Les Norton

NOW AN ABC TELEVISION DRAMA STARRING DAVID WENHAM AND REBEL WILSON 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.

NOW AN ABC TELEVISION DRAMA STARRING DAVID WENHAM AND REBEL WILSON Okay, so it looks like the Kelly Club is finally closing down-it had to happen sooner or later. And it isn't as if Les Norton will starve. He has money snookered away, he owns his house, and his blue-chip investment-a block of flats in Randwick-must be worth a fortune by now. Except that the place is falling down, the council is reclaiming the land, there's been a murder in Flat 5, and the tenants are the biggest bunch of misfits since the Manson family. And that's just the good news, because the longer Les owns the Blue Seas Apartments, the more money he loses. This time Les Norton's really up against it. But whilst he's trying to solve his financial problems, he still has time to fight hate-crazed roadies, sort out a drug deal after fighting a gang of bikies, help a feminist Balmain writer with some research she won't forget in a hurry, and get involved with Franulka, super-sexy lead singer of an all-girl rock band, the Heathen Harlots. And with the help of two ex-Romanian Securitate explosive experts, he might even be able to sort out his investment. . .

NOW AN ABC TELEVISION DRAMA STARRING DAVID WENHAM AND REBEL WILSON 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. Supposedly to mind KK and his massively boobed girlfriend, American model Crystal Linx, in Australia to promote her latest record. Though it did seem like a good idea at the time-apart from the President of the United States arriving and Norton's domestic problems, there wasn't much keeping him in Sydney.Norton went to the Gold Coast expecting some easy graft in the sun, an earn and possibly a little fresh romance. Les definitely got the earn. He certainly got the girl. But what Norton mainly got in Surfers Paradise was trouble-in a size 40 Double-D cup.

NOW AN ABC TELEVISION DRAMA STARRING DAVID WENHAM AND REBEL WILSON They don't call him Lucky Les for nothing. A ticket in a raffle and Norton was off to see to US of A-Siestasota, Florida, where it turned out hot, red hot, and it wasn't just the weather.Night club brawls, mafia hitmen, too many girls called Lori, gun crazed Americans and the whole lot washed along in a sea of margaritas. Even for Les Norton it was just too hot to handle. So it was off to 'greener' pastures-the Caribbean-for reggae, rum and Rastafarians, not to mention Sultry Delta, sweet-lipped Esme, and Millwood Downie, schoolteacher, historian and would-be stand-up comic, who helps Les trace his family tree and possibly uncover the biggest earn ever. The world is finally Norton's oyster. All he has to do is get the shell open.

NOW AN ABC TELEVISION DRAMA STARRING DAVID WENHAM AND REBEL WILSON 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. But Norton's old friend turned out to be the biggest brothel owner in America, Madam to the Stars. Through her, Les met Mitzi Moonkiss; he also met the Japanese Yakuza, lesbian geisha girls and every time he put his head out the door some boofhead US marine was looking for a fight. Somewhere in the middle a crazed serial killer was on the loose with a bayonet. Aloha, Les. . .

NOW AN ABC TELEVISION DRAMA STARRING DAVID WENHAM AND REBEL WILSON When Les Norton moved into his old flame Side Valve Susie's flat in Bondi for a few days while she was out of town, everything should have been a piece of cake-except Price and Eddie had other ideas. Waverley Council were demolishing Bondi baths and there were two bodies buried under the handball court. The man to get them out? Major Garrick Lewis, aka The Gecko.With Norton for company, The Gecko literally took Bondi in his stride; and everything that went with it-Mossad hit squads, the KGB, ASIO, yobbo builders looking for trouble, loose women looking for action. For once, Les was flat out keeping up.

NOW AN ABC TELEVISION DRAMA STARRING DAVID WENHAM AND REBEL WILSON 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...

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? 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? biggest selling contemporary authors.

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'. the Australian ∗ Bob Barrett is one of Australia's top contemporary writers and the author of 16 novels including You Wouldn't Be Dead for Quids, the Wind and the Monkey, Mud Crab Boogie and Goodoo Goodoo ∗ Leaving Bondi is the eagerly awaited next instalment in the Les Norton adventure series ∗ Strong fan base in both female and male markets ∗ thrills, spills, sex and humour - all the much-loved trademarks are back in abundance. 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.

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.

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.