In zombie-vampire literature, Cronin mixes two genres that have been dead on both sides for a few years, but manages the unthinkable and creates an absorbing storyline based around a government experiment gone wrong. Imaginative set-pieces and ideas breathe life into the subject. At 900 pages the story develops at a perfect pace – anticipation is strong for the second in the series.

Set in the waters between Libya and Italy, a busy stretch of ocean for a disillusioned coastguard captain fighting a growing influx of desperate immigrants. The author intertwines the tales of both the people taking the journey, and those paid to stop them. Intelligent commentary between the lines on the nature of illegal asylum and immigration, in a story which leads to a thought-provoking ending.

Broad philosophical work by a famed French writer. The author begins from the moment of conception, both of humanity and the universe, and the major questions we ask of life and our world. He wonders if we are no longer searching for answers to the questions that are important. Thoughtful, introspective piece of work from a writer towards the end of his career.

Set on the streets of Paris and London as George Orwell wanders, a poor and lonely would-be journalist. It’s clear Orwell took many of his ideas on the subjugation of the masses by controlling powers from the experiences he saw amongst the homeless. Interesting and still provocative as he questions how society treats its poverty-stricken – and that only fortune creates the divide between rich and poor.

It’s all about the motif and double meaning in this novella, set in the dark, scarcely untouched jungles in the heart of Colonial Africa. Characters struggling under startling brutality and greed clash against one another. It’s very unsettling, but it’s a must-read for Conrad’s philosophy on the nature of Man left alone, and of death.

Science fiction fantasy with a touch of social comment, the story follows the lives of a clandestine girl living in desperate poverty and fear, a powerful and amoral secret fraternity determined to protect its secret, and a courageous detective investigating a series of brutal crimes. The story is compelling, running through the rainy streets and slums of Paris and its districts.

Set in an indigenous fishing village at the turn of the century, this is a simply-structured tale of betrayal, fear, envy and hate. The plot moves like a melody to a vicious and abrupt finale. Only a short story, this is a fantastic example of the power of Steinbeck’s ability to describe and decipher the deepest human emotions.

Junky is the uncompromising story of one man’s slide into heroin and alcohol addiction in the years circa WWII. This must count as one of the earliest misery memoirs to deal so openly with drug abuse, so it wins points for that. I’ve never read descriptions of weeping sores, yellow skin and infected, rotting arms written so poetically. The author is clear and unashamedly open with his life, which makes it a great read.

Set in the desert following a plane crash, this is the charming, hallucinatory account of a man considering his own place in the world. Long-recognised as a short work of philosophy on the nature of man’s desires, and our propensity to focus on petty or material things. A pleasure to read.

The front cover sells itself as an insight into the modern day desire to compete with our neighbours, but the book spends most time focused on what triggered our developing obsession with status in our ancestry. The cultural need for status and items is intelligently dealt with, although it leans too heavily on organised religion as a possible antidote to rampant consumerism.

Written by an investigative journalist whose reputation precedes him, this is his second report into the Wahhabi-dominated world of Saudi Arabia. Detailed explanations of life under Monarchist rule for the past 150 years are coloured by personal accounts from people involved or on the periphery of key events. Read for a stronger understanding of this opaque culture.

Set in 19th Century rural England, the twisting psychological tale of an outsider who settles on the outskirts of a small village. Written with a convincing moral conviction on the perils of loneliness and the emptiness of money, it is well conceived as a philosophical allegory.