Cool Machine
The Intrigue

Land

On a windswept peninsula stretching out into the Atlantic, Tomás and his reluctant son, Liam, are working for the great Ordnance Survey project to map the whole of Ireland. The year is 1865, and in a country not long since ravaged and emptied by the Great Hunger, the task is not an easy one. Tomás, however, is determined that his maps will be a record of the disaster.

The British soldiers in charge are due to arrive any day, expecting the work to be completed, but Tomás is unexpectedly sent off course by an unsettling encounter in a copse. His life, and the lives of those of his family, will never be the same again. Liam is terrified by the sudden change in his taciturn father. What was it that caused such cracks to open in Tomás, and how is Liam, aged only ten, going to finish the mapping and get them both home?

Land is a novel about separation and reunion, tragedy and recovery, colonization and rebellion. It is a story of buried treasure, overlapping lives, ancient woodland, persistent ghosts, a particularly loyal dog, and how, when it comes to both land and history, nothing ever goes away. As spellbinding and varied as the landscape that inspired it, Land is, above all, a story of survival, for our times and for all time.

More Adult, Non-Juvenile Books

  • Real Americans begins in New York City on the brink of Y2K, following twenty-two-year-old Lily Chen, an unpaid intern, as she falls in love with the charming heir to a pharmaceutical empire, Matthew. Years later, her son Nick, feeling out of place on a remote island, embarks on a quest to uncover the truth about his biological father, challenging the complexities of family, identity, and belonging.

    Read More about "Real Americans"...

  • An Indigenous artist blends the aesthetics of punk rock with the traditional spiritual practices of the women in her lineage in this bold, contemporary journey to reclaim her heritage and unleash her power and voice while searching for a permanent home.
  • Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

    Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt weaves a heartfelt narrative about Tova Sullivan, a widow who finds solace in her friendship with Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus residing at the local aquarium. As Tova navigates her grief and the mystery surrounding her son's disappearance, the unlikely bond with Marcellus leads her to uncover long-buried truths about the past. This debut novel is a poignant exploration of connection, hope, and the complexities of life.

    Read More about "Remarkably Bright Creatures"...

  • Walt Longmire is back after the escapades of First Frost and encounters one of his most baffling cases in Wyoming’s brutal and unforgiving Red Desert. When Blair McGowan, the mail person with the longest postal route in the country of over three hundred mile a day, goes missing the question becomes—where do you look for her? The Postal Inspector for the State of Wyoming elicits Sheriff Longmire to mount an investigation into her disappearance and Walt does everything but mail it in; posing as a letter-carrier himself, the good sheriff follows her trail and finds himself enveloped in the intrigue of [...]