Controlled Explosions (A Paula Maguire Short Story)


Book Description

Paula Maguire, forensic psychologist on the Irish border, returns as a teenager in this exclusive digital short story from Claire McGowan. If you love the Paula Maguire series, or are yet to meet the infamous psychologist, you'll be gripped... 1998 and future forensic psychologist Paula Maguire is still in school, being taunted by bullies. In particular one girl, whose family has paramilitary links, is calling her a rat. Even though Paula might not know why her mother went missing five years before, she's sure she's no traitor's daughter. But words are nothing compared to what her policeman father, PJ, is dealing with. The hot summer is simmering with violence and the entire force is focused on finding a bomber leaving devices on the routes of Orange parades. When PJ is injured at the scene of a crime, Paula is shocked to find herself next in the perpetrator's crosshairs. The threats at school don't feel so empty now, but what connection could there be? As the possibility of first love appears, will Paula be able to find out in time to save herself and follow her heart? What readers are saying about Controlled Explosions: 'A beautifully rendered novella set way before the series began. I was completely hooked' 'Fast-paced and exciting' 'A great peek into the history of Paula - our favourite psychologist! All very fascinating - I just love the setting'




The Killing House (Paula Maguire 6)


Book Description

Long-buried secrets are being unearthed. And they're very close to home... Forensic psychologist Paula Maguire returns yet again to her hometown to investigate a spine-chilling case in THE KILLING HOUSE, the sixth novel in Claire McGowan's series. The Paula Maguire series is the perfect read for fans of Michael Connelly and Peter May. 'A delicious spookiness is added to McGowan's customary mix of complex characterisation and sweat-inducing excitement, offering a new level of chilling thrills' - Sunday Mirror When a puzzling missing persons' case opens up in her hometown, forensic psychologist Paula Maguire can't help but return once more. Renovations at an abandoned farm have uncovered two bodies: a man known to be an IRA member missing since the nineties, and a young girl whose identity remains a mystery. As Paula attempts to discover who the girl is and why no one is looking for her, an anonymous tip-off claims that her own long-lost mother is also buried on the farm. When another girl is kidnapped, Paula must find the person responsible before more lives are destroyed. But there are explosive secrets still to surface. And even Paula can't predict that the investigation will strike at the heart of all she holds dear. What readers are saying about the Paula Maguire series: 'I have loved every single book. It's the characters and their own personal lives that really stand out in Claire McGowan's novels' 'Claire McGowan knows how to pull us in. Her future releases are always lined up on my kindle way ahead of time!' 'McGowan keeps developing her characters to be more rounded and complex. I've really fallen in love with the character of Paula Maguire and I can't wait to read more about her'




Blood Tide (Paula Maguire 5)


Book Description

A missing couple. A lurking killer. A perfect storm. Forensic psychologist Paula Maguire returns to solve a dark and dangerous case on a small Irish island in the taut and terrifying BLOOD TIDE, the fifth novel in Claire McGowan's acclaimed series. The perfect read for fans of Joy Ellis and Karin Slaughter. 'A brilliantly executed thriller with a haunting and atmospheric setting. Spine tingling' - Sunday Mirror Called in to investigate the disappearance of a young couple during a violent storm, Paula Maguire, forensic psychologist, has mixed feelings about going back to Bone Island. Her last family holiday as a child was spent on its beautiful, remote beaches and returning brings back haunting memories of her long-lost mother. It soon becomes clear that outsiders aren't welcome on the island, and with no choice but to investigate the local community, Paula soon suspects foul play, realising that the islanders are hiding secrets from her, and each other. With another storm fast approaching, Paula is faced with a choice. Leave alive or risk being trapped with a killer on an inescapable island, as the blood tide rushes in... What readers are saying about Blood Tide: 'A very clever plot with many shocking moments. The island setting added to the atmosphere as did the ongoing storm. What a terrific book' 'I caught myself holding my breath as I followed the characters avidly. This is definitely the series that keeps on giving and keeps getting better' 'A masterfully plotted and executed novel. The pace never lets up, with new developments in every chapter. An excellent read'




A Savage Hunger (Paula Maguire 4)


Book Description

Blood stains the altar. Can she be found? Paula Maguire, forensic psychologist is called in to investigate a missing girl and the disappearance of a holy relic in Claire McGowan's exhilarating fourth novel in the series, A SAVAGE HUNTER. The Paula Maguire series is sure to enthral fans of Stuart MacBride and Lee Child. 'A complex, disturbing, resonant novel that remains light on its feet and immensely entertaining' - Irish Times Victim: Female. Twenty-two years of age. Reason for investigation: Missing person. ID: Alice Morgan. Student. Last seen at a remote religious shrine in Ballyterrin. Alice Morgan's disappearance raises immediate questions for forensic psychologist Paula Maguire. Alice, the daughter of a life pee0r in the Home Office, has vanished along with a holy relic - the bones of a saint - and the only trace is the bloodstains on the altar. With no body to confirm death, the pressure in this high-profile case is all-consuming, and Paula knows that she will have to put her own life, including her imminent marriage, on hold, if they are to find the truth. A connection to a decades-old murder immediately indicates that all may not be as it seems; as the summer heat rises and tempers fray, can Alice be found or will they learn that those that are hungry for vengeance may be the most savage of all? What readers are saying about A Savage Hunter: 'A compelling story with twists and turns, intelligently written to include history and current issues' 'An excellent, well-written series, giving you an insight into the troubles that have plagued Northern Ireland and how all their lives have been affected' 'I found the twisty threads really engrossing and couldn't wait to see how they were brought to a climax. And boy, talk about explosive ending!'




The Silent Dead (Paula Maguire 3)


Book Description

Some say they deserve their fate. But isn't everyone entitled to justice? Forensic psychologist Paula Maguire is in a race against time to solve a deadly crime in THE SILENT DEAD, the third novel in Claire McGowan's terrific, hard-hitting crime series. The perfect read for fans of Val McDermid and Elly Griffiths. 'Astonishing, powerful and immensely satisfying' - Peter James Victim: Male. Mid-thirties. 5'7". Cause of death: Hanging. Initial impression - murder. ID: Mickey Doyle. Suspected terrorist and member of the Mayday Five. The officers at the crime scene know exactly who the victim is. Doyle was one of five suspected bombers who caused the deaths of sixteen people. The remaining four are also missing and when a second body is found, decapitated, it's clear they are being killed by the same methods their victims suffered. Forensic psychologist Paula Maguire is assigned the case but she is up against the clock - both personally and professionally. With moral boundaries blurred between victim and perpetrator, will Paula be able to find those responsible? After all, even killers deserve justice... What readers are saying about The Silent Dead: 'Great atmosphere - it's tense and chilling. I simply did not want to put this book down. Superb fast-paced plot and wonderful storytelling' 'A gripping story covering grief and frustration as it explores the moral dilemma of people failed by the system to may just be taking justice into their own hands. A great read' 'Absorbing story that constantly holds your attention. Steady, tense layering, building up to the nerve-wrecking end'




The Lost


Book Description

When two teenage girls go missing along the Irish border, forensic psychologist Paula Maguire has to return to the hometown she left years before. Swirling with rumour and secrets, the town is gripped by fear of a serial killer. But the truth could be even darker. Not everyone who's lost wants to be found. Surrounded by people and places she tried to forget, Paula digs into the cases as the truth twists further away.




The Vanishing Triangle


Book Description

From the bestselling author of What You Did comes a true-crime investigation that cast a dark shadow over the Ireland of her childhood. Ireland in the 1990s seemed a safe place for women. With the news dominated by the Troubles, it was easy to ignore non-political murders and sexual violence, to trust that you weren't going to be dragged into the shadows and killed. But beneath the surface, a far darker reality had taken hold. Through questioning the society and circumstances that allowed eight young women to vanish without a trace―no conclusion or conviction, no resolution for their loved ones―bestselling crime novelist Claire McGowan delivers a candid investigation into the culture of secrecy, victim-blaming and shame that left these women's bodies unfound, their fates unknown, their assailants unpunished. McGowan reveals an Ireland not of leprechauns and craic but of outdated social and sexual mores, where women and their bodies were of secondary importance to perceived propriety and misguided politics--a place of well-buttoned lips and stony silence, inadequate police and paramilitary threat. Was an unknown serial killer at large or was there something even more insidious at work? In this insightful, sensitively drawn account, McGowan exposes a system that failed these eight women--and continues to fail women to this day.




The Girls of Slender Means (New Directions Classic)


Book Description

"Long ago in 1945 all the nice people in England were poor, allowing for exceptions," begins The Girls of Slender Means, Dame Muriel Spark's tragic and rapier-witted portrait of a London ladies' hostel just emerging from the shadow of World War II. Like the May of Teck Club itself—"three times window shattered since 1940 but never directly hit"—its lady inhabitants do their best to act as if the world were back to normal: practicing elocution, and jostling over suitors and a single Schiaparelli gown. The novel's harrowing ending reveals that the girls' giddy literary and amorous peregrinations are hiding some tragically painful war wounds. Chosen by Anthony Burgess as one of the Best Modern Novels in the Sunday Times of London, The Girls of Slender Means is a taut and eerily perfect novel by an author The New York Times has called "one of this century's finest creators of comic-metaphysical entertainment."




The Nine


Book Description

In the dark streets of Corma exists a book that writes itself, a book that some would kill for... Black market courier Rowena Downshire is just trying to pay her mother’s freedom from debtor's prison when an urgent and unexpected delivery leads her face to face with a creature out of nightmares. Rowena escapes with her life, but the strange book she was ordered to deliver is stolen. The Alchemist knows things few men have lived to tell about, and when Rowena shows up on his doorstep, frightened and empty-handed, he knows better than to turn her away. What he discovers leads him to ask for help from the last man he wants to see—the former mercenary, Anselm Meteron. Across town, Reverend Phillip Chalmers awakes in a cell, bloodied and bruised, facing a creature twice his size. Translating the stolen book may be his only hope for survival; however, he soon realizes the book may be a fabled text written by the Creator Himself, tracking the nine human subjects of His Grand Experiment. In the wrong hands, it could mean the end of humanity. Rowena and her companions become the target of conspirators who seek to use the book for their own ends. But how can this unlikely team be sure who the enemy is when they can barely trust each other? And what will happen when the book reveals a secret no human was meant to know?




Plugged in


Book Description

Cover -- Half-title -- Title -- Copyright -- Dedication -- Contents -- Preface -- 1 Youth and Media -- 2 Then and Now -- 3 Themes and Theoretical Perspectives -- 4 Infants, Toddlers, and Preschoolers -- 5 Children -- 6 Adolescents -- 7 Media and Violence -- 8 Media and Emotions -- 9 Advertising and Commercialism -- 10 Media and Sex -- 11 Media and Education -- 12 Digital Games -- 13 Social Media -- 14 Media and Parenting -- 15 The End -- Notes -- Acknowledgments -- Index -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- J -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- Q -- R -- S -- T -- U -- V -- W -- X -- Y -- Z