Canterbury Tales Guesthouse

[Daveo]

Les Misérables by Victor Hugo.

 

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Introducing one of the most famous characters in literature, Jean Valjean, the noble peasant imprisoned for stealing a loaf of bread, Les Misérables ranks among the greatest novels of all time.

In it, Victor Hugo takes readers deep into the Parisian underworld, immerses them in a battle between good and evil, and carries them to the barricades during the uprising of 1832 with a breathtaking realism that is unsurpassed in modern prose. Within his dramatic story are themes that capture the intellect and the emotions: crime and punishment, the relentless persecution of Valjean by Inspector Javert, the desperation of the prostitute Fantine, the amorality of the rogue Thénardier, and the universal Desire to escape the prisons of our own minds.

Les Misérables gave Victor Hugo a canvas upon which he portrayed his criticism of the French political and judicial systems, but the portrait that resulted is larger than life, epic in scope, an extravagant spectacle that dazzles the senses even as it touches the heart.

[Daveo]

True at First Light, A Fictional Memoir, By Ernest Hemingway.

 

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Both revealing self-portrait and dramatic fictional chronicle of his final African safari, Ernest Hemingway's last unpublished work was written when he returned from Kenya in 1953.

Edited by his son Patrick, who accompanied his father on the safari, True at First Light offers rare insights into the legendary American writer.

 

A blend of autobiography and fiction, the book opens on the day his close friend Pop, a celebrated hunter, leaves Ernest in charge of the safari camp and news arrives of a potential attack from a hostile tribe.

Drama continues to build as his wife, Mary pursues the great black maned lion that has become her obsession.

Spicing his depictions of human longings with sharp humor, Hemingway captures the excitement of big game hunting and the unparalleled beauty of the scenery, the green plains covered with gray mist, zebra and gazelle traversing the horizon, cool dark nights broken by the sounds of the hyena's cry...

[Daveo]

Running with the Firm by James Bannon

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'Of course I'm a f**king hooligan, you pr**k. 
I am a hooligan...there I've said it...I'm a hooligan. 
And, do you know why? 
Because that's my f**king job.

In 1995, a film called I.D., about an ambitious young copper who was sent undercover to track down the ‘generals’ of a football hooligan gang, achieved cult status for its sheer brutality and unsettling insight into the dark and often bloody side of the so called beautiful game.

The film was so shocking it was hard to believe the mindless events that took place could ever happen in the real world, well, believe it now.

Almost twenty years on, the man behind the film has explosively revealed that the script was largely a true story. 
That man, James Bannon, was the ambitious undercover cop. The football club was Millwall F.C. and the gang that he infiltrated was The Bushwackers, among the most brutal and fearless in English football.

In Running with the Firm, Bannon shares his intense and dangerous journey into the underworld of football hooliganism where sickening levels of violence prevail over anything else. 
He introduces you to the hardest thugs from football’s most notorious gangs, tells all about the secret and almost comical police operations that were meant to bring them down, and, how once you’re on the inside, getting out from the mob proves to be the biggest mission of all.

A disturbing but compelling read, this is the book that proves fact really is stranger than fiction.

[Daveo]

Barefoot Soldier by Johnson Beharry & Nick Cook

 

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Born in 1979 in Grenada as one of eight children, living in a two bedroom hut, surviving on meagre meals of beans and rice and walking barefoot, three miles to school.

At 13 Johnson Beharry quit school and worked as a decorator and labourer.

In 1999 he scraped together the airfare for England and joined the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment.

He served six months in Kosovo, three months in Northern Ireland and then went to Iraq.

On 1 May 2004, Beharry helped assist a foot patrol caught in a series of ambushes.

His vehicle was hit by multiple rocket propelled grenades but he drove through the ambush and extracted his wounded colleagues from the vehicle, all the time exposed to further enemy fire.

He was cited on this occasion for 'valour of the highest order'. While back on duty on 11 June 2004, a rocket propelled grenade hit Beharry's vehicle incapacitating his commander and injuring several of the crew.

Despite his very serious head injuries, Beharry took control of his vehicle and drove it out of the ambush area before losing consciousness.

He required brain surgery for his head injuries, and he was still recovering when he was awarded the VC in March 2005.

[Daveo]

Rough Justice by Stephen Leather.

 

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Dan "Spider" Shepherd is sent undercover to investigate a group of policemen in the Territorial Support Group.

Fed up with all the paperwork and the fact that the system is geared to support the criminals rather than the victims, they have started to act as vigilantes, planting forensic evidence to frame known criminals, and moving on to more drastic methods. Spider is far from happy about deceiving fellow policemen, and things are complicated on other fronts for him too: his friend Jimmy Sharpe is tied up in an undercover investigation that is causing problems, and he's discovered an extremely disturbing film on his son's cell phone.

[Daveo]

The First Order by Jeff Abbott .

 

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The darkest day of Sam Capra’s life was when he watched his brother, Danny, executed by extremists on an online video.

But now, evidence has surfaced that Danny may still be alive, leading a secret, hidden life for the past six years while the world believed him to be dead.

What’s more, Sam discovers that Danny may be plotting a murder that could change history: assassinating the Russian president.

Determined to stop his brother from committing a murder that may cause a war, Sam goes undercover in a one man mission to save the world and to save his brother.

[Daveo]

Nemesis / Sleeping Murder / At Bertram's hotel (3-in-1 Volume)

by Agatha Christie.

 

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Nemesis;

Miss Marple receives a letter from a friend who had died only a week earlier, a letter urging her to investigate a crime.

But the only clue he leaves or her is an almost unfathomable quotation.

 

Sleeping Murder;

Miss Marple's last case leads her to unravel a 'perfect' murder that has escaped detection for eighteen years.

A tortuous and surprising final puzzle for the shrewd and spry detective.

 

At Bertram's Hotel;

Sentimentality draws Miss Jane Marple to Bertram's hotel, where dowager duchesses, retired clergymen and impressionable Americans indulge in all the comforts of a forgotten era.

But Miss Marple feels uneasy, something sinister lurks beneath the well polished veneer.

In the Classics section @ Canterbury Tales Bookshop.

[Daveo]

On the Edge by Richard & Mindy Hammond.

 

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Richard Hammond is one of our most in demand television presenters.

On September 20, 2006, he suffered a serious brain injury following a high speed car crash, and the nation held its breath.

 

On the Edge is his compelling account of life before and after the accident and an honest description of his year of recovery, full of drama and incident.

It is also, perhaps, his explanation of why, as a married man and father of two young daughters, he was prepared to risk all by strapping himself to the front of a jet engine with the power of eleven Formula One cars.

A daredevil and a petrolhead long before his association with Top Gear, Richard tells the story of his life as an adrenalin junkie, from the small boy showing off with ridiculous stunts on his bicycle to the adolescent with a near obsessive attraction to speed and the smell of petrol.

After a series of jobs in local radio, he graduated to television and eventually to Top Gear, one of the world's most popular shows, upgrading his car with each step up the ladder.

 

His insights into the personalities, the camaraderie and, of course, the stunts for which Top Gear has become famous make compulsive reading.

It was whilst filming for Top Gear, driving a jet powered dragster at speeds over 300mph, that a tyre burst and the car left the track and rolled over, burying him in the earth.

He was airlifted to hospital and hovered near death for several days.

His wife Mingy tells the story of the anxious hours and days of watching and waiting until he finally emerged from his coma.

In an extraordinarily powerful piece of writing, she and Richard then piece together the stages of his recovery as his shattered mind slowly reformed, leaving him sometimes lucid and plausible, sometimes confused and angry and often exhausted. The final chapter recounts his return home and his triumphant reappearance in front of the cameras.

[Daveo]

The Great British Bobby: A History Of British Policing From 1829 To The Present by Clive Emsley

 

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Written by a criminology expert, this is a wonderfully readable history of a great British institution: from Sir Robert Peel's creation of the Metropolitan Police in 1829 through to the present day, taking in the massive economic, social and political changes along the way.

[Daveo]

The Best Crime Stories

by Michael Stapleton (introduction), Edgar Allan Poe, Wilkie Collins, Arthur Conan Doyle, G.K. Chesterton, W.W. Jacobs, Aldous Huxley, Henry Holt , W. Somerset Maugham, Dashiell Hammett, Margery Allingham, George Goodchild, Anthony Berkley, Dorothy L. Sayers, Edgar Wallace, Agatha Christie, James Hilton, Cornell Woolrich, John Steinbeck, Robert Authur, Patrick Quentin, John D. MacDonald, Charlotte Armstrong, Michael Gilbert, Roy Vickers, Roald Dahl, Avram Davidson, Jay Wilson, Stanley Ellin, Anthony Gilbert, Brian Cleeve, Eric Parr, Julian Symons, Elizabeth Ferrars, Hugh Penticost, Christianna Brand, Dick Francis, Particia McGerr, Helen Neilson, Mary Kelly, Miles Tripp, John Garforth, P.D. James, Jane Aiken Hodge, Celia Fremlin, James McClure, Ted Willis.

 

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[Daveo]

Mountbatten: Hero of Our Time by R Hough.

 

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A full length biography of Lord Mountbatten by an author who travelled with him far and wide and interviewed many members of the Royal Family.

The last godson of Queen Victoria, he lost his title at age 17 and later married Edwina Ashley a millionairess.

Numerous photographs and genealogical charts to endpapers.

[Daveo]

The Secret River by Kate Grenville

 

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In 1806 William Thornhill, an illiterate English bargeman and a man of quick temper but deep compassion, steals a load of wood and, as a part of his lenient sentence, is deported, along with his beloved wife, Sal, to the New South Wales colony in what would become Australia.

The Secret River is the tale of William and Sal’s deep love for their small, exotic corner of the new world, and William’s gradual realization that if he wants to make a home for his family, he must forcibly take the land from the people who came before him.

Acclaimed around the world, The Secret River is a magnificent, transporting work of historical fiction.

[Daveo]

The Vikings by Else Roesdahl

 

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Far from being just 'wild, barbaric, axe wielding pirates', the Vikings created complex social institutions, oversaw the coming of Christianity to Scandinavia and made a major impact on European history through trade, travel and far flung consolidation.

This encyclopedic study brings together the latest research on Viking art, burial customs, class divisions, jewellery, kingship, poetry and family life.

The result is a rich and compelling picture of an extraordinary civilisation.

[Daveo]

The Boy with No Shoes by William Horwood

 

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Five year old Jimmy Rova is the unwanted child of a mother who rejects him, and whose other children bully him.

The one thing he can call his own is a pair of shoes, a present from the only person he feels has ever loved him.

When they are cruelly taken away, Jimmy spirals down into a state of loneliness and terrible loss from which there seems no recovery.

 

This triumphant story of a boy's struggle with early trauma and his remarkable journey into adulthood is based on William Horwood's own remarkable childhood in south east England after the Second World War.

Using all the skills that went into the creation of his modern classics, Horwood has written an inspiring story of a journey from a past too painful to imagine to the future every child deserves.

[Daveo]

How Hard Can It Be? (The World According to Clarkson #4)

by Jeremy Clarkson.

 

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Jeremy Clarkson had a dream.

A world where the nonsensical made sense, the idiotic was abolished and the sheer bloody brilliant was embraced.

In this book, our hero embarks on a quest to set the world to rights. Again.

[Daveo]

Fern: The Autobiography by Fern Britton

 

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The much loved TV star Fern Britton tells her story for the first time in her bestselling memoir.

For years now, Fern Britton has been widely loved as the presenter of Ready Steady Cook, and, more recently, co-presenter of This Morning with Phillip Schofield.

 

Never one to shy away from a good laugh or cry on national TV, she has nonetheless never talked about herself to the public, preferring to keep her private life private.

Her warmth and humour, empathy and compassion, have made her feel like a best friend to millions on a daily basis, but no one knows the woman behind the sparkling smile.

Now, for the first time, she is going to tell her story and it is one that will strike a chord with women everywhere.

 

Life as a child was not always easy, and she faced private and public challenges with her personal life, appearance and her career as she climbed the ladder to fame.

Now a full time working mum, with a very happy marriage to her second husband Phil Vickery, she is at the top of her game, and ready to tell it like it is.

So put your feet up and get ready for a great read with Fern Britton, Fern grew up in Buckinghamshire, and started her career on Westward Television, before moving to GMTV and Ready Steady Cook.

She later co presented This Morning with Phillip Schofield, and has become a much sought after presenter for shows including Have I Got News For You, Soapstar Superstar and Celebrity Mr and Mrs.

She recently wowed audiences with her performance on Strictly Come Dancing, Fern lives in Buckinghamshire with her husband Phil Vickery and their four children.

[Daveo]

Return to a Sexy Island by Neil Humphreys

 

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Singapore got sexy and the country's best selling author got jealous.

After five years chasing echidnas and platypuses in Australia, Neil Humphreys returns to Singapore to see if the rumours are true.

Like an old girlfriend getting a lusty makeover, the island transformed while Humphreys was away, Singapore is not just a sexier island, it s a different world.

So Humphreys embarked upon a nationwide tour to test that theory, he went in search of new Singapore, visiting only locations that either did not exist five years ago or had been extensively rebuilt, renovated or revamped in his absence.

 

From the cloud topped heights of Marina Bay Sands and Pinnacle@Duxton to making ill advised bomb jokes at the subterranean tunnels of Labrador Park, Humphreys walks, cycles, kayaks and swims across a rapidly evolving country, meeting Guinness swigging aunties in Resorts World Sentosa, eccentric toy museum owners in Bugis, political activists in Aljunied and a security guard at Marina Barrage ready to tekan anyone who crosses his path.

In new Singapore, Humphreys discovers a country still grappling between the economic rewards of progress at Biopolis and Fusionopolis and the historical cost at Bukit Brown Cemetery. With Humphreys characteristic honesty and wit, Return to a Sexy Island provides an insightful account of new Singapore; its best bits, it ugly bits and, most importantly of all, what it s really like to pee in the world s best toilet.

Every Singapore resident and visitor should read this book.

[Daveo]

Notes from the Hard Shoulder by James May

 

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Top Gear presenter and columnist James May brings together another brilliant collection of his most controversial and humorous writing.

From tales of motoring adventures through India, Russia and Iceland, to classic articles on essential subjects such as driving songs and haunted car parks, these gems from the number one car connoisseur will take readers on a motoring journey that will amuse and entertain in equal measure.

[Daveo]

Stalker by Faye Kellerman.

 

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L.A. Homicide Detective Peter Decker never wanted the perils of his job to touch his family.

But now his two worlds have collided.A first year rookie with the LAPD's Hollywood Division, Cynthia Decker became a cop against the wishes of her father, Peter Decker. But police work is in her blood and she's determined to make it on her own, even now, when her razor sharp instincts for danger are telling her that something is very wrong.

The signs are impossible to ignore, things being moved around in her apartment, the destruction of personal effects.

But it's a harrowing trip down a dark canyon road that confirms Cindy's worst fears, someone fiendishly relentless and with decidedly evil intentions, is stalking her.

And with Peter Decker isolated from her troubles by his own investigation into a disturbing series of carjackings, it's up to Cindy to find out who in her personal and/or professional life wants her frightened or harmed, or dead.

[Daveo]

The Eagle and the Wolves by Simon Scarrow.

@ Canterbury Tales Bookshop / Book exchange / Cafe, Pattaya.......

In the summer of AD 44, tense undercurrents amongst the tribe of nominally friendly Atrebatans are ready to explode into open revolt. It falls to Centurions Macro and Cato to provide aged ruler Verica with an army. 
With a scratch force of raw recruits, unversed in the techniques of war, they must find and destroy a cunning opponent. 
But can they do this whilst surviving the deadly cross currents of plotters threatening to destroy not only Macro and Cato, but all their comrades serving with the Eagles?

[Daveo]

Imperium: A Novel of Ancient Rome by Robert Harris.

@ Canterbury Tales Bookshop / Book exchange / Cafe, Pattaya.....

A cautionary tale of orator Cicero and his struggle for power in Rome. 
On a cold November morning, a terrified stranger, Sicilian victim of the island's corrupt Roman governor Verres, approaches senator Marcus Cicero. 
At age 27, the ambitious young lawyer and orator wants imperium - supreme power in the state. 

[Daveo]

The Zero Game, by Brad Meltzer.

@ Canterbury Tales Bookshop / Book exchange / Cafe, Pattaya.........

Bestselling author of The Millionaires and The First Counsel returns to Washington, D.C, with the story of an insider's game that turns deadly. 

Matthew Mercer and Harris Sandler are best friends who have plum jobs as senior staffers to well-respected congressmen. 
But after a decade in Washington, idealism has faded to disillusionment, and they're bored, then one of them finds out about the clandestine Zero Game. 
It starts out as good fun, a simple wager between friends, but when someone close to them ends up dead, Harris and Matthew realize the game is far more sinister than they ever imagined and that they are about to be the game's next victims. 

On the run, they turn to the only person they can trust, a 16 year-old Senate page who can move around the Capitol undetected, as a ruthless killer creeps closer, this idealistic page not only holds the key to saving their lives, but is also determined to redeem them in the process. 

Come play The Zero Game, you can bet your life on it.

[Daveo]

Hellfire by Ed Macy

 

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The true story of one man's determination to master the world's deadliest helicopter and of a split second decision that changed the face of modern warfare.

Ed Macy bent every rule in the book to get to where he wanted to be: on Ops in the stinking heat of the Afghan summer, with the world's greatest weapons system at his fingertips.

It's 2006 and he is part of an elite group of pilots assigned to the controversial Apache AH Mk1 gunship programme.

So far, though, the monstrously expensive Apache has done little to disprove its detractors.

 

For the first month 'in action' Ed sees little more from his cockpit than the back end of a Chinook.

But everything changes in the skies over Now Zad.

Under fire and out of options, Ed has one chance to save his own skin and those of the men on the ground.

Though the Apache bristles with awesome weaponry, its fearsome Hellfire missile has never been fired in combat.

Then, in the blistering heat of the firefight, the trigger is pulled. It's a split second decision that forever changes the course of the Afghan war, as overnight the gunship is transformed from being an expensive liability to the British Army's greatest asset.

From that moment on, Ed and his squadron mates will face the steepest learning curve of their lives, fighting an endless series of high octane missions against a cunning and constantly evolving enemy.

Ed himself will have to risk everything to fly, fight and survive in the most hostile place on earth.

[Daveo]

The Dope Priest by Nicholas Blincoe

 

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David Preston is the Dope Priest and he has a headache.

If you've smuggled drugs out of war zones, you're not going to worry about a spot of illegal land trading between the Palestinians and Israelis.

But David never planned on amorous nuns, kosher egg racketeers and the full might of the Israeli secret housing service.

Even now, he feels he could cope.

If only he could win the heart of the local drive time DJ, or at least find something decent to smoke.

[Daveo]

Fiasco: The Inside Story of a Wall Street Trader

by Frank Partnoy.

 

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FIASCO is the shocking story of one man's education in the jungles of Wall Street.

As a young derivatives salesman at Morgan Stanley, Frank Partnoy learned to buy and sell billions of dollars worth of securities that were so complex many traders themselves didn't understand them.

In his behind the scenes look at the trading floor and the offices of one of the world's top investment firms, Frank Partnoy recounts the macho attitudes and fiercely competitive ploys of his office mates.

He takes us to the annual drunken skeet shooting competition, FIASCO, where he and his colleagues sharpen the killer instincts they are encouraged to use against their competitors, their clients, and each other.

FIASCO is the first book to take on the derivatives trading industry, the most highly charged and risky sector of the stock market.

More importantly, it is a blistering indictment of the largely unregulated market in derivatives and serves as a warning to unwary investors about real fiascos, which have cost billions of dollars.