An early-summer selection of stylish reads to engage, entertain and inform in equal measure.

Eruption by Michael Crichton and James Patterson

Michael Crichton, creator of Jurassic Park and Westworld, had a passion project he’d been pursuing for years ahead of his untimely death in 2008. Knowing how special it was, his widow held back his notes and the partial manuscript till she found the right author to complete it.

The author she chose is the world’s most popular storyteller: James Patterson. Eruption brings the pace of Patterson to the concept of Crichton – the most anticipated mega-thriller in years.

In the story, a once-in-a-century volcanic eruption is about to destroy the big island of Hawaii, but a decades-old military secret could turn the volcano into something even more terrifying.

Published by Century on June 3^rd

Murder at the Monastery by Reverend Richard Coles

Writer, broadcaster and Anglican priest Reverend Richard Coles releases the second in his Canon Clement Mystery series, the first of which was an instant no.1 Sunday Times bestseller.

 Daniel Clement has suffered a secret humiliation and, to recover, takes respite at the monastery where he was a novice. However, the monastery doesn’t allow Daniel a break, for there are tensions building there too, as the secret past of novice master Father Paul is emerging. Tension mounts and a murder ensues.

Published by Hachette UK on June 6^th

Only Here, Only Now by Tom Newlands

It’s Fife, in the blazing hot summer of 1994. Cora Mowat’s mates don’t understand her, but then Cora Mowat doesn’t understand herself. She’s stuck on a seaside council estate full of dafties, old folk and seagulls, with a million dreams and a restless brain that won’t behave. She’s dying to escape but unsure of what the future holds – if it holds anything at all for a girl like her.

Cora rails against her small-town existence in search of love, acceptance and a path to something good.

Drawn from life but written with riotous imagination, Tom Newlands’ extraordinary vibrant, lyrical and fiercely funny debut explores what it means to come of age in a forgotten corner of Scotland.

Published by Headline Publishing Group on May 23^rd

Endgame 1944: How the Soviet Army Won World War Two by Jonathan Dimbleby

Drawing on new sources – some previously untranslated – including accounts from ordinary soldiers and witnesses, Jonathan Dimbleby’s book chronicles this decisive year in what was arguably the most crucial front in the war against Nazi Germany, and one that extended for 1,200 miles.

Published by Oxford University Press on June 3^rd