In Northern Ireland, from the late 70s to the early 90s, the IRA killed over 40 alleged informers.

But the man who often found, tortured and sometimes killed these people on behalf of the IRA

was himself an informer, a secret British army agent with the codename Stakeknife.

Who gets to play God? And why me? Why my family?

When lies are still being told to this day, who do you believe?

I wouldn't even know where to start, and I'm with the IRA.

Steakknife.

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Hello, we asked for your favourite inspirational bookshops, and you delivered by the shelf load.

Today we pay one of your choices a visit.

And portraits of childhood innocence curtailed, from the 19th century to the Edwardian Riverside and the dystopian future.

Which is where we begin,

in hazards of time travel, the 46th novel from the veteran novelist, essayist and literary critic Joyce Carroll Oates. During her prolific career, Oates' wide-ranging interests have kept readers

on their toes, the life of Marilyn Monroe in Blonde,

a family unraveling after a child is attacked in We Were the Mulvaney's,

and a searing dissection of urban life in National Book Award winner, Them.

Her latest takes us to a near-future America, turned totalitarian state post-9-11.

Life is about treading a very careful line,

and as our 17-year-old protagonist, Adrienne Strohl discovers,

merely asking questions, albeit on a public platform on graduation day,

can result in arrest, exile, or worse, simply being deleted.

...