Frank Derrick's Holiday of a Lifetime Read online

  The Little Old Lady Who Struck Lucky Again!

  Catharina Ingelman-Sundberg

  The little old lady is back! This time, Martha Andersson and her friends – the League of Pensioners – have left behind their dreary care home in Stockholm and are enjoying the bright lights of Las Vegas.

  This is their opportunity for a new lease of life and they plan to make the most of it. But before long, they are up to their old tricks. And with ingenious tactics, a pair of false teeth and a wheelchair each, they plot to outwit the security system at one of the casinos. As their antics become more and more daring, Martha and her friends head back to Sweden to continue their money-making schemes. However, they aren’t the only ones planning on stealing bucket loads of cash and soon find themselves pitted against a gang of dangerous criminals.

  Can the group of elderly friends work together to outsmart the younger robbers and get away with their biggest heist yet? Or will this job be a step too far for the League of Pensioners?

  The Time of Their Lives

  Maeve Haran

  The must-read novel for anyone who wasn’t born yesterday . . .

  Each month best friends Claudia, Sal, Ella and Laura meet for drinks, celebrating over forty years of friendship. They know each other inside out. Their ambitions, careers, husbands, lovers, children, hopes, fears, the paths taken and not taken . . .

  Sal had spent a lifetime building a career as a magazine editor but she hadn’t banked on a nasty surprise from the one area of her life over which she had no control.

  Claudia loved her urban existence – the thought of the country sent shivers down her spine. But, as many women will know, other people’s needs always seem to come first . . .

  Ella is ready to try something different. But she hadn’t bargained on quite such a radical change . . .

  Laura succumbed to the oldest cliché in the book. But it didn’t make it any easier to accept.

  Outside of the supportive world of their friendships, they find their lives are far from what they expected – the generation that wanted to change the world didn’t bargain on getting old.

  A truthful, provocative, funny and inspiring novel, The Time of their Lives asks hard questions about what the world offers women as they get older, and finds both moving and joyously uplifting answers in the different ways the four friends celebrate their coming of age.

  Praise for J. B. Morrison

  ‘Quirky, funny and uplifting experience’ Candis magazine

  ‘Seriously heart-warming’ EasyFet Traveller magazine

  ‘The sort of enduring tale that can be a lesson, a comfort and a hope’ The Upcoming

  ‘A lovely funny read’ My Reading Corner

  ‘Reminds you to grab hold of life and make sure you take all chances with both hands’ Sam’s Book Corner

  ‘I was hooked on the novel and couldn’t put it down’ Erin’s Choice

  ‘Jim is a quiet observer of people, and Frank Derrick is his best novel’ Andrew Collins

  ‘Fantastic, a truly one of a kind novel’ Becca’s Books

  ‘I put it down, and I phoned my mum’ Lloyd Shepherd

  ‘Frank Derrick will remain in my thoughts for quite some time’ Beady Jan’s Bookshelf

  ‘It is an effortless read with laughs and substance’ Cassy Fry

  ‘Gives me the warm fuzzies. Just go. Right now. Go and read it’ Sarah Smiles

  ‘I give this book 5 out of 5’ A Lover of Books

  ‘Isn’t it beautiful when a book touches you so much’

  Lost in Chick Lit

  ‘Touches of Samuel Beckett’s bleak wit’ Book Face

  ‘A funny and uplifting story that is also life-affirming’

  Handwritten Girl

  ‘I LOVED Frank Derrick’ Reading in the Sunshine

  ‘An enjoyable, funny and moving read’

  From First Page to Last

  ‘Sweet, sad, truthful, very funny, life-affirming and uplifting’

  Something You Said

  ‘Frank could teach us all something about not giving up on our hopes and dreams’ Our Book Reviews

  ‘Had me laughing out loud so many times’

  Random Things Through My Letterbox

  ‘The humour had me in actual fits! I read on the train and to save myself from laughing hysterically on a quiet train, I ended up sniggering through my nose! It was highly embarrassing’ Laura’s little book blog

  ‘So well written, from the humorous to the sadder parts’

  Reviewed the Book

  FRANK DERRICK’S HOLIDAY OF A LIFETIME

  J. B. Morrison is a London author of this and three other novels – Storage Stories, Driving Jarvis Ham and The Extra Ordinary Life of Frank Derrick, Age 81, and also Goodnight Jim Bob, On the Road with Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine, an autobiographical account of his ten years as the singer of a chart-topping punkpop band.

  Find out more about J. B. Morrison at

  http://www.jim-bob.co.uk/

  or on Twitter @mrjimBob

  Also by J. B. Morrison

  The Extra Ordinary Life of Frank Derrick, Age 81

  First published in 2015 by Pan Books

  This electronic edition published 2015 by Pan Books

  an imprint of Pan Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited

  Pan Macmillan, 20 New Wharf Road, London N1 9RR

  Basingstoke and Oxford

  Associated companies throughout the world

  www.panmacmillan.com

  ISBN 978-1-4472-9202-9

  Copyright © J. B. Morrison 2015

  Cover illustration by nathanburtondesign.com

  The right of J. B. Morrison to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, organizations and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, places, organizations or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  The Macmillan Group has no responsibility for the information provided by any author websites whose address you obtain from this book (‘author websites’). The inclusion of author website addresses in this book does not constitute an endorsement by or association with us of such sites or the content, products, advertising or other materials presented on such sites.

  You may not copy, store, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

  A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

  Visit www.panmacmillan.com to read more about all our books and to buy them. You will also find features, author interviews and news of any author events, and you can sign up for e-newsletters so that you’re always first to hear about our new releases.