Cirrus@Austlit

'You Wouldn't Be Dead For Quids is a series of adventures involving Les Norton, a big red-headed country boy from Queensland who is forced to move on the big smoke when things get a little hot for him in his hometown.Working as a bouncer at an illegal casino up at the Cross, Les gets to meet some fascinating characters who make up the seamier side of one of the most exciting cities in the world–gamblers, conmen, bookies, bouncers, hookers and hitmen, who ply their respective trades from the golden sands of Bondi to the tainted gutters of King's Cross. . . usually on the wrong side of the law.

'As raw as a greyhound's dinner, Les is nevertheless a top bloke–fond of a drink, loves a laugh and he's handy with his fists. And, just quietly, he's a bit of a ladies man too. . . Les Norton is undoubtedly an Australian cult figure. ' (Publication summary)

'The five stories in The Real Thing provide an entertaining mix of laughter and excitement, as well as an insight into the underworld of Sydney — an often violent and cynical world, but also with its fair share of rough humour and memorable characters.' (Publication summary)

'There's no two ways about Les Norton–the carrot-topped country boy who works as a bouncer at Sydney's top illegal casino. He's tough and he's mean. He's got a granite jaw , fists like hams, and they say the last time he took a tenner from his wallet Henry Lawson blinked at the light. Lethal but loyal, he's always good for a la ...' (Publication summary)

' Les thought that playing minder to Peregrine Normanhurst III sounded like a dead-set snack: Les would keep Peregrine out of trouble. So what if he was on the run from the IRA? They’d never follow him to Australia... But Les quickly finds himself thrust into an adventure that moves at breakneck speed from the corridors of power in Canberra to the grimy tenements of Belfast, to climax in a nerve-shattering, blood-spattered shootout on a survivalist fortress in the Tweed Valley.' (Publication summary)

'Book in the Les Norton Mystery Series set in Australia.All Norton wanted was a quiet coffee and Sacher cake at the Hakoah Club in Bondi, and to be left alone to sort out his troubled love life. How he let notorious conman Kelvin Kramer talk him up to Surfers Paradise for five days, Les will never know.' (Publication summary)

'They don’t call him Lucky Les for nothing. A ticket in a raffle and Norton was off to the US of A where it turned out hot, red hot, and it wasn’t just the weather. Night club brawls, mafia hitmen and too many girls called Lori, all in a sea of margaritas. Even for Les Norton it was just too hot to handle. So it was off to the Caribbean, where Millwood Downie — schoolteacher, historian and would-be stand-up comic — helps Les trace his family tree and possibly uncover the biggest earn ever.' (Publication summary)

Les Norton's Hawaiian holiday should have been just like in the tourist brochures. Balmy days, blue seas, palm trees swaying in the moonlight. And it would have been if Les had have minded his own business. But what are you supposed to do when a cop you know and an old friend are in trouble? Especially at Christmas?The detective was okay. ' (Publication summary)

'Mystery, set in Bondi, featuring Les Norton. Two dead bodies are found buried beneath a handball court, and Major Garrick Lewis, aka The Gecko, teams up with Norton, and becomes involved in their removal. The men are hampered by Mossad hit squads, the KGB, ASIO and loose women.' (Publication summary)

'Blackly humorous, utterly un-PC, Robert G. Barrett revels in being controversial and contrary. He's a true original and is much loved by his many thousands of readers.

'This year is the 25th anniversary of the publication of the first Les Norton novel and to celebrate we are releasing the first new material from Bob in two years. First published in 1996, Rider on the Storm was a collection of Les Norton short stories and articles by Bob on subjects as wide-ranging as acting, dating, getting the dole and being famous. It is described by Abe Books as "one of the author′s more scarce titles".

'We are now reissuing it with updated and extra new material, as Still Riding on the Storm. As well as a new introduction to explain the book to Bob's readers, there are two new Les Norton stories and he is also writing an article about the last few years of his life and his battle with cancer -- but in his inimitable, unselfpitying style! It′s looking like Bob′s finally beating the illness, and his "cure for cancer" will surprise many ...' (From the publisher's website.)

'Norton needed a holiday–anywhere–as long as it was out of Bondi. Price was only too willing to oblige–Les could have his house at Terrigal. All he had to do was look after George Brennan's nephew for a week while he was there. Sounded okay to Norton, and it was better than spending his own money.Jimmy Rosewater was young, cool and the original brown-eyed handsome man. He loved good wine, going to restaurants, going line-dancing, and the ladies loved him. This suited Les nicely. But, Jimmy was also supposed to be in jail. Before he knows it, Norton is fighting off the usual yobbos looking for trouble, sex-crazed feral aunties and getting shot at by feral bikies. That was during the quieter moments...and all the time Les has a feeling Jimmy's up to something...' (Publication summary)

'Extreme Water Polo is the water polo of the 90s. And when Les Norton catches the semi-final on tV he is amazed to see that the man behind Extreme Polo is his old mate, Neville 'Nizegy' Nixon. So when Neville calls out of the blue and asks Les to drive the Murrumbidgee Mud Crabs up to Sydney for the final, Les takes him on. But things are never as simple as they seem and Les finds himself drawn into an hilarious adventure involving the Mud Crabs. Extreme Water Polo is the water polo of the 90s. And when Les Norton catches the semi-final on tV he is amazed to see that the man behind Extreme Polo is his old mate, Neville 'Nizegy' Nixon. So when Neville calls out of the blue and asks Les to drive the Murrumbidgee Mud Crabs up to Sydney for the final, Les takes him on. But things are never as simple as they seem and Les finds himself drawn into an hilarious adventure involving the Mud Crabs.' (Publication summary)

'Les Norton off to Far North Queensland! What should have been a quick gig on a radio station followed by a white-water rafting holiday in North Queensland becomes a four-wheel drive trip to Cooktown with Norton looking for two missing SCUBA divers. the army, the air force and half the Queensland water police couldn't find Jade Biscayne and Horden Genting. What chance does Les have? Along the way Les finds the Rainbow Princess, out chasing UFOs and predicting the future. He also finds man-eating crocodiles, heat and humidity, and everywhere he goes ratbags have it in for him. then, in a place of indescribable beauty, Norton uncovers unimaginable terror... From FM music to FN Queensland, Goodoo Goodoo is this Les Norton adventure is set in Cairns and Cooktown and shows why Robert G. Barrett is up there with Australia's biggest selling contemporary authors.' (Publication summary)

'A week's holiday in Shoal Bay courtesy of Price Galese? Sweet. Help Eddie Salita pop a bent copper named Fishcake Fyshbyrne while you're up there? No worries. Solve a mystery on Virgin Island with a sweet little girl named Digger? You beauty! Les Norton, the lovable larrikin from the sunshine state, is back and is heading north, with a little bit of work and a hell of a lot of play in mind. But he had better watch out for hungry sharks and local louts with no manners; and gung-ho federal police with no bloody idea! As the saying goes, he don't go looking for trouble, trouble comes looking for him. Set in Port Stephens, Robert G. Barrett's latest Les Norton adventure the Wind and the Monkey is a romance as well as an adventure and proves once again Bob's enormous appeal to both men and women readers.' (Publication summary)

'Les Norton is back! Les figured by tossing $50,000 into the Gull's movie he'd become the next Sam Goldwyn. Only someone put a bomb on the film set. And who gets the blame Now Norton's a fugitive from the law, desperate to prove his innocence. Satanists, drug dealers, nutty poets, blabbermouth disc jockeys - everybody between Sydney, the Blue Mountains and South Australia wants a piece of Les Norton. So what are Norton's chances of clearing his name and coming up smelling of roses VFO. But rely on Les to come up smelling of something. 'the king of popular fiction'.' (Publication summary)

'Australia's favourite larrikin is back - Les Norton is on the road, and rockin'... Just when everything was going so good, Les slips a disc in his back. He can't run, he can't train. He can't do anything much. But he can still drive his car. So it's down to Narooma for the South Coast Blues Festival and a bit of R&R: 30 bands and three days and nights of non-stop rock 'n' roll. Which would have been great, only Les has to have a slight altercation with four fishermen on his first night in town. Now the toughest, meanest, most horrible bloke on the south coast is after his blood. Then Les meets Amazing Grace. Add some magic mushrooms, a dancing bear and Jerry Lee Rat. It all makes for an interesting time at the Blues Festival. Robert G. Barrett's latest Les Norton adventure is set in beautiful Narooma on the New South Wales south coast, and is non-stop action spiced with humour, mystery and romance.' (Publication summary)

'Robert G. Barrett's latest Les Norton adventure is action, humour, and intrigue with a diabolical twist, proving once again why Barrett is called the king of Australian popular fiction. If it wasn't for a letter lost in the system for decades landing on his lap, Les would never have known he wasn't the only Norton to gain notoriety thanks to Kings Cross. there was another - even worse than him: devil - worshipping artist and occultist Rosa-Marie Norton, the Witch of Kings Cross. Rosa was so bad the police arrested her for lewd behaviour and obscenity, and the customs department burnt her paintings - paintings now worth thousands of dollars. Yet according to the lost letter, a bundle of her paintings had been secreted at an old church in Victoria. By sheer coincidence, Les is asked to help with a hit in Melbourne on a shonky art dealer named 'Latte' Lindsey. After the hit, Les decides to take a trip down the Great Ocean Road, call in to the Church of the Blessed Madonna, and see if he can finds 'mum's' painting. Along with plenty of trouble, Les finds sexy Sonia and staunch Stepha. He also finds there's a lot of deja vu getting around in Victoria. And when it comes to violence south of the border, there are no Mexican stand-offs.' (Publication summary)

'Les is back and on the detox ... All it took was a summer's day and a flat tyre on his push-bike, and Les is out on bail and on the run from a gun-happy street gang intent on a drive-by. So, with Warren's help, Les Norton defendant, becomes Len Gordon film director, safely ensconced at the ultra-swish Opal Springs Health Resort till Eddie can sort things out back in Sydney. Unfortunately, the first thing Les finds on arrival is motivational guru Alexander Holden dead at the front gate. then, before you can say 'soya beans with tahini and lime dressing', the cops arrive and Les is up to his neck in a land of a thousand acronyms, fighting off steroid-happy body builders, sex-crazed socialites, violent greyhound owners - and, worst of all, caffeine withdrawals - while at the same time matching wits with the four acrimonious writers-in-residence. Was Alexander Holden murdered? Or was it an accident? Find out in the gripping climax and food fight when all is revealed - in the library. Robert G. Barrett's latest Les Norton adventure, Crime Scene Cessnock, set in New South Wales's beautiful Pokolbin Valley, is a whodunnit with a difference, and proves once again why Barrett is, to quote the Australian newspaper, 'the king of popular fiction'.' (Publication summary)

'Les is quite happy resting up after the flu, when Warren has to tip him into an earn. Norton's mate from the Albanian Mafia, Bodene Menjou, is planning to make the most politically correct movie ever made in Australia, Gone With the Willy Willy, and has a script stolen. If Les can find it, a lazy $50,000 could fall in. How can Norton say no?

'After almost getting his head blown off in a drug lab, being attacked by crazed women with broomsticks, and beaten up by monstrous drag queens, Les is wondering if it is all worth it. The trip to Terrigal and the magical Mystery tour with Marla is good. And Topaz with her chicken soup is an unexpected delight. But apart from that, Les doesn't find much joy at all in his search for the missing film script. Especially not trapped in a fight for his life with a sadistic giant, where only one thing can save him: the Mongolian Death Lock.' (Publisher's blurb)

'Arranging the hit on Fabio was off tap, and Les knew it. And when you get Sydney's deadliest killer to do the hit, there's always a quid pro quo. So Les is off to Nimbin in NSW to help an old army mate of Eddie Salita's open a bar, the Double L. Ranch. Which suited Les since he had to take his friend Tony Nathan the surf photographer to the waxhead wedding of the year at Blueys Beach, and it was on the way.

'The waxhead wedding of the year turned into the ethnic brawl of the decade. However, Les found comfort in the arms of Janet the Gannet from the Forbidden Planet. In Nimbin, Les found himself working as a DJ for a nutter with a nightclub where dancing was prohibited. He also found racial tension, the Russian Spetsnaz and Norwegian backpackers. Add a drug overdose and, before Les knew it, he found himself in a firefight with a bunch of inbreds wanting to kill the bar owner. A fun town Nimbin wasn't. Not even for a quarter of a million dollars worth of gold.' (Publisher's blurb)