{"title":"John Lawton","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eJohn Lawton\u003c\/strong\u003e delivers gripping narratives that blend historical intrigue with taut crime and thriller elements. His novels, such as \u003cem\u003eThen We Take Berlin\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eThe Unfortunate Englishman\u003c\/em\u003e, immerse readers in richly detailed settings, offering suspenseful plots that navigate the shadows of wartime Europe and beyond.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eExpect complex characters caught in moral dilemmas, where loyalty and danger intertwine. Lawton’s writing balances atmospheric storytelling with sharply crafted crime fiction, appealing to readers who appreciate both historical depth and thrilling momentum.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"a-little-white-death-by-john-lawton-9781611855890","title":"A Little White Death","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eA Little White Death\u003c\/em\u003e is set in an England on the verge of explosion, while Inspector Troy is engaged in a personal battle against ill-health. During his medical leave, Scotland Yard files charges against an acquaintance of his—a hedonistic doctor with a penchant for voyeurism and young women. These women are entangled in affairs with a senior official at the Foreign Office as well as a KGB agent.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eOn the eve of the verdict, a peculiar double case of suicide draws Troy back into active duty. The case extends beyond bedroom escapades, uncovering layers of double-crosses and clandestine deals within the halls of power, not to mention murder.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eTroy must navigate through these treacherous waters, coming to grips with just how far the English are willing to go to bury a scandal.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Allen \u0026 Unwin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46520212226284,"sku":"9781611855890","price":32.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/24492713482761.jpg?v=1748985272"},{"product_id":"the-unfortunate-englishman-by-john-lawton-9781611855449","title":"The Unfortunate Englishman","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA thrilling portrait of 1960s Berlin and Khrushchev's Moscow, centring around the exchange of two spies— a Russian working for the KGB, and an unfortunate Englishman.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eHaving shot someone in the chaos of 1963 Berlin, Wilderness finds himself locked up with little chance of escape. But an official pardon through his father-in-law, Burne-Jones, a senior agent at MI6, means he is free to go—although forever in Burne-Jones's service.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWhen the Russians started building the Berlin Wall in 1961, two \u003cem\u003eUnfortunate Englishmen\u003c\/em\u003e were trapped on opposite sides: Geoffrey Masefield in the Lubyanka, and Bernard Alleyn (alias KGB Captain Leonid Liubimov) in Wormwood Scrubs.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn 1965, there is a new plan: to exchange the prisoners, a swap upon Berlin's bridge of spies. But, as ever, Joe has something on the side, just to make it interesting, just to make it profitable...\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Allen \u0026 Unwin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46522699219180,"sku":"9781611855449","price":23.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/24488303482761.jpg?v=1749042172"},{"product_id":"hammer-to-fall-by-john-lawton-9781611854725","title":"Hammer to Fall","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt's London, the swinging sixties, and by rights MI6 spy Joe Wilderness should be having as good a time as James Bond. But alas, in the wake of an embarrassing disaster for MI6, Wilderness has been posted to remote northern Finland in a cultural exchange program to promote Britain abroad.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBored by his work, with nothing to spy on, Wilderness finds another way to make money: smuggling vodka across the border into the USSR. He strikes a deal with old KGB pal Kostya, who explains to him there is a vodka shortage in the Soviet Union - but there is something fishy about Kostya's sudden appearance in Finland and intelligence from London points to a connection to cobalt mining in the region, a critical component in the casing of the atomic bomb. Wilderness's posting is getting more interesting by the minute, but more dangerous too.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eMoving from the no-man’s-land of Cold War Finland to the wild days of the Prague Spring, and populated by old friends (including Inspector Troy) and old enemies alike, \u003ci\u003eHammer to Fall\u003c\/i\u003e is a gripping tale of deception and skullduggery, of art and politics, a page-turning story of the always riveting life of the British spy.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e'The thriller writer's thriller writer returns with one of his best: a dark tale of treachery and betrayal with a humdinger of an ending.'\u003c\/em\u003e - \u003ci\u003eThe i\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e'It's a blast...all the elements coalesce for the superbly tense showdown.'\u003c\/em\u003e - \u003ci\u003eThe Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Allen \u0026 Unwin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46711769465068,"sku":"9781611854725","price":27.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/24481063482761.jpg?v=1754244080"},{"product_id":"moscow-exile-by-john-lawton-9781804710104","title":"Moscow Exile","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCharlotte is a British expatriate who has recently settled in Washington, D.C. with her second husband, but enviable dinner parties aren't the only thing she is planning. Meanwhile, Charlie Leigh-Hunt has been posted to Washington as a replacement for Guy Burgess, last seen disappearing around the corner and into the Soviet Union. Charlie is surprised to cross paths with Charlotte, an old flame of his, who, thanks to her gossipy parties, has a packed pocketbook full of secrets she is eager to share.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eTwo decades later, in 1969, Joe Wilderness is stuck on the wrong side of the Iron Curtain, held captive by the KGB, a chip in a game way above his pay grade - but his old friends Frank and Eddie are going to try to spring him out of the toughest prison in the world. All roads lead back to Berlin, and to the famous Bridge of Spies...\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFeaturing crackling dialogue and brilliantly plotted Cold War intrigue, \u003cem\u003eMoscow Exile\u003c\/em\u003e is a gripping thriller populated by larger-than-life personalities in a Cold War plot that feels strangely in tune with our present.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Allen \u0026 Unwin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47072624247020,"sku":"9781804710104","price":27.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/52604b73cfd2a53dd1cf5b509e898143.jpg?v=1765138259"},{"product_id":"smoke-and-embers-by-john-lawton-9781804710906","title":"Smoke and Embers","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e1950. Chief Inspector Troy learns that his sergeant has been conducting an affair with the known mistress of infamous London racketeer Otto Ohnherz. Troy is immediately intrigued by the mysterious origins of Ohnherz's second-in-command, Jay Fabian, who is a major contributor to all three British political parties and claims to have survived the concentration camps, yet lacks any identification beyond his word. Why would a refugee be trying to buy influence? So begins a novel of swapped identities in the aftermath of World War II and the Holocaust, each chapter adding a new layer of intrigue.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWith a twisting plotline, crackling dialogue and the return of beloved characters, \u003cem\u003eSmoke and Embers\u003c\/em\u003e is an exciting new addition to John Lawton's masterful canon of Cold War thrillers.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Allen \u0026 Unwin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47072667435244,"sku":"9781804710906","price":45.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/15123363482830.jpg?v=1765124879"},{"product_id":"then-we-take-berlin-by-john-lawton-9781611855654","title":"Then We Take Berlin","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJohn Holderness, known to the women in his life as 'Wilderness', comes of age during World War II in Stepney, East London, breaking into houses with his grandfather.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAfter the war, Wilderness is recruited as MI5's resident 'cat burglar' and finds himself in Berlin, involved with schemes in the booming black market that put both him and his relationships in danger.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn 1963, it is a most unusual and lucrative request that persuades Wilderness to return—to smuggle someone under the Berlin Wall and out of East Germany. But this final scheme may prove to be one challenge too far.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThen We Take Berlin\u003c\/em\u003e is a gripping, meticulously researched and richly detailed historical thriller—a moving story of espionage and war, and people caught up in the most tumultuous events of the twentieth century.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Allen \u0026 Unwin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47072764854508,"sku":"9781611855654","price":32.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/24490353482761.jpg?v=1765131007"},{"product_id":"moscow-exile-by-john-lawton-9780802158031","title":"Moscow Exile","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFrom \"quite possibly the best historical novelist we have\" (\u003ci\u003ePhiladelphia Inquirer\u003c\/i\u003e), the fourth Joe Wilderness spy thriller, moving from Red Scare-era Washington, D.C. to a KGB prison near Moscow's Kremlin.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eMoscow Exile\u003c\/i\u003e, John Lawton departs from his usual stomping grounds of England and Germany to jump across the Atlantic to Washington, D.C., in the fragile postwar period where the Red Scare is growing noisier every day.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eCharlotte is a British expatriate who has recently settled in the nation's capital with her second husband, a man who looks intriguingly like Clark Gable, but her enviable dinner parties and soirées aren't the only things she is planning. Meanwhile, Charlie Leigh-Hunt has been posted to Washington as a replacement for Guy Burgess, last seen disappearing around the corner and into the Soviet Union. Charlie is soon shocked to cross paths with Charlotte, an old flame of his, who, thanks to all her gossipy parties, has a packed pocketbook full of secrets she is eager to share.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eTwo decades or so later, in 1969, Joe Wilderness is stuck on the wrong side of the Iron Curtain, held captive by the KGB, a chip in a game way above his pay grade - but his old friends Frank and Eddie are going to try to spring him out of the toughest prison in the world. All roads lead back to Berlin, and to the famous Bridge of Spies...\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFeaturing crackling dialogue, brilliantly plotted Cold War intrigue, and the return of beloved characters, including Inspector Troy, \u003ci\u003eMoscow Exile\u003c\/i\u003e is a gripping thriller populated by larger-than-life personalities in a Cold War plot that feels strangely in tune with our present.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47607051780332,"sku":"9780802158031","price":49.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/a5ef85ffe4bd21a4989cf329db6d7e7d.jpg?v=1778191125"},{"product_id":"smoke-and-embers-by-john-lawton-9781804710920","title":"Smoke and Embers","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e1950. Chief Inspector Troy learns that his sergeant has been conducting an affair with the known mistress of infamous London racketeer Otto Ohnherz. Troy is immediately intrigued by the mysterious origins of Ohnherz's second-in-command, Jay Fabian, who is a major contributor to all three British political parties and claims to have survived the concentration camps, yet lacks any identification beyond his word. 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