So youre approaching retirement whats next? As an over-sixty today you are likely to be very much healthier than previous generations of retirees and youre close to outnumbering the younger age group. So why should they have all the fun? The grey pound is particularly strong, and the so-called Third Age, holds the largest proportion of the countrys disposable income. Long-term, empty-nesters have more money and leisure time than ever so cannot be ignored, but finding the smoothest way to cross the chasm from work to retirement and make the most of the huge variety of opportunities open to you requires forethought, planning, a sense of humour and a copy of this book. The Freedom Years is an up-beat and humorous look at some of the challenges and opportunities presented as you move from work to retirement. Most people dont give much thought to how theyll adjust and dont have a clue whats going to hit them, but this witty and inspirational guide is all you need to convince you that the best is yet to come.
A fast-paced, cinematically explosive dystopian thriller by the author of The Extra
Less than a hundred years in the future, pollution, economic disaster, and the rapacious greed of the corporate oligarchy have brought America to its knees and created dystopian urban nightmares, of which Los Angeles may be the worst.
Curtis, Japh, and Jool are film extras, who—with the help of a couple of very gutsy women—survived being anonymous players in a “live-action” film in which death on-screen meant death in real life. Surviving the shoot made them rich enough to escape the postapocalyptic hell that LA has become. But their survival was not what Panoply Studios CEO Val Margolian had in mind, especially since it cost his company millions.
Now he’s taking his revenge. After several plainclothes police are found dead in the former extras’ new home of Sunrise, California, the entire town is subjected to Margolian’s own invidious plan to punish them … and make a fortune doing it. Margolian has created toxic, murderous, mechanical, wasp-like creatures to set upon the people of Sunrise, while his film crew captures the carnage in what promises to be the bloodiest live-action film yet. With their haven besieged by the deadly assault, the exiles from LA are faced with a grim task: defeat the creatures and take back their town and their freedom. Their story is a saga of courage and sacrifice in a world gone mad.
“Exceeds every horror and science fiction fan’s hunger for bold ideas…you’ll find yourself rereading each page to assure yourself that yes, Micheal Shea went there.”—Patton Oswalt
The Extra is set in a future California where members of a desperate populace sign contracts to participate in reality death films, knowing that less than 20% of them will survive. It's a view of the future-and Hollywood-as delightfully cynical as Kurt Vonnegut with sympathetic characters, Hollywood executive sleazeballs and much more.
