Win Simon & Schuster’s paperbacks of 2009 [closed]

Find out about Simon & Schuster’s biggest reads from 2009 – and answer some simple questions to be in with a chance to win one of three sets of all ten books!

Child 44, by Tom Rob Smith

In Stalin’s Soviet Union, crime does not exist. But still millions live in fear. The mere suspicion of disloyalty to the State, the wrong word at the wrong time, can send an innocent person to his execution. Officer Leo Demidov, an idealistic war hero, believes he’s building a perfect society. But after witnessing the interrogation of an innocent man, his loyalty begins to waver, and when ordered to investigate his own wife, Raisa, Leo is forced to choose where his heart truly lies. Then the impossible happens. A murderer is on the loose, killing at will, and every belief Leo has ever held is shattered. Denounced by his enemies and exiled from home, with only Raisa by his side, he must risk everything to find a criminal that the State won’t admit even exists. On the run, Leo soon discovers the danger isn’t from the killer he is trying to catch, but from the country he is trying to protect.

Question 1: Name the sequel to Child 44?

Burial, by Neil Cross

Can your guiltiest secret ever be buried? Nathan has never been able to forget the worst night of his life: the party that led to the sudden, shocking death of a young woman. Only he and Bob, an untrustworthy old acquaintance, know what really happened and they have resolved to keep it that way. But one rainy night, years later, Bob appears at Nathan’s door with terrifying news, and old wounds are suddenly reopened, threatening to tear Nathan’s whole world apart. Because Nathan has his own secrets now. Secrets that could destroy everything he has fought to build. And maybe Bob doesn’t realise just how far Nathan will go to protect them…

Question 2: What TV series does Neil Cross write for?

Married Lovers, by Jackie Collins

Cameron Paradise, a stunningly beautiful twenty-four-year-old personal trainer, flees Hawaii and her champion-surfer husband, Gregg, in the middle of one of his abusive tirades and makes her way to L.A. Tall, blond, with a body to die for, it doesn’t take Cameron long to find a job at an exclusive private fitness club where she encounters LA’s most important players. She has plans to open her own studio one day, and while every man she meets comes on to her, she is more focused on saving money and working hard than getting caught up in the L.A. scene of wild parties and recreational drugs. Until she meets Ryan Lambert, an extremely successful independent movie producer. Ryan is married to overly privileged Mandy Lambert, the daughter of Hamilton J. Heckerling, a Hollywood power-player son-of-a-bitch mogul. Ryan has never cheated on his demanding Hollywood Princess wife, but when he meets Cameron, all bets are off, especially since she’s seeing his best friend Don Verona, the devastatingly attractive talk-show-host and legendary player. Jackie Collins explores what happens when lust and desire collide with marriage and power-and the results lead to murder.

Deadly Intent, by Lynda La Plante

Alexander Fitzpatrick is one of the most wanted men in the Western world. A Howard Marks character, but far more dangerous, his wealth, accrued through drug-trafficking, runs into millions. For the past ten years there has been no sighting of him. Has he gone to ground using an alias, or is he dead? When an ex-police officer from the murder squad is found shot in a dank squat, Ann Travis is pulled onto the case. As the body count rises and the investigation becomes ever more complex, suspicion falls on Fitzpatrick. Is he still alive and in the UK? Could he be the killer, with terrifying access to the most lethal drug in existence?

Where Are You Now?, by Mary Higgins Clark

How far would you go to keep a secret? It has been ten years since 21-year-old Mack went missing. A Columbia University senior, he walked out of his room and has not been seen since. Every year he calls his mother on her birthday, on his birthday, and on Mother’s Day. He assures her he is fine, refuses to answer her frenzied questions, then hangs up. Even the death of his father on 9/11 does not bring him home. Mack’s sister, Caroline, has now endured two family tragedies. Determined to solve the mystery surrounding her brother’s disappearance, she sets out to discover the truth. But with it comes a secret that someone will do anything to protect, leading her to a deadly confrontation with an unexpected enemy…

The Nearly-Weds, by Jane Costello

What’s the worst thing that could happen to a blushing bride? To somebody warm, loving, and fun – like Zoe Moore? When she finds herself jilted at the altar by her fiance Jason, Zoe knows she doesn’t deserve this heartache and humiliation. Unable to face the pitying faces of her friends and family, Zoe takes drastic action: she flees to America. Specifically, to Boston, where she takes up a post as nanny to five-year-old Ruby Miller and her little brother Samuel. Ruby and Samuel have lost their mother in an accident. They may as well have lost their father, too, for Ryan Miller is so wrapped-up in his grief that he barely notices his two attention-starved children. As Zoe sets about tidying up Ruby and Sam’s home, and injecting some fun back into their lives, she finds herself gaining their trust and love. At the same time, Zoe grows more and more frustrated with Ryan’s bullying behaviour, and his shameful neglect. Whatever happened to the loving man she keeps hearing about from his neighbours? Zoe can’t find any sign of him. The only thing saving Zoe from despair is the small, close-knit group of British nannies who quickly befriend her.There’s boisterous Trudie, man-mad but hiding a painful secret; Sloanie traveller Amber, who sports a Buddhist tattoo that, unbeknownst to her, reads ‘Batteries Not Included’. And chilly, tight-lipped Felicity, whose cut-glass voice gives little away. But will these new friends be able to save Zoe, when she discovers that the past isn’t all that easy to escape, no matter how far you go?

Question 3: When some one is left at the altar, you would say that they are what?

The Sister Diaries, by Karen Quinn

Although they couldn’t be more different, Amanda, Serena and Laura Moon have always been there for one another. Amanda sizzles in the high stakes arena of New York City real estate – but drags herself home each night to a cold, empty bed. From top executive at Prada, Serena is now an over-the-top stay-at-home Mum, plunging her marriage into crisis and her four-year-old into therapy. Laura spent the last six years caring for their dying mother. Now she is trying to breathe new life into her abandoned music career. Emotions explode when the sisters learn that their mother left everything – the multi-million dollar family home and a priceless painting – to Serena. But why? In an effort to make sense of the bequest, the girls journey to glamorous East Hampton to unravel the mystery behind their mother’s past, setting off a chain of events that threatens the very core of their sisterhood.

Chasing Daisy, by Paige Toon

If you fall too fast, you just might crash…Daisy has been dumped, unceremoniously jilted. Not by any ordinary guy, no…Daisy has a secret in her past that she won’t even tell her best friend, Holly. She’s given up on men – and on her own family. But life still has to be lived and where better to recover than as far away from home as possible. Grabbing a chance to see the world, Daisy packs her bags and joins the team catering to the world’s highest-paid, supercharged racing drivers on the Formula 1 Grand Prix circuit. From Brazil to Italy, from Melbourne to Monte Carlo, life passes in a dizzying whirlwind. But nothing – and no one – can stop Daisy from falling again…this time for a man who is prepared to risk his life, and his heart, for the sake of speed, danger and ultimate success.

A Spring Affair, by Milly Johnson

When Lou Winter picks up a dog-eared magazine in the dentist’s waiting room and spots an article about clearing clutter, she little realises how it will change her life. What begins as an earnest spring clean soon spirals out of control. Before long Lou is hiring skips in which to dump the copious amounts of junk she never knew she had. Lou’s loved ones grow disgruntled. Why is clearing out cupboards suddenly more important than making his breakfast, her husband Phil wonders? The truth is, the more rubbish Lou lets go of, the more light and air can get to those painful, closed-up places at the centre of her heart: the love waiting for a baby she would never have, the empty space her best friend Deb once occupied, and the gaping wound left by her husband’s affair. Even lovely Tom Broom, the man who delivers Lou’s skips, starts to grow concerned about his sweetest customer. But Lou is a woman on a mission, and not even she knows where it will end …

Love-Affairs for Grown-Ups, by Debby Holt

Cornelius Hedge finds it difficult enough to talk to people he does know let alone people he doesn’t. So he’s plunged into gloom when he is dragooned into driving the female friend of a colleague’s wife through France. How on earth is he expected to make small talk from Boulogne to Montelimar? First impressions are not auspicious: the moment he introduces himself, the woman inexplicably bursts into tears. But by the time they’ve reached their destination, Cornelius has grown increasingly fond of the unassuming Katrina. She is interesting, entertaining, amusing; he’d actually like to see more of her. At their age however, the past has a habit of intruding on the present. Ex-husbands, ex-wives, selfish sisters and sulky teenagers all seem to conspire to thwart the budding romance. What’s worse, both Katrina and Cornelius are hiding secrets from their past. Secrets that burst into the open – with rather surprising results.

No more submissions accepted at this time.

Terms and conditions

Closing date for entries: 31st December 2009.
Open to residents of the United Kingdom only.
Entry to the competition is by completion of the above form only. Anyone submitting multiple entries will be disqualified.
The winners will be selected at random from those correct entries received before the closing date.
Only the winning entrants will be contacted by Bookhugger. Our decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.
The winner’s name(s) may be published on the Bookhugger website after the closing date of the competition.
The competition is not open to Bookhugger employees and their families, or to employees of Bookhugger publishers and their families.

Liz Says:
December 17th, 2009 at 10:53 am
What a fantastic competition!

Thank you so much for running it.
dawn Says:
December 18th, 2009 at 4:44 pm
booktastic thriller fillers!
Rita Says:
December 18th, 2009 at 9:30 pm
No-one can ever have enough books. My favourite indulgence!
marina Says:
December 30th, 2009 at 10:55 am
I read 3 books a week..can’t get enough!
mazz Says:
December 30th, 2009 at 3:54 pm
thank you very much,
have entered, hope i’m correct with answers.x