1978. Jonathan was a naïve eighteen-year-old who had just finished his A-levels. His cousin Andy suggested they fly to Israel in order to experience life on a kibbutz as a ‘volunteer’. Jonathan had never even heard the word kibbutz and he knew very little about Israel, but he agreed to take part in the adventure and made the necessary arrangements. He arrived at a fortified settlement in the Upper Galilee, surrounded by a high fence and rolls of barbed wire, called Kibbutz Dafna. It was nestled at the top of the Hula Valley, in the shadow of the spectacular snow-capped peak of Mount Hermon in the Golan Heights. He was allocated a thin, iron-framed bed under a window in a small, filthy room that he shared with three other English men – and colonies of ants and fast-running cockroaches. Jonathan’s first impressions were not promising. The food was awful and he had absolutely nothing in common with anyone at the kibbutz. He was set to work on night shifts in a bleak factory, on some dangerous and arcane machinery. He’d never worked in a factory before. He’d never worked shifts before. He hated it. He struggled with the physically demanding and unpleasant work, and was hopeless at it. He realised he had set himself a target of staying there for six months, which seemed like an awful prospect. Unable to face the ignominy and embarrassment of running home in the first week, he decided he must do his best, and try to overcome adversity. Kibbutz Virgin is his story. Read on as Jonathan experiences danger when caught in cross-border conflict between Lebanon and Syria, romance as he shacks up with an American girl called Chrissie, and adventure as he tries some not-so-legal substances. Kibbutz Virgin will appeal to fans of travel writing and those interested in Middle Eastern history. Jonathan Nicholas, who published Hospital Beat in 2011 with Matador, has been inspired by Dirk Bogarde.

Jonathan Nicholas spent an extraordinary year in Australia when he was twenty-two years old. It was a very eventful, challenging, dangerous, and wonderful year which as you will see was totally unforgettable. His time in the country started in a very strange manner but this was to become quite typical of his time in Australia.

Who’d be a copper? follows Jonathan Nicholas in his transition from a long-haired world traveller to becoming one of ‘Thatcher’s army’ on the picket lines of the 1984 miner’s dispute and beyond. His first years in the police were often chaotic and difficult, and he was very nearly sacked for not prosecuting enough people. Working at the sharp end of inner-city policing for the entire thirty years, Jonathan saw how politics interfered with the job; from the massaging of crime figures to personal petty squabbles with senior officers. His last ten years were the oddest, from being the best cop in the force to repeatedly being told that he faced dismissal. This astonishing true story comes from deep in the heart of British inner-city policing and is a revealing insight into what life is really like for a police officer, amid increasing budget cuts, bizarre Home Office ideas and stifling political correctness.“I can write what I like, even if it brings the police service into disrepute, because I don’t work for them anymore!” says Jonathan Nicholas. Who’d be a copper? is a unique insight into modern policing that will appeal to fans of autobiographies, plus those interested in seeing what really happens behind the scenes of the UK police.

Who’d be a copper? follows Jonathan Nicholas in his transition from a long-haired world traveller to becoming one of ‘Thatcher’s army’ on the picket lines of the 1984 miner’s dispute and beyond. His first years in the police were often chaotic and difficult, and he was very nearly sacked for not prosecuting enough people. Working at the sharp end of inner-city policing for the entire thirty years, Jonathan saw how politics interfered with the job; from the massaging of crime figures to personal petty squabbles with senior officers. His last ten years were the oddest, from being the best cop in the force to repeatedly being told that he faced dismissal. This astonishing true story comes from deep in the heart of British inner-city policing and is a revealing insight into what life is really like for a police officer, amid increasing budget cuts, bizarre Home Office ideas and stifling political correctness.“I can write what I like, even if it brings the police service into disrepute, because I don’t work for them anymore!” says Jonathan Nicholas. Who’d be a copper? is a unique insight into modern policing that will appeal to fans of autobiographies, plus those interested in seeing what really happens behind the scenes of the UK police.

Have you ever thought your local hospital might be haunted? Did you know the police are sometimes called upon to deal with thieving patients, dishonest staff, and even medical professionals with strange and disturbing sexual habits? Did you know hospitals are regularly and ruthlessly targeted by unscrupulous thieves? All this and more is probably happening in your local hospital, but so far you have been blissfully unaware. Until now! PC Jonathan Nicholas, a serving police officer, has worked an inner-city hospital beat for six years. He has decided to reveal some of the incidents he has dealt with and has collected them together in this book. Weird, shocking, moving, and often amusing, these incidents are a fictional tale based on real incidents and real people. Using information drawn from personal recollection, his police notebook, prosecution files, and anecdotes from staff, patients, and offenders, it is a collection of stories that have never been told before. The book reveals all the behind-the-scenes enquiries and efforts undertaken by this particular hospital police officer, with the invaluable assistance of the hospital staff themselves, in order to ensure such places remain safe and relatively crime-free. Television dramas about hospitals are never like this!A work of adult crime fiction, Hospital Beat is a unique insight into modern policing inside a British hospital and will appeal to fans of humorous ‘I never knew that’ writing. Author Jonathan takes writing inspiration from Dirk Bogarde.

Have you ever thought your local hospital might be haunted? Did you know the police are sometimes called upon to deal with thieving patients, dishonest staff, and even medical professionals with strange and disturbing sexual habits? Did you know hospitals are regularly and ruthlessly targeted by unscrupulous thieves? All this and more is probably happening in your local hospital, but so far you have been blissfully unaware. Until now! PC Jonathan Nicholas, a serving police officer, has worked an inner-city hospital beat for six years. He has decided to reveal some of the incidents he has dealt with and has collected them together in this book. Weird, shocking, moving, and often amusing, these incidents are a fictional tale based on real incidents and real people. Using information drawn from personal recollection, his police notebook, prosecution files, and anecdotes from staff, patients, and offenders, it is a collection of stories that have never been told before. The book reveals all the behind-the-scenes enquiries and efforts undertaken by this particular hospital police officer, with the invaluable assistance of the hospital staff themselves, in order to ensure such places remain safe and relatively crime-free. Television dramas about hospitals are never like this! A work of adult crime fiction, Hospital Beat is a unique insight into modern policing inside a British hospital and will appeal to fans of humorous ‘I never knew that’ writing. Author Jonathan takes writing inspiration from Dirk Bogarde.

1978. Jonathan was a naïve eighteen-year-old who had just finished his A-levels. His cousin Andy suggested they fly to Israel in order to experience life on a kibbutz as a ‘volunteer’. Jonathan had never even heard the word kibbutz and he knew very little about Israel, but he agreed to take part in the adventure and made the necessary arrangements. He arrived at a fortified settlement in the Upper Galilee, surrounded by a high fence and rolls of barbed wire, called Kibbutz Dafna. It was nestled at the top of the Hula Valley, in the shadow of the spectacular snow-capped peak of Mount Hermon in the Golan Heights. He was allocated a thin, iron-framed bed under a window in a small, filthy room that he shared with three other English men – and colonies of ants and fast-running cockroaches. Jonathan’s first impressions were not promising. The food was awful and he had absolutely nothing in common with anyone at the kibbutz. He was set to work on night shifts in a bleak factory, on some dangerous and arcane machinery. He’d never worked in a factory before. He’d never worked shifts before. He hated it. He struggled with the physically demanding and unpleasant work, and was hopeless at it. He realised he had set himself a target of staying there for six months, which seemed like an awful prospect. Unable to face the ignominy and embarrassment of running home in the first week, he decided he must do his best, and try to overcome adversity. Kibbutz Virgin is his story. Read on as Jonathan experiences danger when caught in cross-border conflict between Lebanon and Syria, romance as he shacks up with an American girl called Chrissie, and adventure as he tries some not-so-legal substances. Kibbutz Virgin will appeal to fans of travel writing and those interested in Middle Eastern history. Jonathan Nicholas, who published Hospital Beat in 2011 with Matador, has been inspired by Dirk Bogarde.

Jonathan Nicholas spent an extraordinary year in Australia when he was twenty-two years old. It was a very eventful, challenging, dangerous, and wonderful year which as you will see was totally unforgettable. His time in the country started in a very strange manner but this was to become quite typical of his time in Australia.

Who’d be a copper? follows Jonathan Nicholas in his transition from a long-haired world traveller to becoming one of ‘Thatcher’s army’ on the picket lines of the 1984 miner’s dispute and beyond. His first years in the police were often chaotic and difficult, and he was very nearly sacked for not prosecuting enough people. Working at the sharp end of inner-city policing for the entire thirty years, Jonathan saw how politics interfered with the job; from the massaging of crime figures to personal petty squabbles with senior officers. His last ten years were the oddest, from being the best cop in the force to repeatedly being told that he faced dismissal. This astonishing true story comes from deep in the heart of British inner-city policing and is a revealing insight into what life is really like for a police officer, amid increasing budget cuts, bizarre Home Office ideas and stifling political correctness.“I can write what I like, even if it brings the police service into disrepute, because I don’t work for them anymore!” says Jonathan Nicholas. Who’d be a copper? is a unique insight into modern policing that will appeal to fans of autobiographies, plus those interested in seeing what really happens behind the scenes of the UK police.

Who’d be a copper? follows Jonathan Nicholas in his transition from a long-haired world traveller to becoming one of ‘Thatcher’s army’ on the picket lines of the 1984 miner’s dispute and beyond. His first years in the police were often chaotic and difficult, and he was very nearly sacked for not prosecuting enough people. Working at the sharp end of inner-city policing for the entire thirty years, Jonathan saw how politics interfered with the job; from the massaging of crime figures to personal petty squabbles with senior officers. His last ten years were the oddest, from being the best cop in the force to repeatedly being told that he faced dismissal. This astonishing true story comes from deep in the heart of British inner-city policing and is a revealing insight into what life is really like for a police officer, amid increasing budget cuts, bizarre Home Office ideas and stifling political correctness.“I can write what I like, even if it brings the police service into disrepute, because I don’t work for them anymore!” says Jonathan Nicholas. Who’d be a copper? is a unique insight into modern policing that will appeal to fans of autobiographies, plus those interested in seeing what really happens behind the scenes of the UK police.

Have you ever thought your local hospital might be haunted? Did you know the police are sometimes called upon to deal with thieving patients, dishonest staff, and even medical professionals with strange and disturbing sexual habits? Did you know hospitals are regularly and ruthlessly targeted by unscrupulous thieves? All this and more is probably happening in your local hospital, but so far you have been blissfully unaware. Until now! PC Jonathan Nicholas, a serving police officer, has worked an inner-city hospital beat for six years. He has decided to reveal some of the incidents he has dealt with and has collected them together in this book. Weird, shocking, moving, and often amusing, these incidents are a fictional tale based on real incidents and real people. Using information drawn from personal recollection, his police notebook, prosecution files, and anecdotes from staff, patients, and offenders, it is a collection of stories that have never been told before. The book reveals all the behind-the-scenes enquiries and efforts undertaken by this particular hospital police officer, with the invaluable assistance of the hospital staff themselves, in order to ensure such places remain safe and relatively crime-free. Television dramas about hospitals are never like this!A work of adult crime fiction, Hospital Beat is a unique insight into modern policing inside a British hospital and will appeal to fans of humorous ‘I never knew that’ writing. Author Jonathan takes writing inspiration from Dirk Bogarde.

Have you ever thought your local hospital might be haunted? Did you know the police are sometimes called upon to deal with thieving patients, dishonest staff, and even medical professionals with strange and disturbing sexual habits? Did you know hospitals are regularly and ruthlessly targeted by unscrupulous thieves? All this and more is probably happening in your local hospital, but so far you have been blissfully unaware. Until now! PC Jonathan Nicholas, a serving police officer, has worked an inner-city hospital beat for six years. He has decided to reveal some of the incidents he has dealt with and has collected them together in this book. Weird, shocking, moving, and often amusing, these incidents are a fictional tale based on real incidents and real people. Using information drawn from personal recollection, his police notebook, prosecution files, and anecdotes from staff, patients, and offenders, it is a collection of stories that have never been told before. The book reveals all the behind-the-scenes enquiries and efforts undertaken by this particular hospital police officer, with the invaluable assistance of the hospital staff themselves, in order to ensure such places remain safe and relatively crime-free. Television dramas about hospitals are never like this! A work of adult crime fiction, Hospital Beat is a unique insight into modern policing inside a British hospital and will appeal to fans of humorous ‘I never knew that’ writing. Author Jonathan takes writing inspiration from Dirk Bogarde.