Paul Torday

"Tell you what, Leader, do you want to double your money?" "Double or quits?" "Of course double or quits. I'm having lunch at the Randolph Hotel in Oxford tomorrow with my uncle. If you can join us by one o'clock sharp tomorrow, I'll tear up this cheque and write you another for six thousand pounds" It is a bet Richard Gaunt cannot resist - all he has to do is walk from London to Oxford in under twelve hours. As an ex-soldier he is up to the challenge. But what starts as a harmless bet turns into something altogether different when Richard is taken hostage by a mysterious stranger, Mr Khan, who makes him a highly unusual proposal. What he offers in return could transform Richard's life. Traumatised by a tour of duty in Iraq, Richard feels he has nothing to lose. The love of his life won't speak to him, he has lost every job he ever had and his friends have vanished. He therefore decides to accept Khan's strange request - never imagining the places it will take him.

BREAKFAST AT THE HOTEL DÉJÀ VU Bobby Clarke arrives at a hotel on the Mediterranean shore. He is a former MP, unseated by the expenses scandal, who is now spending time abroad to recover from a majo

This is the story of Dr Alfred Jones, a fisheries scientist - for whom diary-notable events include the acquisition of a new electric toothbrush and getting his article on caddis fly larvae published in 'Trout and Salmon' - who finds himself reluctantly involved in a project to bring salmon fishing to the Highlands of the Yemen - a project that will change his life, and the course of British political history forever. With a wickedly wonderful cast of characters - including a visionary Sheikh, a weasely spin doctor, Fred's devilish wife and a few thousand transplanted salmon - SALMON FISHING IN THE YEMEN is a novel about hypocrisy and bureaucracy, dreams and deniability and the transforming power of faith and love.

''You really love me don''t you?'' she said. ''Of course I do.'' ''It''s hard to tell because you never talk much. You''ve never really had any fun in your life at all, have you?'' ''No, but that''s about to change.'' Late one summer evening, Wilberforce - rich, young, work-obsessed and self-contained - makes an unexpected detour on the way home from the software company he owns and unwittingly takes the first step on a journey that will change his life. His uncharacteristically impulsive act leads him to the door of Caerlyon Hall, to the vast undercroft beneath it, and the domain of Francis Black, a place where wine, hospitality and affection flow freely. Through Francis, the eccentric and enigmatic owner of Caerlyon, Wilberforce is initiated into a life he could never have imagined: a life rich in the promise of friendship and adventure, where, through his new set of friends, with their shooting parties and stately homes, the possibility of finding acceptance, and even falling in love, seems finally to be within his reach. As his horizon broadens and his heart expands, Wilberforce becomes a willing pupil to Francis''s master, and in the cellars of Caerlyon he nurtures a new-found passion for fine wine. But even the finest wine can leave a bitter aftertaste, and Wilberforce will learn that the undercroft holds some unpalatable secrets, and that passion comes at a price. Chronicling the vintage years of Wilberforce''s life, The Irresistible Inheritance of Wilberforce is a dazzling, haunting story of obsession and addiction, of loyalty and betrayal.

Norman Stokoe has just been appointed Children''s Czar by the new government. He sells his flat and moves up north to take up the position. However before his first salary cheque has even hit his bank account, new priorities are set for the government department for which he works. The Children''s czar network is put on hold but it is too late to reverse the decision to employ Norman. So he is given a P.A. and a spacious office in a new business park on the banks of the Tyne. He settles down in his new leather chair behind his new desk, to wait for the green light to begin his mission. The green light never comes. What does happen is that two children go missing. As Children''s Czar, surely this case should fall within his remit, but Norman has built a career on doing nothing, on stamping pieces of paper with ''send to the relevant department''. Now, faced with a campaigning journalist and a distraught mother, he is forced to become involved. The search will take him to dark places and will make him ask questions about the system he is supposed to uphold.

La historia de la Humanidad está jalonada de descubrimientos que en un principio parecían imposibles, hasta que alguien demostró que no lo eran. Esta original ópera prima, de humor elegante e incisivo, es una mirada ironica sobre la fragilidad de nuestras convicciones, el poder estimulante de la fe y el absurdo de un sistema politico basado en el impacto de la imagen.La anodina carrera del doctor Alfred Jones transcurre sin sobresaltos en el Centro Nacional para el Fomento de la Piscicultura, donde ha cimentado su reputacion en un trabajo pionero sobre la reproduccion de los moluscos. Sin embargo, todo cambia el dia que su jefe le pide evaluar un extraño proyecto: introducir el salmon en Yemen. Racional de los pies a la cabeza, Fred no duda un instante en desestimarlo tajantemente, ignorando que detras de la peculiar idea esta Mohamed ben Zaidi bani Tihama, un acaudalado jeque empeñado en exportar el purificador arte de la pesca con mosca a las montañas del norte de Yemen. La situacion se complica cuando el disparatado proyecto capta la atencion de un ambicioso asesor del primer ministro, que descubre una excelente oportunidad para mejorar la imagen del Reino Unido en Oriente Medio y de paso proyectar su futuro politico. De pronto, los implacables engranajes del poder se

With a wickedly wonderful cast of characters, "Salmon Fishing in the Yemen" is the whimsical story of an unlikely hero who discovers true love, finds himself first a pawn and then a victim of political spin, and learns to believe in the impossible.

La historia de la Humanidad está jalonada de descubrimientos que en un principio parecían imposibles, hasta que alguien demostró que no lo eran. Esta original ópera prima, de humor elegante e incisivo, es una mirada ironica sobre la fragilidad de nuestras convicciones, el poder estimulante de la fe y el absurdo de un sistema politico basado en el impacto de la imagen. La anodina carrera del doctor Alfred Jones transcurre sin sobresaltos en el Centro Nacional para el Fomento de la Piscicultura, donde ha cimentado su reputacion en un trabajo pionero sobre la reproduccion de los moluscos. Sin embargo, todo cambia el dia que su jefe le pide evaluar un extraño proyecto: introducir el salmon en Yemen. Racional de los pies a la cabeza, Fred no duda un instante en desestimarlo tajantemente, ignorando que detras de la peculiar idea esta Mohamed ben Zaidi bani Tihama, un acaudalado jeque empeñado en exportar el purificador arte de la pesca con mosca a las montañas del norte de Yemen. La situacion se complica cuando el disparatado proyecto capta la atencion de un ambicioso asesor del primer ministro, que descubre una excelente oportunidad para mejorar la imagen del Reino Unido en Oriente Medio y de paso proyectar su futuro politico. De pronto, los implacables engranajes del poder se ponen en marcha y el doctor Jones se ve obligado a reconsiderar su dictamen inicial, colaborar con la joven y atractiva representante del jeque y lanzarse a una aventura con un final digno de la mejor novela de intriga.

Late one summer evening, Wilberforce - rich, young and work-obsessed - makes an unexpected detour on the way home and unwittingly tales the first step on a journey that will change his life. His uncharacteristically impulsive act leads him to the door of Caerlyon Hall and to the vast undercroft beneath it, a place where wine, hospitality and affection flow freely. Through Francis, the eccentric and enigmatic owner of Caerlyon, Wilberforce is initiated into a life he could never have imagined: a life rich in the promise of friendship and adventure, where, through his new set of friends, with their shooting parties and stately homes, the possibility of finding acceptance and falling in love seems to be within his reach...