Nothing To Declare

Traveling from the highland desert of northern Mexico to the steaming jungles of Honduras to the seashore of the Caribbean, Mary Morris confronts the realities of place, of poverty, of machismo, and of self. "One gutsy woman and one fantastic writer".--"Cosmopolitan".

World-class athlete, playboy, war correspondent, and heir to a Greek shipping fortune, Taki has over the last three decades moved among the rich, the powerful, the titled and the celebrated in London, New York, Gstaad, the Rivierawherever fun or stimulation was to be had. But in 1984, while passing through Heathrow Airport, Taki was arrested for possession of cocaine and summarily sent to jail. Nothing to Declare is the hilarious and surprisingly wise account of the three months Taki spent in prison, a story filled with perilous day-to-day events as well as reflections on the glamorous life he has led."

"I reserve my 'Top Scores' for exceptional work, to give them freely would be to devalue and waste them. finally, a book worth the wait," writes Kate Fox of Heartland Reviews. "Mr. Kraus' tale of smuggler Thomas Breck is a work of literary art. His characters, plot, setting, and dialogue are all top notch." "Cleverly and artistically written. Nothing To Declare is not your ordinary mystery novel. It's a thriller with first-class traits," writes Jennie Bev, The Book Review Club. "The murder, international underworld, unsolved crime and enigmatic ambience create an unforgettable setting. A mystery novel that is a literary piece in itself."

Nothing to Declare traces the story of Mila, a victim of the poverty of post-WWII Finland. Sold by her mother, sent alone across the world to a seemingly better life, she is adopted into a family ruled by a malevolent woman who makes Mila's growing-up years a living hell. The book alternates between Mila's life in America and her beloved brother's life in Finland where he fights a deadly disease. An uplifting story of the bonds of family and hope. Forces the reader to keep turning the pages, searching for the next event. A life-sized painting. Layer by layer you discover darkness, a ray of light. The colors, the smells, the past and present, come to life. I feel powerfully connected to the little girl. Her pain makes me weep, her spirit is strong. Marianne Friberg, Finnish artist: hemp weaving, metal sculpture. A penetrating psychological portrait of the bond between brother and sister. Frightened, isolated, Mila fights fate's cruelty as her brother struggles for his life. Their resolve, not only to endure life's hardships, but to transcend them, is remarkable and compelling. Fay E. Kagan, M.D., Child Psychiatrist, Los Angeles, CA Young people lived with the shadow of death during Finland's tuberculosis epidemic. Some found a way to live, and to love, in the midst of despair. Powerful. Teems with life, determination, hope. Raimo A. Andersson, Finland

Sex. Drugs. Revolution. Grilled tuna. “Nothing To Declare is truly wonderful. The searing romantic/political/artistic triangle at its center movingly evokes the strange and wonderful Santa Cruz garden of my youth. I loved it.” —David Talbot, author of The New York Times’ bestsellers, Brothers, and The Devil's Chessboard, and national bestseller Season of the Witch Jesse Kerf’s a good guy restaurant owner who’s got his life just so. Flash L.A. bistro, spiffy BMW, all-white condo with an ocean view. Then comes a bombshell. He’s been named sole heir to Marty Balakian, the wild man and con artist who used to be his best friend. Never mind they haven’t had a single word in twenty years. In the 1970s, Marty was everything Jesse wanted to be—a brilliant and fearless dreamer who let no one stand in his way. Not Jesse, and not Isabel, the dark-souled woman they both loved. Laws were there to be broken, and hearts, too. Jesse couldn’t be that hard. Until he had to. Marty’s death forces Jesse to reckon with the past he’s been running from for two decades. Between that long-ago love triangle, a trip that leads from Boston to Bali, and the burden of secrets held too long, Jesse’s got a lot to handle. Before he can get his life on track, he must figure out not just who he was, but who he wants to be from now on. Driven by a fast-moving plot, rich characters and a canny portrait of a culture in revolt, Richard M. Ravin’s Nothing to Declare is a lively and engaging novel packed with romance, humor, betrayal, and discovery.

"A new collection of poems from the author of Touch and Middle Earth"--

Point Blank, one of Britain s most provocative new theater companies, has received a deluge of critical acclaim for its darkly comic political satire and bleak metaphorical landscapes. "Point Blank: Nothing to Declare," "Operation Wonderland," "Roses and Morphine," here reproduces three prominent examples of the company s early work and contextualizes these plays in the wider tradition and recent history of British political theater.In addition to the full performance scripts, "Point Blank" offers comprehensive notes to enable a range of potential restagings of the plays, as well as critical essays suggesting bold interpretations of the interplay between contemporary theatrical performance and the prevailing political climate. Editor Liz Tomlin offers invaluable insight into the company s dramaturgical processes that transform theoretical ideas into mythical, absurd scenarios and visually striking theatrical metaphor. Subversive and incendiary, Point Blank is forging a radical new vision of twenty-first-century theater.Praise for the Point Blank theatre company One of the most exciting theatres around. . . . Political, witty, challenging and bold. "Guardian" Quality theatre . . . totally compelling. "Independent on Sunday""" Explosive new political satire . . . living up to their tag as Britain s hottest new theatre company. . . . This is incendiary stuff. "Edinburgh"" Evening News""""""""

Anyone who loves France (or just feels strongly about it), or has succumbed to the spell of Julian Barnes's previous books, will be enraptured by this collection of essays on the country and its culture. Barnes's appreciation extends from France's vanishing peasantry to its hyper-literate pop singers, from the gleeful iconoclasm of nouvelle vague cinema to the orgy of drugs and suffering that is the Tour de France. Above all, Barnes is an unparalleled connoisseur of French writing and writers. Here are the prolific and priapic Simenon, Baudelaire, Sand and Sartre, and several dazzling excursions on the prickly genius of Flaubert. Lively yet discriminating in its enthusiasm, seemingly infinite in its range of reference, and written in prose as stylish as haute couture, Something to Declare is an unadulterated joy.

In more than twenty years, Jon Frost has worked with the mad, the bad, the brave, the stupid, the spectacular and the heroic. In his time as a uniformed officer Jon seized presidential aircraft, a working tank, cars, lorries, boats and coffins; and uncovered wild animals, killer snakes, bush meat, animal porn, poisonous vodka, dodgy medicine, bootleg prescriptions, pirated pills, toxic alcohol, firearms, side-arms, swords, explosives, stolen gold, dirty money, blood diamonds, child pornography and every drug known to man and a few as yet unknown ones. And the dead? He searched them too. When you’ve confiscated everything from a suitcase full human hair to a live monkey hidden in the lining of someone’s overcoat, you know you can never return to a normal line of work. But then Jon went into undercover customs work, and things became really interesting . . .