February, Lisa Moore, Chatto & Windus, £12.99 The fourth novel from the Canadian writer traces the life of widow Helen O'Mara, who lost her husband Cal on a Newfoundland oil rig on St Valentine's eve, while pregnant with her fourth child. Memories are triggered 26 years later by a late-night call from her son John, as he informs her that a woman he had a brief fling with is now pregnant.

★★★★

Gone, Mo Hayder, Grove Press, £14.99

Detective Jack Caffery is sent to interview a distraught victim of a violent car-jacking incident, in which a child is taken. When the jacker starts taunting the police, Caffery is certain it's not a one-off occurrence. But then how can he predict the police's every move? The fifth in the series sees Caffery meeting his intellectual match. A fast-paced thriller.

★★★

The Unnamed, Joshua Ferris, Viking, £12.99

Tim Farnsworth, a high-flying, wealthy New York lawyer, is afflicted with a disease that makes him walk until he collapses. It is a condition that is unnamed and incurable. He wanders off where his feet take him, struggling mentally and suffering physically, losing toes and fingers from frostbite along the way. It disrupts his career and family life. A worthwhile read.

★★★