Ray Crowther
| British Pbk Original - Panglossian Books (2002) |
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Panglossian
Waking up in an East London hospital after being mugged, a man with no identity or recollection of his past, has no option but to resign himself to a homeless and directionless existence.
Adopting the name of Robin Forest, he seeks refuge in a hostel and meets other displaced people who begin to influence his life: Luther, a modern-day Fagin; Charlotte, a suspected drug addict; Adrian, an exiled gay headmaster; Keith, an overbearing bore hiding from the police; and Sniffy, a recruiter for an East End gang.
Robin seeks to make a living by negotiating a begging pitch from Luther. He also befriends Charlotte, whose sister Kathy lies in a coma from a heroin overdose.
Triggered by conversations with his new friends, Robin begins to have minor insights into his past life. Then, to his concern and disbelief, he discovers that he is a wanted by the police for drug dealing and murder.
On the run Robin attempts to find the truth about himself and Kathy`s overdose, but he gets drawn into the criminal underworld of East London.
“As gripping as The Nearest FarAway Place’ Cathy Logan
‘A novel that beggars belief’ Robin Hernaman
| British Pbk Original - Panglossian Books (1999) |
 |
The Nearest FarAway Place
For the last ten years, Carl Denham has immersed himself totally in establishing and running a successful business. Inexplicably his company is suddenly taken over and he finds himself unemployed, but two million pounds richer. With unexpected freedom, his mind turns to finding Sarah Zurek, the girl he loved who drove him to his workaholic exile all those years ago.
Carl embarks upon a search for Sarah and uncovers a web of deceit perpetrated by his ex-wife, his business partner, and Sarah’s family. Officially, Sarah committed suicide, but his alarming discoveries suggest she was murdered.
A car bombing, an arson, a murder and a trial later, Carl is alone again, ready to start another new life. Now someone is trying to kill him ...
About The Author
Ray Crowther was born in London and is 55 years old. He is divorced with two daughters and lives in Hatfield Peverel, Essex.
He graduated from Reading University with a degree in Cybernetics and Mathematics in 1969.
His first job was with Ford of Europe and he worked in England and Germany in a variety of systems development positions.
He left Ford in 1980 to start his own company specializing in computer networks and most recently human resources software. The company, Selven Group plc, continues to thrive although Ray has reduced his involvement to concentrate on his writing.
During his career he has had a number of technical papers published and has written more reference manuals than he can remember. He maintains that the exacting discipline of technical authoring prepared him well for the creative change into fiction writing. He cites Robert Goddard as his favourite author and biggest influence on his own writing style.
Ray's first novel entitled The Nearest FarAway Place was finished in November 1999 and took eight months to complete. His second novel Panglossian was completed in July 2001. Both books are available in paperback or e-book format.
He is currently finalizing his next novel Schoolfrenz, and preparing outlines for three future novels provisionally entitled Hidden Talent, Odd Jobs and Downfall or Destiny.
He connects the achievements in his life to running - running a successful company; running around after his two daughters Caroline and Rebecca; and running the London Marathon.
He lists his interests as armchair support of most sports, motor rallying, table-top-rallying, jogging (when most of his fiction ideas evolve), personal computing, the Internet and intellectual games.
Bibliography
N.B. dates and publishers in dark red indicate British First Editions. Dates and publishers in black indicate recent reprints.
Panglossian
(Panglossian Books Pbk,
2002)
The Nearest FarAway Place
(Panglossian Books Pbk,
1999)
Panglossian
by Ray Crowther
