Search results for ""Troubador Publishing""

In Colleen O’Flaherty-Hilder’s second book, Orla has returned to Crystal Island after her Crystal awakening. Alongside her promised consort, Finn, she is tasked with choosing new leaders for the seven Federations of the Earth. They will replace the Chief Generals who are controlled by the dangerous Shadow and have led the planet down a path of greed and destruction for many decades. Fourteen new leaders are chosen – seven men and seven women – with the potential to access their buried Crystal Wisdom. But first, they must remove the influence of the deeply embedded Shadow. Under this new leadership, will the planet be able to heal?

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Keith is a shy hamster who lives with his parents and sisters in a beautiful pet shop. Teased by his sisters for having huge teeth, Keith hides them from anyone who visits the pet shop.Two children, Eliza and Seb, visit the pet shop and immediately love him. They take him home where he lives happily in a large, clean cage amongst the children's two Siamese cats and two small dogs.But disaster strikes when Keith gets stuck in a wheel arch on a car journey and can't get out.Will Keith be saved, or can he save himself and will he ever make it back to the comfort of his own cage?Keith the Teeth is a charming story about a shy hamster with huge teeth. The story encourages children to embrace and own their differences.

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Cheshire. Present day.A body of a 100-year-old woman is found on Detective Inspector Gary Lowton's first day with the Cheshire Police Force. The police conclude that it is a crime of murder, but it doesn't follow the usual pattern and there is no obvious motive.Bavaria. Second World War.A young, disillusioned woman living in a small town in Bavaria gets involved with the Nazi party. Her journey through the ranks at Ravensbruk Concentration Camp coincides with that of a Jewish intern. Both women survive the war and flee to England. For very different reasons, both create a new identity.But the past always has a way of catching up. And eighty years later one of the women is the murder victim. Was she a monster from the past or an innocent victim and why was she murdered? DI Lowton leads an investigation full of twists, turns and blind alleys.The Monster Within is a gripping murder mystery with a difference and delves into the horror of the v

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Life isn't easy when you don't fit the mould. Maisy Fowler knows all about not fitting in it's happened all her life. She can't hold down a job, she feels inadequate socialising, and she's constantly saying and doing things that come across as rude and selfish. So when, after being fired again, someone defecates on the roof of her ex-boss's car, she immediately gets the blame. Maisy cannot believe people would think so low of her and in a desperate need to change her image, she applies for a volunteer position in the Scottish Highlands, helping people in pain. Maisy envisions doing yoga, meditating and really being at one with nature. What she doesn't imagine is, living in a cowshed in the middle of a field, where she's pretty certain a cross between a frog and a lion is outside her unlocked door at night, waiting to eat her. Can sexy farmer Davie Marshall help her through the cold, hard nights? Two minor details though; he hates everything she stands for, and

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Faulknar is losing the war against Lindvane, with Gallowgla and Hilman joining the fight against the kingdom. Villermir has gained mastery of the Empathy Crystal and is using it to corrupt and despoil the land. Monsters that the Dragonslayer and her dragon were created to destroy have returned to rampage across the Three Kingdoms.Having been exiled from Faulknar as a traitor, Tallen tries to hide from her responsibilities and recover from the betrayal of those she trusted. The events within the Three Kingdoms, however, will force her to return to those she rejected and the kingdom she turned her back on. As her powers grow, dark forces swirl around her to claim those powers for themselves with enemies from her past, as well as her Goddess, seeking to use her to realise their own ambitions.Tallen must learn to trust those who would help her and embrace her powers, knowing her greatest challenge may come from the darkness that lies within herself.The Druid

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Each summer Santa Claus has witnessed the stark reality of climate change with melting polar ice and ever new challenges for his North Pole workshop. But it is as he embarks on his annual Christmas Eve journey that Santa must face the full might of current weather extremes from blizzards to heatwaves and droughts to floods as he visits the various countries around the globe. Luckily, he has help as children around the planet step up to be Santa''s Ho-Ho Heroes. They embrace the responsibility of safeguarding the planet by adopting eco-friendly practices. They are transformed into real-life heroes who can affect real and positive change. Will, even with this help, Santa be able to complete his journey as he faces the worst Christmas weather EVER? A tale to give inspiration and encouragement to children to recognize their pivotal role in shaping a sustainable future. A story to show that every individual, regardle

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Set in London, Norfolk's Blakeney, and Suffolk's Southwold, Orford and Aldeburgh, A Murderous Affair? is a scandalous, thrilling, and humorous tale written from a mistress's perspective which recounts her relationship, the changes in social and sexual habits around her and so much more.The protagonist describes her relationship with the man she has fallen in love with, who cheats on her as well as his Tory MP wife, over twenty years in the eighties into the noughties. The mistress offers ridiculous, funny, painful anecdotes and vignettes as she recounts the start of their relationship and how it blossomed even as she was being betrayed. Along the way, she muses on the loneliness of being a mistress, what it is like to be the third person in a marriage and in turn what it feels like to be cheated on, as well as aging and other musings about life in general. As the years push her to the edge, does she casually and unwittingly take what she might think is her rev

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A collection of short stories for young children which support reception class topics such as travel, materials and their properties, social skills, food, and people who help us. Arithmetic and pre-mathematical concepts are referenced in the stories.

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11 year-old Eleanor has been sent away to a spooky old school run by a great-aunt she’s never met. Shunned by the other girls, dismayed by Great-Aunt Margaret’s coldness, Eleanor struggles with loneliness; so when a strange, skinny little boy, all flapping arms and nodding head, greets her as a long-lost friend, it feels great to have an ally, however quirky his behaviour. As Davey follows her around, begging her to play games and climb the lime tree ‘like they used to,’ Eleanor is baffled; then bewilderment turns to horror when she realises the boy knows things about her he can’t possibly know, things no one should know... Susanna, her one friend, helps her face the truth. Unravelling the mystery draws Eleanor into a dark web of family history, awakening a tragic past that soon threatens to engulf her.

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The Poetry Bug is a book of powerful poems that will capture the imagination of primary school-aged children; it recognises humanity’s never-ending quest to understand ourselves, others and the world around us. Above all else, The Poetry Bug is playful. It recognises that people of all ages are explorers who need to navigate our world through word play, self-expression and humour if we are to understand it at all. In a world of seriousness, standardised tests and conformity, The Poetry Bug brings much-needed light relief that will brighten up even the dullest of days.

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PRE- OR POST-TRUMP? It made a difference. America wasn't the land of Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses any more.So people said. Mind you, that wasn't just the USA. It was the whole world.Hannah and Soraya are in the business of making rock music with a social conscience. The way Britain currently works, that means they'resnowflakes', social justice warriors', virtue signallers'. They've learned to live with the mudslinging, but not happily. Worse than that, it'sstarting to overwhelm them. Then, out of the blue, they suffer a string of personal and professional crises.Their solution? A change of scene designed to keep the lid on a looming family cataclysm and draw artistic inspiration from the pre-musicalroots of rock (but without the Beats' misogyny, plus in an eco-friendly car).Hannah and Soraya's Fully Magic Generation-Y *Snowflake* Road Trip across Americais about family, friendship, human mortality, the siren call ofsocia

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It is the first day of the hunting season. In the hills overlooking the Costa Brava a young graffiti artist, Cisco Perez, falls to his death while painting a mural on the tower of Casa Cielo. The Catalan police hastily rule the death an accident but Cisco's mother Juanita is convinced that her son didn't fall but was pushed either by one of the hunters or by the anti-hunt protesters who were also on the mountain that day.Juanita hires a local private detective, former London Metropolitan Police superintendent Adrian Boyle, to investigate. A widower, he is dealing with his own grief over the death of his Catalan wife Ana and his inappropriate growing infatuation with his beautiful sister-in-law Carmen.With the help of Inspector Rosa Pujol of the Catalan police, Boyle investigates the case. He soon discovers that prominent families in the area and several of Cisco's friends all have a grudge to endure and he eventually uncovers a mystery of

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Shortly before the fall of Atlantis, genetic engineers create three new prototypes, Kam, Mel and Leon, the firsthumans to have blue eyes and shapeshifting capabilities.With climatic conditions on Earth spinning rapidly out of control, it seems the future of Atlantean civilizationdepends entirely on whether the three test subjects can find a way to work together to solve the deepening crisis.But first they need to find each other.

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Are schools scary?Boring?Children behaving like animals?Well, not at Darwin Woods. Jessica takes us on a tour of her school where the TEACHERS are ANIMALS and the only wayto learn is through PLAY! Under the watchful eye of Miss Tweet, Mr Squirt paints with his trunk and the pupils wear trunks asthey surf in science. With a sloth for a PE teacher and a pig for a lunch lady, this school has to be seen to be believed.Are you ready to come in and let classes begin?

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In modern life it is easy to become distracted and these aims can fall by the wayside. How to Live Your Life brings readers back to a place of understanding, demonstrating what we were put on Earth to achieve, how it can be done and how it is possible to live an enjoyable and fulfilled life.

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Cassy is an ordinary girl with a secret. A secret no one will believe, except maybe you Life has always been the same for Cassy: Boring. Dull. Ordinary. That all changes when Cassy wakes up one night to discover her toy warrior, Len, has come alive! After following him into the bathroom, Cassy enters a quirky, fun and exciting world and embarks on the adventure of a lifetime. Just one problem she cannot go home. Will she ever manage to find her way back? Or will she be stuck there forever?

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Joe, a violent sadistic offender since his teens, has received a life sentence for multiple murder. But is it enough? Most traditional life sentences have a fixed minimum term' which means most rapists and killers will eventually be freed. It's only a matter of time. But their victims cannot be brought back from the dead, or from psychic mutilation they have suffered. Their families endure a true life sentence' of suffering from which there is no possibility of parole or early prison release.A clique of retired judges, called The Project', have formed a secret supreme court to covertly review all the traditional life sentences, and, in cases of the worst injustices, intervene. They employ a network of ghosts to secretly whisk away the selected prisoner, Joe in this case, to the invisible supermax, a futuristic prison. There, Joe is forced to undergo a radical treatment of self-discovery called The Born Again, conducted by four mysterious doctors and an android robot. Few inma

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BRING THE FIGHT TO YOUR FOES!Charge into battle with the official Tides of Terror Combat Pad the perfect way to keep track of your team and all their heroic conquests.Inside this volume you will find multiple copies of all the sheets that you need to record your progress, as well as a helpful strategy guide and bonus rewards!Please note: You will need a copy of the main Tides of Terror gamebook in order to make use of the content inside this Combat Pad.

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Following on from the success of Kamikaze Mouse, the Headteacher Poet' Duncan Thompson brings you a second collection of poems based on the strange things he's heard and seen in his own school, as well as the strange things he's been asked in school assemblies in other schools.Challenged to come up with poems on dead hedgehogs, throwing sweetcorn at people and who is better, Ronaldo or Messi, he triumphed.Could he write poems about a child getting their hand stuck in a watercooler, a school being closed because of a bee invasion, or even about a Vaquita (which research showed was a rare type of dolphin)? Yes, of course he could, and the results are inside this book.Do you want to know what happened when the dinosaurs attacked the school? Would you like to find out what happened to Mary Anning's dog? Have you heard of the granny who had toothache even though she had no teeth?These mysterious await you inside, and many more!

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Cunard Yanks were British men, mostly young, who worked on Cunard ships from the 1940s to the early 1960s on the transatlantic routes, mainly between Liverpool and New York. American consumer goods, fashions and music which they brought to Liverpool gave the city a special awareness of popular American culture. New York is their second home at a time when few British people go there. They see Buddy Holly play at the famous Apollo Theatre in Harlem and watch Pee Wee Marquette introduce Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie at Birdland. They visit Jack Dempsey's Bar and shake the great man's hand. And catch the A-line to Coney Island before watching Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field. American clothes and records, and gifts of stockings and perfume, are a hit with the girls back home, while American music inspires groups like the Beatles who play at the Cavern and the Casbah, as well as at the Kaiserkeller in Hamburg, before finally presenting their

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PREPARE FOR HEROIC ADVENTURE!You decide the action in this exciting gamebook experience.All you need to play is a pencil and an eraser and a brave heart that is ready to take on any challenge!Recruit your heroes, level up their abilities, and battle fearsome hordes of monsters as you plunder dungeons and ancient ruins for legendary treasures.With hundreds of different choices to make as you progress through the story, no two playthroughs need ever be the same.So, what are you waiting for? Grab your sword and power up your magic.Let's go dungeon raiding!

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Masquerade Love, Loss and all the Dross, a follow up to Gloria Bradley's debut poetry collection Shadowlands Mind, Mood and Memory is an expression of love and loss, of angst and ecstasy, experienced in the daily dramas that colour our emotional lives; of hopes and dreams submerged beneath a veil of armour, a mask we use to obscure our inner truths, fears and insecurities.Throughout this anthology, hopefully the reader will recognise and connect with the writer's sentiments and observations. The rhymes interspersed between the more sombre subjects are meant to amuse, as a gentle reminder that we're simply human in a world of fear and chaos, but one where love survives dancing in the masquerade.

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There's something fishy going on at St Cadoc's Abbey' The sudden death of Iris Grant's great uncle Petroc gives an ominous new meaning to his warning about strange events on the isolated Cornish island of Morgarrow. Amateur sleuth Gawaine St Clair will need all his detecting skill to find the answers, especially when Iris herself is murdered soon afterwards. There are plenty of suspects to choose between. Bernard White, the chair of the abbey trustees, wants to build a timeshare resort on the island, aided by his accomplice Roddy Chatham. Local landowner George Pengelly needs the money from selling his land in this deal. And then there is Iris's ex Jake Fletcher who is enraged at being dumped and believes he will inherit her property on the island, while the real heir is Annis Radford, Iris's next-door neighbour. But when a further murder takes place, it seems that none of these could be the suspect. Gawaine is convinced if only he coul

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Many remarkable things about Fife''s origins never understood before are set out in detail here a must read for all Fifers and those with an interest in the County. Drawn together for the first time: The name Fife has a complete explanation. Shakespeare''s story of Macduff is refuted and the correct narrative offered. Why St Regulus was invented and the true story of the arrival of the Bones of St Andrew. Evidence of Kenneth mac Alpin''s genocide in Fife is laid bare. St Serf''s true story is told so different from what so many believe. A proper explanation is given for the many Viking place names in Fife. Corrected explanations for many place names (including Kirkcaldy and Dunfermline) are given for the first time. And much much more. The book also foreshadows several centenaries which fall in the period 2025-2030 in the hope that they will be celebrated appropriately.

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Cairo, 1917. Thomas Laurie was much needed; a village policeman and honourable man, he kept the peace at home, even in war. Yet driven by conscience and the stares of strangers, he`d entered an army enlisting office in Worcester and jumped. Now, owned by King and country he was thousands of miles from those he loved, holed up in a rat-infested carpet shop in a Cairo backstreet. Somewhere opposite within the gloom of a tired hostel was the spy. He and Corporal Nooney would sort it, they always did. But still the doubts nagged: Mildred Lowthian, his senior officer at the Arab Bureau was unlike any woman he`d known, but she too seemed burdened by the duplicity of superiors. And the ignorance and disdain of those with power had shocked. Who was he really helping? At the same hour in her farmhouse on the Spanish island of Menorca, the formidable self-made landowner Llucia Quintana sat fearing for the safety of Oriol, her only son and heir. His routine trading trip

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Two people meet and discover they share a love of acting, telling stories and reading Roland Barthes. They agree to meet up two or three times a month and exchange haikus and stories that occur to them after reading Barthes' A Lover's Discourse: Fragments.As their stories are exchanged the couple's relationship develops, changes, and reaches a strange climax.The collections of stories are entertaining, witty, sometimes shocking and poke fun at the dour and laboured Fragments of Roland Barthes, posing the question of what the meaning of a story is if it is to be part of an exchange and what in life is not exchanged?

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Truth always comes at a price.?After her mother's death, Siduri's search for her missing father reveals a shocking truth she belongs to an ancient eldritch race being hunted to extinction. Forced to flee with a foul-mouthed spirit, her ex and an orphaned ghost boy, Siduri meets treachery at every turn. With her enemies closing in, can Siduri survive the genocidal crusade?Siduri is a tale of fate and family secrets in a world where the line between the living and the dead is blurred.

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1824. The Darcy family are aboard their yacht, The Pemberley, when Arab corsairs seize it and murder the crew. The Darcys and Jane, their daughter, find refuge first in an Ottoman fort and then at the British consulate in Athens.The Greeks are rebelling against their hated Turkish overlords. Buccaneers and fortune-hunters flock to Greece, eager for booty. War rages, and the all-appalling, pitiless Odysseus governs Athens. Anarchy, mayhem and Turkish armies threaten Athens. In the chaos, the eye of Odysseus lights on Jane Darcy, who is only twelve.Meanwhile, Edmund Bertram, the abusive chaplain at the consulate, shamefully mistreats his wife, Fanny. In despair, she begins a tentative romance with a frequent guest of the Consul, the piratical fortune hunter Edward Trelawny.Will the six women escape the desperate carnage around them?Will Fanny free herself from the duplicitous tyrant who rules her life? Will young Jane evade the clutches of the merciless i

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A rare and ancient manuscript, saved from destruction and hidden since colonial times, is discovered in the basement of the British Library. A secret that links two great chefs, separated from each other by 250 years. Wrenched from a nation at war, the manuscript's original owner escapes death and takes flight by river to an old Siamese trading port, hundreds of miles away. In the company of an opium- and gin-crazed Dutch ship's captain, he begins a sea voyage through vibrant coastal towns and violent storms, leading not to his freedom but to cruel betrayal by those in whom he has placed his trust. When the manuscript's new owner realises what she has discovered, she returns with it to modern-day Thailand, awakening long-dormant ancient spirits. But when the manuscript escapes Siam once more, a new trail of destruction is created in its wake. How far would you go to own the Imperial secrets?

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Abandoned as a child like many others of his generation, Terry Brennan spent his early years at an orphanage in Kent. But after discovering a sister shortly before his teenage years, he set off on a journey to find his origins This is his story. Never Give Up is a poignant and enthralling memoir by Terry Brennan and follows his journey through workhouse hospital in the late 1930s to an orphanage, where he begins his search to find his biological family.

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A girls' boarding school in the Devon countryside. A headmistress, who relies on religion for discipline, and Sister Ellis, the matron, who appears to have a hearty dislike of teenage girls. Like most teenagers, Nicky thinks she knows it all, but she's no match for what lies ahead. Separated from her family, and the safety of home, she longs for love and affection - and finds it in all the wrong places.

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A successful British academic in the US, Jay is accused of sexual assault by a colleagueand he thought they were in love. In the shadow of the emerging #MeToo movement, he struggles with the enormity of the accusations made against him, and the agonized question of his responsibility. Torn between the man he thinks he is and the predator he's now perceived to be, Jay is forced to re-examine his past. He makes a tortured journey back to the UK, battling demons that lay deep within his past since witnessing a traumatic childhood incident.

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Mairead Kelly, only seventeen, barefoot, starving and alone, flees the unimaginable horror of the Irish Famine, only to find disease and desperate squalor in nineteenth century industrial Liverpool.Against all odds, and amid a multitude of setbacks, she rises above the poverty and death, marries, and achieves a brief troubled happiness. But what is the dark tragic secret she is harbouring?Mairead's struggle to access education for her children backfires when her literate daughter embarks on a romance with the charming son of a despised, rich, English family. Are the English so uncaring after all?As the tensions rise and the two families clash will Mairead's tragic secret finally be revealed?

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Rather than try to discover the meaning of life, you simply need to live it.On 24 January 2020, Colin's partner, Deidre, receives an unanticipated diagnosis of Stage 4 breast cancer which had spread to her lungs and liver. They are devastated by the news, and their life plans appear shattered.When Deidre's treatments begin and they come to accept their situation, they are thrust into the world of Covid 19, and fear that the consequences of the pandemic will have a disastrous effect on her care plan and their hopes of normality.As lockdown grips the planet, they are forced into isolation and must plan for even the most basic of activities. They are filled, however, with gratitude by the kindness of others and rather than surrender to fear and helplessness, they decide to meet each challenge positively.There is Always Hope is an authentic and poignant memoir written to encourage and uplift the partners of those living with cancer. It reflects the

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Camel-ong Cowboy is a quirky Christmas song with a catchy tune and easy-to-read lyrics. It features a poor, lonesome cowboy, who sings to his unlikely steed, a camel, while driving his cattle across the prairies.The colourful illustrations depict both the cowboy's somewhat bored existence and the great comfort he derives from the loyalty, resilience, determination and endurance of his smelly, dribbly companion. Their affection cements this unusual relationship. The cowboy sees the baby Jesus as his constant companion, giving him protection from his loneliness and a cause for celebration. Although the Christmas message is fundamental to the song it also has universal appeal. Children of all faiths and none will love it.This is one of Three Christmas Camels. The music is supplied to each book via a QR code which links to the author's website, delivering a quality audio track to sing along to, and a video to enjoy. The corresponding musi

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Education has an essential role to play in transforming society In Other Woods emerges from over two decades of experience in developing an independent school that actively held at the forefront the essential question what constitutes right education?.Shedding conventional and institutional approaches, this endeavour embraced the urgent challenge of seeking a new paradigm for nurturing sane young minds and responsible, caring adults - a task that is increasingly relevant today with the growing malaise of the new generations. Distilled here are some of the author's observations, reflections, challenges and insights gained from her pivotal role in this educational journey; no indulgence in theory, no attempt to provide final answers, but rather a refreshing selection of raw material to invite a deeper inquiry into an issue vital for all of us.

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If you want to understand Whetstone, ask Sir Roger Hollis what Palimpsest is. Just when the National Medical Advisor to the Security Services is on the point of retrieving an injured patient from a hijacked 747 on the tarmac at Heathrow, the authorities pull the plug on a protracted negotiation, with resultant loss of life. Primum non nocere. First do no harm. At the subsequent inquiry, it is the N-MASS, Dr Alastair Cameron-Strange, who is scapegoated, and hung out to dry. Why? Who authorised the storming of Aerolineas Argentinas Flight 301?First minded to quit medicine and get out, sheer bloody-mindedness drives Cameron-Strange to open a file on a high ranking government minister, the Enterprise Czar, erstwhile Managing Director of The Conglomerate, Sir Roger Hollis. His researches take him from London to Edinburgh, thence to the north-west tip of Scotland, where, accompanied by the mysteriously intangible Kathryn Hathaway, he discovers The Conglomerates's dr

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