Recommended reading - King of the Ants

 

King of the Ants

by Charlie Higson.

Filmed as King of the Ants (2003), directed by Stuart Gordon.

Published by Abacus.
First published 1992.

ISBN-10: 0349144877
ISBN-13: 9780349144870

Description:

Charlie Higson's thrillers are major events. – Mark Billingham.

Funny, very tough and full of action – Patricia Highsmith.

A brave, abrasive, alarmingly realistic debut. – Daily Mail.

Uncoils with wit and imagination. – Time Out.

It seemed straightforward enough. Sean had now consumed so much alcohol that everything seemed perfectly reasonable. He'd started planning the job already. The first problem was how to do it. Thirteen thousand pounds in an envelope seems a fair price for a man's life. Particularly if you don't know the man, he seems a nonentity, and you quite fancy his wife. And there's no chance of being caught. Sean is a drifter, working as a building labourer and waiting for something to happen. When Sean is offered easy money to tail someone and even more easy money to dispose of him, it's all more tempting than you might think. Except when you realize that you've been led up the garden path the whole way...

Born on this day – Lois Weber:

Lois Weber

Director

Writer

Actress

June 13, 1879 – November 13, 1939

Credits:

White Heat (1934); The Angel of Broadway (1927); Topsy and Eva (1927); Sensation Seekers (1927); The Marriage Clause (1926); A Chapter in Her Life (1923); What Do Men Want? (1921); The Blot (1921); Too Wise Wives (1921); What's Worth While? (1921); Mum's the Word (1920); Life's Mirror (1920); To Please One Woman (1920); Forbidden (1919); Home (1919); Mary Regan (1919); A Midnight Romance (1919); When a Girl Loves (1919); Borrowed Clothes (1918); For Husbands Only (1918); The Doctor and the Woman (1918); The Price of a Good Time (1917); The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (1917); Even As You and I (1917); The Boyhood He Forgot (1917); The Mysterious Mrs. Musslewhite (1917); Alone in the World (1917); The Gilded Life (1916); The Rock of Riches (1916); The People vs. John Doe (1916); The Celebrated Stielow Case (1916); Wanted: A Home (1916); Idle Wives (1916); Under the Spell (1916); Saving the Family Name (1916); Shoes (1916); The Eye of God (1916); Where Are My Children? (1916); John Needham's Double (1916); The Dance of Love (1916); There Is No Place Like Home (1916); The Flirt (1916); Hop - The Devil's Brew (1916); The Dumb Girl of Portici (1916); Discontent (1916); The Children Shall Pay (1916); Idle Wives (1916); Jewel (1915); A Cigarette - That's All (1915); Scandal (1915); Betty in Search of a Thrill (1915); Captain Courtesy (1915); Sunshine Molly (1915); Hypocrites (1915); It's No Laughing Matter (1915); Helping Mother (1914); The Traitor (1914); Daisies (1914); Behind the Veil (1914); Plain Mary (1914); Lost by a Hair (1914); The Pursuit of Hate (1914); Closed Gates (1914); The Stone in the Road (1914); Avenged (1914); The Triumph of Mind (1914); The Career of Waterloo Peterson (1914); An Episode (1914); On Suspicion (1914); The Man Who Slept (1914); The Baby's Doll (1914); In the Days of His Youth (1914); The Spider and Her Web (1914); A Modern Fairy Tale (1914); The Weaker Sister (1914); The Merchant of Venice (1914); Woman's Burden (1914); An Old Locket (1914); The Coward Hater (1914); The Leper's Coat (1914); A Fool and His Money (1914); False Colors (1914); The Female of the Species (1914); The Wife's Deceit (1913); The Jew's Christmas (1913); The Mask (1913); James Lee's Wife (1913); The Blood Brotherhood (1913); The Haunted Bride (1913); Two Thieves and a Cross (1913); The Clue (1913); The Thumb Print (1913); Memories (1913); Shadows of Life (1913); His Brand (1913); Never Again (1913); The Light Woman (1913); Just in Time (1913); Civilized and Savage (1913); The Fallen Angel (1913); How Men Propose (1913); Through Strife (1913); Suspense (1913); The Pretender (1913); The King Can Do No Wrong (1913); The Trifler (1913); The Cap of Destiny (1913); The Poverty of Riches (1913); The Rosary (1913); The Dragon's Breath (1913); A Book of Verses (1913); Until Death (1913); Bobby's Baby (1913); The Peacemaker (1913); An Empty Box (1913); Troubled Waters (1913); In the Blood (1913); Two Thieves (1913); His Sister (1913); Leaves in the Storm (1912); Faraway Fields (1912); A Japanese Idyll (1912); An Old Fashioned Girl (1912); The Greater Christian (1912); The Troubadour's Triumph (1912); The Lash of Fate (1912); The Greater Love (1912); The Power of Thought (1912); The Price of Peace (1912); Eyes That See Not (1912); The Final Pardon (1912); The Bargain (1912); Fine Feathers (1912); Angels Unaware (1912); The Martyr (1911); The Price (1911); A Breach of Faith (1911); Fate (1911); On the Brink (1911); The Twins (1911); From Death to Life (1911); The Realization (1911); The Heiress (1911); A Heroine of '76 (1911).

Born on this day – Kristine Miller:

Kristine Miller

Actress

June 13, 1925 – 2015 Exact date of death unknown

Credits:

Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok (1951); Big Town (1953); Campbell Summer Soundstage (1952–1953); Cavalcade of America (1956); China Smith (1953); Club Havana (1945); Crossroads (1955); Dangerous Assignment (1952); Desert Fury (1947); Domino Kid (1957); Father Knows Best (1959); Fireside Theatre (1952–1953); Flight Nurse (1953); Four Star Playhouse (1955); From Here to Eternity (1953); Geraldine (1953); Gruen Guild Theater (1951); Hell's Outpost (1954); High Lonesome (1950); I Walk Alone (1947); Jungle Patrol (1948); Kraft Theatre (1951); Lux Video Theatre (1953); M Squad (1958); My Little Margie (1953); Paid in Full (1950); Ramar of the Jungle (1954); Schlitz Playhouse (1953); Science Fiction Theatre (1955–1957); Secret of Outlaw Flats (1953); Shadow on the Wall (1950); Soldiers of Fortune (1955); Sorry, Wrong Number (1948); Stage 7 (1955); Stars Over Hollywood (1951); Stories of the Century (1954–1955); Suspense (1946); Tales of Wells Fargo (1961); The Donna Reed Show (1959–1961); The Heart Is a Rebel (1958); The Hurricane at Pilgrim Hill (1950); The Lone Wolf (1954); The Millionaire (1957); The Persuader (1957); The Restless Gun (1958); The Star and the Story (1955); The Steel Fist (1952); The Texan (1959–1960); The Trouble with Women (1947); Thunder Over Arizona (1956); Too Late for Tears (1949); Tropical Heat Wave (1952); Variety (1951); Wagon Train (1958); Young Daniel Boone (1950); Your Show Time (1949).

Born on this day – Irene Franklin:

 

Irene Franklin

Actress

Vaudeville comedian

Singer

June 13, 1885 - June 16, 1941

Credits:

A Very Honorable Guy (1934); Actors' Fund Field Day (1910); Along Came Love (1936); Animated Weekly, No. 37 (1912); Blazing Barriers (1937); Change of Heart (1934); Death Flies East (1935); Down to Their Last Yacht (1934); Fast Workers (1933); Fatal Lady (1936); Finishing School (1934); Fixer Dugan (1939); Flirting with Fate (1938); Irene Franklin, the American Comedienne (1929); Ladies Crave Excitement (1935); Ladies Love Danger (1935); Land Beyond the Law (1937); Lazy River (1934); Married Before Breakfast (1937); Midnight Madonna (1937); Rebellious Daughters (1938); Registered Nurse (1934); Saratoga (1937); Song and Dance Man (1936); Strictly Dynamite (1934); Swingtime in the Movies (1938); The Affair of Susan (1935); The Cat and the Fiddle (1934); The Garden of Allah (1936); The President Vanishes (1934); The Women in His Life (1933); Those Were the Days (1929); Timothy's Quest (1936); Wanted for Murder (1918); Wanted! Jane Turner (1936); Whipsaw (1935).

Born on this day – Tay Garnett:

Tay Garnett

Director

Writer

June 13, 1894 – October 3, 1977

Born on this day – L.B. Abbott:

L.B. Abbott

Cinematographer

Special effects expert

Cameraman

June 13, 1908 – September 28, 1985

Credits:

Wrong Is Right (1982); When Time Ran Out... (1980); 1941 (1979); The Swarm (1978); The Return of Captain Nemo (1978); Viva Knievel! (1977); Fire (1977); Flood (1976); Logan's Run (1976); Planet of the Apes (1974); The Towering Inferno (1974); Jonathan Livingston Seagull (1973); Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973); Emperor of the North (1973); The Poseidon Adventure (1972); Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972); Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971); City Beneath the Sea (1971); The Great White Hope (1970); Cover Me Babe (1970); Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970); Move (1970); Myra Breckinridge (1970); Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970); Land of the Giants (1968–1970); The Challenge (1970); Patton (1970); M*A*S*H (1970); The Only Game in Town (1970); City Beneath the Sea (1969); Hello, Dolly! (1969); John and Mary (1969); Daughter of the Mind (1969); The Undefeated (1969); Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969); Justine (1969); Che! (1969); Hard Contract (1969); 100 Rifles (1969); The Man from the 25th Century (1968); Lady in Cement (1968); The Boston Strangler (1968); Star! (1968); The Secret Life of an American Wife (1968); The Sweet Ride (1968); Bandolero! (1968); The Detective (1968); Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1964–1968); Batman (1967–1968); Lost in Space (1965–1968); Planet of the Apes (1968); Valley of the Dolls (1967); Doctor Dolittle (1967); The Flim-Flam Man (1967); The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (1967); Caprice (1967); A Guide for the Married Man (1967); The Time Tunnel (1966–1967); The Green Hornet (1967); In Like Flint (1967); The Sand Pebbles (1966); Way... Way Out (1966); Fantastic Voyage (1966); Batman: The Movie (1966); Stagecoach (1966); Our Man Flint (1966); Do Not Disturb (1965); The Flight of the Phoenix (1965); The Agony and the Ecstasy (1965); The Reward (1965); Morituri (1965); Von Ryan's Express (1965); John Goldfarb, Please Come Home! (1965); The Sound of Music (1965); Valentine's Day (1964–1965); Dear Brigitte (1965); Goodbye Charlie (1964); Fate Is the Hunter (1964); Shock Treatment (1964); What a Way to Go! (1964); Move Over, Darling (1963); Take Her, She's Mine (1963); Cleopatra (1963); Five Weeks in a Balloon (1962); Hemingway's Adventures of a Young Man (1962); Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation (1962); State Fair (1962); Tender Is the Night (1962); Bachelor Flat (1961); Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1961); Snow White and the Three Stooges (1961); The Wizard of Baghdad (1960); North to Alaska (1960); High Time (1960); The Lost World (1960); The Story of Ruth (1960); From the Terrace (1960); Wake Me When It's Over (1960); Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959); The Man Who Understood Women (1959); The Blue Angel (1959); Holiday for Lovers (1959); Woman Obsessed (1959); Warlock (1959); The Diary of Anne Frank (1959); Rally 'Round the Flag, Boys! (1958); The Roots of Heaven (1958); The Hunters (1958); The Fiend Who Walked the West (1958); A Nice Little Bank That Should Be Robbed (1958); The Fly (1958); From Hell to Texas (1958); Ten North Frederick (1958); Fräulein (1958); The Young Lions (1958); South Pacific (1958); The Long, Hot Summer (1958); The Gift of Love (1958); The Enemy Below (1957); Kiss Them for Me (1957); Stopover Tokyo (1957); April Love (1957); No Down Payment (1957); The Three Faces of Eve (1957); Forty Guns (1957); Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (1957); Bernardine (1957); A Hatful of Rain (1957); An Affair to Remember (1957); The Wayward Bus (1957); The Return of Don Camillo (1953); The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951).

Born on this day – Ben Johnson:

Ben Johnson

Actor

Stuntman

Rodeo cowboy

June 13, 1918 – April 8, 1996