Lawrence Osborne Ordre des livres

This first collection of stories by Lawrence Osborne perfectly showcases his talent for tension, atmosphere - and characters out of their depth A naïve young linguist sent to the forests of Irian Jaya is manipulated into betraying her mission by a ruthless and disturbed pastor. A deaf girl hired as a maid by a wealthy New York couple turns the tables on her obliviously abusive employers and answers blackmail with blackmail. A psychiatrist treating a girl in rural England becomes ensnared in a love affair that threatens to destroy her career; while a young couple on holiday in Oman accidentally witness a killing, which leads to their being hunted as well. An entomologist at a remote hotel in the Andamans survives a tsunami and uses a dead body to further her study of ants. Collected here for the first time, Lawrence Osborne's stories, like his novels - 'elaborate and intricately plotted dances macabres' (The Times) - feel like nightmares set against calmly and meticulously observed backgrounds. With their nods to Daphne du Maurier and Roald Dahl, these nine long-form stories explore characters lost in the shadowed borders between the mundane, the fantastical and the violence of the natural world. PRAISE FOR LAWRENCE OSBORNE 'Osborne handles surface and depth with immense skill, as only great writers can' Deborah Levy, Financial Times 'Utterly compelling' Observer 'Menacing and engrossing' Sunday Times

Au f der Liste der besten Bücher des Jahres von Washington Post und CrimeReads Adrian Gyle, Engländer und seit zwei Jahrzehnten Journalist in Hongkong , steckt fest: Die große berufliche Karriere ist ausgeblieben, und die Tage plätschern für ihn oft im Fung Shing , dem Restaurant gleich um die Ecke, vor sich hin. Doch als er schon Pläne schmiedet, die einst so ausgelassene, optimistische Stadt zu verlassen, erhebt sich die Bevölkerung zu prodemokratischen Protesten , denen die chinesischen Behörden mit roher Gewalt begegnen und die dieganze Welt in Atem halten. Inmitten des Aufruhrs macht Gyle Bekanntschaft mit der mysteriösen Rebecca, der neuesten Affäre seines alten Freundes Jimmy Tang, Spross einer der reichsten Familien Hongkongs. Dann verschwindet Rebecca spurlos, und Jimmy taucht ab. Gyle ist bei seiner Journalistenehre gepackt und macht sich in einem undurchsichtigen Dickicht aus Freundschaft und Verrat , alter Welt und neuen Regeln auf die Suche nach Rebecca…

A veteran British journalist living in Hong Kong investigates the disappearance of a student protestor amidst the pro-democracy demonstrations in this unsettling new novel from the acclaimed author of The Forgiven After twenty years as an ex-pat reporter in Hong Kong, Adrian Gyle has almost nothing to show for it. But now the streets are choked with students demanding democratic freedoms, and the old world is beginning to fall apart. Adrian's old friend Jimmy Tang, the scion of a wealthy Hong Kong family, has begun a reckless affair with Rebecca, a leading pro-democracy protestor. But when Rebecca disappears and Jimmy goes to ground, Adrian unearths the familiar old urge to investigate. Pursuing Rebecca's ghost to Java Road where the city's dead congregate, Adrian re-assembles her final hours - as he struggles to distinguish between delusion and reality. 'Osborne's whodunnit is wrapped in an atmospheric portrait both of a particular place and time, and of the creation and destruction of a friendship. Highly recommended' GUARDIAN 'Osborne goes from strength to strength' LIONEL SHRIVER 'Osborne handles surface and depth with immense skill, as only great writers can' DEBORAH LEVY, FINANCIAL TIMES 'If the purpose of a novel is to take you away from the everyday and show you something different, then Osborne is succeeding, and handsomely' LEE CHILD, NEW YORK TIMES

In "Welch schöne Tiere wir sind" verbringen Naomi und Sam ihren Sommer auf Hydra, wo sie einen geflüchteten Mann namens Faoud entdecken. Naomis Plan, sich an ihrem wohlhabenden Vater zu rächen, führt zu fatalen Konsequenzen. Eine fesselnde Studie über Schuld und Gier, die tiefgründig und packend ist.

A tense, stunningly well-observed heist novel following an American woman on the run in the blazing heat of Bangkok, from 'a modern Graham Greene' (Sunday Times) Sarah Talbot Jennings, a young American living in New York, has fled to Bangkok to disappear. Arriving with a suitcase containing $200,000, she rents an apartment at the Kingdom, a glittering high-end complex slowly sinking into its own twilight - and run by conveniently discreet staff. In Bangkok's shocking heat Sarah meets the beguiling Mali, a half-Thai tenant who's strangely determined to bring the quiet American out of her shell. An invitation to Mali's poker nights soon follows, where - fuelled by shots of yadong, gossip of shady dealings in the city and the hit of marijuana - Sarah is drawn into the orbit of the Kingdom's glamorous ex-pat women. But when an attempted military coup wracks the streets below and Sarah witnesses something unspeakable through one of the Kingdom's windows, only to be followed by a series of strange disappearances, Sarah's safe haven begins to feel like a trap. From a master of atmosphere and suspense, The Glass Kingdom is a brilliantly unsettling story of cruelty and psychological unrest, and an enthralling glimpse into the shadowy crossroads of karma and human greed.

Private Investigator Philip Marlowe is living out his retirement sipping margaritas and playing cards when in saunter two men dressed like undertakers with a case that has his name written all over it.

The year is 1988. The place, Baja California. Private Investigator Philip Marlowe - now in his seventy-second year - has been living out his retirement in the terrace bar of La Fonda hotel. Sipping margaritas, playing cards, his silver-tipped cane at the ready. When in saunter two men dressed like undertakers. With a case that has his name written all over it. At last Marlowe is back where he belongs. His mission is to investigate Donald Zinn - supposedly drowned off his yacht, leaving a much younger and now very rich wife. Marlowe's speciality. But is Zinn actually alive? Are the pair living off the spoils? Set between the border and badlands of Mexico and California, Lawrence Osborne's resurrection of the iconic Marlowe is an unforgettable addition to the Raymond Chandler canon.

Both impossible to put down and beautifully written: a great combo Lionel Shriver Observer Books of the Year

'A modern Graham Greene' Sunday Times Robert Grieve - pushing thirty and eager to side-step a life of quiet desperation as a small-town teacher - decides to go missing. As he crosses the border from Thailand to Cambodia, he tests the threshold of a new future. And on that first night, a small windfall precipitates a chain of events involving a bag of 'jinxed' money, a suave American, a corrupt policeman and a rich doctor's daughter, in which Robert's life is changed forever. Alive with malice and grace, this is a taut tale reminiscent of the nightmares of Patricia Highsmith: a story of double identities, and innocence in the midst of evil, from a master of atmosphere and observation.