Bøger af Mike Cooper

In his early thirties and working in a menial position at a High Street bank, John Bore is massively overweight and plagued by prostatitis. Haunted by the nickname 'Boring John' since school, his mundane existence comes to a head on one 'Particularly Shit Day' when he loses his job, is evicted from his home and is told by his stepmother, from her death bed, that his father had always been ashamed of him and indeed coined the aforementioned nickname. Angry, frustrated and desperate John retrieves from his meagre, evicted belongings a list he had written at the age of ten, a list of things he wanted to achieve in his life. There and then John sets out to achieve these goals, those of an imaginative, yet naïve, ten-year-old boy. 'Boring John' is the ultimate underdog. Against all odds and with a great deal of determination, a heap of luck and the support of a plethora of interesting and surreal characters that he meets along the way, he achieves the impossible, again and again and again. 'Boring John' is a thrilling, surprising and spookily believable rollercoaster that will appeal to all.

If you are a leader, a parent, a teacher, an influencer or a persuader of any sort, this 3 step program will be of value. The principles within are relevant to us all. The pages contain a combination of real life examples, stories and experiences all wrapped up in a package that will resonate with any reader seeking ways to enhance an ability to be productively influential.

Erika Stannusson is a fresh arrival from the ninth century. With the help of friends Karl McGregor, and Adam 'Finch' Bird, she finds her way in the 21st-century city of Marshton. Before she arrives in Marshton however, Erika runs into Norse troublemaker Loki. Disguised as Chief Norse God, Odin, Loki gives her a small box containing Viking King Harald's blue tooth.As a gift, it's ordinary until she shows it to Karl and Finch. Ignoring Erika's instructions not to, Finch opens the box. Erika undergoes a worrying change.In the ninth century, Ulf the Viking receives an identical box from Hela, Queen of the Norse Underworld. Ulf is angry at Erika, Karl, and Finch, who cancelled his Vikings Rule celebration. He wants revenge.Hela assures him revenge comes in small packages; a tiny box containing one of Ulf's fingernails, enchanted by her sorcery. Fast forward to Marshton, where things aren't going well. On the surface, everything looks fine. But below the surface, not so much. Asgard's Chief of Mischief, Loki, steals Thor's hammer and sets up shop in Marshton's sewer system. He wants to kick-start the final great battle between gods and giants-Norse Armageddon-Ragnarok.Loki's plan needs help from the fire and ice giants. His daughter, Hela, is the only one who can summon them. But, father and daughter argued and haven't spoken to each other for 2000 years. Loki uses Harald's tooth to control Erika. She morphs into an exact copy of Hela when she opens the box containing it. Loki welcomes the summoned giants.Ice giants freeze the city's water. Fire giants light up anything that will burn. Scientists believe it's climate change. Marshton's emergency services have no answers. Karl and Finch, meanwhile, are dealing with Erika's body morphing gig and the fact that the new school principal has lied to them. Lies pile up, and the boys discover Erika also has been lying.With the truth dodging every which way, Finch suggests a fact-checking mission to Marshton Library. Books, he says, don't lie. Ulf invades the library and kidnaps the boys. Their capture leaves Erika isolated. Erika, ninth-century girl of the forests, finds herself alone on the city streets of the twenty-first. Those Giants is the second outing for Karl, Finch and Erika. It builds from the story begun in Those Vikings. Those Giants is a tale of friendship, dealing with problems, and the blurred lines between truth and lies. Suitable for readers aged 10-12 years.

"In an age of cybercrime, Finn is the last hardhat. He's a professional thief with a unique specialty: He only steals big things--autoracks, factory lines, machinery. You might call what he does "heavy lifting." And he's no stranger to the downside of his chosen profession; he's done seven years' hard time to prove it. Fresh out of prison and flat broke, Finn has a line on his biggest job ever. A beautiful woman with her own agenda has put him back in touch with a shady Wall Street billionaire. The job? Breaking into a private commodities vault and hauling out fifty million dollars worth of the precious metal rhodium. It's big, it's heavy, and it'll pull a lot of exposure. In other words, it's right up Finn's alley. The vault is located underground in a high-security rail yard in New Jersey. The plan? Tunnel in. But there's only one group that can get it done, and Finn will have to call in the crackerjack team that landed him in prison in the first place: Asher, a cranky oilfield driller; Corman, a bearlike railway man; and Jake, a charismatic machinery expert--joined by Nicola, a female hacker who alternates between white and black hats. Cracking the most heavily guarded private vault in North America? No problem. Hauling fifty million dollars in precious metal out past guards, dozens of policemen, and an armored SWAT battalion? Even easier. But navigating the betrayals of double-crossing partners, the machinations of a hedge-fund billionaire gone bad, and the ambiguous proposals of a woman with her own agenda? That's when things get twisty. This is the heist that will truly test Finn's mettle, and he'll need nerves of steel just to get out alive. But he's sure of one thing: This time, there's got to be an upside.

Karl McGregor is twelve years old and friendless. He has a temper, so the other kids at school steer clear. Friendship's tedious until a new student, Adam 'Finch' Bird, enrols. Finch confides that his dad's in gaol; Karl says his dad is from the ninth century. Of course, Finch doesn't believe him. This is the 21st century after all. Then a mysterious object appears in Karl's shed. The boys investigate. They stumble across a dubious history professor, who tells them they've found the gamban - a mystical Norse wand with incredible powers. In the ninth century, Norse God Odin lent it to the Vikings. The boys discover that Odin wants it back and is hot on its trail. Against adult advice, the boys tinker with the gamban and activate its time travel function. They land at a farm in the ninth century, where they meet Erika. Finch gets a case of the jitters and demands they return to the 21st century. Vikings step in and capture everyone except Karl. It's up to him to come up with a rescue plan. Those Vikings is a tale of the fortunes and foibles of family and friendship. Set against the scary backdrop of a Viking invasion, it's aimed at readers 10-12 years old.

Winner of the inaugural MysteriousPress.com Award, a fast-paced, action-packed heist novel.