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- brand new Derek Robinson novel for only a tenner 'Operation Bamboozle' is a fastmoving black comedy about what happens when a high-stakes con artist takes on the Mob in Los Angeles. The result is a heady brew of disorganised crime, hot dollars, triple virgins and dead bodies in the begonias. Luis Cabrillo is the con artist, Julie Conroy is his squeeze, and here's the opening sentence:
'Operation Bamboozle' is strong on humour and big on surprises, including the price - £10 inc. p&p in the UK. Outside the UK it's £15 inc. p&p. Pay by cheque or via PayPal - see details below. |
First edition 232 pages
Each copy numbered and signed
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'Damned Good Show' and 'Red Rag Blues'
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FRESH OFF THE PRESS
'DAMNED GOOD SHOW'
(reprint)
Top Flight
Many people believe RAF Bomber Command's war began with the
Lancaster bomber. Not so. From day one of WW2, squadrons flying
twin-engine Hampdens (the 'flying suitcase') and Wellingtons (the
'Wimpy') took off on operations - not so much to help win the war
as not to lose it.
"Here's what you get," The Guardian wrote of 'Damned Good
Show', "tough, taut prose that pulls you through the book like a
steel cable... the acrid tang of veracity." Off-duty, pilots fell
in love like all other young men. Reviewing DGS, the Daily Express
said: "although it is sparely told, it captures perfectly the
excitement and sadness of wartime romance...Flying is hard to write
about, but Robinson never loses his way, or his dry eye. A
masterpiece."
To read the reviews in full,
click here.
HOW TO GET IT. This reprint is in
paperback format.
For buyers in the
See Paying by PayPal panel below. |
FIRST TIME IN PAPERBACK
'RED RAG BLUES'
He's a heel, bless him.
Luis Cabrillo rides again in this "dashing tale of Nazis and
Mafiosi", as The Observer called it. (To read the full review,
click
here.)
In fact, Nazis and Mafiosi play second fiddle to the real dynamo
in this story. It's 1953, and Senator Joe McCarthy's witchhunt for
Reds under beds is scaring America witless.
Cue Luis Cabrillo, ex-double agent, now con artist supreme. Dollars flow, hotly pursued by bullets. Luis doesn't know it, but FBI, MI5, KGB and CIA have him firmly in their sights. Not to mention Stevie, the only three-times married virgin in New York City. This is a rich, fast and very black comedy.
HOW TO GET IT
Don't call me. Go online to http://www.cpibookdelivery.com/cgi-bin/home.cgi and enter
Red Rag Blues in the search field (extreme top right); this brings up the book
cover. Click on Buy Now and follow the prompts. Have your credit
card ready.
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CREDIT
CRUNCH SPECIAL - all three Royal Flying Corps novels for £25,
including p&p. That's in the UK. Outside UK - £30 inc. p&p. by Surface Mail; £35 by Airmail.
Times are hard, so I'm offering my RFC trilogy (War Story, Hornet's Sting, Goshawk Squadron) for the price of Hornet's Sting alone. Pay me by sterling cheque or by PayPal - details below. Hornet's Sting
is hardback size, softback cover; the other two are pocketsize.
Three WW1 flying novels for 25 quid - just what you want for long winter nights!
Breaking News! The cost of sending airmail packages has gone up again. For example, airmailing the RFC trilogy to the US now costs £15. So - in future, orders from outside the UK will go surface mail. If you want airmail, send me an email here and we'll work out a deal. |
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Reviews:
The first commercial review of HRGE, by Nicholas Lezard of the UK's Guardiannewspaper, appeared on the 18th of April. See it here. "WAR CRACKER IN FROM THE COLD" was the News of the World's headline for Matthew Nixson's review of 'Hullo Russia' on 10th May. See it here . |
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This brand new novel is on sale in a paperback format. The limited first edition of 100 copies has sold out, but the book has been reprinted, and signed copies are available. Copies can be obtained only from the author. For buyers in the Derek Robinson and send it to him at: Kingsdown Remember to include your address, clearly written. Or pay by PayPal ![]()
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Hornet’s
Sting is
now on
sale
in a limited
edition of 100 copies,
each numbered and signed.
PRICE
IN
U.K. -
£25 per copy, including p&p (That’s the
U.S. and Canada and the rest of the world)
Payment by PayPal is usually the best option - see below. |
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Paying by PayPal Whether or not you are in the You don't need to have a personal PayPal account. All you need is a credit or debit card card. Just email me here (or write) telling me what you want and I will email you a PayPal online payment form. On P.1 click Pay Now; on P.2 Click Continue; on P.3 click the small blue Continue by the display of cards; on P.4 fill in your details and click Review and Continue; then confirm the order. PayPay tell me of your payment and I mail the book(s). It all goes through very smoothly and quickly. Piece of cake. |
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Readers Write #8 December 09
Rumblings in Cornwall,
the Forgotten War,
and three helpings of 'Cake'
I sense a smouldering impatience in Cornwall. K.M.D. of St Ives writes to say how much he's enjoyed my previous books, especially the RFC/RAF trilogies. 'Damned Good Show' meant much to him because his father-in-law was in Bomber Command in WW2, got shot down in a Wellington, spent four years in Stalag Luft III, and then in the 1950s instructed at RAF Finningley, a V-Bomber base. Which is why K.M.D. particularly wanted to read 'Hullo Russia, Goodbye England' - it echoes much of his father-in-law's experience. But then he adds: "I've been disappointed that there aren't more of your RAF books. After all, there's still a lot of WW2 left for Hornet Squadron after 'A Good Clean Fight', and there's also Korea, Suez etc." Well, I wish I could oblige. The money would be nice. I see other writers who, year after year, produce a succession of novels that play variations on the same tune, and a small voice inside me says: Why don't you do that? Dick Francis writes a horse-racing novel a year. His fans love him. Write an RAF novel a year and your fans will love you. Why not? And a loud voice inside me says: Because you'll be bored rigid. Even the great Conan Doyle grew to loath Sherlock Holmes and tried to kill him off. His fans wouldn't wear it and Doyle went back to grinding out more variations on a tune that must have made him want to throttle someone. If not Holmes, then Watson. Or Inspector Lestrade. Or Mrs Hudson.. Or, ideally, the whole gang. I'm not in the grinding-out business. I write novels because I find an idea that strikes me as different, even surprising. I try to write a story that I enjoy - something fresh and unusual, maybe something that upsets what most people think they already know. Every novel is a gamble. I like risk. So I can't do what K.M.D. of St Ives suggests, which is to put Hornet Squadron into Suez or Korea simply because those wars happened. I need an idea as well, a hook to hang the story on. One of the hooks I found, and used in 'Damned Good Show', is the forgotten war waged by Bomber Command from the outbreak of war to 1941/2. Say 'Bomber Command' to most people and they think of Lancasters flattening German cities. But the Lancs weren't much seen on ops until mid-1942, and not in large numbers until 1943. Take the Thousand-Bomber Raid on Cologne on 30th May 1942; only 73 Lancs took part in that, as compared with 79 Hampdens, 131 Halifaxes and 602 Wellingtons (plus others). In fact, Bomber Command's first operation was on the very day that war was declared, 3rd September 1939. During the next couple of years, the Command learned how (and how not) to take the battle to the enemy homeland. So I was very pleased to hear from someone who was there at the start. Lawrence Wheatley in Bude, Cornwall. He qualified as an Air Observer (soon to be renamed Navigator) in summer 1939, and joined 'B' Flight of 144 Squadron. The squadron flew Hampdens, a compact twin-engine bomber that plays a big part in 'Damned Good Show'. Lawrence suffered from chronic air-sickness and was grounded by the medics, which almost certainly saved his life, because on 29 September 1939 'B' Flight was searching for targets north of Heligoland and ran into German fighters. All five Hampdens were shot down. Soon people were calling it the 'Phoney War'. It was real enough for the RAF. Throughout WW2, Bomber Command losses were heavy. Of the 48 men who completed Lawrence's Air Observer course, 28 died in action or in flying accidents. Lawrence said he's enjoying D.G.S., "though slightly disappointed" that it's centred on the officers "and little is said about the Sergeants' Mess where the majority of the crew would live." It's a fair point. My problem was numbers. I told the story through the pilots, who were usually officers. That involved a dozen (or more) characters. If I had included the Sergeants' Mess too, it would have doubled the cast. That would be more than I, or most readers, could handle. Meanwhile, my other flying stories have been prompting some mail. Bob in Ottery St. Mary flew Canberras and Buccaneers (both types were capable of carrying nuclear weapons) and he writes: "I don't know how you do it, but the atmosphere and the characters on the squadrons I've served on are often reflected in your books." Steve in Nottingham, having just read 'Hullo Russia, Goodbye England', says: "The flying descriptions - absolutely brilliant. I presume you leaned on some former pilots to get that right." Well, I certainly had my stuff doublechecked for accuracy, but in essence it all came out of what's left of my mind. Chris in the Borders "liked HRGE immensely. You have a way with character dialogue that, in my opinion, is second to none....Also the story had me from the start; these are characters that I may not necessarily care about, but I revel in their ups and downs, and ultimately they mostly win me over by the end; including Luis Cabrillo from 'The Eldorado Network' trilogy..." (It's actually a quartet, with the new book 'Operation Bamboozle', which Chris bought.) Jonathan in Basingstoke is now on his third copy of 'Piece of Cake', having worn out the other two: "Still an old favourite that I revisit every few years....and it has the rare gift of giving something different every time." While Susan of Colchester bought HRGE and 'Hornet's Sting' as a Christmas gift for her husband, "a devotee of your writing"; and when Richard in Kent got his copy of 'Operation Bamboozle', he was "really chuffed to have a shelf full of your produce." And I'm chuffed too. Thanks to everyone who wrote.Derek Robinson Previous Readers Write |
I am an author, English, who has cornered the market in flying novels - three about the Royal Flying corps in WW1, three about the RAF in WW2 . Best known is Goshawk Squadron, which would have won the Booker Prize in 1971 if Saul Bellow, one of the judges, had had his way. "The most readable novel of the year," Nina Bawden said in the Daily Telegraph. "I laughed aloud several times, and was in the end reduced to tears."
My other fiction hits other targets. As well as a trilogy
- soon to be a quartet (see panel above) - about Luis Cabrillo, it includes Kentucky Blues, a sprawling
western in which everyone - blacks and whites - gets the blues.
"A wonderful novel," said the Daily Telegraph, "full of hilarious and
thought-provoking incident." - and not an aeroplane in
sight.
I'm
told these novels reveal a streak
of black humour and a certain debunking of the myths of war, plus what
Paul Scott called "a narrative gift that sets up the hackles of
involvement". The American critic
Paul Fussell commented, "I defy the reader to put the book down once
Robinson has got him into the air."
Biography
Click
here to
see all my books displayed in topic groups.
or click on
an individual title:
Goshawk Squadron War Story, Hornet's Sting
Piece of Cake,
A Good Clean
Fight Damned
Good Show Invasion 1940 Hullo Russia, Goodbye England
The Eldorado Network Artillery of
Lies Red
Rag Blues Kramer's War, Kentucky
Blues, Rotten
With HonourBetter Rugby Refereeing Rugby - A Player's Guide to
the Laws Run
With the Ball A Darker Side of Bristol, A Load of Old Bristle,
Sick Sentries of Bristle Pure Bristle
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Rights
and Opportunities
CopyrightI own all rights - literary, dramatic, cinema, television radio, DVD and the rest - to all my books, with one exception. In 1971 Sam Goldwyn Jr bought the movie rights to Goshawk Squadron. So far, no movie. Make him an offer. Who knows, he might sell. For everything else, make me an offer. I'm definitely interested. Opportunities Book reviewers often remark on the suitability of my books for filming. So far, one has made it to the screen: in 1988 Piece of Cake became a 6-part TV series. Got a big audience, was shown worldwide, now available on DVD. See for yourself, then read the book. I suppose I'm biased, but some of my titles seem to me to be tailormade for the screen. Kramer's War is set on the photogenic island of Jersey, where many German fortifications still survive more or less intact. All the action in A Good Clean Fight takes place in the North African desert (sand is cheap, and a few WW2 Tomahawk fighters still exist). The Eldorado Network is a story of war set in neutral Madrid and Lisbon: no actual battles, but the conflict is endless. Kentucky Blues, "a sprawling, sometimes tragic portrait of a nation being rocked by enormous change", would seem to me to have all the makings of a TV mini-series. And the latest yarn, Red Rag Blues, is a bleakly comic scam in the best Hollywood tradition. There you have it - plot, characters, dialogue all exist. Over to you, whoever you are. Derek Robinson Contact I welcome comments and views about my books, though as a working writer I can't guarantee to have sufficient time to answer everyone. Click here to send me an email. |
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![]() The RAF Quintet (WW2) |
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Major books
and original publication dates: 1971 Goshawk Squadron 1973 Rotten with Honour 1977 Kramer's War 1979 The Eldorado Network 1983 Piece of Cake 1987 War Story 1991 Artillery of Lies 1993 A Good Clean Fight 1999 Hornet's Sting 2002 Damned Good Show 2002 Kentucky Blues 2005 Invasion 1940 2005 Red Rag Blues 2008 Hullo Russia, Goodbye England |