BULLSH!T

BULLSH!T
Author: Jonathan Ancer
Publisher: Jonathan Ball Publishers
Total Pages: 256
Release: 2024-03-04
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1776193121

An outrageous miscellany of serious and light-hearted lies, myths, untruths, fibs and fabrications that tells the tall tale of South Africa. The fibs come thick and fast, like a burst sewerage pipe: • Why everything we've learnt about Shaka Zulu, 'Africa's Napoleon', is a pack of lies. • Back in the darkest of ages (the 1970s!), citizens were told that there were satanic messages if you played some of The Beatles songs backwards. • National icon Hansie Cronje was a paragon of virtue, and integrity ... until he wasn't. • President Nelson Mandela told us that we, as a nation, were 'special'. Turns out we aren't. Whether a fabulous fib, an artful con, a doctor's spin, or simply a bald-faced lie, there's something for everyone.

The Whites

The Whites
Author: Richard Price
Publisher: Henry Holt and Company
Total Pages: 350
Release: 2015-02-17
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1429974125

By the co-writer of the HBO miniseries The Night Of Richard Price's New York Times bestseller, The Whites, is an electrifying tale of a New York City police detective under siege-by an unsolved murder, by his own dark past, and by a violent stalker seeking revenge. Back in the run-and-gun days of the mid-1990s, when a young Billy Graves worked in the South Bronx as part of an aggressive anti-crime unit known as the Wild Geese, he made headlines by accidentally shooting a ten-year-old boy while struggling with an angel-dusted berserker on a crowded street. Branded as a loose cannon by his higher-ups, Billy spent years enduring one dead-end posting after another. Now in his early forties, he has somehow survived and become a sergeant in Manhattan Night Watch, a small team of detectives charged with responding to all post-midnight felonies from Wall Street to Harlem. Mostly, his unit acts as little more than a set-up crew for the incoming shift, but after years in police purgatory, Billy is content simply to do his job. Then comes a call that changes everything: Night Watch is summoned to the four a.m. fatal slashing of a man in Penn Station, and this time Billy's investigation moves beyond the usual handoff to the day tour. And when he discovers that the victim was once a suspect in the unsolved murder of a twelve-year-old boy-a savage case with connections to the former members of the Wild Geese-the bad old days are back in Billy's life with a vengeance, tearing apart enduring friendships forged in the urban trenches and even threatening the safety of his family. Razor-sharp and propulsively written, The Whites introduces Harry Brandt--a new master of American crime fiction.

Crime and Punishment

Crime and Punishment
Author: G. F. Newman
Publisher: Quercus
Total Pages: 753
Release: 2009-10-01
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 184916648X

In 1951 the Festival of Britain marks a new golden age of hope and prosperity for the country. Things are certainly looking up for the criminal elite who run the East End. For Jack, a draft-dodger with aspirations to be a champion boxer, there's easy money to be made for providing a bit of muscle. Meanwhile his sister Kath must keep secret the fact that she killed their father to protect her son, Brian, from the abuse she experienced as a child. Brian is so traumatised by witnessing this event that the complex union of violence and sexuality will shape his character for life. As the years go by and disillusion sets in, successive Labour and Tory governments aren't able to stop the rot. Younger, nastier criminals like the Kray twins and the Richardson brothers begin to carve out their own criminal empires and crush all resistance. Brutalised and embittered by years of failure and imprisonment, Jack decides to make a stand. The stage is set for one big war. Crime and Punishment is the first volume in a two-part epic, and follows the characters' lives up until the accession of Thatcher. The second volume will trace the dramatic changes in criminal society that reflected the wider social upheaval of the times, right up until the present day.

The Corrupted Part One

The Corrupted Part One
Author: G. F. Newman
Publisher: Quercus
Total Pages: 434
Release: 2014-12-04
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 085705466X

In 1951 the Festival of Britain marks a new golden age of hope and prosperity for the country. Things are certainly looking up for the criminal elite who run the East End. For Jack, a draft-dodger with aspirations to be a champion boxer, there's easy money to be made for providing a bit of muscle. Meanwhile his sister Kath must keep secret the fact that she killed their father to protect her son, Brian, from the abuse she experienced as a child. Brian is so traumatised by witnessing this event that the complex union of violence and sexuality will shape his character for life. As the years go by and disillusion sets in, successive Labour and Tory governments aren't able to stop the rot. Younger, nastier criminals like the Kray twins and the Richardson brothers begin to carve out their own criminal empires and crush all resistance. Brutalised and embittered by years of failure and imprisonment, Jack decides to make a stand. The stage is set for one big war.

Fossils

Fossils
Author: Robert A. Webster
Publisher: Litres
Total Pages: 375
Release: 2021-03-07
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 5043340665

Age is just a number and getting old doesn't mean you can't have fun. It just means you know how to get away with it... Viagra, Snuff, and Rock ‘n’ Roll Fossdyke Retirement Home has seen its fair share of quirky characters, but it’s never seen the likes of these four geriatric musicians who form a band called Fossils. Chaos erupts after winning a national competition, when a local DJ who entered their recording into the contest labels Fossils as a vibrant young rock band. Fearing the English press persecuting them and their families when they find out the truth, the four flee England until they can resolve their situation. Follow the madcap adventures of Britain’s most irreverently lovable elderly rockers as they trip, stumble, and fall into one situation after another while traveling around Southeast Asia evading adoring fans, journalists, and a ruthless record producer. Viagra, Snuff, and Rock ‘n’ Roll

From Britain With Love

From Britain With Love
Author: Robert A Webster
Publisher: Robert A Webster
Total Pages: 1031
Release: 2019-01-01
Genre: Humor
ISBN: 1792992785

Fossdyke Retirement Home has seen its fair share of quirky characters, but it’s never seen the likes of these four geriatric rockers! To outsiders, they are sweet, funny, if not a tad bit ornery. To those in the know, they are meddlesome, rebellious, and in way over their heads. When chaos erupts, they’re not far behind. What begin as ordinary days, where others their age would spend their time chatting up a friend or family member, these four spend their days and nights making music, performing for their legion of fans, globetrotting to exciting destinations, and of course, getting mixed up in perilous situations. Between outrunning the press and persistent record companies, coming face-to-face with ISIS rebels, and the occasional death or two, it’s all they can do to keep their wits about them and escape injury. Follow the madcap adventures of Britain’s most irreverently lovable elderly rockers as they trip, stumble, and fall into one situation after another and have a few laughs along the way in From Britain with Love, a hilarious action-packed thriller! Getting old doesn't mean you can't have fun. It just means you know how to get away with it!

Coaltown Blues

Coaltown Blues
Author: Mervyn Thompson
Publisher: Victoria University Press
Total Pages: 60
Release: 1986
Genre: Drama
ISBN: 9780864730459

A Rusty Gun

A Rusty Gun
Author: Noel 'Razor' Smith
Publisher: Penguin UK
Total Pages: 524
Release: 2010-07-29
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0141910070

As a gun-wielding bank robber, Noel 'Razor' Smith was top of the criminal tree, enjoying the excitement and benefits of a dangerous and adrenalin-filled career. But he'd also spent the greater part of his adult life in prison, an environment where respect and basic survival were guaranteed only to those prepared to use the most brutal violence. In his new book, Smith takes the story on from his highly acclaimed memoir A Few Kind Words and a Loaded Gun, and describes how he came to realize that the game wasn't worth the candle. In his mid-forties he applied to enter Grendon, then the only prison in Britain offering intense therapeutic treatment to hardened criminals. He went from a brutal high-security prison, HMP Whitemoor, to an institution where he was encouraged to investigate just why his life had been given over to violence and crime. Smith paints an unforgettable portrait of the hardened and severely damaged inmates of Grendon, many of them guilty of famous crimes, and their attempts to turn round their lives. And in particular his own arduous five-year journey to re-enter society as a straight citizen.

Gambler

Gambler
Author: Billy Walters
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 275
Release: 2023-08-22
Genre: Sports & Recreation
ISBN: 1668032872

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * “An insightful read…Walters is a larger-than-life character.” —Sports Illustrated * “This book is going to become the sports gambling bible…The formula’s in the book.” —Pat McAfee The wild and massively entertaining autobiography of Billy Walters—“the greatest and most controversial sports gambler ever” (ESPN)—who shares his extraordinary life story, reveals the secrets to his fiercely protected betting system, and breaks his silence about Phil Mickelson. Anybody can get lucky. Nobody controls the odds like Billy Walters. Widely regarded as “the Michael Jordan of sports betting,” Walters is a living legend in Las Vegas and among sports bettors worldwide. With an unmatched winning streak of thirty-six consecutive years, Walters has become fabulously wealthy by placing hundreds of millions of dollars a year in gross wagers, including one Super Bowl bet of $3.5 million alone. Competitors desperate to crack his betting techniques have tried hacking his phones, cloning his beepers, rifling through his trash, and bribing his employees. Now, after decades of avoiding the spotlight and fiercely protecting the keys to his success, Walters has reached the age where he wants to pass along his wisdom to future generations of sports bettors. Gambler is more than a traditional autobiography. In addition to sharing his against-all-odds American Dream story, Walters reveals in granular detail the secrets of his proprietary betting system, which will serve as a master class for anyone who wants to improve their odds at betting on sports. Walters also breaks his silence about his long and complicated relationship with Hall of Fame professional golfer Phil Mickelson. On a typical weekend gameday packed with college and pro sports, Walters will bet $20 million. It’s a small sum for someone with his resources today, but an unbelievable fortune for the child who was raised by his grandmother in extreme poverty in rural Kentucky. By the age of nine, Walters became a shark at hustling pool and pitching pennies. As a young adult, he set records as a used-car salesman, hustled golf, and dabbled in bookmaking. He eventually moved to Las Vegas, where he revolutionized sports betting strategy and became a member of the famed Computer Group, the first syndicate to apply algorithms and data analysis to sports gambling. He built a fortune while overcoming addictions and outmaneuvering organized crime figures made infamous by Martin Scorsese’s film Casino. In Gambler, Walters shares everything he’s learned about sports betting. First, he shows bettors how to mine the information we have at our fingertips to develop a sophisticated betting strategy and handicapping system of our own. He explains how even avid bettors often do not grasp all of the variables that go into making an informed wager—home field advantage, individual player values, injuries or illness, weather forecasts, each team’s previous schedule, travel distance/ difficulty, stadium quirks, turf types, and more. Variable by variable, Walters breaks down the formulas, betting systems, and money-management principles that he’s developed over decades of improving his craft. A self-made man who repeatedly won it all, lost it all, and earned it all back again, Walters has lived a singular and wildly appealing American life, of the outlaw variety. Gambler is at once a gripping autobiography, a blistering tell-all, and an indispensable playbook for coming out on top.

The Voices

The Voices
Author: Susan Elderkin
Publisher: Grove Press
Total Pages: 340
Release: 2004-10
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 9780802141705

In the remote, blood red dust of the Australian bush, thirteen-year-old Billy Saint turns to the stark landscape and mesmerizing spirits of the native Aborigines for the companionship he lacks at home. Ten years later, Billy lies in a hospital bed, recovering from gruesome wounds of mysterious origin. Shifting between his hospital stay and the childhood that led him there, The Voices unfolds into a haunting exploration of the relationship between a white man, the land he loves, and the native spirits of the country struggling to be heard before they are lost forever.