Because I would never, ever know peace again.' Charlene Downes was 14 when she went missing in Blackpool's seedy underbelly. Once a happy-go-lucky schoolgirl, she had become a truant - hanging out with the wrong crowd by the takeaway shops and pier. But Charlene's mum, Karen, always knew her typical teenage daughter would come home.Until one day she didn't.Karen has been searching for 15 years, campaigning for the truth of what happened to her daughter. To this day, Karen and her family have no body, no convictions and no answers. Arrests were made and a murder trial took place, but no one has ever been brought to justice.On the 15th anniversary of Charlene's disappearance, Karen shares this heartbreaking account of every parent's worst nightmare.

    They captivate us with their forbidden mystery and promises of excitement. Yet once inside us, they become toxic; compelling us to infect others, who in turn want nothing more than to be bitten. It's a vicious cycle that ensures nothing remains secret forever. The only way to protect yourself from their destructive energies is to simply turn the other way when offered one. To resist the lure of the forbidden fruit. But sometimes, something just happens to you - or you just happen to witness something - that forces one upon you; like an uninvited guest that arrives without warning, and leaves only under great duress. Unfortunately, I have been burdened by such a secret for over twenty years. You see, my childhood was stolen from me in broad daylight, right under my nose, by a cunning thief who dazzled me with his charms, only to run away with my innocence forever. It was the perfect crime, and at the time I was the perfect victim. But thankfully, I was able to pick up the pieces of my life and gradually go on to live quite normally. In fact, I even forgot all about my childhood trauma. Or so I thought. Because it was during a recent chance encounter with my old teenage diary that I realized my demons had never truly left me. They had only been lurking in the shadows all along as I busied myself with other things. I suppose I learned the hard way that a secret kept in darkness only grows in potency.  But there is one way to diffuse a secret. To take away all of its power. And that is to make it public. For no vampire can survive in the cold light of day. So it is at the behest of my wonderfully supportive husband that I have decided to lay bare the ghosts of my childhood in this book, in the hope that in doing so, I'll finally be able to lay them to rest forever. It's been a long, hard journey for me to get to this point. And I thank you, dear reader, for playing your part in my recovery. Emily WARNING: This book is based upon a true story of child abuse, and as such contains passages that some readers may find disturbing.

    This is the first time that I have told the whole story of the abuse I suffered at the hands of my alcoholic step father.

    

    Almost (but not quite), lost in the mists of time, these tales romp along with plenty of action and recreate the atmosphere of this exciting and dangerous era using the vernacular of the times.You may not have heard much about some of these bad guys, but they were real, ruthless hoodlums and all had their "15 minutes of fame", leaving trails of death and mayhem behind them.  Most did not live to an old age, and those that did were probably in jail.Their escapades were daring and reckless and many paid the ultimate price in the end.Volume 1 contains*    The Jekyll and Hyde Mob After a rash of robberies, lawmen of the Los Angeles Sheriff's office had killed off or jailed every gang of bank robbers in the county. However, three suave gentlemen continued to loot the banks in daring fashion, leaving the lawmen completely clueless.*    The Whispering Bride Death cast its long, silent shadow over a sleepy New England town as Mrs.Wegner, a widow, waved good-bye to the last of the summer boarders. Little did she realize that she was waving good-bye forever, that death would soon claim her as its victim in the strange case of THE WHISPERING BRIDE.*    The Red Bandit The desperation of a hunted man gave Oklahoma its greatest reign of terror when a youth, vowing never to serve a 75 year rap for robbery, set off a series of events that gave the authorities a veritable nightmare as they pursued their quest down the bloody trail of crime.*    The Master Forgers Counterfeit checks - hundreds of them - were flooding Milwaukee in 1937 and 1938 until science scored a victory for the law!Order your copy today..!Scroll back up for instant download

    A Reno millionaire, Mack was ordered by the court to pay his wife $10,000 a month in alimony. Instead, he stabbed her in the garage while their daughter watched TV upstairs.A JUDGE: TARGETED The only person Mack hated more than his wife was the family court judge who presided over their divorce. So, after killing his wife, he loaded his gun and went after the judge... and headed for Mexico with a stash of concealed weapons.A KILLER: WANTED So began an international manhunt for a rage-filled fugitive—featured on “America’s Most Wanted”—that eventually ended in Mack’s capture. In a dramatic trial, the public would learn shocking details of the swinging lifestyle that ended his marriage, the ugly divorce that fueled his anger, and the final straw that triggered his bloody spree.

    A riveting true-crime story, and a searing indictment of our legal system's approach to the family. 8-page photo insert.

    . . Frankie Cochran knew her boyfriend, David Gerard, was possessive, controlling, and prone to violent rages. When she tried to break up with him, Gerard threatened her with a hammer. One week later, he used it to club her in the head. Again. And again. Then he stabbed her in the throat--and left her for dead. . .And A Sharp Knife. . . Miraculously, Frankie survived--but cops began to suspect Gerard of other vicious crimes. One of his previous girlfriends had died in a house fire, along with her children and her mother. A local prostitute's brutalized body was found in a pool of blood. But it was the unsolved murder of another woman--repeatedly run over on a country road--that finally exposed Gerard as a rage-driven monster out of control. . .To Unleash His Rage Justice finally caught up with Gerard. Hounded by the tireless efforts of detectives and incriminated by DNA evidence as well as up-to-date forensics that matched the tire marks at a crime scene to Gerard's car, one of the Pacific Northwest's most dangerous killers was finally locked behind bars. With 16 pages of shocking photos!

    Her desperate measures to create a 'normal' life can only wreak terrible consequences. How will Lucy's story ultimately play out? A psychological suspense novel for readers of books like 'I Let You Go' and 'Gone Girl.'

    It contains a powerful remedy for indifference in just one word...resilience!Resilience has begun to outstrip 'sustainability' as the action to be taken to preserve many species, including our own.Graham Kerr, as the 'Galloping Gourmet' was referred to, during his international TV series, as the 'High Priest of Hedonism'. He had learned how to eat, cook and profit from some of the finest and richest foods in the world and he used those gifts with enormous enthusiasm and good humor.Suddenly everything changed as an accident severed his success with one blow.Searching for a return to resilience for himself and his family he began an ocean sailing adventure that took them 24,000 miles in 2 years.Then follows one of the most observed U turns ever made by one man. The Kerr's went from a conspicuous gourmet lifestyle to that of a small family living their lives beyond immediate self-interest and they did this in plain sight!Graham uses the literary practice of the 'extended metaphor' to enquire how habits are both formed and relinquished. He does this by comparing his life with that of a wild pacific Chinook salmon. Using poetic license, imagination and good science he asks his readers to hear from the salmon...direct and to see how both man and fish have somewhat similar rites of passage.They are swept 'downstream' where they face continuous discovery, some of which are difficult, some joyful...even hilarious.Upon reaching the salt waters they encounter the challenge of an almost limitless 'ocean of opportunity' where they must eat or be eaten, always driven by immediate self-interest and the need to survive.Finally they turn away from conspicuous consumption and begin to go 'upstream on purpose', this time motivated not just to survive as individuals, but also as a species...It's a wild ride as the scent of their natal river begins to provide direction for their way back home, where it all began.Kerr is not an angry activist, as he puts it."I have a story to tell and it's personal. I have made a series of very obvious leaps over some major obstacles, not unlike the salmon. Their flashes of silver are, for me, a splendid example of the resilience that is ours for the asking."Flash of Silver is supported by an extensive web site that includes an interactive 'REFLECTIVE READERS CLUB' at www.grahamkerr.com/RRC

    Making matters worse, his new love interest, Dianne Lawson, becomes the next target, forcing Bocello to go head-to-head with the most diabolical killer of his career, who has been hiding in plain sight. Unable to trust anyone around him, he tracks the killer who seems to always stay one step ahead of the investigation…until everything comes to a heart-pounding climax as Bocello races against time to reach his love before it’s too late.

    But her days are running out. Perhaps some lives are not worth saving ... A dark and disturbing psychological thriller set in Newcastle of the nineties, from the author of GIRL NUMBER ONE and MIRANDA. A gritty urban read, this contains graphic language and scenes of violence.

    they probably are.Huntington House: A Psychological sexy brutal twisting thriller that keeps you nailed to your seat.

    But now Stan knew he didn’t want to be the shallow bad boy Marilyn had described. He wanted to be the man Carrie Moon had loved. Loving him was all that had kept her alive. The emptiness of her marriage had made the ache of lost love burrow deeper into her heart and soul. Carrie stood transfixed between worlds: life, but emotional death if she left alone as he wanted, or death in all forms if she stayed, and the fires reached them. On a cool October evening in 1994, attorney Karen Moon enters an enchanting little jazz club, in San Diego and unexpectedly falls hopelessly in love with the star attraction, trumpeter Stan Benedict. Although Stan is a world class flirt, who has every woman in the audience longing to go home with him, Karen hears a deeper truth in his music. Behind the performer’s confident, shallow mask is a vulnerable, lonely man longing to be loved. Karen risks her chance of partnership at Warrick, Thompson by secretly crossing ethical boundaries to save the club from destruction by her client, Waterfront Development. She and Stan begin a tumultuous affair that culminates in an unplanned pregnancy and a hasty marriage. But their relationship is increasingly threatened by the demands of Karen’s job as a highly paid securities lawyer and by the rising crescendo of Stan’s frequent infidelities. Through mounting heartbreak, Karen struggles to hold on to Stan until they are swept apart by a tide of personal and professional loss. Thirteen years later, longing for forgiveness, Stan reappears in Karen’s life. Now a superior court judge and married to Warrick, Thompson partner Howard Morgan, Karen is faced with Howard’s threats to destroy her if she leaves their marriage. Ride Your Heart ‘Til It Breaks is an unforgettable, intricately woven tale of passion, loss, self-discovery, and redemption.

    Ted was trained in the art of killing. He was good at it, and he enjoyed it. This is the story of one man's mission to assure justice is paid in full and the Detective who must stop him before he achieves his goal of Pure Justice. *Warning: This book contains graphic violence.