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Books > Fiction > True stories > Endurance & survival
A devastating true story of love, betrayal, and deceit. Chrissy:
attractive, successful 40-year-old divorcee with three amazing
children. Alexander Marc d'Ariken de Rothschild-Hatton:
international financier, wealthy, charming and smooth-talking. It's
not long before they fall madly in love. With the promise of
marriage and a new baby on the way, Chrissy knows she has been
given another chance at love. But then Alexander asks for a loan to
help him get over a few cash-flow problems. And, before long,
GBP500,000 of Chrissy's money has vanished - along with Alexander.
After months of detective work, Chrissy finally tracks him down.
But the reality of Alexander's true identity is far darker than she
ever could have imagined ...
From award-winning ABC News Chief National Correspondent Matt
Gutman, and written using exclusive interviews and information
comes the definitive account of the dramatic story that gripped the
world: the miracle rescue of twelve boys and their soccer coach
trapped in a flooded cave miles underground for nearly three
weeks-a pulse-pounding page-turner by a reporter who was there
every step of their journey out. After a practice in June 2018, a
Thai soccer coach took a dozen of his young players to explore a
famous but flood-prone cave. It was one of the boys' birthday, but
neither he nor the dozen resurfaced. Worried parents and rescuers
flocked to the mouth of a cave that seemed to have swallowed the
boys without a trace. Ranging in age from eleven to sixteen, the
boys were all members of the Wild Boars soccer team. When water
unexpectedly inundated the cave, blocking their escape, they
retreated deeper inside, taking shelter in a side cavern. While the
world feared them dead, the thirteen young souls survived by
licking the condensation off the cave's walls, meditating, and
huddling together for warmth. In this thrilling account, ABC News
Chief National Correspondent Matt Gutman recounts this amazing
story in depth and from every angle, exploring their time in the
cave, the failed plans and human mistakes that nearly doomed them,
and the daring mission that ultimately saved them. Gutman
introduces the elite team of volunteer divers who risked death to
execute a plan so risky that its American planners admitted, "for
us, success would have meant getting just one boy out alive." He
takes you inside the meetings where life and death decisions were
grimly made and describes how these heroes pulled off an improbable
rescue under immense pressure, with the boys' desperate parents and
the entire world watching. One of the largest rescues in history
was in doubt until the very last moment. Matt Gutman covered the
story intensively, went deep inside the caves himself, and
interviewed dozens of rescuers, experts and eye-witnessed around
the world. The result is this pulse-pounding page-turner that
vividly recreates this extraordinary event in all its intensity-and
documents the ingenuity and sacrifice it took to succeed.
Innocent is the shocking true story of little Molly and Kit,
siblings, aged 3 years and 18 months, who are brought into care as
an emergency after suffering non-accidental injuries. Aneta and
Filip, the children's parents, are distraught when their children
are taken into care. Aneta maintains she is innocent of harming
them, while Filip appears bewildered and out of his depth. It's
true the family has never come to the attention of the social
services before and little Kit and Molly appear to have been well
looked after, but Kit has a broken arm and bruises on his face.
Could it be they were a result of a genuine accident as Aneta is
claiming? Both children become sick with a mysterious illness
while, experienced foster carer, Cathy, is looking after them. Very
worried, she asks for more hospital tests to be done. They've
already had a lot. When Cathy's daughter, Lucy, becomes ill too she
believes she has found the cause of Kit and Molly's illness and the
parents aren't to blame. However, nothing could be further from the
truth and what comes to light is far more sinister and shocking.
Rain is lashing down when Barby Keel is called out to an emergency
unfolding at the gates of her animal sanctuary, deep in the Sussex
countryside. A greyhound had been dumped under the cover of
darkness, and is at death's door. In the 37 years she has dedicated
her life to the welfare of animals, Barby has witnessed the horrors
that humans are capable of, but never has she seen anything as
barbaric as this poor dog's condition. Cigarette burns scar his
flank, and he is so malnourished that he struggles to stand, every
rib showing through his patchy fur. It's touch-and-go whether he
will survive the night. The dog, who Barby names Bailey, proves he
has a fighting spirit and, slowly but surely, begins the long road
to recovery. But Barby is facing her own battle with ill health -
one that threatens the future of the entire sanctuary... Will You
Love Me? is an emotional, joyful true story of the deepest bond
that exists between humans and animals, and shows how in rescuing
others, we can rescue ourselves.
How do you stop your past from determining your future? "It's what
daddies do with their little girls," he explains, "every little
girl does it. But it's a secret, and you must not talk about it."
Cassie was too young to remember when her father started abusing
her, but she remembers how unclean it made her feel. When she got
married at sixteen and had a family of her own, she thought she'd
finally escaped his clutches, but he found a way to make sure she
could never move on. Turning to drink to cope, Cassie's babies were
taken into care and her husband left her. Now would begin the
biggest challenge of her life: winning her children back and
working to eclipse the pain of the past. This is the heartbreaking
true story of a little girl that just wanted to be loved.
'Asperger's made me a prisoner in my own home. When I finally
entered the real world, evil was waiting.' A shocking true account
of one girl's harrowing journey to survival. Sophie Crockett spent
most of her childhood suffering from crippling anxiety. Diagnosed
with Asperger's syndrome, she became a virtual prisoner in her own
home, afraid to venture outside. After battling with depression,
eating disorders and self-harm, Sophie had the courage to re-enter
society in her late teens. She was just 17 when she fell prey to
ST, a violent bully who exploited her vulnerability and cruelly
assumed complete coercive control over her life. He kept Sophie
captive and refused to leave her alone; fed her, bathed her, even
escorted her to the toilet. Sophie endured countless tirades of
mental and physical abuse, kept as his sex slave while he
repeatedly threatened to kill her. She was convinced it was the
end. But through her bravery, and with little help from the
authorities, Sophie was able to escape. This is her story.
On 25 January 2018, Elisabeth Revol and her climbing partner Tomasz
Mackiewicz summited Nanga Parbat, the killer mountain. Situated in
the Karakoram, the world's ninth-highest peak is an immense
ice-armoured pyramid of rock rising to an altitude of 8,125 metres.
Elisabeth and Tomek had completed only the second winter ascent of
the mountain, and Elisabeth had become the first woman to summit
Nanga Parbat in winter. But their euphoria was short-lived. As soon
as they reached the top, their adventure turned into a nightmare as
Tomek was struck by blindness. In her own words, Elisabeth tells
the story of this tragedy and the extraordinary rescue operation
that resounded across the globe as fellow climbers flew in from K2
to help the stricken pair. She confronts her memories, her terror,
her immense pain and the heartbreak of having survived, alone. To
Live is Elisabeth Revol's poignant tribute to her friend and
climbing partner.
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