asks for help.

Three months into Ethan's transfer-in-exile in Des Moines, Iowa, the pressures of dating Jack, the president of the United States, start to wear Ethan down. His weeks are measured by the days he works in Iowa, chasing counterfeiters and financial crimes, and the weekends he manages to steal with Jack back in DC. The media stalks his every move; he's isolated by his coworkers and loneliness hammers at his heart. In DC, Jack tries to piece together a global alliance to take down the Caliphate, while the world seems focused on tearing apart his personal life.

On February 24, 1986, 29-year-old newlywed Sherri Rasmussen was murdered in the home she shared with her husband, John. The crime scene suggested a ferocious struggle, and police initially assumed it was a burglary gone awry. Before her death, Sherri had confided to her parents that an ex-girlfriend of John’s, a Los Angeles police officer, had threatened her. The Rasmussens urged the LAPD to investigate the ex-girlfriend, but the original detectives pursued only burglary suspects, and the case went cold.

At the end of the world, who will survive? The year is 2061, and the planet is dying. Cataclysmic solar storms have forced leaders from around the world to finally put aside their differences and agree on one thing-to jump ship. The human race is headed to Mars. Dr. Sophie Winston is hired by New Tech Corporation to test a biosphere deep within the heart of Cheyenne Mountain; a mission she believes will help prepare the company for the three-year flight to the red planet. But, just days into the assignment, things start to go wrong. When the blast doors open, it's a changed world.

Fourteen years after her last adventure, Thursday Next, literary detective, finds herself in an unusual situation her job policing the fictional characters of the BookWorld has been downgraded since her previous escapades are now themselves in print. However, a pressing threat may call her back into action: first Sherlock Holmes and then Miss Marple are found dead, stopping their series in their tracks.

How did Fox Mulder become a believer? How did Dana Scully become a skeptic? The X-Files Origins has the answers. The X-Files Origins: Agent of Chaos explores the teen years of Fox Mulder, the beloved character depicted in the cult-favorite TV show The X-Files. His story is set in the spring of 1979, when serial murder, the occult, and government conspiracy were highlighted in the news. The audiobook follows Mulder as he experiences life-changing events that set him on the path to becoming an FBI agent.

In the autumn of 2020 Ned Boulting (ITV head cycling commentator and Tour de France obsessive) bought a length of Pathé news film from a London auction house. All he knew was it was film from the Tour de France, a long time ago. Once restored it became clear it was a short sequence of shots from stage 4 of the 1923 Tour de France. No longer than 2.5 minutes long, it featured half a dozen sequences, including a lone rider crossing a bridge. Ned set about learning everything he could about the sequence – studying each frame, face and building – until he had squeezed the meaning from it.

When Garnet McGee returns to her small Vermont hometown for the holidays, she vows to solve the mystery of the murder which shattered her life 10 years ago. But then the unexpected happens - she dies in an accident and gets brought back to life by paramedics. Now she's hearing words, seeing visions, and experiencing strange sensations. Are these merely symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and an overactive imagination, or is she getting messages from a paranormal presence?

The galaxy is mired in a cold war between two superpowers, the Illyrican Empire and the Commonwealth. Thrust between this struggle are Simon Kovalic, the Commonwealth's preeminent spy, and Kyle Rankin, a lowly soldier happily scrubbing toilets on Sabaea, a remote and isolated planet. However, Kyle Rankin is a lie. His real name is Eli Brody, and he fled his home world of Caledonia years ago. Simon Kovalic knows Caledonia is a lit fuse hurtling towards detonation.