Bøger af Francis Bennett

QUIT SCHOOL! is designed to make you laugh while you are thinking...eight humorous short stories, both tough and tender, that can change your life if you laugh more and think less. In the tradition of J.D. Salinger, QUIT SCHOOL! reveals the enduring lessons learned outside the classroom...how wisdom really emerges. Eight lessons essential to all human happiness are hidden in the bumbling adventures of John "the Crabber" White, a young boy growing up in a small seaside town along the south shore of Long Island, New York. Bennett takes you on an emotional roller coaster ride, laughing all the way, with an array of Damon Runyonesque characters from the 1950's, only to set you down with a thud as you emerge into the light. The lessons are deceptively simple but sudden, like a slap while your head is turned. "In Bennett's novel, a young boy from the shores of Long Island struggles with family tragedy, first love and even the supernatural...adventures that help him grow up fast, whether he likes it or not. Stories with genuine heart...a blend of the humorous and the sentimental, the devastating and the hopeful. Bennett's eagerness and sincerity shine through, giving some of the stories impressive power". KIRKUS REVIEWS "I usually have a problem with short stories: when I've read one I find it all too easy to put the book down and not return to it. This didn't happen with QUIT SCHOOL! Earlier in the week I had one of those dreadful days that leave you wound up and cross and I reached for a book to relax with. I didn't think about it - I picked up QUIT SCHOOL! because I KNEW that I would feel better for reading it. I did. Crabber worked his magic in these eight beautifully written stories." Sue Magee, THE BOOKBAG UK "A good story can transport you to another time, another place, another life. Bennett writes with the kind of description that makes you feel you've been there and it is still a faint memory. Vivid descriptions like these live throughout all eight stories. Adults and children will equally enjoy John White's experiences and find, by the end of the last one, that they wish for more." Ben Sharpton, author of 7 SANCTUARIES

"Everyone in town called her Crooked-Ass-Annie except my mother who wouldn't have such talk in her house..." So begins the story of Crooked Ass Annie a story that must be a dream but then again...isn't. The news is often spiced with stories of the weird or unhinged who seem to be hidden away in every small town across America. From the Salem witch trials to the movie, Psycho, our history and folklore abound with macabre tales of reclusive shut-ins who commit unspeakable crimes but remain hidden from view for years and years. Is Crooked Ass Annie another one of these deeply disturbed characters or is she really Boo Radley of To Kill a Mockingbird fame...a timid, gentle recluse who saves the day? John "The Crabber" White, too curious for his own good, risks his life to find out. Throughout this elaborate mystery the reader is seduced by his own curiosity, setting himself up for the blow of the surprise ending. After reading Crooked Ass Annie, many weeks will pass before the true nature of "Crooked Ass" finally dawns on you. Welcome to the alternative world of Crooked Ass Annie.

Treading Clams is a young man's memoir of growing up in a small seaside town at the end of the Second World War. Like the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, John "The Crabber" White takes us on eight different life changing adventures across an all American landscape from clamming in the Great South Bay to betting the horses at Yonkers Raceway to a kill or be killed adventure on a hunting trip deep in the Adirondack mountains. The Crabber reminds us of a more romantic time in American history when "boys will be boys" and children grew up unsupervised on the streets and back lots of small town America.

First published in 2001, Dr Berlin was the final volume in Francis Bennett's Cold War trilogy.'For all of us now the Cold War is history... What interested me as a writer was how we survived. What went on behind the scenes?... I went looking for my own fictional explanations for historical events...' Francis Bennett Dr Andrei Berlin is a respected Moscow academic and Party member - also a secret informer who has sickened of his own lies and weakness. On the eve of departure to lecture in Cambridge he is asked by a disillusioned faction in the Soviet military to deliver a message to the West. Can Berlin redeem his life of deception by one courageous act?'A fine, satisfying espionage novel.' Kirkus Reviews'A rare piece of subtle and complex storytelling.' The Times

First published in 1999, Secret Kingdom was the second panel in Francis Bennett's Cold War trilogy.'For all of us now the Cold War is history... What interested me as a writer was how we survived. What went on behind the scenes?... I went looking for my own fictional explanations for historical events... In Secret Kingdom, which takes place in Hungary in the dangerous summer months [of 1956] that led directly to the Revolution, I knew that the British ambassador's warnings of trouble building up had been ignored by the Foreign Office in London. Why? What were the consequences of such an extraordinary and irresponsible act?' Francis Bennett 'The Cold War here is not just a political but also a psychological landscape... In picking out a personal history from the greater tapestry unfolding in the background Bennett has produced a literary thriller of considerable merit.' The Times

First published in 1998, Making Enemies was the opening volume in Francis Bennett's Cold War trilogy.'For all of us now the Cold War is history... What interested me as a writer was how we survived. What went on behind the scenes?... I went looking for my own fictional explanations for historical events.' Francis Bennett Making Enemies centres on the race for the hydrogen bomb in 1947. Russia and the West, wartime allies, are now bitter enemies. Soviet Colonel Andropov tries to stall Britain's development of a nuclear deterrent, and a young British army officer unwittingly becomes enmeshed in his conspiracy.'[Making Enemies] is more than the intelligent reader's spy thriller... Like all the best historical novels, the authenticity of background and time lend the story added credibility. I have never read the relationship between an intelligence officer and his pawn described so well.' Phillip Knightley, Daily Mail