The Self-Preservation Society

by KateHarrison (Author)

• Used

  Hardcover
  2007

  $5.68

  Staying alive in the 21st century is a full-time job...one which self-confessed scaredycat Jo Morgan takes very seriously indeed. As a little girl growing up near Greenham Common Air Base, she stockpiled baked beans in case of nuclear holocaust; now she works in accident prevention, trying to protect the rest of us from conker injuries, killer tea-cosies and death by chocolate. But she's happy...well, as happy as anyone can be in these dangerous times. Fortunately her boyfriend Dennis, Deputy Chief Civil Protection Officer, shares her outlook on life, so everything they do together involves the minimum possible risk. From their social lives to their sex lives, spontaneity is not in their vocabulary. Yet when Jo survives a hit and run accident, she realizes beaten the odds. Maybe a bit of living dangerously is just what Jo needs. But un-learning a lifetime of fears and phobias won't be easy. That is, until she meets former World War II fighter pilot Roger 'Frisky' Freeman Van Belle, his mysterious grandson, and a rather hands-on doctor. Jo has a choice: Fight or Flight? She can carry on living half a life, or leave behind the people she loves. It's the scariest decision she'll ever have to make...

• Used

  Paperback
  2007

  $212.73

  Jo Morgan, 33, is a self-confessed scaredycat. As Assistant Civil Protection Officer (Risk Management, South West England), she spends her days weighing up the dangers of everything from meteor showers on Clifton Down, to a horny bull running amok in Broadmead shopping centre. In fact, Jo's life has been one big preparation for Disaster. As a child she stockpiled baked beans in case of nuclear holocaust - and now every decision she makes is carefully considered, based on available statistics. But she's happy...well, as happy as anyone can be in these dangerous times. Fortunately her boyfriend - Deputy Chief Civil Protection Officer Dennis Diffley - shares her outlook on life, so everything they do together involves the minimum possible risk. From their social lives to their sex lives, spontaneity is not in their vocabulary. One perfect morning, Jo is walking to work (in smog mask and reflective jacket) when she's mowed down and falls into a coma. 30 hours later, she comes round, remarkably unscathed. A passing comment as she's discharged - 'You know, nine out of ten people would have died from that injury' - suddenly makes her realise she's beaten the odds. And maybe this is a second chance at life...