Sailors tell sea stories to brag, to lie, to instruct and always to entertain; but Will Perkins has never told his own story from 20 years before. Now, a ‘shipmate’ returns to his life and reminds him of his part in a conspiracy to destroy a ship and the debts he has to pay. Will his comfortable and quiet life as a teacher survive his past? Before the end of this story, he must choose among friendship, courage, debts owed, and his marriage.
A gripping crime novel inspired by the "Jack the Stripper" killings in 1960s London. Bad Penny Blues is the latest gripping crime fiction from Cathi Unsworth, London's undisputed queen of noir. Set in late 1950s and early 1960s London, it is loosely based on the West London "Jack the Stripper" killings that rocked the city. The narrative follows police officer Pete Bradley, who investigates the serial killings of a series of prostitutes, and, in a parallel story, Stella, part of the art and fashion worlds of 1960s "Swinging London," who is haunted by visions of the murdered women.
As a legacy of hatred erupts in a shattering moment of violence, a dying mother entrusts her newborn daughter to a caring stranger…. Now, twenty-five years later, Katherine Fane has come home to Camarune, Kentucky, to bury the woman who raised her, bringing a blood feud to its searing conclusion. At the cabin in the woods where she was born, Katherine is drawn to the ravaged town and its violent past. But her arrival has not gone unnoticed. A stranger is watching from the woods, a shattered old man is witnessing the impossible, and Sheriff Luke DePriest's only thoughts are to keep Katherine safe from the sleeping past she has unwittingly awoken….
If you're born with nothing you have to make your own luck. When Jared Johnson first meets Clarice Connaught he saves her from the hands of her father, who is brutally beating her in the street. Never one to walk past someone in distress, Jared doesn’t hesitate to help. But who is this girl and what is her story? Jared Johnson started with nothing. At just twelve-years-old he was orphaned and homeless, but eight years later, Jared is a success. Running McGuire’s Rag & Bone Yard and surrounded by friends, all Jared needs now is to find the perfect girl to settle down with. Nothing has come easy for Clarice but still she has dreams of a grander life and the finer things. And if her father isn’t willing to provide them then Clarice will do anything to find someone who is. Jared and Clarice have one thing in common – they are survivors – and in Queen Victoria’s Birmingham you need your wits about you to keep the wolf from the door. But Clarice isn’t everything she seems, and like a bad penny that always shows up, she brings more trouble for Jared and his friends than they could ever have imagined... Lindsey Hutchinson, the top 10 bestseller, Queen of the Black Country Saga, is back with a page-turning and heart-warming story perfect fans of Katie Flynn, Val Wood and Lyn Andrews. What readers are saying about Lindsey Hutchinson: ‘I have read most if not all of Lindsey Hutchinson’s books having read a lot of her mother’s as well. She is a super storyteller and seems to be able to write about a multitude of subjects and obviously does a lot of research into her books.’ ‘I loved this book, such a heart-warming read to the end.’ ‘The Ragged Orphan was a consuming read that brought history to life under the masterful pen of Lindsey Hutchinson.’ ‘This book will make you cry in places and laugh in others and like me once you finish a chapter you will want to just hurry on to the next chapter to discover more about Jared and the other characters.’ ‘Such a cosy book that is gently and easy to read but will keep you wanting to go back to it.’ ‘Absolutely loved it I couldn't put it down great story great characters ad tears in my eyes at times really enjoyed it.’
One wild night midwife Patty Peel is called to attend a birth on the opposite side of Liverpool. She pedals off into the storm and delivers a baby girl in a filthy slum dwelling, just as the mother dies. The drunk and violent father tells Patty to get rid of it, so she takes the child away, meaning to deliver it to the nearest orphanage. But Patty had spent her entire childhood in an institution and cannot bear to hand the baby over. However, there are rough waters ahead. Patty has few friends, and fears and despises men, including her next door neighbour, Darky Knight, so how can she hope to bring up the child alone? She has no idea how the baby will affect the attitude of those around her, nor how her life will change as a result... The Bad Penny is a heartwarming tale of love and courage in hard times from the hugely popular storyteller Katie Flynn.
Tormented Minds. Government Plots. Lovecraftian Horrors. Leather-clad post-op super-heroines. Knife-wielding maniacs. Perverted dentists. Religious Zealots. And a sheep named Shannon. This on has it all. Bad Penny is a collection of twenty-six short stories and one vovella that range from the frightening to the grotesque to the comedic absurd. Stories of the human, inhuman, and the inhumane.
A bad penny always turns up, so the saying goes. A Bad Penny is the third book in a series by Pat McDonald. In her first book, A Penny for Them, Benjamin Matthews (nee Pollock), discovers after several startling revelations that he isn’t who he thought he was, which stops him from leaving with his wife and children for the United Arab Emirates. Determined to join them, Ben manages to escape the clutches of Sergeant Daphne Johnson, when in book two, The Penny Drops, he sneaks out of the UK to “live the dream” in the desert country’s opulent culture. Feeling sheer relief upon arrival, and lured by his new exotic surroundings and the mysteries of the desert, Ben sees no point in telling his wife who he really is. Believing him to be an orphan, she remains blissfully ignorant of both his families, until his two mothers show up together, complete with suitcases. This sparks the beginning of another inevitable run of bad luck for Ben. Just when things seem to be going okay, something always turns up to spoil it! In A Bad Penny, Ben’s easy escape to United Arab Emirates is short lived, when, like a bad penny, everyone turns up!
Creative problem solving, collaboration, and technology fluency are core skills requisite of any nation’s workforce that strives to be competitive in the 21st Century. Teaching these types of skills is an economic imperative, and assessment is a fundamental component of any pedagogical program. Yet, measurement of these skills is complex due to the interacting factors associated with higher order thinking and multifaceted communication. Advances in assessment theory, educational psychology, and technology create an opportunity to innovate new methods of measuring students’ 21st Century Skills with validity, reliability, and scalability. In this book, leading scholars from multiple disciplines present their latest research on how to best measure complex knowledge, skills, and abilities using technology-based assessments. All authors discuss theoretical and practical implications from their research and outline their visions for the future of technology-based assessments.
