People reckon my life has been glamorous. Well if this is glamour then they are just off their heads Unbeknown to both of them it was to be Carl Williams last conversation behind bars with his unlikely confident reporter Adam Sh&. Shorlty after saying these words the notorious murderous drug boss was once again in the papers...but this time he was in a gold coffin. In the late 1990s a feud raging between rival underworld families
- a clash of a new generation with the criminal establishment
- erupted in a spate of gangland slayings on Melbournes streets. These gangland wars are now familiar to everyone largely due to the popular TV drama Underbelly. But this is the real story as told to the author by the key figures
- both the victims & the suspects
- including Carl & Roberta Williams & Mick Gatto. The author developed a surprising rapport with the Williams family & got closer than anyone to unravelling the complicated personal entaglements behind the shocking headlines. It wasnt a relationship without risks. Crackling with tension Big Shots documents Shands brave plunge into Melbournes disorganised crime scene. While uncovering the facts he finds himself questioning his objectivity...and even whether he is being used to further murderous ends. This fully revised & definitive edition of the book concludes with notorious criminals transformed into red-carpet celebrities & the brutal murder that Carl Williams always knew was coming...



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It's great detective work that's needed now. Bill Peter & Joe are falsely accused of setting boats adrift & the whole river is against them. Only Dick Dorothea & Tom Dudgeon are there to stand by their friends & they soon set to work to investigate the crimes & trap the real criminals ...

ALARM BELLS...OR WEDDING BELLS? Meeting Ian Kincaid set something off inside Jenna Bowen! Back in Northbridge raising an infant niece she needed to sell the family farm before the IRS took it away from her. The handsome dealmaker had an offer on the table
- but he didnt want to honour her terms. So why did her opponent have to be so irresistible? Ian savoured the idea of prolonging negotiations but this was a zero-sum game. If he clinched the deal this spirited woman & her adopted daughter would suffer. & letting down his family business was out of the question. But the bell was tolling for Ian. It was time for him to make a choice...
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The Big Sleep" is Raymond Chandlers most famous & popular novel of all Los Angeles. PI Philip Marlowe is working for the Sternwood family. Old man Sternwood crippled & wheelchair-bound is being given the squeeze by a blackmailer & he wants Marlowe to make the problem go away. But with Sternwoods two wild devil-may-care daughters prowling LAs seedy backstreets Marlowes got his work cut out
- & thats before he stumbles over the first corpse..." Anything Chandler writes about grips the mind from the first sentence". (" Daily Telegraph"). " One of the greatest crime writers who set standards others still try to attain". (" Sunday Times"). " Chandler is an original stylist creator of a character as immortal as Sherlock Holmes". (Anthony Burgess). Best-known as the creator of the original private eye Philip Marlowe Raymond Chandler was born in Chicago in 1888 & died in 1959. Many of his books have been adapted for the screen & he is widely regarded as one of the very greatest writers of detective fiction. His books include " The Big Sleep" " The Little Sister" " Farewell" " My Lovely" " The Long Good-bye" " The Lady in the Lake" " Playback" " Killer in the Rain" " The High Window" & " Trouble is My Business"."
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Raymond Chandler was Americas preeminent writer of detective fiction & this Penguin Modern Classics" edition of " The Big Sleep & Other Novels" collects three of the best novels to feature his hard-drinking philosophising PI Philip Marlowe. Raymond Chandler created the fast talking trouble seeking Californian private eye Philip Marlowe for his first great novel " The Big Sleep" in 1939. Often imitated but never bettered it is in Marlowes long shadow that every fictional detective must stand
- & under the influence of Raymond Chandlers addictive prose that every crime author must write. Marlowes entanglement with the Sternwood family
- & an attendant cast of colourful underworld figures
- is the background to a story reflecting all the tarnished glitter of the great American Dream. The hard-boiled detectives iconic image burns just as brightly in " Farewell My Lovely" on the trail of a missing nightclub crooner. & the inimitable Marlowe is able to prove that trouble really is his business in Raymond Chandlers brilliant epitaph " The Long Goodbye". Raymond Chandler (1888-1959) was born in Chicago. It was during the Depression era that he seriously turned his hand to writing & his first published story appeared in the pulp magazine " Black Mask" in 1933 followed six years later by his first novel " The Big Sleep" adapted into Howard Hawks classic 1946 film noir starring Humphrey Bogart & Lauren Bacall. If you liked " The Big Sleep & Other Novels" you might enjoy Dashiell Hammetts " The Thin Man" also available in " Penguin Modern Classics". " One of the greatest crime writers who set standards that others still try to attain". (" Sunday Times"). " Raymond Chandler invented a new way of talking about America & America has never looked the same to us since." (Paul Auster author of " The New York Trilogy"). " Chandler wrote like a slumming angel & invested the sun-blinded streets of Los Angelos with a romantic presence". (Ross Macdonald author of " The Drowning Pool")."


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There are dozens of different animals to discover in this fun sticker book. With over 450 stickers children will love placing the right stickers on the different scenes. Themes include the zoo pets under the sea wild animals farm animals & more. WARNING! Not suitable for children under 36 months because of small parts. Choking Hazard. ...

There are dozens of different animals to discover in this fun sticker book. With over 450 stickers children will love placing the right stickers on the different scenes. Themes include the zoo pets under the sea wild animals farm animals & more. WARNING! Not suitable for children under 36 months because of small parts. Choking Hazard. ...

Early Readers are stepping stones from picture books to reading books. A blue Early Reader is perfect for sharing & reading together. A red Early Reader is the next step on your reading journey. Jason & his little sister Daisy B help Mum & Dad with the shopping the gardening & eating cakes in this fun & accessible story perfect for early readers. ...

The first in the series BIG STONE GAP stars an unforgettable cast of characters & a heroine with an extraordinary story to tell. This is a wonderfully vibrant unashamedly feel-good debut. BIG CHERRY HOLLER is the extraordinary sequel to BIG STONE GAP taking us back to mountain life in Virginia & also to Italy. A deeply felt brilliantly evoked story of two lovers who have lost their way & their struggle to find each other again. The third in the series MILK GLASS MOON sees Ave Maria led to places she never dreamed she would go & to people who enter her life & rock its foundation. ...

Mr Benn is Back! First published forty years ago Big Top Benn" is one of a series of adventures by author & illustrator David Mc Kee that inspired the legendary TV series that made Mr Benn part of the folk memory of the nation. Mr Benn is an ordinary man who has extraordinary adventures. In this entrancing story he swaps his bowler hat & black suit for an extravagant clown costume & finds himself transported into a world of big-top tents & circus performers. Through the inimitable charm & unique style of David Mc Kees original artwork this enchanting book brings to a new generation the glories of a golden age of childrens book illustration & story telling." ...