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Please Note: The titles listed below come in various formats and versions most of which are in stock. If you wish to order a specific title, please send your request to orders@bobbiderman.com and you will receive a report by return email as to pricing and availability.

NOVELS

 

 

LETTERS TO NANETTE
Contemorary Literature Series, San Franciso, 1981; Black Apollo Press, 2004

From the Beatnik cafes of San Francisco, hanging out with the likes of Ginsberg, to an Army boot camp in Georgia, this novel explores America's entry into Vietnam seen through the eyes of a young man caught up in the madness.

“Other wars have inspired not only best selling tales of heroic but also biting satires. Vietnam did not. Not, that is, until Bob Biderman gave us his superb Letters to Nanette…” About Books, American Library Association

Letters to Nanette Website >>>

 

STRANGE INHERITANCE
Pluto Press, London, 1985
Black Apollo Press, 2009

The first book of the Joseph Radkin series begins with a carton of letters and a stack of hundred dollar bills - an inheritance Radkin has received from his recently deceased dad. As Radkin’s father was a life-long union activist who died disillusioned and broke, where did all this money come from? Tracing his father’s mysterious life from clues in letters written aboard a remarkable merchant ship, bound for North Africa during WW II, he stumbles upon a compelling story of one man’s quest for social justice in the aftermath of the cold war.

"This is a wonderful pot pourri of a book – part thriller, part contemporary history, part family saga… It is also gripping reading, beautifully written and, at times, very funny." Tribune

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KOBA
Victor Gollancz, London 1988
Black Apollo Press, Cambridge 2009

Who is Koba? For Morris Kaplan, Koba was a fellow student protester. Left-wing attorney, Rocky Calhoon believes he was a freedom fighter killed in Bolivia. Others think he is still alive and running drugs from South America. A taut, witty atmospheric thriller set in 80's San Francisco and peopled with survivors of May '68.

"A sharply compulsive narrative..." Oxford Times`

"Engaging scenes of Bay Area low life..." Sunday Times, London

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GENESIS FILES
Victor Gollancz, London 1988; Walker, New York, 1991

When an outbreak of salmonella at a San Francisco hospital coincides with a mysterious and deadly explosion at its research laboratory there is some dangerous detective work to be done by Joseph Radkin, a feisty investigative journalist and anxious father-to-be, reluctantly covering the story for a down-market tabloid. What was Dr Greene, the last bastion of community medicine, doing in the laboratory at the dead of night? And why was he there with Professor Krohl, a genetic engineer ‘whose idea of public health was giving every frog an extra head’?


" A lively conspiracy thriller … high spirited and thought provoking."
Bloodhound

" Has a zip and freshness of narration hard to resist … funny as well." Guardian

" A pacey tale with a vigorously human hero and a central theme that, distressingly, comes closer to reality than fiction." The Lady

The Genesis Files was selected by the Guardian as one of the ten best crime novels of 1998.

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A KNIGHT AT SEA (as R. J. Raskin)
Black Apollo Press, Cambridge 2009

On the 12th of April, 1955 Raymond Chandler boarded the Mauritania in New York setting sail for the England of his youth. Four years later, he died, a lonely alcoholic, in a small town on the South Californian coast. A Knight at Sea is a fictional account of this story. Woven like a film noir this is a Chandleresque tale of bizarre friendship coupled with intrigue and murder.

 

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TECHNOFARM (as R. J. Raskin)
Black Apollo Press, Cambridge 2009

A strange disease is killing off the residents of Cambridge. Could it have to do with an agricultural research station experimenting in bio-genetics? Or does it involve something equally sinister - the distribution of tainted cooking oil that caused hundreds of deaths in Spain. The clock is ticking as famed epidemiologist, Peter Grant, races to solve the mystery before the city succumbs to a serious plague. Timely and terrifying as today’s headlines! 

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JUDGEMENT OF DEATH
Victor Gollancz, London 1989; Walker, New York, 1992
Chivers large print edition, USA, 1992

Joseph Radkin is sent to London to take over a story comparing two sensational poison trials: one contemporary; the other a notorious Victorian case. His assignment soon takes on a sinister aspect as Radkin learns that his predecessor’s death may not have been an accident. Tracing the shadowy connections between past and present, Radkin uncovers corruption – and worse – among the highest echelons of British society.

"More red herrings than a Moscow fishmonger’s" Yorkshire Post

"Roller-coaster pace leaves reader breathless."
The Guardian

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PAPER CUTS
Victor Gollancz, London 1990
Black Apollo Press, Cambridge 2009

Investigative journalist Joseph Radkin is sent to Oregon to look into a bitter dispute between the logging industry and environmentalists. When a famed ecologist is killed, coupled with the disappearance of a lumber boss’ daughter, Radkin finds himself caught up in a dangerous story that goes far beyond clear-cutting the ancient redwoods.

"This is nothing is what it seems territory with a few extra twists, mayhem and a cruel message. Formidable!" -The Sunday Times

"A truly gripping thriller that packs a message!" - Popular Fictions

"Difficult to put down!"
-Scotland on Sunday

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SACHA DUMONT'S EUROMYSTERIES: AMSTERDAM
Black Apollo Press 1995

This is the first in a series of books exploring cities of the new Europe through an interconnected mystery. Sacha Dumont, the author and protagonist, is a British journalist of French and German extraction assigned to cover the emerging Europe of the 21st century by comparing stories of past and present. This adventure focuses on Amsterdam, where Sacha lived as a young man and where a close friend, an artist and bohemian, has been accused of murdering a prostitute. Following a twisty path through history, Sacha is led on a heady journey of discovery giving the reader a unique insight into the contrasts and contradictions from which the new Europe is being constructed.

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Serialised on VisionsOfTheCity.com >>>

 

MAYAN STRAWBERRIES
Black Apollo Press, Cambridge

A young Mixtec Indian from Guatemala follows the trail of tears through Mexico to a migrant camp in the strawberry fields of California. There, instead of refuge, he finds himself accused of murder. Is he the killer or a patsy set up to distract attention from a right wing cult? Mayan Strawberries combines a fascinating anthropological study with the deadly politics of Central America in an exciting thriller by the author of Paper Cuts, Judgment of Death and Genesis Files. Last in the series.

Publication date: 2009

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RED DREAMS
Black Apollo Press 1996

Set in the political turmoil of McCarthy's America, a young man searches for his father gone into hiding to escape the witch-hunts. Red Dreams is a coming-of-age adventure that leads from the straight-laced provinces of the American Midwest to the anarchy of 50's Hollywood. A compelling story - warm and humorous.

Interview with the author >>>

Red Dreams Website >>>

Sample Chapter (pdf) >>>

Author's reading (mp3) >>>

 

RED DREAMS
Hachette, Paris 2008
(French translation by Yann Perreau)

Alan a la malchance de grandir en plein maccarthysme dans une famille de juifs communistes. Son père, recherché par le Comité de lutte contre les organisations antipatriotiques, est contraint de disparaître un temps. Le jeune Alan et sa mère vont devoir affronter les difficultés économiques et connaître l’humiliation. Le retour du père ne fera que révéler un peu plus le mal de vivre en Amérique, pourtant le pays de tous...

Rencontre avec Bob Biderman >>>

Hachette Red Dreams website >>>

 

FURTHER EDUCATION
Black Apollo Press, Cambridge 2009

An American academic changes places with a British lecturer in hopes of spending a year in the gentle land of Auden but finds himself instead lost in the insanity of a London College of Further Education.

 

Read Free Online>>>

 
CHILDREN'S BOOKS    

ANNA AND THE JEWEL THIEVES (as Mortimer Tune)
Black Apollo Press, 1993

When Anna came to England with her mother and father, she hadn’t quite expected to end up with the Queen’s jewels sewn into the lining of her coat. Nor did she think she’d be helping a gang of would-be robbers dispose of the loot in Paris. A whimsical tale that grows funnier as each page turns. Lots of slap-stick and satire for children eight to eighty-nine.

 

preview >>> 

 
NON-FICTION    

THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF COFFEE
Black Apollo Press, 1994

Serialized on Cafe Magazine - www.cafemagazine.co.uk

Read Free Online>>>

 
SHORT STORIES    

THE POLKA-DOTTED POSTMAN and Other Stories
Black Apollo Press, 2009

A Collection of humorous stories and tales for adults of all ages.

Read Free Online>>>

 

 
ILLUSTRATED BOOKLETS    

ROMANCING PARIS - AGAIN

Bob Biderman and his wife, the poet, Joy Magezis, revisit the Paris of their youth. 

Download Pdf >>>

 

LEFT-HANDED PORTUGUESE ZEN

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WORKS IN PROGRESS    
COFFEE!!! Stories of Extreme Caffeination
   
EIGHT WEEKS IN THE SUMMER OF VICTORIA'S JUBILEE: The Queen, the Jews and a Murder