HAVOC

The New York Times ' #1 Thriller of 2024 'Highsmithian… highly readable, twisty and shrewd' HANYA YANAGIHARA (on Instagram), author of A Little Life 'Atmospheric, diabolical fun' LUCY FOLEY, author of The Midnight Feast 'Disturbingly enjoyable' EMMA HEALEY, author of Elizabeth is Missing 'A taut, wicked masterpiece' MONA AWAD, author of Bunny Five years ago, 81-year-old Maggie Burkhardt fled her native Wisconsin in suspicious circumstances. She has come to rest somewhere she can imagine staying forever: the Royal Karnak Hotel in Luxor, Egypt. Maggie is no sweet little old lady. She has a nasty, nosy habit: she spies on her fellow guests and manipulates situations to 'liberate' them from what she sees as unhappy relationships. Wrongly assuming eight-year-old Otto and his well-meaning mother will be easy targets, she is soon locked in a death-spiral with her young prey. Has she finally met her match in a child one-tenth her age? Crackling with the perceptive, acid wit of The White Lotus and haloed by Shirley Jackson’s cruel, dark magic, HAVOC is a decadent and ghastly delight. Readers are saying… 'Absolutely brilliant and insane. I went in knowing very little about the book and I’m glad because it made it even more of a wild ride' 'I loved this book from the first page… The conflict between the old and the young in this cat and mouse tussle is brilliant. It’s a hard to put down novel and has a great twist at the end' 'I had an absolute blast reading this. Otto and Maggie are wild characters and their behavior is shocking!'

The New York Times ' #1 Thriller of 2024 'Highsmithian… highly readable, twisty and shrewd' HANYA YANAGIHARA (on Instagram), author of A Little Life 'Atmospheric, diabolical fun' LUCY FOLEY, author of The Midnight Feast 'Disturbingly enjoyable' EMMA HEALEY, author of Elizabeth is Missing 'A taut, wicked masterpiece' MONA AWAD, author of Bunny Five years ago, 81-year-old Maggie Burkhardt fled her native Wisconsin in suspicious circumstances. She has come to rest somewhere she can imagine staying forever: the Royal Karnak Hotel in Luxor, Egypt. Maggie is no sweet little old lady. She has a nasty, nosy habit: she spies on her fellow guests and manipulates situations to 'liberate' them from what she sees as unhappy relationships. Wrongly assuming eight-year-old Otto and his well-meaning mother will be easy targets, she is soon locked in a death-spiral with her young prey. Has she finally met her match in a child one-tenth her age? Crackling with the perceptive, acid wit of The White Lotus and haloed by Shirley Jackson’s cruel, dark magic, HAVOC is a decadent and ghastly delight. Readers are saying… 'Absolutely brilliant and insane. I went in knowing very little about the book and I’m glad because it made it even more of a wild ride' 'I loved this book from the first page… The conflict between the old and the young in this cat and mouse tussle is brilliant. It’s a hard to put down novel and has a great twist at the end' 'I had an absolute blast reading this. Otto and Maggie are wild characters and their behavior is shocking!'

Keyes Dixon's life is challenging enough as a full patch member of the Disciples of Havoc Motorcycle Club but being a gay biker leaves him traveling down one tough road. With an abusive past and his vow to the club cementing his future, he doesn't believe in love and steers clear of commitment. But a midnight ride leads to a chance meeting with a sexy distraction that has him going down quicker than a Harley on ice. Cocky Assistant District Attorney Alec Pierce lives in the shadow of his politically connected family. A life of privilege doesn't equal a life of love, a fact made obvious at every family gathering. Driven yet lonely, Alec yields to his family's demands for his career path, hoping for the acceptance he craves. Until he meets a gorgeous biker who tips the scales in the favor of truth and he can no longer live a lie.Can two men from completely different worlds...and sides of the law...find common ground, or will all their desires only wreak Havoc?

'A LABYRINTHINE MYSTERY OF EMOTIONAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL COMPLEXITY' Jo Brand 'DELIRIOUS AND REWARDING' Guardian 'UNMISSABLE' Woman's Weekly A GUARDIAN BOOK OF THE YEAR 2025 Fleeing Scotland in the wake of family disgrace, 16-year-old Ida Campbell secures a scholarship at a failing girls' boarding school on a remote part of the south English coast. Despite the eccentricities of her new Headmistress, who warns her of the dangers of the Cold War and the ever-present threat of the bomb , St Anne's seems like a refuge to Ida. But all this is about to change. For a start, her new room-mate is the infamous Louise Adler, potential arsonist and hardened outcast. Meanwhile, the geography teacher Eleanor Alston, in her late thirties, a disastrous love affair in her wake, faces the new term with weary resignation. But the fragile ecosystem of the school is disrupted by the arrival of a new teacher, Matthew Langfield. Eleanor has an uneasy feeling he is not who he says he is. And things only get worse when a mysterious sickness starts to spread throughout the school, causing strange limb jerks and seizures among the pupils. What is happening to the girls of St Anne's? Could there be a poisoner among them? Is Ida's scholarship really an escape, or is it instead a new nightmare? READERS ARE LOVING HAVOC : 'Superb. Brilliantly funny, at times extremely poignant' 'Another beautifully written book by Rebecca' 'Utterly glorious, moving, enthralling and witty. I am so cross I have finished it' 'I absolutely loved the humour in this book. Bonus points for the Cold War references' 'Entertaining and humorous' Praise for Rebecca Wait: 'IT'LL EASILY BE ONE OF MY BOOKS OF THE YEAR' Hannah Beckerman 'It's a warm book and a touching one. And did I mention it's funny? Just read it. You'll see' The Times 'Funny, tender and sad' Sunday Express 'If you liked Meg Mason's Sorrow and Bliss , you'll love this novel' Good Housekeeping 'One of the richest explorations of family dysfunction I've read' i newspaper 'Shades of Fleabag in this smart, funny drama' Mail on Sunday 'An enjoyably bittersweet novel about a dysfunctional modern family' Independent 'Razor-sharp ' Observer 'One of the funniest novels you'll read this year' Guardian

'A LABYRINTHINE MYSTERY OF EMOTIONAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL COMPLEXITY' Jo Brand 'DELIRIOUS AND REWARDING' Guardian 'UNMISSABLE' Woman's Weekly A GUARDIAN BOOK OF THE YEAR 2025 Fleeing Scotland in the wake of family disgrace, 16-year-old Ida Campbell secures a scholarship at a failing girls' boarding school on a remote part of the south English coast. Despite the eccentricities of her new Headmistress, who warns her of the dangers of the Cold War and the ever-present threat of the bomb , St Anne's seems like a refuge to Ida. But all this is about to change. For a start, her new room-mate is the infamous Louise Adler, potential arsonist and hardened outcast. Meanwhile, the geography teacher Eleanor Alston, in her late thirties, a disastrous love affair in her wake, faces the new term with weary resignation. But the fragile ecosystem of the school is disrupted by the arrival of a new teacher, Matthew Langfield. Eleanor has an uneasy feeling he is not who he says he is. And things only get worse when a mysterious sickness starts to spread throughout the school, causing strange limb jerks and seizures among the pupils. What is happening to the girls of St Anne's? Could there be a poisoner among them? Is Ida's scholarship really an escape, or is it instead a new nightmare? READERS ARE LOVING HAVOC : 'Superb. Brilliantly funny, at times extremely poignant' 'Another beautifully written book by Rebecca' 'Utterly glorious, moving, enthralling and witty. I am so cross I have finished it' 'I absolutely loved the humour in this book. Bonus points for the Cold War references' 'Entertaining and humorous' Praise for Rebecca Wait: 'IT'LL EASILY BE ONE OF MY BOOKS OF THE YEAR' Hannah Beckerman 'It's a warm book and a touching one. And did I mention it's funny? Just read it. You'll see' The Times 'Funny, tender and sad' Sunday Express 'If you liked Meg Mason's Sorrow and Bliss , you'll love this novel' Good Housekeeping 'One of the richest explorations of family dysfunction I've read' i newspaper 'Shades of Fleabag in this smart, funny drama' Mail on Sunday 'An enjoyably bittersweet novel about a dysfunctional modern family' Independent 'Razor-sharp ' Observer 'One of the funniest novels you'll read this year' Guardian

'A LABYRINTHINE MYSTERY OF EMOTIONAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL COMPLEXITY' Jo Brand 'DELIRIOUS AND REWARDING' Guardian 'UNMISSABLE' Woman's Weekly Fleeing Scotland in the wake of family disgrace, 16-year-old Ida Campbell secures a scholarship at a failing girls' boarding school on a remote part of the south English coast. Despite the eccentricities of her new Headmistress, who warns her of the dangers of the Cold War and the ever-present threat of the bomb , St Anne's seems like a refuge to Ida. But all this is about to change. For a start, her new room-mate is the infamous Louise Adler, potential arsonist and hardened outcast. Meanwhile, the geography teacher Eleanor Alston, in her late thirties, a disastrous love affair in her wake, faces the new term with weary resignation. But the fragile ecosystem of the school is disrupted by the arrival of a new teacher, Matthew Langfield. Eleanor has an uneasy feeling he is not who he says he is. And things only get worse when a mysterious sickness starts to spread throughout the school, causing strange limb jerks and seizures among the pupils. What is happening to the girls of St Anne's? Could there be a poisoner among them? Is Ida's scholarship really an escape, or is it instead a new nightmare? READERS ARE LOVING HAVOC : 'Superb. Brilliantly funny, at times extremely poignant' 'Another beautifully written book by Rebecca' 'Utterly glorious, moving, enthralling and witty. I am so cross I have finished it' 'I absolutely loved the humour in this book. Bonus points for the Cold War references' 'Entertaining and humorous'

'A LABYRINTHINE MYSTERY OF EMOTIONAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL COMPLEXITY' Jo Brand 'DELIRIOUS AND REWARDING' Guardian 'UNMISSABLE' Woman's Weekly Fleeing Scotland in the wake of family disgrace, 16-year-old Ida Campbell secures a scholarship at a failing girls' boarding school on a remote part of the south English coast. Despite the eccentricities of her new Headmistress, who warns her of the dangers of the Cold War and the ever-present threat of the bomb , St Anne's seems like a refuge to Ida. But all this is about to change. For a start, her new room-mate is the infamous Louise Adler, potential arsonist and hardened outcast. Meanwhile, the geography teacher Eleanor Alston, in her late thirties, a disastrous love affair in her wake, faces the new term with weary resignation. But the fragile ecosystem of the school is disrupted by the arrival of a new teacher, Matthew Langfield. Eleanor has an uneasy feeling he is not who he says he is. And things only get worse when a mysterious sickness starts to spread throughout the school, causing strange limb jerks and seizures among the pupils. What is happening to the girls of St Anne's? Could there be a poisoner among them? Is Ida's scholarship really an escape, or is it instead a new nightmare? READERS ARE LOVING HAVOC : 'Superb. Brilliantly funny, at times extremely poignant' 'Another beautifully written book by Rebecca' 'Utterly glorious, moving, enthralling and witty. I am so cross I have finished it' 'I absolutely loved the humour in this book. Bonus points for the Cold War references' 'Entertaining and humorous'

A longtime cult-classic in Denmark, this novel about dissolution and despair has been out of print in the US for over eighty years until now. Ole Jastrau is the very model of an enterprising and ambitious young man of letters, poised on the brink of what is sure to be a distinguished career as a critic. In fact he is teetering on the brink of an emotional and moral abyss. Bored with his beautiful wife and chafing at the burdens of fatherhood, disdainful of the commercialism and political opportunism of the newspaper he works for, he feels more and more that his life lacks meaning. He flirts with Catholicism and flirts with Communism, but somehow he doesn't have the makings of a true believer. Then he takes up with the bottle, a truly meaningful relationship. "Slowly and quietly," he intends to go to the dogs. Jastrau's romance with self-destruction will take him through all the circles of hell. The process will be anything but slow and quiet.

A longtime cult-classic in Denmark, this novel about dissolution and despair has been out of print in the US for over eighty years until now. Ole Jastrau is the very model of an enterprising and ambitious young man of letters, poised on the brink of what is sure to be a distinguished career as a critic. In fact he is teetering on the brink of an emotional and moral abyss. Bored with his beautiful wife and chafing at the burdens of fatherhood, disdainful of the commercialism and political opportunism of the newspaper he works for, he feels more and more that his life lacks meaning. He flirts with Catholicism and flirts with Communism, but somehow he doesn't have the makings of a true believer. Then he takes up with the bottle, a truly meaningful relationship. "Slowly and quietly," he intends to go to the dogs. Jastrau's romance with self-destruction will take him through all the circles of hell. The process will be anything but slow and quiet.