Showing titles in Sports

It's the third death that really troubles former champion jump-jockey Sid Halley. He knows the perils of racing all too well, but in his day, jockeys didn't usually reach the finishing line with three .38 rounds in the chest. But this is precisely how he finds Huw Walker, the new winner of the Triumph Hurdle and Halley's friend. Now former friend. Walker was riding one of Lord Enstone's horses in the Hurdle and it was the inimitable owner who invited Halley in the first place.

Frank's had better days.... The doctor gave him the news he didn't want, and he's also discovered the worst kept secret in Liverpool: that his wife's fitness instructor is providing her services that extend beyond the gym. With time a dwindling commodity, Frank decides it's time to do something he wants to do. With a little encouragement from his oldest friend, Stan, the first destination for his 'bucket list' is the Isle of Man TT Races. They had been content to just spectate, but fate had other ideas.

February 1974. Football manager Charlie Gordon is struggling, and only a decent cup run is keeping him in work. Meanwhile, as the country prepares for a general election, one of the most audacious and high-profile political assassinations in the IRA's history is being planned in London. An active service unit of two men and a woman await the critical signal to proceed.

In the spirit of Flashman, and in the inimitable George MacDonald Fraser style, comes a rousing story of prize fighting in the 19th century. Reissued in a stunning new package, Black Ajax will attract a new generation of fans. When Captain Buck Flashman sees the black boxer catch a fly in midflight, he realizes that he is in the presence of speed such as the prize ring has never seen.

Ever since we met two years ago, Eden Burkehammer has made everything better. The big defenseman sets me at ease. He’s a beast on the ice—brutal and physical—but when it’s the two of us, he turns to me with these unexpectedly soft brown eyes. This gravelly laugh that makes my whole body smile. And yeah, I might have thrown a glance his way a time or two in the steamed-up locker room showers—you know, just curious. But he’s my best friend. My teammate. Roommate. I don’t want to mess with that. Just the thought of losing him sends a cold zap the full length of my spine.

Football is a game of steps: Quick steps. Trick steps. Even sneaky, slick steps. Whether you're on or off the pitch, you best know your footing. And for Max Best, that's no problem at all. He has the ability to read players to a T—thanks to the sentient stat-tracking display he received after saving an elderly man in the streets. Now, as director of football for Chester FC, everything's falling into place for Max. His team is climbing the ranks. He's executing great transfers and hired a literal old hand for his brand-new women's team. What could go wrong?

A small, broken town sits on the edge of a frozen lake surrounded by a forest, its wounds still raw from a tragedy that tore its fragile community in two. Beartown has lost its way. Now the cold and dark that surround the snowbound town creep in, and so do new conflicts and tensions. What was once a friendly rivalry with the neighbouring town is beginning to turn sinister and Beartown braces itself for another tragic blow. How far will the people of Beartown go to preserve their reputations for a second, deadly time?

A wonderful, warm novel from a major new American voice. In The Art of Fielding, we see young men who know that their four years on the baseball diamond at Westish College are all that remain of their sporting careers. Only their preternaturally gifted fielder, Henry Skrimshander, seems to have the chance to keep his dream – and theirs, vicariously – alive, until a routine throw goes disastrously off course, and the fates of five people are upended.

Brayden: I'm a goddamn prodigy. I threw my first curveball the day I was born. The whole town's waiting on me. To live up to my father's famous name. To reach for the stars. All I want to reach for is her. But Ashley's the sweet addiction I can't afford. She's my best friend's sister. For years, I've protected her from guys who want one thing. What happens now that I've turned into one of them? My game plan sounds simple: Pitch my way into the Major League draft and stay out of Ashley Foster's pants. The first part may be statistically difficult. The second feels damn near impossible.

I grew up with the Buchanan twins. Wreaking havoc. Playing hockey. Causing chaos. Almost all of my memories involve Archer and Maverick. Then I started dating one of them. Archer Buchanan is perfect. He’s sweet. Attentive. Passionate. He’s everything a girl could ask for in a boyfriend. And I love him so much. The problem is…I love his twin brother even more.

First published in 1956, The Ascent of Rum Doodle quickly became established as mountaineering classic. As an outrageously funny spoof about the ascent of a 40,000-and-a-half-foot peak, many thought it inspired by the 1953 conquest of Everest. But Bowman had drawn on the flavour and tone of earlier adventures, of Bill Tilman and his 1937 account of the Nandi Devi expedition. The book's central and unforgettable character, Binder, is one of the finest creations in comic literature.

As team captain and enforcer, Patrick O'Doul puts the bruise in the Brooklyn Bruisers. But after years of hard hits, O'Doul is feeling the burn, both physically and mentally. He conceals his pain from his coach and trainers, but when his chronic hip injury becomes too obvious to ignore, they send him for sessions with the team's massage therapist.

Forty-years old and still reeling from a public and painful divorce, Thalia Blackwood is looking for a fresh start, somewhere far away from her upside down life. When she's offered a new job as the sports therapist for a football (soccer) team, she jumps at the chance. This is just what she needs to leave the heartbreak and shame of Manchester behind, trading it in for the warmth and hopeful vibrancy of Madrid.

Two years have passed since the events that no one wants to think about. Everyone has tried to move on, but there’s something about this place that prevents it. The residents continue to grapple with life’s big questions: What is a family? What is a community? And what, if anything, are we willing to sacrifice in order to protect them? As the locals of Beartown struggle to overcome the past, great change is on the horizon. Someone is coming home after a long time away.

Carrie Soto is fierce, and her determination to win at any cost has not made her popular. By the time Carrie retires from tennis, she is the best player the world has ever seen. She has shattered every record and claimed 20 Slam titles. She sacrificed nearly everything to become the best, with her father as her coach. But six years after her retirement, Carrie finds herself watching her record be taken from her by a brutal, stunning, British player named Nicki Chan. At 37 years old, Carrie makes the monumental decision to come out of retirement in an attempt to reclaim her record.

As the Seattle Sharks' number one Enforcer, nothing means more to me than hockey. I live and breathe the game. But when my short-temper gets me into one too many late night brawls, coach threatens to bench me if I don't clean up my act. It'll take more than me changing my nightlife habits - the media needs this bad boy to go good. Paige Turner - the gorgeous, off-limits best friend of my bro's fiancee - has the solution. About to take over as acting CEO of her family's multi-billion-dollar corporation, she'll have to sign a morality clause kissing any wild-life she wanted goodbye.

To Nashville Assassins leading scoring center Phillip Anderson, playing hockey has always been easy - as natural as breathing. His life is no different. That's until his world is turned upside down by the death of his sister. While mourning his loss, Phillip has to find a way to make his very angry 16-year-old niece, Claire, happy. Now, as her guardian, he discovers the only thing that seems to heal her lonely heart is dance class. For Reese Allen, dancing has always been part of her soul.

Becoming a teen mom at 16 was not what I expected, but then again, neither was being a single parent. Still, I wouldn't change my past because that boy is my world. Hockey is the only thing my son seems to care about, so I work two jobs to make sure he can play. I'd do anything to make sure he doesn't suffer because of the bad decisions his father made. When he won a whole summer of hockey training, I knew in my heart he was going to have an amazing time.

A secret descendant of Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin, Ricky Lenin is a dyed-in-the-wool Marxist, fervently committed to overthrowing to the decadent world of British football. As a midfield maestro, he's perfectly placed to infiltrate England's top club, Felchester Rovers, where he proceeds to introduce his radical ideas. But there's more to his fellow players than meets the eye, and Ricky soon discovers he's not the only one seeking to foment revolution.

I thought he'd always be mine, even when I was forced to say goodbye. We were never meant to let go, but it happened anyway. Two years later, we were exactly where we'd always planned to be. I'd kept my promise. He'd forgotten all about his. Not only had he moved on, but the person he'd moved on with was my best friend, leaving me to begin college with a broken heart. I guess this is the part where I'm supposed to tell you some other guy stepped in and repaired my shattered pieces. This isn't that kind of story. My heart might have been broken, but it refused to fall out of love.