Lawrence Osborne Books

This first collection of stories by Lawrence Osborne perfectly showcases his talent for tension, atmosphere - and characters out of their depth A naïve young linguist sent to the forests of Irian Jaya is manipulated into betraying her mission by a ruthless and disturbed pastor. A deaf girl hired as a maid by a wealthy New York couple turns the tables on her obliviously abusive employers and answers blackmail with blackmail. A psychiatrist treating a girl in rural England becomes ensnared in a love affair that threatens to destroy her career; while a young couple on holiday in Oman accidentally witness a killing, which leads to their being hunted as well. An entomologist at a remote hotel in the Andamans survives a tsunami and uses a dead body to further her study of ants. Collected here for the first time, Lawrence Osborne's stories, like his novels - 'elaborate and intricately plotted dances macabres' (The Times) - feel like nightmares set against calmly and meticulously observed backgrounds. With their nods to Daphne du Maurier and Roald Dahl, these nine long-form stories explore characters lost in the shadowed borders between the mundane, the fantastical and the violence of the natural world. PRAISE FOR LAWRENCE OSBORNE 'Osborne handles surface and depth with immense skill, as only great writers can' Deborah Levy, Financial Times 'Utterly compelling' Observer 'Menacing and engrossing' Sunday Times

'A modern Graham Greene' - Sunday Times David and Jo Henniger are on their way to a party at their old friends' home, deep in the Moroccan desert. But as a groggy David navigates the dark desert roads, two young men spring from the roadside, the car swerves and collides with one of the boys... Meanwhile, festivities at the house are in full flow. Under the watchful eyes of their Moroccan staff, the extravagant hosts attend to the whims of their glittering, insatiable guests as the party rages on into a new day. The stage is set for a weekend in which David and Jo must come to terms with their fateful act and its shattering consequences.

The year is 1988. The place, Baja California. Private Investigator Philip Marlowe - now in his seventy-second year - has been living out his retirement in the terrace bar of La Fonda hotel. Sipping margaritas, playing cards, his silver-tipped cane at the ready. When in saunter two men dressed like undertakers. With a case that has his name written all over it. At last Marlowe is back where he belongs. His mission is to investigate Donald Zinn - supposedly drowned off his yacht, leaving a much younger and now very rich wife. Marlowe's speciality. But is Zinn actually alive? Are the pair living off the spoils? Set between the border and badlands of Mexico and California, Lawrence Osborne's resurrection of the iconic Marlowe is an unforgettable addition to the Raymond Chandler canon.

`I waited patiently for the next hand to be played out, and I had a feeling it was going to be a Natural, a perfect nine.'His name is Lord Doyle. But in these shadowy dens of risk and compulsion, in a land governed by superstition, Doyle knows that when the bets are high, the stakes are even greater.

A veteran British journalist living in Hong Kong investigates the disappearance of a student protestor amidst the pro-democracy demonstrations in this unsettling new novel from the acclaimed author of The Forgiven After twenty years as an ex-pat reporter in Hong Kong, Adrian Gyle has almost nothing to show for it. But now the streets are choked with students demanding democratic freedoms, and the old world is beginning to fall apart. Adrian's old friend Jimmy Tang, the scion of a wealthy Hong Kong family, has begun a reckless affair with Rebecca, a leading pro-democracy protestor. But when Rebecca disappears and Jimmy goes to ground, Adrian unearths the familiar old urge to investigate. Pursuing Rebecca's ghost to Java Road where the city's dead congregate, Adrian re-assembles her final hours - as he struggles to distinguish between delusion and reality. 'Osborne's whodunnit is wrapped in an atmospheric portrait both of a particular place and time, and of the creation and destruction of a friendship. Highly recommended' GUARDIAN 'Osborne goes from strength to strength' LIONEL SHRIVER 'Osborne handles surface and depth with immense skill, as only great writers can' DEBORAH LEVY, FINANCIAL TIMES 'If the purpose of a novel is to take you away from the everyday and show you something different, then Osborne is succeeding, and handsomely' LEE CHILD, NEW YORK TIMES

Both impossible to put down and beautifully written: a great combo Lionel Shriver Observer Books of the Year

Tourists come to Bangkok for many reasons: a night of love, a stay in a luxury hotel, or simply to disappear for a while. Lawrence Osborne comes for the cheap dentistry, and then stays when he finds he can live off just a few dollars a day. Osborne's Bangkok is a vibrant, instinctual city full of contradictions. He wanders the streets, dining on insects, trawling through forgotten neighbourhoods, decayed temples and sleazy bars. Far more than a travel book, Bangkok Days explores both the little-known, extraordinary city and the lives of a handful of doomed ex-patriates living there, 'as vivid a set of liars and losers as was ever invented by Graham Greene' (New York Times).

A tense, stunningly well-observed heist novel following an American woman on the run in the blazing heat of Bangkok, from 'a modern Graham Greene' (Sunday Times) Sarah Talbot Jennings, a young American living in New York, has fled to Bangkok to disappear. Arriving with a suitcase containing $200,000, she rents an apartment at the Kingdom, a glittering high-end complex slowly sinking into its own twilight - and run by conveniently discreet staff. In Bangkok's shocking heat Sarah meets the beguiling Mali, a half-Thai tenant who's strangely determined to bring the quiet American out of her shell. An invitation to Mali's poker nights soon follows, where - fuelled by shots of yadong, gossip of shady dealings in the city and the hit of marijuana - Sarah is drawn into the orbit of the Kingdom's glamorous ex-pat women. But when an attempted military coup wracks the streets below and Sarah witnesses something unspeakable through one of the Kingdom's windows, only to be followed by a series of strange disappearances, Sarah's safe haven begins to feel like a trap. From a master of atmosphere and suspense, The Glass Kingdom is a brilliantly unsettling story of cruelty and psychological unrest, and an enthralling glimpse into the shadowy crossroads of karma and human greed.

Au f der Liste der besten Bücher des Jahres von Washington Post und CrimeReads Adrian Gyle, Engländer und seit zwei Jahrzehnten Journalist in Hongkong , steckt fest: Die große berufliche Karriere ist ausgeblieben, und die Tage plätschern für ihn oft im Fung Shing , dem Restaurant gleich um die Ecke, vor sich hin. Doch als er schon Pläne schmiedet, die einst so ausgelassene, optimistische Stadt zu verlassen, erhebt sich die Bevölkerung zu prodemokratischen Protesten , denen die chinesischen Behörden mit roher Gewalt begegnen und die dieganze Welt in Atem halten. Inmitten des Aufruhrs macht Gyle Bekanntschaft mit der mysteriösen Rebecca, der neuesten Affäre seines alten Freundes Jimmy Tang, Spross einer der reichsten Familien Hongkongs. Dann verschwindet Rebecca spurlos, und Jimmy taucht ab. Gyle ist bei seiner Journalistenehre gepackt und macht sich in einem undurchsichtigen Dickicht aus Freundschaft und Verrat , alter Welt und neuen Regeln auf die Suche nach Rebecca…

In "Welch schöne Tiere wir sind" verbringen Naomi und Sam ihren Sommer auf Hydra, wo sie einen geflüchteten Mann namens Faoud entdecken. Naomis Plan, sich an ihrem wohlhabenden Vater zu rächen, führt zu fatalen Konsequenzen. Eine fesselnde Studie über Schuld und Gier, die tiefgründig und packend ist.