Genre:
Crime
Every
crime has its victim.
- The Giddings family - enjoying their rural idyll until events
start to spiral out of their control turning paradise into hell.
- Henry - trapped in a loveless marriage who sees a chance to
climb on board the gravy train for a one-way ticket out of misery but
doesn't want to know about the consequences of his actions.
- Sandra - frustrated by a system where the rich get richer and
the poor pay to get a ringside seat.
- John - a shrewd developer who knows all the tricks and is the
guy flicking the switch when the smelly stuff hits the fan.
- The parasites and hangers on, too numerous to mention, who
abuse their positions of trust to feather their own nests but who are
outraged when those lower down the pecking order try to do the same.
Kindle edition
Excerpt
Caroline and Stuart Giddings knocked on the
door, and hearing a vague ‘Come in’ sound from beyond, opened it and entered.
Sitting behind a large ancient desk was their member of parliament, Charles
Milton, a tall, wiry-haired man of indeterminate age although probably in his
mid to late forties. Stuart immediately thought that he looked the sort of
person whom you could drop head first into a pile of manure and who would come
out absolutely devoid of any trace of the substance while you and anyone around
you would be completely plastered in the stuff. Still, he wasn’t there to
befriend them, he was there to listen to their grievances and act on them.
Stuart had suggested that before Caroline
get too involved with RIM, the two of them pay a visit to their MP and see if
he had any power or urge to champion their cause. Deep down, Stuart was
sceptical but he was pleased that Caroline had definitely brightened up when he
had made the suggestion a few days prior. The children were at school and
Stuart had arranged for a colleague to cover two of his lessons. This was
important.
At their MP’s gesture, they seated
themselves in two upholstered office chairs. Caroline crossed her legs which
made her side-slit pencil skirt ride up. She didn’t seem the slightest bit
self-conscious of the amount of leg she was showing but Stuart’s bum squirmed
uneasily on its cushion.
“Thank you for seeing us at short notice.
My name is Caroline Giddings and this is my husband, Stuart,” Caroline offered
by way of introduction.
“My pleasure, my pleasure. Nice to meet you
both. What can I do for you good people?” Stuart noticed that Milton’s eyes had
addressed the question to his wife’s legs rather than to their faces. The man
had a predatory look about him.
“We’d like to talk about this new road and
the effect it will have on us,” Caroline continued. Stuart had decided he would
let her do the majority of the talking – it might help her get some of it off
her chest and at least if nothing came of it, she couldn’t say he hadn’t asked the right questions.
Women could do that – sit beside you while you chatted away, not saying
anything themselves. Then, when it was too late, they were perfectly capable of
criticising you for not having said something important.
“Fire away,” Milton’s eyes had traveled up
Caroline’s torso and he was now staring at her bust. Stuart already despised
the man. Still, beggars couldn’t be choosers. He bit his tongue.
Caroline seemed oblivious – she was very
clearly caught up with the matter at hand or perhaps she just enjoyed her
figure being admired. “Well, we’ve just discovered that not only are we about
to lose all of our trees, they are going to build houses right up close to our
home.”
“Mmm, yes. I’m afraid there are always
casualties when a new development of this size goes through.” Milton paused and
reflected while they waited patiently for whatever pearls of wisdom he could
lay at their feet. “I don’t mean to be negative but have you considered putting
your house up for sale?” he eventually asked.
“Yes, and the estate agent told us that
because of the high number of new houses that will be flooding the market and
also because our house will be losing its view, we will struggle to sell it. He
also said we will have loads of – what is it called Stuart?” Caroline turned to
him.
“Negative equity,” Stuart chipped in.
“Mmm, yes. I see the dilemma. Perhaps you
should try other estate agents – see if they view the picture differently.”
Stuart noticed that his body language had changed. When they had first arrived
it had been expansive and, supposedly, welcoming. Now Milton’s arms had folded
across his chest and he was making outward movements with his hands. ‘Go away –
it’s not my problem,’ in other words.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Clive
West was born in the West Country of England in the early 60's. He was
educated at a traditional English public school before going on to
university to study civil engineering. Over the years, he has worked as a
civil engineer, tutor of maths and science, schools quiz-master,
employment agency boss, and writer.
His work includes a collection of short stories with twists called
Hobson's Choice (also available in print), a full-length novel called
'The Road' about the consequences of corruption on ordinary people and
an accessible job hunting interview guide (based on his years of
experience as the boss of an employment agency).
He has also written a book about lymphedema. This is a disfiguring,
life-threatening and incurable disease he now suffers from and which his
experience shows that most fellow patients have (like him) been
abandoned by their respective health services.
Clive now lives in a rebuilt farmhouse in the Umbrian region of Italy
along with Damaris, his writer wife of 22 years and their three rescue
dogs. Apart from his fictional work, Clive also writes commercial
non-fiction on a variety of topics but especially relating to business
and employment. He and Damaris run an indie publishers called Any
Subject Books Ltd –
www.anysubject.com
You can also follow Any Subject Books on Facebook –
www.facebook.com/anysubject
Clive is now disabled but, aside from his writing, he also enjoys playing the keyboard, listening to music and reading.
Contact details:
books@anysubject.com
Facebook site:
www.facebook.com/anysubjectbooks
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