Recommended Reads
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The Twin Behind the Curtain
A group led by American Alan Mackenzie daringly escaped from communist Hungary during the brutal Soviet repression of the popular uprising of 1956.
Twelve years later, at the height of the Cold War, Alan and two of the Hungarian participants, Frank and Maria, are reunited to help organize the defection of a high-ranking East German official who can identify communist moles in the American government. The resources of the American intelligence agencies could not be used to find moles within their own ranks; therefore, the President and the Secretary of State decided to find help elsewhere.
Under difficult conditions, the defector is extricated, concealed in an American tour group of vacationing movie technicians and small-time actors traveling by bus through Austria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, and Poland.
The operation is flawlessly planned, and yet something goes wrong. The disappearance is discovered within a few hours. Due to the high rank of the missing official, the police investigation turns overnight into a massive manhunt involving the tour passengers in an increasingly dangerous contest of wits with the feared Stasi, the East German secret police. Under pressure from their highest party leaders, the frustrated Stasi escalate their search into obsessive, desperate actions.
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The Unknown Battles That Lie Beyond the Grave
The red-hot saucy chatter was that on the day Manku rescued Joanna from the sewer hole, she wasn’t wearing any knickers. It was therefore alleged the four men got more than they bargained for during the rescue mission. Trump suddenly woke up as though from a slumber. He was no longer in the rough and choppy waters. He soon realised that his body was different and that he wasn’t alone. As he stood there in awe and disbelief, suddenly, he was surrounded by seven individuals adorned in bodies similar to his. He responded that for his first mission, he was inclined to pick Combat Ghosts from one class only, from the class of the dead evil men and women. It was just the beginning. He was in for a rude shock!
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The Why Question
What if you were growing up in a war, with a best friend who has fled from the enemy for safety? To whom do you talk? And whom can you trust? And then in a zoo you discover a secret that you must never tell anyone. Imagine yourself in that same Dutch city, famous for its mouse and windmills, with your everyday life of bicycles, schools, visits, friends and parents.
And then disaster strikes. The boots arrive. Who is on whose side? Who is brave and who not? And even if you make a little sense of it all, you are no longer a child, and growing up fast, and the very biggest question of all is coming your way… why?
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The Widowers
Paul has been a widower for three years and he would be the first to admit that he feels lost in the seaside town that was to be the retirement home for him and his late wife. Only Paul’s faithful dog, Zeno, gives him comfort. Through a chance encounter, Paul meets Geoff, another widower and dog-owner, in the same boat as Paul. As he reflects on his marriage and his experiences, exchanging thoughts with Geoff, Paul begins to form a new perspective on his life, exploring his sense of loss but beginning to glimpse the possibility of a life after the death of a partner. He is not so old. He’s not too old to change. Each sunrise in the bay brings a new day. There are still journeys to be made before the sun sets at last.
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The Widow’s Song
In The Widow’s Song, Donna Lloyd takes you on a personal journey through the loss of a loved one. As a widow herself, she speaks of the difficult and lonely path that many women find themselves walking when their life suddenly reduces to ‘one.’Taking six widows from the bible, the book looks at their experiences and discusses what, as widows today, we can learn from them, offering hope and encouragement to anyone facing this most difficult situation. It is a reflective look at widowhood in a time when you are at your lowest and most vulnerable, but it strives to highlight the strength that women have to go on and face the future.The Widow’s Song is a unique and very personal rendition of a love lost and a life continuing. A song well received by the Lord and never forgotten. A song which, in time, will build the foundation of your new life.
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The Woman from the Other Side
This collection of short stories focuses on the lives of ordinary working-class people from Northern Ireland. It is set against the backdrop of the ‘Troubles’ and the province’s more recent history. Strong female characters often carry the narrative, and the story which gives its title to the collection is that of a Catholic woman from the South who marries a staunch Northern Protestant, and they settle in Belfast. The strife which ensues reflects the divided communities which the rest of the book can testify to.
In their depiction of everyday violence and intimidation, the stories bring to light more latent themes of homosexuality, sexism, and prejudice. A strong focus on family bonds means that the collection provokes a profound resonance with a large number of us who have grown up in tight family circles. In many ways, the ‘Troubles’ serve to underline the tensions inherent in these bonds.
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There’s a Monster in My Tent
Having been awoken early in the morning by some strange noises downstairs, the little girl goes down to investigate. She is alarmed to find a monster sleeping in her tent and flees to her mother to tell her what she had seen.From the fierce growls coming from inside to his wild, hairy arms and legs, she had never come across anything quite so fearsome; nor quite so startling. Although all is not as it first seems.There’s a Monster in My Tent demonstrates a father’s devotion to his little girl as it details the imagination present in the minds of children. It’s as thought-provoking as it is lively and is aimed at educating and delighting in equal measure.
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They Call Me Jake
In this captivating memoir, Jakob, a Welsh-born Australian, takes readers on a remarkable journey that begins with a troubled youth and a life-changing decision. After running into legal trouble as a teenager, his family sends him off to sea on Scandinavian ships, where Jakob finds himself working out of Brooklyn, New York, joining ships engaged in global trade. It’s the era of rock and roll, with an atmosphere of freedom, free-spiritedness, and indulgence. However, tired of the endless partying and constant financial struggle, Jakob sets his sights on a new path.
He travels to England, enrolls in a navigational school, and earns his license as a ship’s deck officer. But his thirst for adventure and reinvention leads him to an unexpected destination - Israel. Jakob’s love for the kibbutz lifestyle and a young woman on the kibbutz captures his heart. However, as war disrupts the region, their relationship crumbles, and Jakob finds solace in a hippie commune on the sunny shores of Eilat. Through ups and downs, Jakob’s journey takes him across continents, from the Canadian Arctic to Thailand and beyond. His tale is one of resilience, self-discovery, and the pursuit of a meaningful life amidst the challenges and uncertainties of a rapidly changing world.
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The Bush Wood Valley Gang
This is a tale of a little mouse who, against all odds, survives many dangerous situations. He then discovers a new-found family friendship with a gang of orphans in Bush Wood Valley. Having lost his own near family, he quickly gets acquainted with his new-found family and gains higher status in the gang through his very positive attitude.
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The Last of the Lucky Childhoods
This is the story of my childhood recollections while growing up in Glasgow. The streets were still for kids and we knew how to make our own fun, though some of the mischiefs we got up to may not be classed as fun nowadays.
If we were poor, we didn’t realise it; if we were ill-treated, we thought of it as normal. Kids didn’t complain in those days (or they got a ‘slap across the lug’). Kids knew their place, we just got on with life and enjoyed it to the fullest.
As Billy Connolly would say: “What I’m about to tell you is true…well mostly.”
If any of my old pals, relatives, or friends recognise themselves on these pages, you’re most likely right…but I have changed the names (in some instances) to protect the guilty!
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Thorn's Princess
The people of the Forest Kingdom of Ferinatia are alive with excitement and delight as Princess Ranee of Ebrinatia arrives with her family and nobility for the first meeting with her betrothed, Crown Prince Jarel Whitethorn, the Summer Prince and future king of Ferinatia. Hawthorn, the servant to the royal healer, is neither excited nor delighted and his apprehension grows when he meets his future queen, and his fears are then compounded when unknown men attack him in their attempt to kidnap the crown prince. Then when the princess disappears and the alliance between the kingdoms is threatened, Thorn heads out in pursuit, unprepared for the journey he has begun through strange and perilous lands.
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Time For Revenge
The latest case for DI Keane is personal. A retired policeman is found murdered in amongst his flower beds, a second body turns up in a local church.
How are they intertwined, and what effect does it all have on village life and a mother?
Ray Keane has to work through it all to a conclusion.
As things finish up, there is a sense of relief and new personnel to get used to.
Fortunately for Ray, his life is moving along nicely, does this all bode well for the future?
£8.99
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