Ben Nichols learns of the tragic death of his parents while they are on holiday. Devastated by the news, he must learn to carry on living, knowing he'll never see them again, but realizing he didn't know them well at all. While he and his wife Sally are away checking on the house he has inherited, her friend Elaine helps his two children cope with their loss by investigating their family tree. She inadvertently disturbs a hornet's nest of trouble which Sally then has to keep to herself.
Attempting to alleviate increased floods induced by Climate Change, weather scientist Graham Steele is engaged in experiments with a high powered fine tuned laser pulse to re-direct rain out to sea. His wife Claire, a survey geologist and amateur astronomer, is sceptical. Their friends, Stephen and Debbie, expecting their first child, act as referees in several disputes. During an horrific thunderstorm, electrical power is cut and Oliver and Eva at the transmission station struggle to restore it but their equipment is severely damaged.Morgan and Craig, local police officers, and other villagers in Eliot struggle when power is not restored immediately. Doctors Telford and Richmond and Nurse Julia Farrell strive to cope as the numbers of sick and injured people arriving at the Danbury's St Mary's Hospital increase and they don't have their usual equipment to help them.As time passes and electricity is still not restored people are forced to adjust their daily lives to cope as best they can, hoping things will get better as they endeavour to survive a bitter winter.Other severe environmental problems arise following a rare extra-terrestrial event which causes far more devastation and sickness than anyone could anticipate.Will life ever be quite the same again?
Dreaming of a mission to found a colony on Mars, Chris Bridge finally gets his wish and receives confirmation funding for the initial voyage has been secured. The Mission Colonial is built in space and after twelve years in construction, with a global fanfare and much excitement, finally sets off on its historic journey with its crew of eight, captained by George Newey.While many problems have been anticipated and planned for, the expedition isn't as smooth or uneventful as the crew would have liked, proving frustrating and at times dangerous, even deadly. Communication with ground control is disrupted and the ship is cut off for weeks at a time.As the ship gets closer to Mars, the crew is disturbed by dreams - nightmares. They speculate about what might be the cause of the dreams. Is it the processed rations, the fresh food grown aboard, the recycled atmosphere or something unknown condition? Or is it Mars itself, warning the crew away?On Earth unforeseen trouble doesn't help and as it escalates, threatens to end the world let alone the mission.
Walter Ambler killed his wife. Due to the ferocity of the attack and his mental history, he is sent to The Lanes, a medium security psychiatric hospital, perhaps indefinitely.However, Joy McHale, a member of the jury at his trial, is not convinced of his guilt. She visits him to aid his rehabilitation and bring this man, dominated by his bullying mother, out of himself. The story unfolds as, with the help of her boyfriend Bob Proctor and local journalist Paul Talbot, she investigates gaps in the case against him. Together they discover the circumstances weren't quite as obvious or cut and dried as the police thought.Also receiving help from the doctors and staff at the hospital, Joy and her friends are involved in some lively moments with other patients.Together they finally uncover the truth.
During the cool summer of 1924, with England recovering from the horrors of the First World War, this story centres round the family of Lord Milton, Earl of Dowland, and their associates. Robert Bradshaw, a former pilot during the War, is restless and hoping for a change. His wife Lady Eloise was the young widow of Lord Peter Knowles who was killed in a riding accident. Through a round of social parties, they and their friends, move from house to house engaged in a range of upper-class pursuits. A spate of jewel robberies during house parties at the homes of acquaintances is the hot topic of conversation. Edward, Robert's younger brother, develops his friendship with the servants and learns some startling information. Robert follows his wife on a clandestine visit to a jeweller's. Why has she gone there? Their friends Henry and Marcus maintain verbal sparring at each house they visit. What's their secret? Throughout the summer, relationships within the group bubble and stir, finally reaching boiling point.As the robberies come closer to home, Edward takes more interest while Robert becomes a partner in his father-in-law's instrument making business. Rummaging where few have delved before, he discovers things aren't quite as they should be.
IIf everything containing plastic disappeared tomorrow, how would you manage? During a week in a hot late summer somewhere on the North West coast of Lancashire a series of explosions leaves a fine powdery dust settled on everything. Jack Dale and Ella Grundy, together with friends and neighbours, investigate the source of the dust while to their horror, they find everything containing plastic starts to disappear. Is it just a coincidence or is the dust to blame?Life grinds to a halt as people discover how much they take for granted.
Suzie Cotton, single and content to be so, a lab technician at Hargreaves & Treader Enterprises Ltd, is working with her boss Martin and colleagues to produce energy from artificial photosynthesis. Embarking on an unexpected relationship with a dashing wealthy man her world becomes unsettled and confused, not knowing who she can trust.Meanwhile, at work, close to a breakthrough, the environmental research teams are under threat from Trio Chemical Company, the owner of which has threatened to buy them out and close them down.Despite struggling against a background of surprising bad press articles and a string of disasters and misfortunes, Suzie's romance blossoms. But can she and her friends determine who is behind the slurs and sabotage and what is their motive? Is it the obvious or the obscure?Has Suzie truly found the man of her dreams or the viper in the nest?
This is an 'end of the world' storyDuring a summer heat wave a large number of the elderly appear to be dying for no apparent reason. Doctors are baffled and an investigation leads to eliminating many causes. People react in different ways to the loss of loved ones, and it soon becomes apparent society will have to adjust to fewer elderly people and what this means for those left behind.However, it seems this tragedy is not limited to the older generation as younger people begin to die off too. Adjustments have to be made as circumstances change, too rapidly for some people to cope with.A cause is found, but it is bad news. The problem is global and different countries react in different ways. The younger generations have to become responsible, taking over businesses and governments, and many struggle to manage.When all adults are gone, young people and children are left to fend for themselves, degenerating into savagery.The epilogue covers what life is like on Earth once all the people are gone.
Cassy and Jonas make an extraordinary couple with an unusual need - human hearts. With no ties, family or friends, never settling, they head forwards on their eternal journey round the world. While making the crossing from the United States to Europe, unbeknown to Jonas his latest victim emails a recording of his own death to his computer at home. The couple travel to London, where they seek out an old friend but discover disturbing details about his life. Federal Agent Wheeler picks up a case which fits into a pattern he's working on, but the more he searches, the worse it gets and the more mutilated corpses he finds. He follows minor clues and traces until he reaches Charleston, South Carolina where his trail goes cold.Meanwhile, in Liverpool, once he's seen the horrific recording sent by Jonas's vicitim, Detective Silverwood realizes he's working on an international murder case.Together Agent Wheeler and Detective Silverwood team up, and with Detective Tutor, making use of plenty of surveillance equipment, expand the search across England, although the couple do their best to shake them off. Who are these people? Why are they killing in such a regular fashion? Who are they travelling so purposefully to meet? Will modern technology help to catch and stop them? What is their secret?
Thanks to Climate Change and the rapid warming of both the atmosphere and ocean, a glacier on the small Witch Island in the Antarctic Ocean is melting rapidly, releasing a buried ancient virus lethal to the marine life it encounters. When scientist Martin Raleigh finds badly decomposed fish and sea birds exhibiting specific symptoms, even experts can't determine the cause of death - an unknown pink microbe.With help from friends old and new, Martin investigates, trying to convince his boss it's important. He then hears of an outbreak of an especially virulent and deadly new form of influenza. Can Martin and his colleagues solve the problem before it becomes a global issue?
Set against the backdrop of political and social intrigue, this gripping Roman drama is told as two entwining stories via alternating chapters. One follows the journey of fictional Second Century centurion, Antonius Flavius through a real and particularly stormy period in Britannia's history. What happens during the tensions of this difficult time?In the other, a modern team of archaeologists have re-discovered the unknown fort in Cumbria where he lived. Uncovering the layers, they bring it back to life, and to their great excitement, find a secret pit. What is its purpose? Where does it fit with the story of the fort?
