THE SONG OF THE GLADIATOR by Paul Doherty (Headline, £10.99)

CONSTANTINE may be Emperor of Rome, but rifts in the new Christian religion threaten his power and Rome itself as it bakes in the heat of one of the sultriest summers. A peace conference between the factions is marred by deaths on both sides and then a raid on the imperial villa reveals a deadly threat to the Emperor and his family.

Middlesbrough writer Doherty plunges the reader into a world in which murder and intrigue walk hand in hand. He delves behind the glittering and opulent face of Ancient Rome to reveal its dark and deadly secrets and the blood-soaked foundation stones of its power.

EMPEROR: THE FIELD OF SWORDS by Conn Igulden (Harper Collins, £12.99)

IT'S all to play for as Republican Rome totters on its last legs and Julius Caesar, Pompey and Crassus form an uneasy alliance to prevent it coming crashing down. This doomsday scenario forms the backcloth to Caesar's stunning but brutal conquest of Gaul, his raids on Britain and his elevation to prime contender for supreme power.

Igulden writes with power and fluency, whether dealing with the corrupt political sinkpot of Rome or the fresher, broader horizons of Gaul, where the sword is always master. This is history writ magnificently large where the realities of war are spelled out in blood and iron, where naked ambition exacts an awful price and glory is built on the bodies of your enemies.

DAYS OF THE DEAD BY J A Jance (Harper Collins £18.99)

WHEN ex-sheriff Brandon Walker of Pima County, Arizona joins The Last Chance, an unofficial organisation devoted to tackling cold murder cases, he doesn't realise how hot things are going to become. His investigation into the brutal slaying of a young native American girl some 30 years earlier serves as a catalyst to expose sadistic activities. This hard-hitting crime thriller really hits home without any glory in the gory and cleverly moves from forensic science to tribal mysticism in the eternal battle between good and evil

YODA: Dark Rendezvous by Sean Stewart (Arrow £6.99)

STAR Wars boasts a super-villain in the deadly and devious Count Dooku and in this latest Clone Wars he once again clashes with Yoda, the most famous Jedi Master of all time. They are fated to meet on the evil planet of Vjun where the sinister side of creation flourishes in all its foul glory. A fantasy with fangs.

BOG TWO by David Bean (Tups Books, £6.95)

WHEN the film industry descend on the Lakeland valley of Boggerthwaite to make a tribute to the Lakes' poets, they don't really know what they are in for. Used to the publicity-seeking antics of the studio stars, the film-makers are unprepared for the genuine Boggerthwaite eccentrics who worship their sheep (but not like Bo Peep), are addicted to Owd Bogger ale and love tucking into November Owl Pie (the owl must be hung until it is really high). This uproarious representation of rural life is both loony and loveable.

THE CHAPEL OF BONES by Michael Jecks (Headline, £18.99).

DEATH has returned to haunt the precincts of Exeter Cathedral after an absence of 40 years and several wealthy burghers and powerful prelates fear that their past in the original slaying has put them on the new killer's hit list. Sir Baldwin Furnshill and his friend Bailiff Simon Puttock are drawn into the bloody tangle, with Sir Baldwin being attacked just as he sees a glimmer of light in the whole gruesome affair. A medieval whodunit of superior merit which plunges the reader body and soul into the vibrant, colourful and often unruly life of the Middle Ages.

THORN by Vena Cork (Headline, £18.99)

THE perils of modern life seem to gather around single mother Thorn with a vengeance after the tragic death of her husband. Forced to take a job as a supply teacher to make ends meet, she become increasingly suspicious of her snake-eyed boss; a stalker targets her daughter and a neighbour turns distinctly hostile. If you're into sinister, this will grab you all the way.

Steve Craggs

THE HOMECOMING by Anna Smith (Review, £14.99)

IN a small village on the west of Scotland, life goes on pretty much as it has for ever - until handsome Joe McBride returns from America after 20 years. Only one person in the village knew why Joe left so suddenly and now he's back, Frankie Flaherty is worried that old secrets will be revealed and his happy marriage crumble around him.

There are other secrets too, as Joe's brother Tom finds that his mother had hidden letters from a young Italian girl he'd loved many years before.

Well drawn characters and a good plot, but best of all is the way Anna Smith brings to life the intense atmosphere of a rural village - and the need for all those secrets in the first place.

BEYOND INDIGO by Preethi Nair (HarperCollins, £15)

NINA, English with Indian parents, is a high flying lawyer. Then she loses her job and finds her fianc with someone else. She escapes into an earlier passion - painting.

But as she takes a studio and paints furiously, she doesn't tell her parents and even lets them arrange a marriage for her with a highly suitable boy. Only because she doesn't want to hurt them.

Then her paintings are a success and Nina is drawn into a desperate farcical pretence to stop all her secrets coming out. Very funny, very moving, very cheering.

Sharon Griffiths

Published: ??/??/2004