Arthur Allan Thomas: The Inside Story - Crewe Murders - New Evidence

By the early 1970s he was one of the owners of Granpa's (entertainers' club) in Auckland. Overseas musicians considered him to be the main man in the parish and all the greats including Keith Richards and John Mayall visited the club when they were in town. Those were the halcyon days.

After a well-publicized drug bust and nineteen months in jail, Tommy devoted all his waking hours to music: as a jazz singer, event organiser and promoter. He performed to the end, and died, in abject poverty in February 1993 less than twenty-four hours after his last performance.

"A highly personal account of a thoroughly personable man. This work rightly acknowledges Tommy Adderley's broader contribution to the New Zealand entertainment industry . Christine provides angular glimpses into a life as filled with generosity as it was fraught with personal challenges." Richard Thorne, New Zealand Musician Magazine.

The most controversial book on family violence published this decade, BREAKING SILENCE was initially banned from major book chains after a 50,000 strong Facebook boycott campaign ripped across New Zealand, Australia, the United States and the UK protesting its publication.

The boycott campaign had been based on false information, however, and designed to deliberately whip up public hysteria during a Coroner's Court hearing into the deaths of two twins.

Now that the book has been published and the Coroner's verdict backs up the book, the critics are praising it. Breaking Silence uses the life story of mother Macsyna King as the narrative to explore the problem of intergenerational child abuse and its impact on modern society.

Herself the victim of terrible abuse and abandonment as a child, King's life falls apart when her premature identical twin sons are murdered and the father is charged with the crime. Although we frequently hear "about" such cases, it is rare to hear "from" one of the key participants in her own words.

Breaking Silence is the story of a mother's journey to hell and back, and the search for justice for her twins in the face of a backlash from a society that turned its back on her. It explores and sheds light not just on child abuse and violence in the home, but analyses society's attitude to women in child abuse cases. The latest forensic debates about child abuse injuries are explored, as are the social choices many of us face every day that can lead to disaster.

REVIEWS: "This mammoth book is a top achievement & should be a school text.." - Rachael Ford, psychiatric nurse *****

"The book so many maligned before it came out reveals a mother we haven't met. When I last wrote about Macsyna King, I said I didn't think I'd like her. I've changed my mind. I certainly think she outclasses the Wellington radio announcer who posted on Facebook that after receiving her advance copy of "Breaking Silence", she had "spat on it, wiped my ass on it, and ripped it up".

"Imagine your life reduced to sound bites of everything you've ever done wrong -and many things you haven't. "Oh, how we've loved to hate her. But the woman who emerges from the book is a far more complex human being. There isn't the space here to list the ways in which she's been unfairly maligned. Yes, she made incredibly dumb choices. But she's smart, hard-working, big on cleanliness and loved her kids." - Tapu Misa, NZ HERALD *****

"I found it an incredibly surprising book, and a very relevant book, and a very important book"- Anna Smart, Newstalk ZB

"The book has real value" - Larry Williams, Newstalk ZB

"Breaking Silence is a chilling narrative and the most important I have read. Adults may need to read the story to gain any understanding.Younger people should read in it a warning: that it is the way we make decisions early on that may determine the course of our life and the lives of those entrusted to our care." - Southland Times

"I had no particular views on the case before this book came out but I have to say it's a powerful read. An influential read, one might say...All those people who poured out their invective when it became known the book was about it hit the book shops really should just read it for themselves. It may not be quite what they think" - Helen Hill, The Marlborough Express

"I feel sad that we seem to have entered a time in society where for many it is acceptable to attempt to ban the sale of a book before knowing its contents and I wonder at the motives of those who have joined efforts to stop bookstores stocking it. Could it be we have reached a point where to make ourselves feel better we have to find someone to hate, to direct our fear and uncertainty about the future of our world towards, and that for now, at least, Macsyna King is that person? Could it be that underlying the public discussions about the need to stop the book being read is a deep-seated fear that reading it will in some way leave us all with the question of what part we as members of society played in the death of these babies? Not in the sense of "Who was in the room?" but in "Have we really reached this level of disconnection in our communities?"

"Ian Wishart's Breaking Silence: The Kahui Case...is not a book to ban, but one to read for whatever it can add to our understanding of child abuse." - Celia Lashlie, NZ LISTENER MAGAZINE *****

"We are very glad to have read it and thankful that Wishart (and King) have written it. Wishart has done the entire body politic a great deal of good. We would, accordingly, encourage everyone to read it...Breaking Silence will likely enhance Wishart's reputation considerably." - CONTRA CELSUM

"Breaking Silence is not on my 'recommended' read list. I firmly believe it is compulsory reading for anyone over 18" - Andrew Stone, Albany Buzz business magazine

The quest for the land speed record in the 1960s and the epic rivalry between two dynamic American drivers, Art Arfons and Craig Breedlove.

"Interesting and complex. . . .The best job I've seen done on the subject so far."
-- Craig Breedlove

Until the 1950s, the land speed record (LSR) was held by a series of European gentlemen racers such as British driver John Cobb, who hit 394 miles per hour in 1947. That record held for more than a decade, until the car culture swept the U.S.

Hot-rodders and drag racers built and souped up racers using car engines, piston aircraft engines and, eventually, jet engines. For this determined and dedicated group, the LSR was no longer an honor to be held by rich aristocrats with industrial backing -- it was brought stateside.

In the summer of 1960, the contest moved into overdrive, with eight men contending for the record on Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats. Some men died in horrific crashes, others prudently retired, and by mid-decade only two men were left driving: Art Arfons and Craig Breedlove. By 1965, Arfons and Breedlove had walked away from some of the most spectacular wipeouts in motor sport history and pushed the record up to 400, then 500, then 600 miles per hour. Speed Duel is the fast-paced history of their rivalry.

Despite the abundant heart-stopping action, Speed Duel is foremost a human drama. Says author Samuel Hawley, "It is a quintessential American tale in the tradition of The Right Stuff, except that it is not about extraordinary men doing great things in a huge government program. It's about ordinary men doing extraordinary things in their back yards."

NY Times bestselling author Eileen Goudge

"Like hanging out with your funniest friend over a glass of champagne, Rita Hayworths Shoes is both hilarious and thought-provoking. LaSala knows how to combine humor and romance for a story the reader can jump inside and enjoy."

NY Times bestselling author Patti Callahan Henry

Amy Miller gets dumped on her wedding day and everyone knows it's for the best her relationship with David had eaten away at her for years. Except for Amy... When her best friend, Jane Austen-Rabinowitz, and Jane's sagacious six-year-old daughter, Zoe, convince Amy to treat herself to an extravagantly priced, super-cute pair of shoes, which purportedly once belonged to a siren of the silver screen, she balks at first, but their allure soon wears her down. Once they are hers, her life turns around. She gets refocused on her career and meets a true kindred spirit, the also-jilted English professor, Decklin Thomas. She's not attracted to Deck at first. But when circumstances lead to them spending more time together, they bond, and Amy starts to believe she may have found her soul mate. But when Deck's former wife goes missing, again, the perfect romance may not be what it seems...