Bøker av Colin Heston

With an obvious nod to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Colin Heston takes us inside the most mysterious of institutions The University, inhabited by many weird academics and administrators, not to mention students. William Hobson, Thomas Colmes's trusted assistant, recounts the strange and challenging cases that arose among the inhabitants of the Ivory Tower in which they both reside, their offices deep in its basement. Hobson is not quite a doctor (ABD - All But Dissertation) and Colmes's past is itself a mystery. But never before have the shenanigans and conundrums of academic life in a university been uncovered with such courage and thoroughness, the hallmarks of Colmes's brilliance.With an obvious nod to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Colin Heston takes us inside the most mysterious of institutions The University, inhabited by many weird academics and administrators, not to mention students. William Hobson, Thomas Colmes's trusted assistant, recounts the strange and challenging cases that arose among the inhabitants of the Ivory Tower in which they both reside, their offices deep in its basement. Hobson is not quite a doctor (ABD - All But Dissertation) and Colmes's past is itself a mystery. But never before have the shenanigans and conundrums of academic life in a university been uncovered with such courage and thoroughness, the hallmarks of Colmes's brilliance.

"In this collection of short stories, follow the exploits of supreme psychiatrist and criminologist Franco Ferrapotti as he weaves a web of intrigue in the labyrinths of the United Nations and the surreal world of Italian politics, big money, and of course, the Vatican. Other stories of high achievement explore the ancient origin of the animal species and gendered humans, the exciting zoo of enlightenment installed on the island that once housed Alcatraz, making it into the dream University of the Chosen, or if you prefer, getting elected the new Secretary General of the United Nations. But that's not all. Get a brief glimpse of the future where precision doctors edit who you are or who you want to be"--

"A series of 29 short stories inspired by the vicissitudes of punishment in all its forms, its deliverers and recipients. Its universality across cultures and at every level of social life from the kitchen to the battlefield never ceases to amaze. The stories unveil the diverse motives and excuses for punishment that paradoxically form the foundation of that great shibboleth of humanity: justice. The stories range through childhood spats to military encounters,, family discourse and dysfunction, to the puzzle of how criminal justice manages to match a punishment to its respective crime (it can't). Taken together, the stories ask one seemingly silly question of human history: which came first, the crime or the punishment?"--

Iranian terrorist Shalah Muhammad, long time manager of suicide bombers, and his neurotic Russian American apprentice, Sarah Kohmsky, hire a Russian mafia boss, Uncle Sergey, and his evil nuclear scientist, Turgo, to hit Ground Zero on the anniversary of 9/11. Hearing of the plan from the CIA, but estranged from her policing commissioner, New York Mayor Ruth Newberg asks Professor Larry Maciver, world renowned criminologist, for help. While the terrorists quietly orchestrate their attack, the drama unfolds as a battle between MacIver the careful scientist, and the impatient Buck Buick, Newark cop and former Marine bomb squad specialist. NYC politics doesn't help matters either, nor does the FBI when it embarks on sting operations that lead to CIA renditions and revelations of unwarranted surveillance.  Will it be a drone, a missile, or a repeat of the 9/11 bombings? Das, Maciver's geeky assistant, thinks he has the answer.  Can they save NYC or must it save itself? Predictably, things end up very ugly.

The opening story of MONA, inspired by the Museum of Old and New Art located in Hobart, Tasmania, sets the stage for this collection of short stories that adds an Australian flavor to Colin Heston’s acclaimed The Tommie Felon Show. As one reviewer of that collection noted “…vivid and real, some of the stories seem to jump out of the pages… engaging, hilarious, unique…  a commentary on human desires, shortcomings and the society we live in…. one has to look beyond the words and the events in these stories to really appreciate them.”  (Readers’ Favorite). The stories range across many styles, prose poems, jottings that are almost aphorisms, classic stories of human emotion and the contradictions of human existence, dystopian themes and settings, all engaging, never dull.  The stories in this volume are: 1. MONA. 2. The Tommie Felon Show. 3. Easter Story. 4. Veggies. 5. Wombattered. 6. Death at the Y. 7. Seductio ad absurdum. 8. Head's Up 9. Parodisiac. 10. A Meeting of Relative. 11. Leap of Faith. 12. Civilization. 13. Deconstruction. 14. Fake Truth. 15. Secret of the Sand. 16. Mixed Blessings. 17. Rounding Error.

In tis coming of age story, teen Chooka grows up in the weird world of 1950s Aussie pub life. When his alcoholic dad dies, he searches for his identity, and that of his shadowy underage girlfriend, Iris. Captivated by the pub’s many crazy customers and their raucous stories, Chooka becomes a boozer just like them. But Iris, after a miscarriage, disappears and Chooka sets out on a search that takes him to foreign places including Melbourne university and Vietnam. The search ends in a Melbourne pub, where they start over, but this time there’s a different ending. “…a brilliant, unforgettable book about real people…a sensitive, touching and poignant story.” - Reader’s favourite