From his bruising first experience of giving witness to securing Britain's first ever double-supergrass, Dick Kirby describes with a strong dose of humour the trials and tribulations of over twenty years spent in the Serious Crime Squad and Flying Squad. Not for him the flabby compromises shown to today's criminals. Kirby's methods lead straight into the underworld, meeting informants in often dangerous situations, gathering together intelligence before hitting the criminals hard, either when they're carrying out a crime or hauling them from their beds at an unwholesomely early hour. Whether it's the Kings Cross job that became the worst kept secret in London, or the case of the unhappy bigamist who burst into tears, Kirby tells things the only way he knows - no punches pulled. His tales of how life in the force used to be in the good old days are sometimes shocking, sometimes blackly funny, and always compelling.

The Sunday Times, 'Saylor evokes the ancient world more convincingly than any other writer of his generation.' --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

The civil wars that have consumed both Rome and Egypt are about to reach their climax in the fabled city of Alexandria, capital of Egypt. Gordianus will witness the death throes of the old world, and play a crucial role in the birth of the world to come. For years, across seas and continents, the rival Roman generals Caesar and Pompey have engaged in a contest for world domination. Now Pompey, his forces destroyed at the battle of Pharsalus in Greece, flees to Egypt, hoping to make a last desperate stand on the banks of the Nile. But Egypt is a treacherous land, torn apart by the murderous rivalry between Queen Cleopatra and her brother King Ptolemy. Caesar, too, is on his way to Egypt, where his legendary encounter with the goddess-queen will spark a romance that reverberates down the centuries. Into this hothouse atmosphere of intrigue and deception comes Gordianus the Finder, seeking a cure for his wife Bethesda in the sacred waters of the Nile. But when his plans go awry, he finds himself engaged in an even more desperate pursuit - to prove the innocence of the son he once disowned.

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