Sept 4: The Predicament by William Boyd (Penguin)
Accidental spy Gabriel Drax returns in the sequel to Boyd’s bestselling Gabriel’s Moon. Once again unable to resist the charms of his MI6 handler Faith Green, the reluctant agent is embroiled in political turmoil in Guatemala where the CIA and Mafia are causing chaos in a tinderbox presidential election. Boyd, whose Any Human Heart (2002) was one of the best novels of the noughties, remains one of our most thrilling writers.
Sept 9: Secret of Secrets by Dan Brown (Bantam)
The welcome return of the multi-million selling Da Vinci Code author with his first novel in eight years sees Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon, ‘Harrison Ford in Harris Tweed’, in another edge-of-your-seat thriller. When Langdon’s companion disappears in Prague, he must solve a series of fiendishly tricky puzzles to get to the bottom of a conspiracy which has potentially devastating repercussions.
Sept 18: What We Can Know by Ian McEwan (Jonathan Cape)
One of our foremost literary writers takes a dystopian look into a drowned future where climate change has altered our world forever.
Sept 25: The Impossible Fortune by Richard Osman (Viking)
The fifth instalment of Osman’s mega-hit Thursday Murder Club series sees our favourite pensioner sleuths cast into a dramatic new investigation after Elizabeth meets a wedding guest who fears for her life. With uncrackable codes, dastardly villains and afternoon teas, it’s another guaranteed cracker from Britain’s bestselling novelist.
Oct 9: When Gavin Met Stacey & Everything in Between by Ruth Jones and James Corden (Bantam)
The Gavin and Stacey creators reminisce about their hit show and friendship in an appealing mix that will no doubt appear in thousands of Christmas stockings.
Oct 21: The Revenge of Odessa by Frederick Forsyth with Tony Kent (Bantam)
The late Daily Express legend returns posthumously in a sequel to his magnificent 1972 novel, The Odessa File, written with Tony Kent. As journalist and podcaster Georg Miller begins to join the dots on a series of seemingly unconnected murders, he realises Nazi group Odessa is back… and more dangerous than ever. Buckle up for a thrill-ride.
Nov 4: Wings: The Story of a Band on the Run by Paul McCartney (Allen Lane)
After the demise of The Beatles, Paul McCartney’s next project Wings, formed with wife Linda and Denny Laine, were unpredictable, chaotic and brilliant. Drawn from dozens of hours of interviews, edited together by Ted Widmer, Macca tells the story from his own perspective for the first time. A must-read for Fabs fans.
Nov 4: Book of Lives: A Memoir of Sorts, by Margaret Atwood (Chatto & Windus)
The Handmaid’s Tale author delves into her own life with her highly-anticipated new memoir about her nomadic, creative childhood in Canada and how it shaped her, and the key moments that shaped the books that came to make her name and inspire the dystopian vision of a future in which women are subjugated and forced to bear children for the ruling elite.
Nov 4: The Eleventh Hour by Salman Rushdie (Jonathan Cape)
In this book of five short stories set in India, America and England, his first fiction since he was nearly murdered in a horrifying on-stage knife attack, Rushdie confronts ideas of mortality and memory. Fans will especially enjoy a return to the magical Bombay neighbourhood of his 1981 novel Midnight’s Children where two quarrelsome old men face private tragedy against the backdrop of a national calamity.