In THE BIG FAT FATHER CHRISTMAS JOKE BOOK ebook, Horrible Histories author, Terry Deary, brings you two hilarious books in one - Father Christmas' Joke Book and The Great Father Christmas Robbery - full of rib-tickling fun for the festive season. This brilliant bind-up is sure to keep you laughing right through to the New Year and beyond. Views: 23
It is customary to bring gifts to a wedding. But as daughter Luna prepares to marry her dream husband, the Smith family instead have in tow their own idiosyncratic brands of emotional baggage. Her father, Graham, struggles to write his own own obituary; her mother, Velma, attempts to negotiate her mid-life crisis with a lover seventeen years her junior; her brother, Ginsberg, tries to come to term with being a homosexual who has inadvertently fallen in love with his wife; and her obese uncle, Darren, starts an obsession with the absurd hero Ignatius J Reilly of John Kennedy Toole's A CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES. Can these hopelessly misguided attempts to unravel the complexities of family, legacy, sexuality and, ultimately, love and death, ever come to a resolution? A stunning debut novel by Heather Taylor Johnson, PURSUING LOVE AND DEATH is a darkly comic family saga, written with wit, lyricism and poignancy. It asks just how well we can really know our own family members, and what might be 'good enough' for them, as well as for ourselves. With clashing personalities uniting for the first time in years, the result is explosive. 'A novel where comedy and small tragedies are dealt a generous hand ... this is a work brimming with poetic carnality' Brian Castro 'An impressively confident debut .. Funny, poignant and messy' Caroline Baum Views: 23
THE HIGHLY ANTICIPATED, LAUGH-OUT-LOUD THRID INSTALLMENT OF THE FAN-FAVORITE JUNIOR BENDER MYTERIESThere are not many people brave enough to say no to Irwin Dressler, Hollywood’s scariest mob boss-turned-movie king. Even though Dressler is ninety-three years old, LA burglar Junior Bender is quaking in his boots when Dressler’s henchman haul him in for a meeting. Dressler wants Junior to solve a “crime” he believes was committed more than seventy years ago, when an old friend of his, once-famous starlet Dolores La Marr, had her career destroyed after compromising photos were taken of her at a Los Vegas party. Dressler wants justice for Dolores and the shining career she never had.Junior can’t help but think the whole thing is a little crazy. After all, it’s been seventy years. Even if someone did set Dolores up for a fall from grace back then, they’re probably long dead now. But he can't say no to Irwin Dressler (no one can, really). So he starts digging. And what he finds is that some vendettas never die—they only get more dangerous.Review*Praise for The Fame Thief"Timothy Hallinan's The Fame Thief has everything I've come to expect in a Hallinan novel: indelible, complex characters, fantastic plot, and moments of hold-your-breath suspense."—Charlaine Harris, author of the New York Times bestselling Sookie Stackhouse series"As usual in a Junior Bender novel, the writing is reminiscent of the best of crime fiction’s golden age — as taut and hardboiled as Dashiell Hammett’s yet peppered with the sort of smart-aleck lines Raymond Chandler loved to toss off."—The Associated Press “In Hallinan’s satisfying third Junior Bender novel (after Little Elvises), the L.A. burglar/PI continues to excavate show business’s forgotten past, investigating in this installment the also-rans of postwar Hollywood.”—Publishers Weekly"Could not stop laughing. Tim Hallinan is sharp as a blade, has a wicked eye for human nature and keeps the reader guessing and rooting for Junior Bender all the way."—Helen Simonson, New York Times bestselling author of *Major Pettigrew's Last Stand*"The Fame Thief will keep you laughing long after you close the cover." —Molly Weston"The refreshingly unassuming Junior is a fun riff on the typical private investigator: his specialty--committing crimes, rather than solving them--brings him an unusual perspective. The elderly Dressler is a fabulous, deadpan wiseguy in "eye-agonizing" golf pants, backed up by two unusually domestic versions of the standard muscled goon. And Junior's own domestic concerns--a teenage daughter, her jokester boyfriend, an ex-wife and a randy new girlfriend--fill out the eccentric, likable cast. Fast-paced action and a building body count pair nicely with humor in this series, bound to keep the reader coming back for more."—Shelf Awareness"Hallinan’s natural storytelling skills will hold readers rapt through his Shakespeare-quoting, five-act tale as they relish his attention to Los Angeles cultural details and ability to weave two time periods together so effectively."—Library Journal (starred review)"The tangled plot ... produce[s] some surprises along the way, but the real draw here remains the fasttalking, quick-thinking Junior, a slightly seedier but equally entertaining version of Lawrence Block's Bernie Rhodenbarr. If comic crime is your thing, you need to know Junior Bender." *—Booklist"I started reading Timothy Hallinan’s books several years back and was drawn into his series featuring adventure travel writer Poke Rafferty. Read ’em all, loved ’em all ... So I was a bit concerned when Hallinan started a new series featuring Junior Bender, occasional burglar and full-time go-to guy for those who need a bit of private investigation that strays outside the fine lines of the law. My worries were unfounded: Hallinan is three-deep into the new series, and the books are every bit as good as their forebears—with the added attraction of some Hiaasen-esque comic tone."—Bruce Tierney,* Bookpage *"Hallinan succeeds in crafting the wonderful blend of a Hollywood exposé and a noir mystery with the complexities of a caper... This third Junior Bender mystery satisfies as an extremely enjoyable mystery with loads of dark humor and a brilliant cast of characters who are enmeshed in a spider web plot that spanned through the decades." —King's River Life Magazine "Funny and smart and suspenseful all at once." —The Long Beach Gazette "Timothy Hallinan's Junior Bender books are so much fun to read that they're almost illegal."—Kittling Books"Junior’s levity provides an excellent set-off to the dark underpinnings of the criminal world he inhabits. Along the way to the truth, he strives not only to keep himself alive, but also to bring a sort of justice to those who have been wronged, even so many years later. More please, Mr. Hallinan." —Ted Hertel, Deadly Pleasures Magazine"There is enough gruesome violence, tense drama, and oddball characters in The Fame Thief to satisfy any fan of modern noir. Highly recommended for mystery fans, like myself, who enjoy humorous, but violent, noir." —Gumshoe Review"The Fame Thief is a rare commodity, a good read that is satisfying on multiple levels. Highest recommendation." —New Mystery Reader "Junior is hard not to like. He's funny, smart, resourceful, and his heart is pure, even if his career choice is not." —Over My Dead Body Praise for the Junior Bender Series“A modern-day successor to Raymond Chandler.” —*Los Angeles Daily News*"Hallinan introduces us to a drugged-out, pain-impervious hit man, a nonagenarian puppet master who rules the L.A. underworld, a tabloid reporter who uses his job as a cover to blackmail the rich and the famous, and a host of other characters as dangerously outrageous as the murderous crew obsessed with obtaining the black bird in Hammett's 1930 masterpiece."—*Associated Press*"If Carl Hiaasen and Donald Westlake had a literary love child, he would be Timothy Hallinan. The Edgar nominee's laugh-out-loud new crime series featuring Hollywood burglar-turned-private eye Junior Bender has breakout written all over it... A must-read."—Julia Spencer-Fleming, New York Times bestselling author of *One Was a Soldier*"Junior Bender is today’s Los Angeles as Raymond Chandler might have written it. Tim [Hallinan] is a master at tossing out the kind of hard-boiled lines that I wish I thought of first."—Bruce DeSilva, Macavity & Edgar Award-winning author of *Rogue Island*"Loved loved loved Crashed, Tim Hallinan's first Junior Bender mystery. Great narrative voice, complex plot, 3-D characters. Hallinan’s deft comic tone and colorful characters have earned him comparisons to Donald Westlake and Carl Hiassen. Check it out now." —Nancy Pearl"Timothy Hallinan’s affable antihero, an accomplished thief but inept sleuth named Junior Bender, makes a terrific first impression in Crashed.... Bender’s quick wit and smart mouth make him a boon companion on this oddball adventure."—New York Times Book Review"Junior Bender is bound to be the topic of conversation amongst book lovers and crime fiction fans for a long, long time." —Robert Carraher, Seattle Post-Intelligencer "The story is well designed and well told, and the dialogue sparkles. In a genre perhaps slightly overstuffed with crook-heroes, the book is like a breath of fresh air."—*Booklist*"One thing that immediately hits you about Timothy Hallinan’s writing is the clarity and snap of his prose. Junior Bender isn’t a gumshoe, but the cadence of his voice and his observations harken back to other great detectives who were expert at landing a crucial, devastating remark, as well as using their fists or a pistol. It’s a cliché, of course, to bring up Raymond Chandler’s Marlowe, but the similarities are nevertheless present in fitting ways."—Derek Hill, *Mystery Scene*“This is Hallinan at the top of his game. It's laugh-out-loud funny without ever losing any of its mystery. It’s a whole new style and I love it. Junior Bender—a crook with a heart of gold—is one of Hallinan's most appealing heroes, rich with invention, and brimming with classic wit. I can’t recommend it highly enough.” —Shadoe Stevens, Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson“Bender's been a burglar since he was 14. He's "never been caught, never been charged," but he has been kissed. In "Little Elvises," he describes one particular smooch as full of "sweetness" with a "shot of cayenne." And that's a perfect description for Bender himself. He has a big heart. It's just crooked. Bender still loves his ex-wife, adores his precocious daughter, but he's become the go-to guy for folks who can't go to the cops. Think of him as a detective for the delinquent, a fixer for felons."—Carole E. Barrowman, *Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel*“Hallinan is a stunning talent.” —Gregg Hurwitz, author of *They're Watching*"This is one of those books you long for, wait for, and find once or twice a year." —Beth Kanell, proprietor of Kingdom Books, VermontAbout the AuthorTimothy Hallinan is the Edgar- and Macavity-nominated author of thirteen widely praised books, including The Fear Artist, Crashed, Little Elvises, and The Fame Thief. After years of working in Hollywood, television, and the music industry, he now writes fulltime. He divides his time between California and Thailand. Views: 23
This enhanced eBook transforms The Making of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi into an immersive multimedia experience worthy of the original film. It features exclusive content pulled from the Lucasfilm archives by author J. W. Rinzler:• 27 minutes of rare behind-the-scenes video*• 20 minutes of rare audio interviews with the cast and crew• New bonus photos and artwork not found in the print editionJust as Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi completed the most successful cinematic trilogy of its generation, perhaps of all time, this splendid thirtieth-anniversary tribute completes New York Times bestselling author J. W. Rinzler’s trio of fascinating behind-the-scenes books celebrating George Lucas’s classic films.Once again, the author’s unprecedented access to the formidable Lucasfilm Archives has yielded a mother lode of extremely informative, vastly entertaining, and often unexpected stories, anecdotes, recollections, and revelations straight from the closely guarded set of a big-screen blockbuster in the making. Brimming with previously unpublished photos, production artwork, script excerpts, exclusive intel, vintage on-set interviews, and present-day commentary, The Making of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi chronicles “how George Lucas and his crew of extroverted artists, misfits, and expert craftspeople roused themselves to great heights for a third time” to create the next unforgettable chapter in one of the most beloved sagas of all time. Get up close to the action and feel like a studio insider as• creator George Lucas, Oscar-nominated screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan, and director Richard Marquand huddle in a script conference to debate the destinies of iconic Star Wars characters, as well as plot twists and turns for the epic final showdown between the Rebel Alliance and the Empire• artists and craftspeople at the groundbreaking Industrial Light & Magic facility top their own revolutionary innovations—despite the infamous Black Friday—with boundary-pushing new analog visual effects • a crack team of sculptors, puppeteers, actors, and “monster-makers” bring Jabba the Hutt and his cohorts to startling, slobbering life from the inside out• a who’s who of heavyweight directors—from such films as Superman, Gremlins, Halloween, Dune, Scanners, and Time Bandits—are considered for the coveted job of bringing a new Star Wars adventure to the silver screen• actors and crew race to the finish line at Elstree Studios, in a fiery desert, and beneath the trees of a dense redwood forest—before money runs out—to answer the questions that audiences had waited three years to find out: Is Darth Vader really Luke’s father, who is the “other”—and who or what is the Emperor?Star Wars’ stars from both sides of the camera—including Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, David Prowse, Alec Guinness, director Richard Marquand, producer Howard Kazanjian, Ralph McQuarrie, Joe Johnston, Dennis Muren, Phil Tippett, and mastermind George Lucas—weigh in with candid insights on everything from technical challenges, character design, Ewoks, the Empire’s galactic city planet, and the ultimate challenge of bringing the phenomenal space fantasy to a dramatic close. The Making of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi gives a spectacular subject its just due, with more than five hundred images and many, many new interviews.*Video may not play on all readers. Please check your user manual for details. Views: 23
HeartsbloodA woman of science.A man of magic.Hunted for their HeartsBlood.HeartsBlood... a love taken to its dangerous conclusion.FatedEveryone thinks that they know the story of Caesar's demise, however in Fated, we discover the truth.Told from Brutus' perspective, critics are heaping praise upon Fated...Indian MoonDespite tragedy and heartbreak, under an Indian Moon, anything seems possible... even love.While set in the lush and misty Pacific Northwest, Indian Moon doesn't contain any vampires or teeny boppers.Just real romance... for the rest of us.My Dangerous ValentineThis prequel short story introduces you to the world of Valentine Rutger, the CIA's most elite counter-terrorism agent.Targeted (Betrayed #1.5)Brandt and Monroe, thinking they are safe in India, try for a nice romantic night out. The Knot on the other hand has a different idea for the evening.Can Brandt and Monroe survive date night? Views: 23
Happy Birthday! is a celebration of the complex, mysterious inner lives of our fellow human beings, by the award-winning novelist Meghna Pant.A dedicated friend undertakes one last labour of love for a childless woman. Nadia—married into money—finds herself facing uncomfortable truths about her comfortably numb marriage. A Mumbai slum-girl dreams of speaking words valuable enough to be translated into English. An American tourist seeking nirvana sets off a sudden chain of events when his bag is stolen, and destiny plays her hand. A retired civil servant of modest means struggles to support his snooty foreign-returned daughter.Meghna Pant’s knife-sharp stories are compelling, emotionally intelligent and provide a rare glimpse into the strange workings of the human heart. They evade neat categorization, and are the perfect read for all curious spirits. Views: 23
