Murder, sex, and money intersect in this Southeast Asian thriller as Coco executes a strategy to get back an embarrassing painting, avoid being murdered by her enemy, and become really rich in the process. Ian Blakely, aged fifty-nine, a Singapore-based American expat and billionaire hedge fund manager, buys a painting of a near-nude Chinese girl. The painting until then had not been available to the public, and Ian has no idea who the model is. Ten years after posing for the painting, the girl, Coco, aged thirty, a Brown Phi Beta Kappa, a former Wall Streeter, but also somewhat of a fashionista, is now the respectable wife of the much older former head of the Army of Myanmar. The paintings existence is a threat, and Coco wants it back. Coco starts by getting Ian to invest in a natural gas project in Myanmar that she is involved with. Once he is an investor, getting the painting back from Ian will be easyand pleasurable. But along the way Coco will have to confront family intrigue, attempts to poison her and survive a jungle gunfight with a Major from the Myanmar army. Along the way, her elderly husband dies from a stroke, and she initiates a torrid relationship with Ian. Ian, who thought investing in a gas project in Myanmar was risky enough, finds himself drawn into Cocos world of Myanmar intrigue and danger. To make matters worse, the American tax authorities are threatening him with rendition back to the United States.

This book provides a truly comprehensive analysis of the 2013 federal election in Australia, which brought the conservative Abbott government to power, consigned the fractious Labor Party to the Opposition benches and ended the ‘hung parliament’ experiment of 2010–13 in which the Greens and three independents lent their support to form a minority Labor government. It charts the dynamics of this significant election and the twists and turns of the campaign itself against a backdrop of a very tumultuous period in Australian politics. Like the earlier federal election of 2010, the election of 2013 was an exercise in bipolar adversarial politics and was bitterly fought by the main protagonists. It was also characterised (again) by leadership changes on Labor’s side as well as the entry of new political parties anxious to deny the major parties a clear mandate. Moreover, the 2013 election continued the trend whereby an increasing proportion of the electorate has chosen not to vote for one of the main two political parties. While the 2013 election delivered a clear victory to the Coalition in the Lower House, it simultaneously produced a much more mixed outcome in the Senate, where the Greens managed to record their largest ever representation and a new party, the Palmer United Party, initially secured three Senate positions at its first attempt (together with the election of Clive Palmer to a Queensland seat in the House of Representatives). With minor and micro parties also winning Senate seats amounting to a total of 18 Senators on the cross-benches, the Abbott government’s ability to govern and pass legislation was placed in some doubt. The 2013 election result suggested that far from ending the preceding tumultuous period of Australian politics, it merely served to prolong this era indefinitely. The 2013 campaign was one of the longest on record, arguably commencing when the besieged Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced the date for the election in late January 2013 – then over seven months away. This unconventional tactic overshadowed the election from that date onwards – providing a definite timeline for Labor infighting, influencing the largely negative tactics of the Opposition, and encouraging new parties to proliferate to contest the election. This volume traces these formative influences on the campaign dynamics and explains the electoral outcome that occurred (including the 2014 re-election for the Western Australian Senate seats ordered by the High Court). Abbott’s Gambit includes insightful contributions from academic experts, campaign directors and electoral watchers, political advisers and professional psephologists. Contributors utilise a wide range of sources and approaches, including the Australian Election Survey, to provide a detailed analysis of this important federal election.

Ben Hendry is a telly addict. He takes his job very seriously and takes in all manner of programmes for the job. Yet his world is soon to change. A rerun of The Avengers TV series introduces Ben to the beautiful partners of John Steed. He cannot just love one. He must love them all...

Netflix’s most watched limited series to date! The thrilling novel of one young woman’s journey through the worlds of chess and drug addiction.​ When eight-year-old Beth Harmon’s parents are killed in an automobile accident, she’s placed in an orphanage in Mount Sterling, Kentucky. Plain and shy, Beth learns to play chess from the janitor in the basement and discovers she is a prodigy. Though penniless, she is desperate to learn more—and steals a chess magazine and enough money to enter a tournament. Beth also steals some of her foster mother’s tranquilizers to which she is becoming addicted. At thirteen, Beth wins the chess tournament. By the age of sixteen she is competing in the US Open Championship and, like Fast Eddie in The Hustler, she hates to lose. By eighteen she is the US champion—and Russia awaits . . . Fast-paced and elegantly written, The Queen’s Gambit is a thriller masquerading as a chess novel—one that’s sure to keep you on the edge of your seat. “The Queen’s Gambit is sheer entertainment. It is a book I reread every few years—for the pure pleasure and skill of it.” —Michael Ondaatje, Man Booker Prize–winning author of The English Patient

This a tale of a super ambitious, super bright young woman, Coco, and Ian Blakely, a hedge fund manager who by chance becomes important in her life. Murder, sex and money intersect in this Southeast Asian thriller as Coco executes a strategy to get back an embarrassing painting, avoid being murdered by her enemy and make a ton of money. The novel takes place primarily in Myanmar (Burma) and Singapore. Along the way, as a bonus the reader picks up bits of local culture. Ian Blakely, age 59, a Singapore-based American expat and billionaire hedge fund manager, buys a painting of a near nude Chinese girl. The painting is called Bad Girl. The painting until then had not been available to the public and Ian has no idea who the model is. Ten years after posing for the painting, the girl, Coco age 30, is now the respectable wife of the elderly former head of the Army of Myanmar. The painting's existence is a threat and Coco wants it back. Coco starts by getting Ian to invest in a natural gas project in Myanmar that she is involved with. Once he was an investor, getting the painting back from Ian would be easy. A Brown Phi Beta Kappa and former Wall Streeter, Coco gets her painting back, outsmarts her opponents and eliminates her enemy, the adult daughter of her husband by his first marriage. There are a number of high drama moments in this novel. We can start with the life or death scene on the cover. In a pitch dark jungle gunfight Coco fires a Glock concealed in her Chanel bag. The target is a Major in Myanmar's army who is secretly working for her enemy, her husband's adult daughter. But there are other life and death moments. For example, Coco's assistant tries to poison her. Only the hunger of Coco's cat, who slurped up Coco's poisoned soup and fortuitously rolled over dead before Coco could eat it, saved Coco. Coco subsequently beats her assistant severely but resists her urge to kill her. And then towards the end of the novel Coco is testifying before a Myanmar parliamentary committee. She faces off against what turn out to be some fake monks who interrupt the meeting and threaten to douse the whole meeting room with gasoline. Which of course they will ignite. Coco gambles they are fake and approaches them with a lit cigarette lighter. They flee. But it's not all violence. The key sex scene is when Ian comes to visit Coco in her Singapore apartment. Ian by then knows Coco is the woman in Bad Girl. Coco opens her door attired as in the painting --practically nude but with some appropriate jewelry. She grabs Ian and holds a dagger up against his crotch. She then presents him with two scenarios as if she were still a Wall Street analyst. Scenario One is that he refuses to sell her the painting. In which case she will cut his balls off. Scenario Two is that he sell her the painting at cost and he could then fuck her brains out. Ian unsurprisingly chooses Scenario Two.

New York Times bestselling author Katherine Arden thrills once again in the finale to the critically acclaimed, bone-chilling quartet that began with Small Spaces. Now in paperback. It’s been three months since Ollie made a daring deal with the smiling man to save those she loved, and then vanished without a trace. The smiling man promised Coco, Brian and Phil, that they’d have a chance to save her, but as time goes by, they begin to worry that the smiling man has lied to them and Ollie is gone forever. But then a terrified and rambling boy who went missing at a nearby traveling carnival appears with a message for the trio from the mysterious man who took him: Play if you dare. Game on! The smiling man has finally made his move. Now it’s Coco, Brian, and Phil’s turn to make theirs. And they know just where to start. The traveling carnival is coming to Evansburg. Meanwhile, Ollie is trapped in the world behind the mist, learning the horrifying secrets of the smiling man's carnival, and trying everything to help her friends find her. Brian, Coco and Phil will risk everything to rescue Ollie—but they all soon realize this game is much more dangerous than the ones before. This time the smiling man is playing for keeps.