With the festive season behind us and the decorations taken down let’s look forward to 2021 with positivity. And we have some positively fantastic fiction titles, for those that love a good story, that have been further reduced in our Christmas sale. Get them before they sell out because there is nothing quite like a good book sale!
Iqunga by Dudu Busani-Dube
Was R299, Now R249. Save R50!
Best known for her Hlomu series – and for writing the novelisation of the 2018 film Zulu Wedding – Busani-Dube is a self-published novelist based in Johannesburg.
By and large, her books are positioned somewhat in defiance of the white-washed, absurdly photogenic and straightforward romance novel. Her characters are realistic and damaged, they come with baggage and they come with imperfection and insecurity – just like the rest of us. Without fail, Busani-Dube’s books come directly from the experience of being a black woman in South Africa – they are stories that properly reflect their readers.
Iqunga is a delicate balance of love and terror. Driven by distinctive characters, and delving into secrets, loss, betrayal and regret, it’s a heartfelt tale capable of provoking sadness, anger and hope in whatever reader picks it up.
Mess by Dudu Busani-Dube
Was R299, Now R249. Save R50!
As soon as you’ve finished Iqunga, you can jump straight into the fifth and brand new book in the Hlomu series, which is due any day now.
A Family Affair by Sue Nyathi
Was R299, Now R199. Save R100!
Pastor Abraham Mafu and his wife Phumla occupy a prominent place in Bulawayo society. As leaders of The Kingdom of God, an influential church, they have a great deal to do with their community. At the same time, they also have to keep their own family in order, keeping its various branches united and presenting the right sort of image. But, on top of the horrifying secrets that are about come to light, the three Mafu daughters have their own changes to endure. Xoliswa has recently returned looking for a new start and hoping to channel her natural fire into the family business. Yandisa has recently fallen in love and is looking to stabilise. Zandile, recently married, is already struggling with her new life.
As things grow more and more complicated, the Mafus have a harder and harder time maintaining their perfect image. And then, new revelations render that almost impossible.
You can read an excerpt of A Family Affair Here
The Book of Two Ways – Jodi Picoult
Was R339, Now R199. Save R140!
With her newest novel, The Book of Two Ways, Picoult really homes in on the idea that every life can take multiple paths – and that those paths can be easily split, Sliding Doors style, by something that does, or something that does not, happen. Taking on life and death and opportunities taken and missed, this new adventure is Picoult at her judgment-free and graceful best.
Sometimes things become clearest when the worst happens. Dawn Edelstein is forced to take rapid stock of her life when she and her fellow passengers are told to brace for a crash landing. To her surprise, her thoughts immediately go to a man she used to know, Wyatt Armstrong, instead of her husband. Though she has not seen him in fifteen years, he is the last thing she sees in her mind.
But Dawn, amazingly, survives. Her husband, her daughter and the patients that rely on her wait back in Boston, and yet that single terrifying crisis has shifted something within her. As the survivors are treated, the airline offers to get them to wherever they want to go. She should go back to her family, but Dawn immediately thinks of Egypt – where archaeologist Wyatt will be, and where she might conclude her research on The Book of Two Ways, the first known map of the afterlife.
With this one decision, Dawn’s life splits in two and a pair of parallel futures unfolds at the same time, prompting her to deeply ponder the bigger questions of life: what does it mean to live well? What is the real nature of choice?… and what happens at the end?
Employing an intelligent blend of ethical dilemma, philosophy, personal drama and even a dash of Egyptology, The Book of Two Ways tugs at all the right heartstrings.
Available in Afrikaans as Die Boek van Twee Wee
Deadly Cross (Alex Cross #28) – James Patterson
Was R319, Now R249. Save R70!
Alex Cross is one of the genre’s most enduring heroes. And for good reason. His blend of empathy and rationality, all tempered by his impressive intelligence, of course, routinely enables him to solve cases that would stump lesser investigators.
Now he is brought in to tackle a double murder so scandalous that it ignites a tabloid frenzy.
When the half-naked dead body of a glamorous philanthropist and socialite is found in a car along with a politically ambitious educator and committed family man, murder is immediately suspected and the community is deeply scandalized.
Furthermore, Alex Cross knew both victims well. One of them was a former patient. The only thing more pressing than his grief is the elusive motive behind this heinous act. Enlisting some of his most trusted former colleagues, Cross leads a two-pronged investigation into the murder of these two prominent people… and it quickly turns out that both of the victims had many more enemies than anybody would have guessed – though none of those enemies seemingly has a motive strong enough to lead to such vicious slaughter.
With Deadly Cross, Patterson proves once again that Alex Cross is his greatest creation and delivers an impeccable pageturner.
Hidden in Plain Sight (William Warwick #2)
Was R339, Now R249. Save R70!
Following the conclusion of his first case with the art and antiquities squad, William Warwick has been promoted to Detective Sergeant and reassigned to the drug squad – where the villains may not be so suave and cool-tempered. His first investigation sends him on the trail of notorious South London drug lord, The Viper.
As Warwick and his team methodically cast a heavy net over the complex and nefarious criminal network of which The Viper may or may not be the central figure, Warwick once again comes into contact with old nemesis Miles Faulkner – whose involvement is not immediately apparent, but who wields an influence nonetheless. Warwick will have to find a way to bring these two men to justice, a way just as cunning and devious as his enemies. He comes up with a trap. A trap that neither will expect… a trap hidden in plain sight.
Hidden in Plain Sight is another masterly feat of storytelling, and a valuable addition to the new series. Packed with the juicy twists and turns that have made Archer a household name, and as devoted to character-driven drama and intelligent thrills as its precursor, Hidden in Plain Sight is a fantastically enthralling read.
The Evening and The Morning – Ken Follett
Was R369, Now R299. Save R70!
Ending just as The Pillars of the Earth begins, The Evening and The Morning introduces us to an England on the verge of a new age. But the final years of The Dark Ages pass with tyranny, conflict and brutality. England faces constant threats from both East and West, and in this turmoil those with power wield it without conscience. With no real ruler, the land descends into anarchy and the only laws that matter are might, blood and chaos.
As the country struggles to repair its gaping wounds, three characters, each with ambitions both humble and grand, emerge in a way that will echo through the ages. A determined monk dreams of a future in which his humble abbey might become a towering beacon of European learning and enlightenment ; a boatwright whose life is torn apart by a devastating Viking raid looks to forge a new future for himself and the one he loves from the bones and ashes of constant strife; a Norman noblewoman finds herself in a new and inconceivable life when she crosses the sea with her beloved husband. The loving and committed hopes of these three individuals will bring each of them into conflict with a powerful new bishop, who will stop at nothing to spread his influence and achieve a stranglehold on the ensuing days.
As masterful as anything that Follett has yet crafted, The Evening and The Morning is an immense page-turner… an examination of the heights to which both good and evil can climb, swathed in viciousness and savagery just as surely as hope and nobility.
Die Versoeking van Thomas Maas – Chris Karsten
Was R309, Nou R249. Spaar R60
Van al die Afrikaanse spanningskrywers lewer niemand die duister soos Chris Karsten nie. Verdraai en vernuftig, Karsten se nuutste is ‘n moordraaisel wat meesterlik speel met intrige en karakterisering.
“Ella Neser is terug van haar Karibiese skeepsvaart, en soort van terug in Lou se arms. Haar nuwe opdrag, as private speurder, is ‘n bisarre een. Donna Maas, eggenoot van die sielkundige Thomas Maas, is oortuig haar man het ‘n skelmpie. En dit is Ella se taak om dit te bewys.
Die roman begin by die einde, waar Ella haar verslag optik. Daar is ‘n moord gepleeg, maar wie is die slagoffer en wie die skurk? ‘n Verbysterende roman deur een van die top- spanningsromanskrywers in Afrikaans. “