Most Popular Books by Martyn Bedford

At 15, Gloria longs for adventure, something beyond her ordinary suburban life. When a mysterious new boy strolls into school, bent on breaking all the rules, Gloria is ready to fall under his spell. Uman is funny, confident, and smart. He does what he wants without a care for what anyone thinks. The only people for him, he says, are the mad ones, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing but burn, burn, burn. He is everything Gloria wants to be. He can whisk her away and show her a more daring, more exciting life in which the only limits are the boundaries of her own boldness. But Uman is not all he seems. And by the time she learns the truth about him, she’s a long way from home . . . and the whole country wants to know: Where’s Gloria? For fans of Dreamland by Sarah Dessen, Stolen by Lucy Christopher, and the Mara Dyer books by Michelle Hodkin. Praise for Twenty Questions for Gloria “The witty banter . . . will appeal to teens who love books with quirky dialogue and zingy one-liners, which also provide a refreshing and authentic counterpoint to the darker themes that run through the story. . . . For fans of Rainbow Rowell’s Eleanor & Park.”—SLJ “Bedford’s (Never Ending, 2014) skillful writing and unusual format will draw in teens who identify with the urge to cast off the mundane and find their place in the world.”—Booklist “Dropping clues with absolute control over the novel’s trajectory, Bedford builds tension from the initial interview to the surprising final scene.”—Horn Book “Feels like it should be a Sherlock Holmes style novel and I mean that in the best way possible because it has that allure and mystery, and yet still keeps it humble with its quirky characters, romance-on-the-side . . . it’s an amazing novel to read.”—The Guardian, UK “A gripping tale . . . should definitely be on your reading list.”—Escapades of a Bookworm (UK) “An outstanding novel which poses big questions while immersing the reader in a fast-moving narrative.”—The School Librarian (UK)

When an out-of-work actor discovers his bedsit once belonged to an obscure, suicidal painter, he turns his talents to re-creating the ultimate site-specific performance… As a teenage girl drifts from depression into a permanent state of sleep, she becomes the focus of both scientific interest and an unexpected, cult following... Against a backdrop of hooliganism and hostility, an asylum seeker writes letters home assuring his family how welcoming England is... Many of the characters in Martyn Bedford’s stories find themselves at a point of redefinition, trading in their old identity for something new. Whether it is an act of retreat or escape – fantasising about storming out of a thankless job, or just avoiding a bad-tempered husband for a few moments on Christmas day – they each understand the first step in changing a reality, is to reconstruct it. ‘Martyn Bedford is the genuine article, a writer of unmistakable flair and accomplishment.’ - New York Times ‘Haunting and intimate portraits of vividly different lives that get under your skin and stay there.’ - Jeremy Dyson ''Letters Home further establishes Martyn Bedford as a stand-out writer of highly memorable fiction.’ - Jacob Ross

A deeply affecting new novel by the award-winning author of Flip! When a family holiday ends in the tragic death of their young son, the grieving parents struggle to cope, and Shiv, their fifteen-year-old daughter, must come to terms with what happened . . . and her part in it. Off the rails and tormented by guilt, she is sent away to an exclusive clinic that claims to "cure" people like her. But this is no ordinary psychiatric institution, and Shiv discovers that her release--from her demons, and from the clinic itself--will come at a bizarre and terrible price.

What does it mean to have a soul whose will to live knows no limits? This gripping psychological thriller establishes Martyn Bedford as a hot new literary talent for young adults. Friday, December 14th. Fourteen-year-old Alex rushes home that night to beat his curfew. The next morning, he wakes up in an unfamiliar house, in a different part of the country, and it''s the middle of June. Six months seem to have disappeared overnight. The family at the breakfast table? Total strangers. And when Alex looks in the mirror, another boy — called Philip, or Flip — stares back. The race against the clock is on, and unless Alex finds out what''s happened and how to get back to his own life, he''ll be forever trapped in someone else''s body and life.

"Unusually deft and witty dialogue--. With great aplomb, [Bedford] has brought off an erotic thriller."--The New York Times Book Review In The Houdini Girl, award-winning mystery writer Martyn Bedford explores the pulsing spiritual chaos that lies at the heart of erotic obsession. Fletcher "Red" Brandon is a master magician who uses his talents to seduce Rosa, a flinty Irish woman. But when Rosa is killed suddenly, Red discovers secrets about the woman with whom he shared one sexy, combative, freewheeling year. Inside Rosa''s shoulder bag are a wig and a stranger''s passport. And when a routine investigation reveals that Rosa has vanished before--and that her father was a terrorist for the IRA--Peter suspects foul play. Red finds himself in Amsterdam, a stranger stumbling through his lover''s secret history. Following a trail of addiction, prostitution, and murder, Red''s search for the truth becomes more and more laden with mystery and forces him to reveal his own unsavory secrets. Masterfully plotted, The Houdini Girl transcends sleight-of-hand trickery for a stunning tale of love, loss, and the lure of illusion.

As he goes through his dead mother''s papers Englishman Gregory Lynn, 35, discovers his unflattering school reports, which revive memories of humiliation at the hands of teachers. One called him a donkey, another said he had a girl''s name. Lynn decides to even the score with cold-blooded acts of revision. A first novel.

The relationship between sleep and storytelling is an ancient one. For centuries, sleep has provided writers with a magical ingredient – a passage of time during which great changes miraculously occur, an Orpheus-like voyage through the subconscious daubed with the fantastic. But over the last ten years, our scientific understanding of sleep has been revolutionised. No longer is sleep viewed as a time of simple rest and recuperation. Instead, it is proving to be an intensely dynamic period of brain activity: a vital stage in the re-wiring of memories, the learning of new skills, and the processing of problems and emotions. How will storytelling respond to this new and emerging science of sleep? Here, 14 authors have been invited to work with key scientists to explore various aspects of sleep research: from the possibilities of ‘sleep engineering’ and ‘overnight therapies’, to future-tech ways of harnessing sleep’s problem-solving powers, to the challenges posed by our increasingly 24-hour lifestyles. Just as new hypotheses are being put forward, old hunches are also being confirmed (there’s now a scientific basis for the time-worn advice ‘to sleep on a problem’). As these responses show, sleep and the spinning of stories are still very much entwined. Featuring scientific contributions from: Prof Russell G. Foster, Isabel Hutchison, Dr. Simon Kyle, Dr. Penny Lewis, Dr. Paul Reading, Stephanie Romiszewski, Prof Robert Stickgold, Prof Manuel Schabus, Prof Ed Watkins, Prof Adam Zeman, Dr. Thomas Wehr. This project was supported by the Wellcome Trust.

A coroner reveals a body''s tell-tale clues to his students, as he unwittingly dissects his own relationship. . . A breakdown driver turns his roadside routine into a quite different type of pick-up . . . Two creative writing tutors discuss the merits of hardboiled versus cosy schools of crime writing, while a murderous student points out that it''s really procedure that counts . . . The second in this series of anthologies from the CWA picks up the primary scent of any investigation: the modus operandi; the signature that identifies any repeat offender, the how that supersedes the why . From the ex-doctor tenderly administering a final prescription to his victims, the party of finishing school debutantes exacting revenge on their lecherous host... these stories demonstrate that, even with the most despicable of crimes, there s methodology in the madness.

Computers are changing. Soon the silicon chip will seem like a clunky antique amid the bounty of more exotic processes on offer. Robots are changing too; material evolution and swarm intelligence are creating a new generation of devices that will diverge and disperse into a balanced ecosystem of humans and ‘robjects’ (robotic objects). Somewhere in between, we humans will have to change also… in the way we interact with technology, the roles we adopt in an increasingly ‘intelligent’ environment, and how we interface with each other. The driving motors behind many of these changes will be artificial life (A-Life) and unconventional computing. How exactly they will impact on our world is still an open question. But in the spirit of collective intelligence, this anthology brings together 38 scientists and authors, working in pairs, to imagine what life (and A-Life) will look like in the year 2070. Every kind of technology is imagined: from lie-detection glasses to military swarmbots, brain-interfacing implants to synthetically ‘grown’ skyscrapers, revolution-inciting computer games to synthetically engineered haute cuisine. All artificial life is here. Featuring scientific contributions from: Martyn Amos, J. Mark Bishop, Seth Bullock, Stephen Dunne, James Dyke, Christian Jantzen, Francesco Mondada, James D. O''Shea, Andrew Philippides, Lenka Pitonakova, Steen Rasmussen, Thomas S. Ray, Micah Rosenkind, James Snowdon, Susan Stepney, Germán Terrazas, Andrew Vardy and Alan Winfield. Supported by TRUCE (Training and Research in Unconventional Computation in Europe).

Whatever happened to British protest? For a nation that brought the world Chartism, the Suffragettes, the Tolpuddle Martyrs, and so many other grassroots social movements, Britain rarely celebrates its long, great tradition of people power. In this timely and evocative collection, twenty authors have assembled to re-imagine key moments of British protest, from the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381 to the anti-Iraq War demo of 2003. Written in close consultation with historians, sociologists and eyewitnesses – who also contribute afterwords – these stories follow fictional characters caught up in real-life struggles, offering a streetlevel perspective on the noble art of resistance. In the age of fake news and post-truth politics this book fights fiction with (well researched, historically accurate) fiction. Protests include the Peasants Revolt, Poll Tax Riots, Anti-Iraq War Demo and many more...

Millgarth Police Station reverberates with the early adrenalin-rush of a case they won''t close for years. A teenage boy trails the city centre bars of the eighties in thrall to his hero - a Leeds United football hooligan. A single woman finds her frustrations with men confirmed speed-dating in a city re-invented as a party capital. Bringing together fiction from some of the city''s most celebrated writers, The Book of Leeds traces the unique contours that fifty years of social and economic change can impress on a city. These are stories that take place at oblique angles to the larger events in the city''s history, or against wider currents that have shaped the social and cultural landscape of today''s Leeds: a modern city with both problems and promise.

No permitas que te desvelen nada acerca de esta novela... Un thriller psicológico que no va a dejarte indiferente. Gloria no es feliz, todo en su vida le aburre. Hasta que conoce a Uman. Con él todo es excitante, nuevo, se siente viva por primera vez. Pero las personas no son siempre lo que parecen... Nominada al Costa Book Award. La opinión de los lectores: «Una historia increíble y original; no se parece a nada que haya leído antes.» «La mejor novela juvenil que he leído nunca.» «Empecé el libro y ya no pude dejar de leer. TENÍA QUE SABER qué le había pasado a Gloria.» «Martyn Bedford ha escrito un libro increíblemente bueno.» «Solo es comparable a una versión adolescente de Perdida.» «El libro se devora en nada. [#] Una lectura entretenida, fresca y sorprendente.» Y lo que ha dicho la crítica: «Los jóvenes fans de la novela negra disfrutarán mucho del suspense, el ritmo frenético, los diálogos cinematográficos y los personajes verosímiles de esta novela.» School Library Journal «Emocionante, inteligente y muy bien escrita. Hay que leerla.» The Children''s Book Magazine

Op een saaie doordeweekse dag stapt een nieuwe jongen Gloria’s klas binnen. En niet zomaar één. Uman is knap en mysterieus, en ook grappig en superslim. Hij komt meteen naast Gloria zitten en heeft alleen maar oog voor haar. Binnen de kortste keren wordt ze verliefd. Dus als hij voorstelt om te breken met hun saaie leven en er samen vandoor te gaan, hoeft ze niet lang na te denken. Ze nemen een tentje mee, gooien hun telefoons weg en gaan samen het avontuur tegemoet... Maar wie is deze raadselachtige jongen eigenlijk? En is hij wel te vertrouwen? Wanneer Gloria eindelijk achter de waarheid over Umans verleden komt is ze mijlenver van huis en stellen haar ouders en de politie zich de vraag: waar is Gloria?

Hai mai desiderato scappare da tutto, persino da te stessa? Gloria Ellis ha quindici anni e odia la sua vita. Odia la stupida cittadina di provincia in cui è cresciuta, la stupida scuola che frequenta e gli stupidi amici che vede tutti i giorni. È per questo che quando nella sua classe arriva un ragazzo nuovo, un ragazzo deciso a infrangere ogni regola, Gloria se ne innamora immediatamente. In apparenza Uman è tutto ciò che lei ha sempre sognato: è brillante, sicuro di sé, imprevedibile. Ed è pronto a trascinarla in un''avventura che non conosce limiti, se non quelli del proprio coraggio. Gloria accetta la sfida e parte - senza lasciare un biglietto, senza salutare nessuno - per una folle e romantica fuga attraverso l''Inghilterra. All''inizio tutto è come lei se l''era immaginato: un''esperienza liberatoria, esaltante. Presto, però, Uman si rivela diverso da quel che sembrava. E quando Gloria se ne accorge, quando scopre la verità su di lui, si ritrova ormai molto lontana da casa. Forse troppo lontana. Dalla penna di uno scrittore pluripremiato, una suspense psicologica che mozza il fiato. Una storia indimenticabile, costruita come un interrogatorio della polizia, in un rapido susseguirsi di domande e risposte, confessioni e colpi di scena. Fino all''ultima, strepitosa riga. "Meraviglioso." - The Guardian "Un romanzo che non lascia scampo." - School Library Journal "Martyn Bedford è uno scrittore dallo stile e dal talento inequivocabili." - The New York Times

A fugitive turns up at a young widow''s door. Finn is a draft dodger. Afraid of dying and opposed to the war, he could see no way out until a stranger slipped him a calling card from an anti-draft network. Now on the run, he has the promise of a new identity and a new life, but if he is caught, the punishment will be brutal. Then he meets Bryher. Thrown together by war, united in grief, they take a chance on one another- a chance that could make or break them.

Pourquoi attendre de vivre vraiment ? Gloria mène une vie normale d''adolescente de 15 ans. Et elle s''ennuie. Jusqu''au jour où un garçon mystérieux fait irruption dans sa classe : Uman est drôle, intelligent, d''une assurance désarmante. Il fait ce qu''il veut sans attacher la moindre importance à ce que les autres pensent. Il est tout ce que Gloria voudrait être. Il est la promesse de vivre enfin pleinement, de vibrer, d''aimer. Alors quand il lui propose de partir, de camper en forêt, de choisir leurs destinations à pile ou face... Gloria s''enfuit avec lui sans regrets, et sans prévenir personne.

When Ethan discovers that Chloe Fortune is a dowser and that her acute sixth sense allows her to locate anything she sets her mind on, they seem made for each other. But as they hunt their quarry, they close in on other truths: about themselves, about each other and about obsession itself.

Zurück ins Leben Shivs Leben ist vollkommen aus den Fugen geraten: Während eines Familienurlaubs in Griechenland verunglückte ihr jüngerer Bruder Declan - und Shiv gibt sich die Schuld an seinem Tod. In einer psychiatrischen Klink gelingt es ihr, nach und nach Erinnerungen an unbeschwerte Tage am Meer, an den lebensfrohen, quirligen Declan und an den gut aussehenden Griechen Nikos, in den sie sich dort Hals über Kopf verliebt hatte, zuzulassen. Und an das Unglück, das sich dennoch so unausweichlich zusammenbraute. Was ist damals wirklich geschehen? Und welche Rolle spielte Nikos dabei? Noch einmal muss Shiv durch die Hölle gehen, um sich endlich Klarheit zu verschaffen.

Een Brits mega-winkelcentrum wordt onveilig gemaakt door een vandaal die reageert op sociale misstanden.

Martyn Bedford é considerado por muitos um dos melhores autores ingleses de sua geração. A MÁGICA é seu mais recente thriller - uma história inteligente e repleta de mistérios que promete prender o leitor até a última página. Tudo começa quando Red, um mágico profissional, se apaixona por Rosa, uma garota irlandesa de personalidade forte. Perito na arte da ilusão, Red se delicia com o fato de ter iludido Rosa a corresponder seu amor. Acostumado a iludir seu público todas as noites, é surpreendido ao perceber que pode ter sido enganado. Após uma bem-sucedida apresentação, onde realizou seu grande truque do Ziguezague - no qual duas grandes lâminas são enfiadas no corpo de sua assistente, a bela Kim - ele recebe a notícia da morte de sua amada. Vítima de uma intrigante queda de trem, em um dia e lugar onde não deveria estar, a tragédia deixa sem resposta uma série de perguntas. Teria sido empurrada? Caiu sozinha? Cometeu suicídio? O mágico fica arrasado e perplexo, pois além de não ter idéia do que ela estaria fazendo num trem que saía de Oxford numa tarde de sexta-feira, quando deveria estar trabalhando, ele percebe que nada sabia do passado de sua namorada. Um misterioso pacote chega até Red e parece trazer as primeiras pistas do que realmente teria acontecido com Rosa. É o ponto de partida para uma investigação que leva a descobertas surpreendentes sobre o passado da jovem e sobre a natureza do relacionamento do casal. Sua busca o leva até Amsterdã, onde descobre mais sobre si mesmo do que jamais soube sobre Rosa. À medida que vai desvendando toda a verdade, Red percebe que se meteu em uma encrenca que nunca poderia ter previsto e para escapar, vai precisar de muito mais do que simples truques de ilusionismo. A MÁGICA é um romance vívido, às vezes chocante, que investiga as questões eternamente enigmáticas e dolorosas sobre a natureza da fidelidade e da traição. Martyn Bedford foi criado em Londres e, atualmente, vive em Yorkshire. Trabalhou como jornalista por vários anos e recentemente abandonou as redações para se dedicar à literatura em tempo integral, após o sucesso de seu romance de estréia, Atos de correção, que ganhou o prêmio Yorkshire Post. Seus romances já foram traduzidos para nove idiomas.. "Um thriller inteligente e cheio de estilo." - Times Literary Supplement "Um grande sucesso. Ousado, incomum, com estilo e inteligência." - The Times

As he goes through his dead mother''s papers Englishman Gregory Lynn, 35, discovers his unflattering school reports, which revive memories of humiliation at the hands of teachers. One called him a donkey, another said he had a girl''s name. Lynn decides to even the score with cold-blooded acts of revision.

Achttien jaar nadat hij van school werd gestuurd, gaat een man zijn gram halen door al zijn leraren te bestraffen.

Een excentrieke man en een zwarte milieu-activiste gaan samen op zoek naar een zwarte panter in de Noord-Engelse heidevelden, waar zijn obsessie voor het beest evenredig groeit met zijn obsessie voor haar.