High school All-American Neely Crenshaw was probably the best quarterback ever to play for the legendary Messina Spartans. Fifteen years have gone by since those glory days & Neely has come home to Messina to bury Coach Eddie Rake the man who molded the Spartans into an unbeatable football dynasty. As Coach Rake's 'boys' sit in the bleachers waiting for the dimming field lights to signal his passing they replay the old glories & try to decide once & for all whether they love Eddie Rake
- or hate him. For Neely Crenshaw still struggling to come to terms with his explosive relationship with the Coach his dreams of a great career in the NFL & the choices he made as a young man the stakes could not be higher.
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You think you know the entire story of Bleak Expectations" but look! Now its also a big fat juicy book. Like the radio series but with added jokes extra bits of story additional

Dimensions to characters & masses more paper. Unless youre reading it as an e-book in which case.. .masses more digital information bits. " Bleak Expectations" recounts the remarkable adventures of young Pip Bin as he tries to repair his destroyed family & distinctly damaged life aided by his best friend Harry Biscuit & definitely not aided by his cruel & ironically named guardian Mr Gently Benevolent & his accomplices the fearsome Hardthrasher siblings. Weep! As Pip is sent to Britains nastiest boarding school St Bastards. Gasp! As the true extent of his despicable guardians plan becomes clear. Worry! As our hero is committed to the Workhouse where he meets the hideous poverty-punishments of the treadmill the grindstone & the painwheel. Sigh! As Pip finds love with Londons most eligible frail beauty Miss Flora Dies-Early. Find a tenterhook & sit on it! Grim circumstances mistaken identities unlikely inheritances nightmarish court cases ridiculous names convenient coincidences to resolve plot problems over-sentimental death scenes & lots & lots of adjectives: " Bleak Expectations" is the novel Charles Dickens might have written after drinking far too much gin. Praise for the Radio 4 series: " Mark Evans writes one of the wittiest most ingenious scripts on the air a Dickensian pastiche with a slight " Rocky Horror Show" echo". (" Daily Telegraph"). "A freshly minted comedy classic". (" The Guardian"). " Lightly punned & briskly acted with some excellent sound effects " Bleak Expectations" is expert stuff in the manner of Blackadder". (Miranda Sawyer " The Observer"). "...inspired lunacy". (" The Times")."

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The epic Victorian comedy is back with more of the remarkable adventures of Pip Bin as he battles his evil ex-guardian Mr Gently Benevolent (Anthony Head) in six more chapters of tragedies & triumphs in the style of Charles Dickens after too much gin. Richard Johnson Anthony Head & Geoffrey Whitehead lead a magnificent cast including Tom Allen James Bachman Sarah Hadland Susie Kane & Mark Evans
- & guest starring Raquel Cassidy as Miss Sweetly Delightful the nicest woman in the world & Jane Asher as Mr Gently Benevolents evil mother. Series Three begins several years after the death for the second time of Mr Gently Benevolent. All seems well as Pip Bin enjoys fame & wealth for his hugely popular invention the bin until... Bleak Expectations" is written by Mark Evans & produced by Gareth Edwards whose other collaborations include " That Mitchell & Webb Sound" & " That Mitchell & Webb Look". This title contains all six episodes from the third BBC Radio 4 series. A freshly minted comedy classic...balls-to-the-wall silliness with flourishes of surrealism
- " Guardian Guide"."

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The epic Victorian comedy returns with more of the remarkable adventures of Pip Bin as he battles his evil ex-guardian Mr Gently Benevolent (Anthony Head) in six more chapters of tragedies & triumphs in the style of Charles Dickens after too much gin. The magnificent cast features Richard Johnson Anthony Head Geoffrey Whitehead Sarah Hadland James Bachman Susy Kane & Mark Evans. Series Five begins with Pip Bin beginning to miss the conflict with his absent evil nemesis Mr Gently Benevolent when he receives an intriguing invitation to a house party with Britain's poshest man. But one of the other guests may not be all he seems... Bleak Expectations is written by Mark Evans & produced by Gareth Edwards whose other collaborations include The Bleak Old Shop of Stuff That Mitchell & Webb Sound & That Mitchell & Webb Look. Contains all 6 episodes from the fifth radio series. 'A freshly minted comedy classic' The Guardian. ...

Bleak House is one of Dickens finest achievements establishing his reputation as a serious & mature novelist as well as a brilliant comic writer. It is at once a complex mystery story that fully engages the reader in the work of detection & an unforgettable indictment of an indifferent society. Its representations of a great citys underworld & of the laws corruption & delay draw upon the authors personal knowledge & experience. But it is his symbolic art that projects these things in a vision that embraces black comedy cosmic farce & tragic ruin. In a unique creative experiment Dickens divides the narrative between his heroine Esther Summerson who is psychologically interesting in her own right & an unnamed narrator whose perspective both complements & challenges hers. ...

Bleak House" is Charles Dickens' masterful assault on the injustices of the British legal system. This " Penguin Classics" edition is edited with an introduction & notes by Nicola Bradbury as well as a preface by Terry Eagleton. As the interminable case of ' Jarndyce & Jarndyce' grinds its way through the Court of Chancery it draws together a disparate group of people: Ada & Richard Clare whose inheritance is gradually being devoured by legal costs; Esther Summerson a ward of court whose parentage is a source of deepening mystery; the menacing lawyer Tulkinghorn; the determined sleuth Inspector Bucket; & even Jo the destitute little crossing-sweeper. A savage but often comic indictment of a society that is rotten to the core " Bleak House" is one of Dickens's most ambitious novels with a range that extends from the drawing rooms of the aristocracy to the poorest of London slums. This edition follows the first book edition of 1853 &

Includes:: all the original illustrations by ' Phiz' as well as appendices on the Chancery & spontaneous combustion. In his preface Terry Eagleton examines characterisation & considers " Bleak House" as an early work of detective fiction. Charles Dickens is one of the best-loved novelists in the English language whose 200th anniversary was celebrated in 2012. His most famous books including " Oliver Twist" " Great Expectations" "A Tale of Two Cities" " David Copperfield" & " The Pickwick Papers" have been adapted for stage & screen & read by millions. If you enjoyed " Bleak House" you might like Dickens' " Our Mutual Friend" also available in " Penguin Classics". " Perhaps his best novel...when he wrote " Bleak House" he had grown up". (G.K. Chesterton). " One of the finest of all English satires". (Terry Eagleton)."

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Bleak House Dickenss most daring experiment in the narration of a complex plot challenges the reader to make connections
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The one great principle of the English law is to make business for itself. Jarndyce & Jardyce is an infamous lawsuit that has been in process for generations. Nobody can remember exactly how the case started but many different individuals have found their fortunes caught up in it. Esther Summerson watches as her friends & neighbours are consumed by their hopes & disappointments with the proceedings. But while the intricate puzzles of the lawsuit are being debated by lawyers other more dramatic mysteries are unfolding that involve heartbreak lost children blackmail & murder. ...

Ray Hegarty a highly respected former detective lies dead in his daughter Siennas bedroom. She is found covered in his blood. Everything points to her guilt but psychologist Joe OLoughlin isnt convinced. Fourteen-year-old Sienna is Joes daughters best friend
- Joe has watched her grow up & seen the troubled look in her eyes. Against the advice of the police he launches his own investigation embarking upon a hunt that will lead him to a predatory schoolteacher; a conspiracy of silence & a race hate trial that is captivating the nation. With dark psychological twists & heart-stopping tension Bleed For Me is a page-turner thriller & undoubtedly Robothams best yet.
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The Journey's Inn Lark's Estate Manchester. Three bodies have been found stabbed to death in their beds. The husband & father of two of the victims has fled. The police are in a race against time to find him
- especially when they discover his two young sons are also missing... Manchester Metropolitan police station. Having survived a near-fatal attack DC Janet Scott is quietly falling apart. & her best friend & colleague DC Rachel Bailey is reeling from a love affair gone bad. DCI Gill Murray is trying to keep the team on track but her own family problems are threatening tip her over the edge. Finding the desperate man is their top priority. But none of them knows where he is going or what he intends to do next. Or what will they have to do to stop him... It is based on the hit tv series Scott & Bailey.
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