The Great Tax Robbery - Richard Brooks

In the first book to uncover the British government's complicity in tax avoidance, investigative journalist and former tax-inspector Richard Brooks charts how the UK has become a global tax haven that serves the super wealthy, while everyone else picks up the bill. Discover:

-Why thousands of British state schools and NHS hospitals are owned by shell companies based in offshore tax havens

-How British companies like Vodafone strongly influence tax laws

-Why multinationals like Google and Starbucks can operate almost tax-free in the UK

-How the taxman turns a blind eye to billions in illegally evaded tax in secret Swiss bank accounts

-How footballers like Wayne Rooney use image rights companies to reduce their tax liability

From offshore City bonus schemes to the exploitation of developing countries, this ground-breaking exposé unpicks the tangled mess of loopholes that well known multinationals, bankers, and celebrities use to legally circumvent tax - all in collusion with the British government. Shocking and riveting, this is a bold manifesto for a tax system where we all contribute our fair share.

The prisoner of Brenda - Colin Bateman

When notorious gangster 'Fat Sam' Mahood is murdered, the chief suspect is arrested nearby. But he seems to have suffered a breakdown. Incarcerated in a mental institution, he's known only as the Man in the White Suit. The suspect remains an enigma until Nurse Brenda calls on Mystery Man, former patient and owner of No Alibis, Belfast's finest mystery bookshop, to bring his powers of investigation to bear... However, before our hero can even begin, the Man in the White Suit is arrested for the murder of a fellow patient. But is he a double murderer or a helpless scapegoat? Intrigue, conspiracy, and ancient Latin curses all combine to give the Small Bookseller with No Name his most difficult case to date.

Flashman - George McDonald Fraser

Harry Flashman: the unrepentant bully of Tom Brown’s schooldays, now with a Victoria Cross, has three main talents – horsemanship, facility with foreign languages and fornication. A reluctant military hero, Flashman plays a key part in most of the defining military campaigns of the 19th century, despite trying his utmost to escape them all.

Expelled from Rugby for drunkenness, and none too welcome at home after seducing his father’s mistress, the young Flashman embarks on a military career with Lord Cardigan’s Hussars.

En route to Afghanistan, our hero hones his skills as a soldier, duellist, imposter, coward and amorist (mastering all 97 ways of Hindu love-making during a brief sojourn in Calcutta), before being pressed into reluctant service as a secret agent. His Afghan adventures culminate in a starring role in that great historic disaster, the Retreat from Kabul.

Bedlam - Christopher Brookmyre

Heaven is a prison. Hell is a playground.

Would it be your ultimate fantasy to enter the world of a video game?

A realm where you don't have to go to work or worry about your health; where you can look like a hero or a goddess; where you can fly space-ships, slay dragons, yet all of it feels completely real. A realm where there are no consequences and no responsibilities.

Or would it be your worst nightmare?

Stuck in an endless state of war and chaos where the pain and fear feels real and from which not even death can offer an escape.

Prison or playground. Heaven or hell. This is where you find out. This is white-knuckle action, sprawling adventure, merciless satire and outrageous humour like you've never experienced.

This is Bedlam.