If the ball's there, hit it. Don't worry about what might happen. Play for the glory. Play for the six' Chris Gayle is the only man to have ever hit a six off the first ball of a Test match. But then producing the impossible is an everyday act for the West Indies legend: the first man to smash an international T20 century, the first to hit a World Cup 200, the fastest century in the history of the game. He has hit twice as many T20 sixes as any other man and scored two Test triple centuries. All this is delivered with cricket's biggest bat and an even bigger smile. Off the pitch, millions follow him on Instagram and Twitter to catch a glimpse of a globe-trotting life spent in nightclubs as much as nets, hot-tubs as often as helmets and pads. He plays late, parties later, demolishes a king-size pile of pancakes and then strolls out to mangle another hapless bowling attack. But do we really know him? Do we know what took a shy, skinny kid from a cramped tin-roofed shack in the dusty back streets of Kingston, sharing a bed with three brothers and stealing empty bottles to buy food, to the very top of the cricket world - without losing himself along the way? Outrageous and utterly original, this unputdowneable memoir will leave you reeling. Welcome to the world of the Six Machine.
What special powers could a thirteen-year-old girl have that could bring the earth to the edge of extinction? Why does an old indigenous artifact from Australias Red Centre hold the key to the universe? Which terrorist agency is blowing up ancient sites that contain the gateways to the gods? Who is stealing high-grade gold and diamonds from vaults and museums from all over the world? The race to find the answers to save Earth and Lossindor will lead a group of friends to the far reaches of space, and one special girl will take her place with the gods!
What special powers could a thirteen year old girl have that could bring the Earth to the edge of extinction? Why does an old indigenous artefact from Australias red centre hold the key to the universe? Which terrorist agency is blowing up ancient sites that contain the gateways to the gods? Who is stealing high grade gold and diamonds from vaults and museums from all over the world? The race to find the answers to save Earth and Lossindor will lead a group of friends to the far reaches of space?
e;Chris's book is an exciting danger-filled journey from England to Haiti. A gripping read. I highly recommend it to all armchair adventurers."e; Sir Ranulph Fiennes OBE - Named by the Guinness Book of Records as "e;the world's greatest living explorer"e;It's 1963. 13-year-old Chris watches 'Doctor No' and dreams of emulating his hero: James Bond, 007.Two years later Chris' world is shattered when the father he idolises deserts the family leaving him to help support his mother and younger brother. He quits school with no qualifications but miraculously finds a job as a clerical assistant with the Ministry of Defence, hoping that Martinis and Aston Martins will soon follow.Chris quickly realises however, that clerical assistants never get to be secret agents.One evening, a chat with a local copper convinces Chris to join the police. Twenty-six years of active service follow until his career is cut short by a car accident leaving him with a broken neck. Medically discharged from the police but still longing for adventurous work, Chris takes a job as a bouncer.When the BBC comes calling, looking for bouncers to star in 'Muscle' - a new documentary series investigating city centre violence - Chris finds himself unexpectedly in the spotlight.While filming 'Muscle' he's sent to Los Angeles to train as a weapons carrying bodyguard. Impressed by his skills, the organisation invites him to join an elite team of mercenaries tasked with guarding the president of the impoverished Republic of Haiti.Follow Chris's remarkable journey from the streets of Bristol to the land of Voodoo, violent revolution and the ever-present spectre of death.REVIEWS"e;Love it, my anxiety was trying to kick in after the first sentence"e;Rich Jones, Author of 'Charlie Four Kilo' www.CharlieFourKilo.com"e;I'd put you on par with Andy McNab"e;Kevin Timpson, Mid Glamorgan, Wales UK"e;Call Sign Chopper has the ring of authenticity about it. It's the precise little things, like When Chris Nott says of a burned body, "e;all I knew for sure was that they had been wearing boots."e; I was with Chris in Haiti. It was a different day but I can still remember with crystal clarity that one fly buzzing round a body and the rest, landed and feasting on the blood."e;Bill Brookman, Loughborough, Leicestershire
Featuring North America's foremost thriller authors, Thriller is the first collection of pure thriller stories ever published. Offering up heart-pumping tales of suspense in all its guises are thirty-two of the most critically acclaimed and award-winning names in the business. From the signature characters that made such authors as David Morrell and John Lescroart famous, to four of the hottest new voices in the genre, this blockbuster will tantalize and terrify. Lock the doors, draw the shades, pull up the covers and be prepared for Thriller to keep you up all night.
John Cairncross was among the most damaging spies of the twentieth century. A member of the infamous Cambridge Ring of Five, he leaked highly sensitive documents from Bletchley Park, MI6 and the Treasury to the Soviet Union – including the first atomic secrets and raw decrypts from Enigma and Tunny that influenced the outcome of the Battle of Kursk. In 2014, Cairncross appeared as a secondary, though key, character in the biopic of Alan Turing's life, The Imitation Game. While the other members of the Cambridge Ring of Five have been the subject of extensive biographical study, Cairncross has largely been overlooked by both academic and popular writers. Despite clear interest, he has remained a mystery – until now. The Last Cambridge Spy is the first ever biography of John Cairncross, using newly released material to tell the story of his life and espionage.
Complete with historic photographs and actual advertisements from both women seeking husbands and males seeking brides, Object Matrimony includes stories of courageous mail order brides and their exploits as well as stories of the marriage brokers, mercenary matchmakers looking to profit as merchants did off of the miners and settlers. Some of these stories end happily ever after; others reveal desperate situations that robbed the brides of their youth and sometimes their lives.
The roots of country run deep. This book charts the development of this uniquely American music form from the 1800s through to the present. It also shows how social, economic, and regional factors have all helped to shape country music over time, and, in turn, how this music has gone on to influence other genres, such as Blues, Folk, Rock, and Soul and R&B.
A collection of thirty tales of suspense features contributions from Heather Graham, Lincoln Child, Denise Hamilton, Michael Palmer, Douglas Preston, Alex Kava, Michael Palmer, and John Lescroart.
A celtic Gone Girl... guaranteed to keep you guessing' --- IAN RANKIN *****WINNER Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year***** *****WINNER Bloody Scotland McIlvanney Prize for Crime Novel of the Year***** Did she do it? Did he deserve it? Diana Jager is clever, strong and successful, a skilled surgeon and fierce campaigner via her blog about sexism. Yet it takes only hours for her life to crumble when her personal details are released on the internet as revenge for her writing. Then she meets Peter. He's kind, generous, and knows nothing about her past: the second chance she's been waiting for. Within six months, they are married. Within six more, Peter is dead in a road accident, a nightmare end to their fairytale romance. But Peter's sister Lucy doesn't believe in fairytales, and tasks maverick reporter Jack Parlabane with discovering the dark truth behind the woman the media is calling Black Widow... 'Black Widow is a stand-out thriller' Renee Knight, author of Disclaimer
The story of the American Civil War is typically told with particular interest in the national players behind the war: Davis, Lincoln, Lee, Grant, and their peers. However, the truth is that countless Americans on both sides of the war worked in their own communities to sway public perception of abolition, secession, and government intervention. In north Alabama, David Hubbard was an ardent and influential voice for leaving the Union, spreading his increasingly radical view of states' rights and the need to rebel against what he viewed an overreaching federal government. You have likely never heard of Hubbard, the grandson of a Revolutionary War soldier who fought under Andrew Jackson in the War of 1812. He was much more than that stereotype of antebellum Alabama politicians, being an early speculator in lands coerced from Native Americans; a lawyer and cotton planter; a populist; an influential member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Alabama; and a key promoter of the very first railroad built west of the Allegheny mountains. Alabama's Forgotten Fire Eater is the story of Hubbard's radicalization, describing his rise to becoming the most influential and prominent secessionist in north Alabama. Despite growing historical interest in the "fire eaters" who whipped the South into a frenzy, there has been little mention until now of Hubbard's integral involvement in Alabama's relationship with the Confederacy. Now historian Chris McIlwain offers Hubbard's story as a cautionary tale of radical politics and its consequences.
In Old Town Road, Chris Molanphy considers Lil Nas X’s debut single as pop artifact, chart phenomenon, and cultural watershed. “Old Town Road” was more than a massive hit, with the most weeks at No. 1 in Billboard Hot 100 history. It is also a prism through which to track the evolution of popular music consumption and the ways race influences how the music industry categorizes songs and artists. By both lionizing and satirizing genre tropes—it’s a country song built from an alternative rock sample, a hip-hop song in which nobody raps, a comical song that transcends novelty, and a queer anthem—Lil Nas X troubles the very idea of genre. Ultimately, Molanphy shows how “Old Town Road” channeled decades of Americana to point the way toward our cultural future.
A big novel of wine-making and the law. When people living around the water-filled quarry next to the winery start getting ill a scientist and a lawyer look into it -- and find more than they bargained for. With his knowledge of the law and wine-making, Chris Scott Graham has crafted a riveting novel of suspense, courtroom action and human frailty.
ERIN REAGAN: How many times have you and I been setting the table together for Sunday dinner? NICKY REAGAN: A million. Anyone who has ever seen the hit TV show Blue Bloods knows that the family dinner is the centerpiece of every episode. And there are really only three things that Blue Bloods-and everyone else-need to make a successful family dinner: family, love and food. Bring the first two to the table and The Blue Bloods Family Dinner Cookbook will provide the third! Bridget Moynahan, the show's star, invites you to partake in that sacred family ritual, offering food lovers more than 100 delectable recipes and bringing you Irish/Italian comfort food that will make you feel right at home, including: -Clam Chowder (Manhattan, of course!) -Arthur Avenue Spaghetti and Meatballs -Chicken Francese -Pizza, Reagan Style -Standing Rib Roast with Cippolini Onion Sauce -Cheesecake with NYPD Blue Topping Just as there is a chair around the table for every family member, there is a recipe in this cookbook sure to make any eater happy to be home again. Hearty and soulful, The Blue Bloods Cookbook will make you say, "Amen, now pass the potatoes!
Provides an analysis of Hollywood from a fresh viewpoint that shows the careers of Robert Altman, Francis Coppola, William Friedkin, and others in the 1980s as far from conforming to a monolithic pattern of decline, but rather as diverse and complex responses to political and industrial changes. The 1980s are routinely seen as the era of the blockbuster and of 'Reaganite entertainment,' whereas the dominant view of late 1960s and early 1970s American film history is that of a 'Hollywood Renaissance', a relatively brief window of artistry based around a select group of directors. Yet key directors associated with the Renaissance period remained active throughout the 1980s and their work has been obscured or dismissed by a narrow, singular model of American film history. This book deals with industrial contexts that conditioned these directors' ability to work creatively, but it is also very much about the analysis of individual films, bringing to light a range of unheralded work, from the visual experimentation of One from the Heart (Coppola, 1981) to the experimental production contexts of Secret Honor (Altman, 1984) and the stylistic élan of To Live and Die in L.A. (Friedkin, 1985). Behind the homogenous picture of the decline of the auteur in 1980s American cinema are films and careers that merit greater attention, and this book offers a new way to perceive individual films, American film history, and the viability of sustained authorial creativity within post-studio era Hollywood.
Are you a loyal Blues supporter? Never missed a match and think you know all there is to know about your favourite team? If so, have a go at tackling the 1,000 brain teasing questions in this quiz book, each one cleverly thought out to test your memory of the people and places that have shaped the history of Birmingham City Football Club. With sections on all aspects of the game including players, managers, scores, transfer fees, opponents, competitions, wins, draws and losses, you just won't be able to put this book down. Whether you want to impress your family with some little known facts or challenge your mates, The Official Birmingham City Quiz Book is a must have for football fans of all ages and is certain to provide hours of fun. This fitting tribute to the Blues is both educational and entertaining. So dip inside the cover and check up on all those important details about the team you didn't realise you had forgotten.
The former First Lady talks about her childhood in Grand Rapids, Michigan, life in D.C. as the wife of a freshman Congressman, and life inside the White House.
Tempus and Niko reunite the members of the Sacred Band for a perilous mission into the desert world of Sandia, but their quest is threatened by dark echoes from the past
Few sporting records capture the imagination quite like that of the highest individual score in Test cricket. It is the blue riband record of batting achievement, the ultimate statement of stamina and skill. From Charles Bannerman, who scored 165 for Australia against England in the inaugural Test match in 1877, to Brian Lara, who made 400 not out for West Indies against England in 2004, the record has changed hands ten times. Chris Waters' The Men Who Raised the Bar charts the growth of the record through nearly one hundred and fifty years of Test cricket. It is a journey that takes in a legendary line of famous names including Sir Donald Bradman, Sir Leonard Hutton, Sir Garfield Sobers and Walter Hammond, along with less heralded players whose stories are brought back into the light. Drawing on the reflections of the record-holders, Waters profiles the men who raised the bar and their historic performances.
Are you an avid Brentford supporter? Do you know everything there is to know about the Bees? Well, now you can test your knowledge with the 800 questions in this, The Official Brentford Quiz Book. Packed with interesting facts covering all aspects of the club's long history, from players and their opponents to memorable managers and matches this book is a must have for Brentford fans of all ages. With a fitting foreword by Peter Gilham this quiz book is as educational as it is entertaining and is guaranteed to provide an insight to the characters and events that have helped to shape this west London Club. This is a fascinating treasure trove that will delight anyone with a keen interest in Brentford or in football in general.
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