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Sunset Collector
Illusion and disillusion
Friendship and betrayal
Ecstasy and madness
Two young Englishmen arrive in LA in 1980, hungry for experience. They dive headlong into technicolour Hollywood days, sunkissed and free beneath exotic palms. At night they slide on charm through a Sunset Strip parade of hookers, pimps, dealers, gigolos, hitmen, punks and struggling actors. They set up camp in a glamorously sleazy joint and befriend the eccentric barflies. They are a million miles away from Thatcher’s grey, dreary London town, where everything closes by 11.
Innocence collides with experience and there gradually emerges a darker vision of LA: a Manson-haunted, coke-addled, hedonistic playground. A beautiful girl appears at their door at 3am and breaks up the bachelor party. Triangular mind games herald cracks in the unbreakable friendship, then reality itself starts to unravel, on a tragicomic journey of self-discovery, reaching a climax with a mind-bending trip out into the desert.
At the dawn of the 80’s, a rite of passage journey through an impressionistic whirlwind of sex, drugs and mental illness.
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Surf n Turf
Disconcerted by her boyfriend’s hasty marriage proposal, London-born Sarah cycles from Cape Town to the Karoo in search of her heritage, and her heart.
On the way, disaster strikes leaving her lost and confused in an arid landscape. Rescued by a handsome sheep farmer, she has just a locket; a phrase: “touch the stars” and a faded map, to navigate her way forward.
As for Luan, one minute he is warm and friendly, the next haunted by pain and so distant.
What has hurt him so deeply? What will it take to melt the ice around his heart? Can Luan help Sarah find what she is looking for?
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Surface Rust
Aside from not knowing where she came from and the feeling of something missing, the other constant in Jaqueline Doe’s life has been the moving back and forth between the orphanage and various foster homes.
Now she’s landed herself another move, this time to the town of Smithfield Virginia, enrolled for a term in the school’s program for troubled city teenagers. Her plan to toe the line, keep to herself, and just see the term through takes a twist when she mysteriously bonds with her mentor and fellow student, the somewhat clumsy yet handsome Ethan Chase.
Together they discover an old journal apparently written by an immortal, with a cryptic prophecy on the first page telling of the Dark Lord’s return. Sceptical of the journal’s authenticity they decide to read through it and decipher the prophecy. As their friendship begins to lean towards romance, they are unaware that one of the evil beings described within the pages is closing in on them.
Unknowingly and with limited time they set themselves on a pathway, one where Jacqueline will get more than the answers to the questions she has been yearning for. However, they will come at a cost and not just for her.
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Surprise at the Beach
Luke and his rescue dog always love hanging out at the beach when the time allows: plenty of open space to run around, waves crashing gently over soft golden sand, and all practically on his doorstep. What’s not to like?
But one trip is unlike any other – Buddy unexpectedly sniffs out a tiny wee kitten in the sand dunes who is obviously very lost. Tending to the poor creature back at home, Luke starts to feel attached, despite needing to return the kitten to its rightful owners.
Upon leaving the kitten in a household with two very unruly children, he is uneasy about whether or not he’s done the right thing, until he hears the family are trying to find him a new home.
Will Luke be able to keep the kitten? Or will someone else get to him first…?
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Surreal Journey
The world of pubs and clubs has grown wearisome for one of Earth’s solo travellers. Inspired by pop culture and the ideals of his fading youth, he undertakes a trip across the Atlantic to find what he hopes will be somewhere to belong. Where has he really ended up? Can he save himself from disillusionment on an altogether surreal journey?
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Survival: A Story of Friendship
It is a true story based on 13 years of research: the story of friendship between a Jewish boy, Freddy and his Christian friend, Helmut (who are separated by the political turmoil of the aftermath of the First World War in Germany), who obliged Freddy and Freddy’s family to seek refuge in France. It is also the story of friendship between Freddy and George, Freddy’s classmate whom Freddy meets in school in Paris. Moreover, it is also the story of Sigmund, whose patriotic blindness impacted his and his family’s life; the story of Nellie, who left Germany for Colombia before Nellie’s parents sought refuge in France and whose mission would be to reunite the family in a peaceful and friendly country.
Furthermore, the novel also emphasises the emotional costs of the First World War and its indirect result on the onset of the Second World War.
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Survival: A Story of Friendship – Part 2
Survival: A Story of Friendship – Part 2 is about the voyage Freddy and his mother, Helene, take to escape Europe and the ravages of World War II. After promising Sigmund on his deathbed that they would reunite the family in a peaceful and friendly country, they make their way via ship to Colombia, the country Nellie had made her home just as the Nazi movement in Germany was gaining momentum. After their safe arrival, Freddy is forced to look for work in order to support his mother and himself while adjusting to new surroundings at the same time. After some fortuitous, work-related encounters, Freddy decides to not only run his own lingerie business but produce the raw materials he needs himself.
This is the story of how someone who was unable to complete school or go to university, due to strictly unfortunate circumstances, had the vision and skills to found a company that would provide jobs and well-being. Thus giving back to the country that granted him what the German Nazi government had taken away from him: his nationality.
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Survivor's Eyes
With mankind on the edge of extinction, can our humanity survive? Or is civilisation just a thin, fragile veneer, masking our animal nature?
In the ruins of our society, a lonely, bitter man ekes out an existence, shying away from all human contact. He struggles with starvation and ever-present mortal danger. However, his greatest battle is to try and retain some vestige of the civilised man he once was, even if that means living alone.
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Sweet Enough
The sweetshop had been bought by the retired science professor, Professor Pear Drop; did he have enough experience to be able to turn it around from an uninspiring sweet shop into a great success?
What were his plans for the sweet shop and would he be able to make a go of it?
Follow Professor Pear Drop and his special task force as they are called upon to undertake candy-coated adventures!
Meet Ben, Lanky and the rest of the task force who are only a lucky dip away from another adventure!
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Swimming through the reeds
This brilliant self-help book is designed to assist each one of us to conquer our own particular problems, and ‘Smile... Just one smile can make a difference' as Victoria explains.
Throughout this book, a feeling of peace, hope and an uplifting momentum grows with each page and imbues the reader until its genuine calming and morale-lifting impetus is thoroughly absorbed and the healing commences.
Happiness and confidence starts with a wonderful chain reaction in our individual dealings with our own problems and creating a kindness and caring for others that can travel right around the world.
So read this and find your own new and wonderful dreams and achieve amazing things!£3.50 -
Tafara and the Patchwork Blanket
Tafara lived with her parents and little sister, Tanaka. More importantly, she lived right next door to her grandparents, Gogo and Khulu. She loved going to their house every day after school and especially on Saturday afternoons, after all her lessons were done. Gogo was always up to something wonderful, like baking, cooking or making decorations. What was so special about her was that she would always let Tafara and Tanaka join in on the fun. This Saturday, Gogo was doing Tafara's favourite 'Gogo-thing': sewing. She loved the noise of the machine and the amazing pieces that Gogo came up with. On this occasion, her creation was no less glorious than all the others before, but this one had a little extra magic sewn in its seams. It was something that helped her see just why the world was full of beautiful colours…and all the shades in between.
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Taiden's Truth
THE DAUGHTER HAS RISEN…
The four islands of the Shalmeir are falling into chaos. The world is under threat from a fallen deity intent on revenge and destruction. Only one can end these dark and difficult times – or so Salzahr’s Prophecy states, but prophecies without proof are no more than myth, and the so-called ‘Daughter of the Shalmeir’ is nowhere to be found.
When a lonely princess befriends a prisoner dwelling in the dungeons of her castle home, his remarkable story has the potential to reverse the Shalmeir’s fortunes irrevocably.
However, it is one thing to seek the truth and another to know it. Having acquired this revelatory knowledge, can she find the strength to accept and rise to all it implies?
Taiden’s Truth is the debut novel of author Emma Champion
and Part One in The Taiden Trilogy.
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