Recommendations based on "Final Venture"

This is a series of simplified stories, designed as an introduction to literature. The series offers classics, best-sellers, film-titles and original stories. Each book has extensive exercises, a detailed introduction and information about the syllabus. They are published at six levels: level 1 - beginner (300 words); level 2 - elementary (500 words); level 3 - pre-intermediate (1050 words); level 4 - intermediate ( 1650 words); level 5 - upper intermediate (2300 words); level 6 - advanced (3000 words). The series is designed to be suitable for students of English as a foreign language, for students of English as a second language and for reluctant readers.

It's a blazing summer when two men arrive in the village. They're coming for gold. What they bring is trouble. Cal Hooper was a Chicago detective, till he moved to the West of Ireland looking for peace. He's found it, more or less - in his relationship with local woman Lena, and the bond he's formed with half-wild teenager Trey. So when two men turn up with a money-making scheme to find gold in the townland, Cal gets ready to do whatever it takes to protect Trey. Because one of the men is no stranger- he's Trey's father. But Trey doesn't want protecting. What she wants is revenge.

New York Times BestsellerFollowing the epic, ambitious, instant New York Times bestseller City on Fire, “The Godfather for our generation” (Adrian McKinty), comes the dramatic second novel in an epic crime trilogy from Don Winslow, #1 internationally bestselling author of the Cartel trilogy (The Power of the Dog, The Cartel and The Border).Hollywood.The city where dreams are made.On the losing side of a bloody East Coast crime war, Danny Ryan is now on the run. The Mafia, the cops, the FBI all want him dead or in prison. With his little boy, his elderly father and the tattered remnants of his loyal crew of soldiers, he makes the classic American migration to California to start a new life.A quiet, peaceful existence.But the Feds track him down and want Danny to do them a favor that could make him a fortune or kill him.And when Hollywood starts shooting a film based on his former life, Danny demands a piece of the action and begins to rebuild his criminal empire.Then he falls in love.With a beautiful movie star who has a dark past of her own.As their worlds collide in an explosion that could destroy them both, Danny Ryan has to fight for his life in a city where dreams are born.Or where they go to die.From the shores of Rhode Island to the deserts of California where bodies disappear, from the power corridors of Washington where the real criminals operate to the fabled movie studios of Hollywood where the real money is made, City of Dreams is a sweeping saga of family, love, revenge, survival and the fierce reality behind the dream.

The conned: an Oxford don, a revered society physician, a chic French art dealer, and a charming English lord. They have one thing in common. Overnight, each novice investor lost his life's fortune to one man. The con: Harvey Metcalfe. A brilliant, self-made guru of deceit. A very dangerous individual. And now, a hunted man.With nothing left to lose four strangers are about to come together—each expert in their own field. Their plan: find Harvey, shadow him, trap him, and penny-for-penny, destroy him. From the luxurious casinos of Monte Carlo to the high-stakes windows at Ascot to the bustling streets of Wall Street to fashionable London galleries, their own ingenious game has begun. It's called revenge—and they were taught by a master

Miami attorney Jack Swyteck is involved in the most explosive criminal trial of his career -- a case that starts with a murder on a military base and concludes with a shocking surprise that will change Jack's life forever. A beautiful woman comes to see Jack and begs him to represent her. She says she's about to be arrested for the murder of her husband, an officer stationed at Guantanamo Bay. Having no expertise in military law and sensing that the woman isn't telling him the entire truth, Jack turns her down. Then she drops a bombshell: She claims she's the adoptive mother of Jack's biological son -- a child he's never met. Either Jack must represent her or he'll never see the boy. So Jack agrees, but with great foreboding. He has an unreliable client -- a blackmailer who just might be a murderer -- and he has to travel to Gitmo and on to Havana to tussle with people who clearly have a lot to hide. This is a case with as many twists and turns as it has unanswered questions, and the personal toll on Jack won't end until he's forced to confront the ultimate surprise witness in a trial that rocks the city of Miami. In signature Grippando style, Hear No Evil is an intricate, fast-paced, and captivating thriller that will keep you guessing until the very end.

New York Times bestselling author William Lashner returns with a brilliantly twisty tale that probes the dark side of the law -- and manUnlike the rest of you, I cheerfully admit to my own utter selfishness. I am self-made, self-absorbed, self-serving, self-referential, even self-deprecating, in a charming sort of way. In short, I am all the selfs except selfless. Yet every so often, I run across a force of nature that shakes my sublime self-centeredness to its very roots. Something that tears through the landscape like a tornado, leaving nothing but ruin and reexamination in its wake. Something like Bob.--Victor CarlA beautiful young woman is dead, her husband convicted of the murder. In seeking a new trial for the husband, defense attorney Victor Carl must confront not only a determined prosecutor and a police detective who might have set up his client, but also a strange little busybody named Bob.Bob has the aspiration, one could even say compulsion, to help those around him. And it usually works out well for all concerned, except when it ends in blood. But Victor doesn’t know that . . . yet.Thanks to Bob, Victor is suddenly dressing better, dating a stunning woman, and both his economic prospects and his teeth are gleaming. It’s all good, until Victor finds a troubling connection between Bob and the murdered wife. Is Bob a kind of saint or is this obsessive Good Samaritan, in reality, a murderer?Filled with the keen wit, deep poignancy, twisting suspense, and dark realism that has entranced readers, impressed reviewers, and made William Lashner’s previous novels bestsellers, Falls the Shadow is a riveting novel sure to leave readers eager for more.

Defending a medical researcher accused of murdering a colleague raises one of the most difficult ethical questions attorney Paul Madriani has ever faced: how far should science go to find a cure for our most life-threatening diseases?When medical researcher Michael Givens is charged with the murder of a colleague he turns to Paul Madriani and Harry Hinds to defend him. The murder victim, a noted chemist and genetic specialist, was on the cusp of one of the great medical discoveries of history, a cure for cancer—a genetic silver bullet. Prosecutors are convinced that Givens coldly planned and carried out the murder, and that the motive was professional jealousy. Madriani doesn’t buy it. A longtime criminal defense attorney with a keen eye for assessing clients, he is convinced that Givens would not commit murder, and certainly not with the crude explosive device that was used. But someone else did. Digging into the victim’s work and his personal life, Madriani discovers a web of deceit and lies. Rumors surface of serious ethical violations in the testing program required to pave the way to vast riches for those who hold the patents on the new drug. Whispers abound that the dead doctor crossed moral boundaries not only in his professional life, but in his personal affairs as well, conduct for which others might well have killed him.Concerns are voiced that the new wonder drug may prove so successful in eradicating cancer that global mortality rates could plummet. If so, could a population explosion of huge proportions result, leading to economic and political upheaval, violence, and war? Every silver lining has its dark cloud. Behind all of this is a sinister web of intrigue into which the lawyers tumble as they fight to defend their client and discover the truth. It is a trial unlike any they have seen before, a cauldron of conspiracy that threatens to destroy Paul and Harry along with their client.

The maestro of pulse-pounding suspense delivers an explosive new white-knuckle thriller featuring deputy U.S. Marshal Tim Rackley -- a lawman driven by honor, morality, and a thirst for justice. The leader of one of the country's most violent biker gangs, Den Laurey should have been behind bars. But thanks to a daring escape on an L.A. freeway, several deputy marshals are dead and Laurey is riding free. Rackley, back on the Service's warrant squad, is in hot pursuit of the outlaw and his ruthless gang -- with a media whirlwind and the entire Los Angeles law-enforcement community driving him.Just when Laurey is within his grasp, circumstances force Rackley to let him go -- with devastating results. A few miles up the road, a sheriff's deputy is attacked: Tim's pregnant wife, Dray. Driven by guilt, Tim vows to hunt Laurey down -- a search that will lead him into a dark world of deception and lies, a world of criminals and undercover cops, drugs and mutilation. And the key to the violent puzzle lies in the discarded corpses of women -- women for whom Tim must seek justice when no one else will. With the stakes rising, Tim must unravel a horrifying secret and confront a deadly terror that reaches from the back alleys of Mexico to the poppy fields of Afghanistan ... and threatens to explode on the dark streets of L.A.

It is the greatest bounty hunt in history. The targets are the finest warriors in the world-commandos, spies, terrorists. And they must all be dead by 12 noon, today. The price on their heads: almost $20 million each.Among the names, one stands out. The enigmatic Marine, Shane Schofield, who goes by the call-sign "Scarecrow." Schofield is plunged into a race around the world, pursued by a fearsome collection of international bounty hunters. The race is on and the pace is frantic as he fights for survival, in the process unveiling a vast international conspiracy and the terrible reason why he cannot, under any circumstances, be allowed to live!He led his men into hell in Ice Station. He protected the President against all odds in Area 7. But this time it's different, because he is the target. With all of his trademark action, Matthew Reilly continues to establish himself as one of the top thriller writers of today.

The gripping new Ben Hope thriller from the Sunday Times bestseller. THEY THOUGHT HE WAS AN EASY TARGET. THEY THOUGHT WRONG. It’s a snowy, peaceful Christmas at Le Val, the rural haven that is home to ex-SAS soldier Ben Hope and his associates. With most of the team away for the festive holiday, Ben, recovering from an accident, is one of the skeleton crew guarding the compound. That’s when a ruthless Corsican crime gang, knowing that Ben is injured and out of action, target the location for a violent raid. With help from his faithful canine companion, Storm, Ben thwarts the attack – but not before the raiders claim several victims among his best friends. Now he must embark on a personal revenge mission to catch the sole remaining killer, the psychopathic Petru Navarro. Ben’s quest takes him across France into the lawless gangland of Corsica, his only real lead a priceless historic gold cross that is now in Navarro’s hands. If Ben can find it, he’ll find his enemy. But taking down this murderous psycho is another matter . . . People can’t get enough of the Ben Hope series: ‘Compelling from the first page until the last, Mariani and his fabulous protagonist Ben Hope entertain in a gripping tale that will have you turning the pages well into the night’ Mark Dawson ‘Thrilling. Scott Mariani is at the top of his game’ Andy McDermott ‘A high level of realism ... the action scenes come thick and fast. Like the father of the modern thriller, Frederick Forsyth, Mariani has a knack for embedding his plots in the fears and preoccupations of their time’ Shots Magazine ‘James Bond meets Jason Bourne meets The Da Vinci Code’ J. L. Carrell ‘History, action, devious scheming and eye-opening detail. Mariani delivers a twisting storyline’ David Leadbeater 'Non-stop action – this book delivers’ Steve Berry