An anonymous barrister's darkly comic and moving first-hand account of life in the legal system, and how it's failing us all. The Sunday Times number one bestseller. Winner of the Books are My Bag Non-Fiction Award. Shortlisted for Waterstones Book of the Year. Shortlisted for Specsavers Non-Fiction Book of the Year. ‘Eye-opening, funny and horrifying’ – Observer You may not wish to think about it, but one day you or someone you love will almost certainly appear in a criminal courtroom. You might be a juror, a victim, a witness or – perhaps through no fault of your own – a defendant. Whatever your role, you’d expect a fair trial. I’m a barrister. I work in the criminal justice system, and every day I see how fairness is not guaranteed. Too often the system fails those it is meant to protect. The innocent are wronged and the guilty allowed to walk free. In The Secret Barrister: Stories of the Law and How It's Broken I want to share some stories from my daily life to show you how the system is broken, who broke it and why we should start caring before it’s too late. A Sunday Times top ten bestseller for twenty-four weeks. ‘Everyone who has any interest in public life should read it’ – Daily Mail

The Secret Barrister

THE TOP TEN SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER Could the courts really order the death of your innocent baby? Was there an illegal immigrant who couldn't be deported because he had a pet cat? Are unelected judges truly enemies of the people? Most of us think the law is only relevant to criminals, if we even think of it at all. But the law touches every area of our lives: from intimate family matters to the biggest issues in our society. Our unfamiliarity is dangerous because it makes us vulnerable to media spin, political lies and the kind of misinformation that frequently comes from loud-mouthed amateurs and those with vested interests. This 'fake law' allows the powerful and the ignorant to corrupt justice without our knowledge – worse, we risk letting them make us complicit. Thankfully, the Secret Barrister is back to reveal the stupidity, malice and incompetence behind many of the biggest legal stories of recent years. In Fake Law, the Secret Barrister debunks the lies and builds a defence against the abuse of our law, our rights and our democracy that is as entertaining as it is vital.

Fake Law

From the Number One bestselling author, a memoir full of hilarious, personal and surprising stories from their working life in the law. * The Sunday Times Bestseller * * A BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week* ‘The SB is a gifted writer. Words tumble out with extraordinary fluency . . . entertaining and instructive’ – The Times __________ Just how do you become a barrister? Why do only 1 per cent of those who study law succeed in joining this mysteriously opaque profession? And why might a practising barrister come to feel the need to reveal the lies, secrets, failures and crises at the heart of this world of wigs and gowns? Nothing But The Truth is The Secret Barrister's bestselling memoir. It charts an outsider’s progress down the winding path towards practising at the Bar, taking in the sometimes absurd traditions of the Inns of Court, where every meal mandates a glass of port and a toast to the monarch, to the Hunger Games-style contest for pupillage, through the endlessly frustrating experience of being a junior barrister – as a creaking, ailing justice system begins to convince them that something has to change . . . Full of hilarious, shocking and surprising stories, Nothing But The Truth tracks the Secret Barrister’s transformation from hang ‘em and flog ‘em, austerity-supporting twenty-something to campaigning, bestselling, reforming author whose writing in defence of the law is celebrated around the globe. With a keen eye for the absurd and an obsessive fondness for Twitter, SB reveals the uncomfortable truths and darkest secrets about life in our criminal courts. __________ ‘With compassion, wit and intelligence, The Secret Barrister shows why is it that any of us plunge into the harrowing depths of criminal law’ – TLS ‘Masterful, compassionate and hilarious’ – Adam Rutherford ‘The Zorro of the criminal bar’ – The Times

Nothing But The Truth

We live in the age of the individual. We are supposed to be slim, prosperous, happy, extroverted and popular. This is our culture’s image of the perfect self. We see this person everywhere: in advertising, in the press, all over social media. We’re told that to be this person you just have to follow your dreams, that our potential is limitless, that we are the source of our own success. But this model of the perfect self can be extremely dangerous. People are suffering under the torture of this impossible fantasy. Unprecedented social pressure is leading to increases in depression and suicide. Where does this ideal come from? Why is it so powerful? Is there any way to break its spell? To answer these questions, Selfie by Will Storr takes us from the shores of Ancient Greece, through the Christian Middle Ages, to the self-esteem evangelists of 1980s California, the rise of narcissism and the selfie generation, and right up to the era of hyper-individualistic neoliberalism in which we live now. It tells the extraordinary story of the person we all know so intimately – our self. Exclusive to the audiobook, Selfie includes a unique 15-minute interview with the author, Will Storr, and reader, Jack Hawkins.

Selfie

AUTHOR OF SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER, LIFE TO THE LIMIT In his 17 years as a Formula 1 driver, Jenson Button has picked up a thing or two about how to do the job properly. Sure, you need to be able to drive a car fast - and Jenson is on hand to pass on a few tricks of the trade here - but you also need to know the real rules for making it to the top. Like, how to tell a multiple F1 champion they need to check their blind-spot. What the difference is between a helmet and a hat, and indeed a 'helmet-hat'. How to practise your champagne spray ahead of the big day. Why it is never, ever, under any circumstances a good idea to buy a yacht. And how to face down your team when you've just stacked their multi-million-pound car into a wall during practice. But 'JB' (nicknames in F1 run the full range from initials to, well, just using first names) doesn't stop there. HTBAF1D (catchy) lifts the lid on the people, the places, the weird rituals, the motorhomes, the media, the cars, the perks and the disasters. Join Jenson as he reveals how not to race a stupid big truck, why driving Le Mans is like having five shots of tequila before lunch, and what to do when you finally hang up your helmet-hat.

How To Be An F1 Driver

Bob Howard is a low-level techie working for a super-secret government agency. While his colleagues are out saving the world, Bob's under a desk restoring lost data. None of them receive any thanks for the jobs they do, but at least a techie doesn't risk getting shot or eaten in the line of duty. Bob's world is dull but safe, and that's the way it should have stayed; but then he went and got Noticed. Now, Bob Howard is up to his neck in spycraft, alternative universes, dimension-hopping Nazis, Middle Eastern terrorists, damsels in distress, ancient Lovecraftian horror and the end of the world. Only one thing is certain: it will take more than control+alt+delete to sort this mess out . . .

Laundry Files

The Atrocity Archives

Dazzlingly inventive, witty and mysterious: a writer pieces together the story of a young man's death in an exhilarating narrative puzzle reminiscent of the hit podcast Serial. A young man dies in a car crash – accident or suicide? An unnamed writer with an agenda of his own sets out to piece together Samuel's story. From friends, relatives and neighbours, a portrait emerges of a loving son, reluctant bureaucrat, contrived poser, loyal friend. But who was Samuel really, and what happened to him? In filling out the contours of his existence, the writer grasps at a fundamental question: how do we account for the substance of a life? Winner of the August Prize, Everything I Don’t Remember is an International Bestseller. Read for you by Jack Hawkins, reader of Station Eleven.

Everything I Don't Remember

FROM THE #1 BESTSELLING AUTHOR‘Deadly conspiracies, bone-crunching action and a tormented hero with a heart . . . packs a real punch’ Andy McDermott AN ANCIENT SWORD. A LONG BURIED SECRET. ONE MAN WILL UNCOVER THE MYSTERY. It’s Christmas, and on a trip back to the UK to try to sort out his stormy personal life, ex-SAS soldier Ben Hope runs into two old friends. Simeon and Michaela were once his fellow students at Oxford – now they are the Reverend and Mrs Arundel. Ben senses that Simeon is deeply troubled and frightened, but before the truth can emerge about his secretive research project concerning a mysterious, ancient ‘sacred sword’, both he and Michael are wiped out in a devastating road crash. Convinced that his friends’ deaths were no accident, Ben is propelled on a global quest to unlock the enigma of the sacred sword. At every step, he is pursued by ruthless agents of the sinister organisation that will stop at nothing to acquire it. In the course of his investigations, Ben will discover an incredible secret, not just about the history of Christianity but about his own past. The Ben Hope series is a must-read for fans of Dan Brown, Lee Child and Mark Dawson. Join the millions of readers who get breathless with anticipation when the countdown to a new Ben Hope thriller begins… Whilst the Ben Hope thrillers can be read in any order, this is the seventh book in the series.

Ben Hope

The Sacred Sword

Go with God and Fight Like the Devil. A fascinating hero and the pursuit of a sword with mythical power – this is the remarkable new novel by Britain’s master storyteller, which culminates at the Battle of Poitiers in 1356. The Hundred Years War rages on and the bloodiest battles are yet to be fought. Across France, towns are closing their gates, the crops are burning and the country stands alert to danger. The English army, victorious at the Battle of Crécy and led by the Black Prince, is invading again and the French are hunting them down. Thomas of Hookton, an English archer known as Le Bâtard, is under orders to seek out the lost sword of St Peter, a weapon said to grant certain victory to whoever possesses her. As the outnumbered English army becomes trapped near the town of Poitiers, Thomas, his men and his sworn enemies meet in an extraordinary confrontation that ignites one of the greatest battles of all time.

The Grail Quest

1356

A GRIPPING THRILLER FROM THE #1 BESTSELLING AUTHOR‘Deadly conspiracies, bone-crunching action and a tormented hero with a heart . . . packs a real punch’ Andy McDermott A sunken secret. A missing woman. A race against time. Former SAS major Ben Hope is relaxing at his home in Normandy when he hears the worst news of his life. His ex-girlfriend Dr Brooke Marcel has been kidnapped. Racing against the clock, Ben’s frantic search for Brooke leads him from Ireland to the Spanish mountains and the rainforests of Peru. What is the mysterious link between the kidnapping, the salvage of a sunken 16th-century Spanish warship and the secret activities of its wealthy discoverer? As the trail of wreckage and mayhem intensifies, Ben soon uncovers a web of intrigue, corruption and brutal murder. But will he be too late to find Brooke alive? The Ben Hope series is a must-read for fans of Dan Brown, Lee Child and Mark Dawson. Join the millions of readers who get breathless with anticipation when the countdown to a new Ben Hope thriller begins… Whilst the Ben Hope thrillers can be read in any order, this is the eighth book in the series.

The Armada Legacy

The Beauty of the End is a gripping psychological thriller from Debbie Howells, author of the bestselling Richard and Judy Book Club success, The Bones of You. I was fourteen when I fell in love with a goddess . . . A love he'd never forget Ex-lawyer Noah has never forgotten his first love. When, years later, he hears that she's suspected of murder, he knows with certainty that she's innocent. With April on life-support and the evidence pointing towards her guilt, he's compelled to help her. But he's also unprepared as he's forced to confront what happened between them all those years ago. A secret she would never reveal April Moon had loved Noah. She never wanted to hurt him. But there was something - and someone - dark in her life which made happiness together impossible. A family she could never forgive Ella is a troubled teenager with her own secrets to tell. But no one will listen. What Ella knows holds the key to finding the killer. But as Noah, April and Ella's stories converge, shocking revelations come to the surface. The truth is obvious. Or so everyone believes . . .

The Beauty of the End

Alex Schwartz had a great job and a promising future - until he caught an unfortunate bout of vampirism, and agreed (on pain of death) to join the Laundry, Britain's only counter-occult secret intelligence agency. His first assignment is in Leeds - his old hometown. But the thought of telling his parents he's lost his job, let alone their discovering his 'condition', is causing Alex almost as much anxiety as his new lifestyle of supernatural espionage. His only saving grace is Cassie Brewer, a student from the local Goth Festival who flirts with him despite his fear of sunlight (and girls). But Cassie has secrets of her own - secrets that make Alex's night life seem positively normal . . . James Bond meets H. P. Lovecraft in the latest occult thriller from Hugo Award winner Charles Stross, in a series where British spies take on the supernatural.

The Nightmare Stacks

Bob Howard is a computer übergeek employed by the Laundry, a secret British agency assigned to clean up incursions from other realities caused by the inadvertent manipulation of complex mathematical equations: in other words, magic. In 1975, the CIA used Howard Hughes's Glomar Explorer in a bungled attempt to raise a sunken Soviet submarine in order to access the Jennifer Morgue, an occult device that allows communication with the dead. Now a ruthless billionaire intends to try again, even if by doing so he awakens the Great Old Ones who thwarted the earlier expedition. It's up to Bob and a collection of British eccentrics even Monty Python would consider odd to stop the bad guy and save the world, while getting receipts for all expenditures or else face the most dreaded menace of all: the Laundry's own auditors.

The Jennifer Morgue

SHORTLISTED FOR THE LOCUS AWARD 2018 Bob Howard's career in the Laundry, the secret British government agency dedicated to protecting the world from the supernatural, has involved brilliant hacking, ancient magic and combat with creatures of pure evil. Now the Laundry's existence has become public, and Bob is being trotted out on TV to answer pointed questions about elven asylum seekers. What neither Bob nor his managers have foreseen is that their organisation has earned the attention of a horror far more terrifying than any demon: a government looking for public services to privatise. There are things in the Laundry's assets that big business would simply love to get its hands on . . . Inch by inch, Bob Howard and his managers are forced to consider the truly unthinkable: a coup against the British government itself. 'Brilliantly disturbing and funny at the same time' Ben Aaronovitch Previous titles in this series: THE ATROCITY ARCHIVES THE JENNIFER MORGUE THE FULLER MEMORANDUM THE APOCALYPSE CODEX THE RHESUS CHART THE ANNIHILATION SCORE THE NIGHTMARE STACKS

The Delirium Brief

Bob Howard used to fix computers for the Laundry - the branch of the British Secret Service that deals with otherworldly threats - but those days are over. He's not only been promoted to active service but actually survived missions against cultists, enemy spies and tentacled horrors from other dimensions. Willingly or not, he's on his way up in this dangerous organisation. When a televangelist with connections to 10 Downing Street seems able to work miracles, the Laundry takes an interest. But an agency that answers to the Prime Minister can't spy on him themselves, and Bob's shadowy superiors come up with a compromise - they hire 'freelancers', with Bob in charge. British citizens who discover the occult are either forcibly recruited by the Laundry or disposed of, and Bob's never heard of freelancers before. Officially they don't exist. Anyone who's big and bad enough to remain independent is going to be hard to handle, and Bob's not too sure that the one-week 'people management' course he was sent on in Milton Keynes is going to be enough . . .

The Apocalypse Codex

It’s time for Ping the panda cub to meet his public in this hilarious Awesome Animals adventure by award-winning author, Jamie Rix. Ping the panda lives with his mum and twin sister An on the Wolong Nature reserve in China. Although his name means ‘peaceful‘ in Chinese, he’s anything but! Ping craves adventure and excitement but unfortunately he is a panda… and pandas do pretty much nothing except eat bamboo for around 14 hours a day and poo up to 40 times a day. So when Ping overhears one of the reserve rangers talking about plans to send a panda to London Zoo as part of an exchange programme, he knows this is his big chance! But how can he make sure he gets selected for the programme? What if they choose Gao – the super cute panda with the big fat cheeks who lives in another corner of the reserve? Will Ping be able to swap his boring life on the reserve for a once-in-a-lifetime adventure on the other side of the world, or is he destined to a life of eating, and pooing, bamboo? Nothing’s black and white in this laugh-out -loud Awesome Animal adventure!

Awesome Animals

Panda Panic

At long last, irrepressible panda cub, Ping, is leaving the safety of his nature reserve to embark on a journey of a lifetime! The second hilarious Panda Panic story in the fantastic new Awesome Animals series – awesome adventures with the wildest wildlife, from award-winning authors. Ping the panda lives with his mum and twin sister on the Wolong nature reserve in China. Although his name means ‘peaceful‘ he’s anything but! Ping craves adventure and excitement but unfortunately he is a panda… and pandas do pretty much nothing except eat bamboo. But when Ping gets swept off down the river, he at last finds the adventure he’s been waiting for. Will Ping and his new friend Little Bear enjoy their freedom, or will the shadows, and the bandits, and the lurking snow leopards have them running for home-sweet-home?

Panda Panic - Running Wild

When eleven-year-old Stefan tells his little brother on Christmas Eve that Santa isn’t real, he totally expects to be grounded. What he doesn’t expect is for his name to land at the top of the Naughty List and for a demon named Krampus to creep down his chimney.Narrowly escaping an attack from Krampus, Stefan falls into The Land Christmas Forgot—a dark place where wolves are made of shadow and evil snowmen roam the forests. There, Stefan meets a warrior Christmas elf who confirms three things. One, he isn’t having some creepy nightmare. Two, Santa is, in fact, real. And three, Krampus plans on using Stefan and the other Naughty List kids to destroy Christmas once and for all.Talk about a crappy Christmas present.With the help of the warrior elf and a famous reindeer—yes that famous reindeer—Stefan realizes the extent of his wrongdoings and wants nothing more than to get back home so he can make things right with his little brother. With no other way out, Stefan must find a way to defeat Krampus and his army of minions before it’s too late and Christmas is destroyed. But getting home won’t be easy, and Krampus has a powerful magic that could cover the world in darkness forever.

The Land Christmas Forgot

Bob Howard is an IT specialist and field agent for the Laundry, the branch of Her Majesty's secret service that deals with occult threats. Overworked and underpaid, Bob is used to his two jobs overflowing from a strict nine to five and, since his wife Mo has a very similar job description, he understands that work will sometimes follow her home, too. But when 'work' involves zombie assassins and minions of a mad god's cult, he realises things are spinning out of control. When a top-secret dossier goes missing and his boss Angleton is implicated, Bob must contend with suspiciously helpful Russian intelligence operatives and an unscrupulous apocalyptic cult before confronting the decades-old secret that lies at the heart of the Laundry: what is so important about the missing Fuller Memorandum? And why are all the people who know dying . . . ?

The Fuller Memorandum

From New York Times bestselling author Bernard Cornwell, now available in paperback—a thrilling tale of danger and conquest at the Battle of Poitiers, 1356 is “a book in which Cornwell’s gifts as scholar and storyteller come together spectacularly.” (Washington Post) Bernard Cornwell, the ""master of martial fiction"" (Booklist), brings Thomas of Hookton from the popular Grail Quest series into a new adventure in 1356, a thrilling stand-alone novel. On September 19, 1356, a heavily outnumbered English army faced off against the French in the historic Battle of Poitiers. In 1356, Cornwell resurrects this dramatic and bloody struggle—one that would turn out to be the most decisive and improbable victory of the Hundred Years’ War, a clash where the underdog English not only the captured the strategic site of Poitiers, but the French King John II as well. In the vein of Cornwell’s bestselling Agincourt, 1356 is an action-packed story of danger and conquest, rich with military strategy and remarkable characters—both villainous and heroic—transporting readers to the front lines of war while painting a vivid picture of courage, treachery, and combat.

Four AWESOME ANIMALS audio adventures with the wildest wildlife around. RACCOON RAMPAGE The Hole-in-the-Tree gang, led by Quickpaw Cassidy and The Sunshine Cub, is the most daring group of raccoons in town. But when these cheeky chancers carry out the biggest, boldest heist of their lives, they push the neighbourhood too far. The heat is on and the gang goes on the run in this wild adventure ultimately learning that there’s no place like home. PANDA PANIC Ping the panda lives with his mum and twin sister An on the Wolong Nature reserve in China. Although his name means ‘peaceful’ in Chinese, Ping craves adventure and excitement but unfortunately, he is a panda…When Ping overhears one of the reserve rangers talking about plans to send a panda to London Zoo as part of an exchange programme, he knows this is his big chance! Nothing’s black and white in this laugh-out -loud Awesome Animal adventure! LLAMA DRAMA It’s a HUGE surprise when Farmer Palmer chooses Lewie the llama to guard his new lambs. It’s the most important job on the farm and everyone thought he’d pick the biggest strongest, loudest llama. Lewie is the best at singing and dancing but is he a match for a cunning coyote? KOALA CALAMITY You might think that koalas are boring, just because all they do is eat eucalyptus leaves and sleep. But you’d be wrong. They’re just LAZY. They’re chilling, basically, kicking back and catching some rays in the treetops, and staying out of trouble. At least, that’s what our cool koala buddies Dude and Bro, and little brother Squirt WERE doing, till one day they wake up to find they’ve missed their transfer from the koala sanctuary to the zoo across town. Can they make it across town in their stolen zoo buggy or will the day end in one great big koala calamity?

Awesome Animals Collection: Four hilarious and exciting animal adventures!

From the number one bestselling author, Peter James, comes The Secret of Cold Hill. The spine-chilling follow-up to The House on Cold Hill. Now a smash-hit stage play. Cold Hill House has been razed to the ground by fire, replaced with a development of ultra-modern homes. Gone with the flames are the violent memories of the house’s history, and a new era has begun. Although much of Cold Hill Park is still a construction site, the first two families move into their new houses. For Jason and Emily Danes, this is their forever home, and for Maurice and Claudette Penze-Weedell, it’s the perfect place to live out retirement. Despite the ever present rumble of cement mixers and diggers, Cold Hill Park appears to be the ideal place to live. But looks are deceptive and it’s only a matter of days before both couples start to feel they are not alone in their new homes. There is one thing that never appears in the estate agent brochures: nobody has ever survived beyond forty in Cold Hill House and no one has ever truly left . . .

The Secret of Cold Hill

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