What I Did by Christopher Wakling. Publisher John Murray, £7.99

When Billy Wright runs across a busy road, his world is altered irreversibly. A passer-by has stopped to watch the scene and she has seen Billy's father catch up with him and smack him.

Within an hour she has informed social services, plunging the family into a living nightmare which begins with a social worker's visit and escalates through a series of misunderstandings until the family is threatened to its core.

What I Did is a novel about the unseen consequences of a split second decision, about a childhood interrupted and the lengths to which we go to protect the ones we love.

The story of a father accused of child abuse seen through the eyes of his six-year-old son, with its controversial subject matter, unreliable narrator and questions about how we treat our children, Christopher Wakling creates a novel that is sometimes blackly funny, frequently heartbreaking but compelling.

Out in paperback, January 19.

Agent of Rome: The Siege by Nick Brown. Publisher Hodder, £7.99

It's 270AD and Rome has ruled Syria for over three centuries. Now the Empire faces one of its biggest threats: Queen Zenobia of Palmyra has turned her Roman-trained army against their former masters, threatening Rome's once invincible hold on the East. Arabia, Palestine and Egypt have fallen and now Antioch, Syria's capital, stands exposed to the might of Zenobia's forces.

Cassius Corbulo is not your average Roman hero. Nineteen and fresh out of officer training he is desperate to avoid combat. Luckily he has been given the task of rounding up wounded legionaries: a menial but almost risk-free assignment. But before Cassius can return to safety he receives an urgent message. As the only officer between the Palmyran forces and Antioch, he must take command of Alauran, the last stronghold still in Roman hands, and hold it against the enemy until reinforcements arrive.

Cassius must organise and unite the disparate, demoralised handful of soldiers he finds at Alauran, then lead them into battle against a vastly superior force.

One hundred men stand between the Empire and annihilation.

Out in paperback, January 19.