Jonathon Fairfax was astonished. This was nothing new. His first memory of being astonished dated from the age of three, when his mother had quite casually suggested that, instead of wearing a pair of comfy watertight pants, he should spend the rest of his life holding in his wee and poo. Now, seventeen years later, he was astonished because a huge, terrifying man in a smart dark-red balaclava was asking him directions.' The man in the balaclava is on his way to a murder, sparking a series of events that send Jonathon's astonishment to previously unimagined heights. Before long, he is being astonished by secret government documents (lightly buttered), a strikingly cool private detective/loss-adjustor, a low-speed car chase, and a woundingly beautiful girl called Rachel.

Shortlisted for the Bath Novel Award 2014"This hilarious adventure, 'by turns absurd and engaging' (The Guardian), stars lovable, girl-fearing Jonathon as he accidentally sets off a chain of events leading to murder and a massive British government conspiracy — with a dream girl and a glamorous granny added to the mix." – Bookbub"You can't help being tickled" – The Guardian"Not many books make me laugh out loud, but The Perpetual Astonishment of Jonathon Fairfax is one of them... A comic gem" – Stylist magazine "Shevlin was rightly picked up by the literary agency that represents the likes of David Nicholls" – Metro newspaper "It cleverly combines intrigue with comic, astute observation which made me laugh throughout.” – Bath Novel AwardThe story...When Jonathon Fairfax accidentally helps a murderer bump off Sarah Morecambe, the secretary of a senior politician, he sets off a chain of events that astonishes him. Jonathon is wrong-footed by even the most everyday things, so he's particularly startled to find himself caught up in a conspiracy that goes right to the heart of government. Teaming up with a suave private investigator, a glamorous grannie and the probable love of his life, Jonathon must confront his greatest fears - including talking to girls and balaclava-clad killers - and answer some very difficult questions. Who murdered Sarah Morecambe? What is the strange secret that unites the entire British government? And what exactly does it feel like to kiss a real-life woman?With its naïve, reluctant hero and wry look at life, The Perpetual Astonishment of Jonathon Fairfaxhas been compared to books by Douglas Adams, Carl Hiaasen and PG Wodehouse.More reviews..."When Christopher Shevlin sat down to write this book, the spirit of Douglas Adams sidled up next to him and said, 'Here, let me help you.' This book is probably - definitely - the funniest thing I have read since The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy." A Kilmer"It reminded me of a very English Carl Hiaasen - filled with throwaway detail, joyously funny dialogue and slightly absurd characters." Francesca Brown, Stylist magazine"If you like tight writing, a great pace, smart references and laughing, this book will be on your top five list! Like reading an Arrested Development script." Bridget Aureli "Shevlin's writing style, his wonderful way with eccentric characters, and his knack for combining kindness, silliness, and more than a few touching surprises, all fill a spot left by Douglas Adams." Avery Elizabeth Hurt

Set in the days when the internet was young and phones were big, Bertie Wooster meets American Psycho in this strangely heart-warming tale of accidental espionage, love, homicide, and biscuits. Jonathon stumbles into a colossal corporate conspiracy, and his new boss will do anything to keep it secret - including murder.

He only knows three things about himself: he's polite, he likes tea, and everyone wants to kill him. Berlin: a man wakes up in a bin* with no idea who he is. He's taken to hospital for treatment. Then people start trying to assassinate him. The man has to find out why, how to get them to stop, and what the CIA has to do with all this. There's also the little problem of working out who he used to be, and why that changed. Meanwhile, his girlfriend Piper and best friend Lance are trying to find him... Jonathon Fairfax - still the world's most socially awkward hero - is back. If only he knew. *That's a trashcan, for American readers.

A pioneering study of early trade and beach communities in the Pacific Islands and first published in 1977, this book provides historians with an ambitious survey of early European-Polynesian contact, an analysis of how early trade developed along with the beachcomber community, and a detailed reconstruction of development of the early Pacific port towns. Set mainly in the first half of the 19th century, continuing in some cases for a few decades more, the book covers five ports: Kororareka (now Russell, in New Zealand), Levuka (Fiji), Apia (Samoa), Papeete (Tahiti) and Honolulu (Hawai'i). The role of beachcombers, the earliest European inhabitants, as well as the later consuls or commercial agents, and the development of plantation economies is explored. The book is a tour de force, the first detailed comparative academic study of these early precolonial trading towns and their race relations. It argues that the predominantly egalitarian towns where Islanders, beachcombers, traders, and missionaries mixed were largely harmonious, but this was undermined by later arrivals and larger populations.

A haunted house tour-de-force from the creator of THE MAGNUS ARCHIVES podcast. GOING UP? A dinner party is held in the penthouse of a multimillion-pound development. All the guests are strangers - even to their host, the billionaire owner of the building. None of them know why they were selected to receive his invitation. Whether privileged or deprived, they share only one thing in common - they've all experienced a shocking disturbance within the building's walls. By the end of the night, their host is dead, and none of the guests will say what happened. His death has remained one of the biggest unsolved mysteries - until now. But are you ready for their stories? * * * * * * * * * * 'A modern horror classic' Starburst Magazine 'Astonishing' SFX 'Nerve-jangling' Guardian 'A wonderfully creepy climax, hitting that perfect spot of uncanny horror' Grimdark Magazine 'Steals your sleep, not only because it's such a page turner but it is very very creepy' NetGalley reviewer 'Chilling and so creepy' NetGalley reviewer 'This book literally has it all: simply faultless' NetGalley reviewer

According to Vasari, the young Michelangelo often borrowed drawings of past masters, which he copied, returning his imitations to the owners and keeping originals. Half a millennium later, Andy Warhol made a game of "forging" the Mona Lisa, questioning the entire concept of originality. Forged explores art forgery from ancient times to the present. In chapters combining lively biography with insightful art criticism, Jonathon Keats profiles individual art forgers and connects their stories to broader themes about the role of forgeries in society. From the Renaissance master Andrea del Sarto who faked a Raphael masterpiece at the request of his Medici patrons, to the Vermeer counterfeiter Han van Meegeren who duped the avaricious Hermann Göring, to the frustrated British artist Eric Hebborn, who began forging to expose the ignorance of experts, art forgers have challenged "legitimate" art in their own time, breaching accepted practices and upsetting the status quo. They have also provocatively confronted many of the present-day cultural anxieties that are major themes in the arts. Keats uncovers what forgeries—and our reactions to them—reveal about changing conceptions of creativity, identity, authorship, integrity, authenticity, success, and how we assign value to works of art. The book concludes by looking at how artists today have appropriated many aspects of forgery through such practices as street-art stenciling and share-and-share-alike licensing, and how these open-source "copyleft" strategies have the potential to make legitimate art meaningful again. Forgery has been much discussed—and decried—as a crime. Forged is the first book to assess great forgeries as high art in their own right.