Showing results by author "Peter Thompson" in All Categories

It was the early '60s, and Presley, a living legend, appeared unassailable. Yet, in 1964, John, Paul, George and Ringo suddenly topped the American charts - and Beatlemania rolled the King in the greatest rock coup of all time. Chris Hutchins, then a music journalist in his early 20s, was at the eye of the hurricane as the Beatles swept all before them. No other writer grew as close to the Fab Four from Liverpool as they conquered the world.

There were, Peter Thompson notes, some 150 synonyms for inebriation in common use in colonial Philadelphia and, on the eve of the Revolution, just as many licensed drinking establishments. Clearly, 18th-century Philadelphians were drawn to the tavern. In addition to the obvious lure of the liquor, taverns offered overnight accommodations, meals, and stabling for visitors. They also served as places to gossip, gamble, find work, make trades, and gather news.

Karl Marx was one of the most profoundly influential thinkers of the 19th century. His ideas and theories exerted an almost unrivalled influence on 20th-century politics and history. Peter Thompson’s superb ebook tackles eight core questions, looking at Marx’s thoughts on religion, power and modernity - and how Marxism developed such a hold on socialist ideology.

Charley Fieldner appears to have the perfect life: a well-paying job, a loving wife, two great kids, and a beautiful home. He also has a big secret. Charley is a hit man with a huge complication - he is his own next target. The background file contains the sort of details only someone very close to him could know. The suspect list is short but devastating: his wife, father, sister, and best friend. Charley always thought he could have it all, but the secrets, lies, and betrayals are piling up.

Zach Monaghan just became a target. Under witness protection from his father’s whistle-blowing, his reckless desire to win back a normal life compels him to run away. But escaping his new identity won’t last long if two contract killers catch up to him. Richard “Birdman” Byrd has worked hand-in-hand with his tormentor Gorski for years. Siphoning away money and sending assassins to hunt down the Monaghans could be his only way out of the crooked partnership. But if Birdman doesn’t watch himself, the verbal abuse he’s received for years could turn deadly.

In a top-secret complex surrounded by miles of Texas scrubland, the United States military is working on a new form of germ warfare. Taken from homeless shelters and prisons, the subjects, discarded men and women of America, serve their country as unwilling lab rats. Ramon Willis didn’t commit the murder that put him on death row. But he’s guilty of something worse - surviving the virus and escaping his captors. Knowing he can’t take on the corrupt system alone, there’s only one person he can turn to - Lena Dryer, the reporter who covered his case and watched him die.

Pam and Gordon Grant are a couple at odds running a rural garden centre. While Pam still feels young and is determined to avoid the slippery slope into middle-age, Gordon seems keen to dive in - slippers first. Pam’s ally at the garden centre is teenager Carol, a girl more than happy to...