Bringing Un-prosecuted Crimes aboard Cruise Ships to Light-In her mystery adventure series, author http://ArleenAlleman.com uses fiction to address this serious issue.
As ABC News’s 20/20 illustrated in the piece “Cruise Ship Confidential” on the January 20th episode, cruise ship safety is a growing concern. We are quickly approaching the date set by President Obama that will change the nature of luxury cruising immensely by mandating that cruise personnel must report serious crimes to the FBI and the Coast Guard, among other stipulations; however, whether or not American law will have any bearing on international cruise lines with no intention of entering American ports has yet to be seen, it is reported by the media.
In her Darcy Farthing mystery adventure series, author Arleen Alleman uses fiction to treat this series issue, bringing the unprosecuted crimes at sea to light through dynamic stories centred around her pragmatic protagonist, Darcy Farthing, and her adventures aboard the Sea Nymph. In the first novel, Currents Deep and Deadly, Darcy overhears a discussion of a murder for hire plot and members of the crew begin to die under circumstances that are nothing less than suspicious.
After confronting a vicious killer in the first novel, Darcy believes that all of the madness aboard cruise ships is behind her; however, nothing could be further from the truth. In Currents of Vengeance, Darcy and company return to the Sea Nymph to conduct a Government Accountability Office/FBI Congressional investigation of unprosecuted crimes on cruise ships.
Their investigation hopes to bring ruthless Las Vegas casino owner, Paul Denezza, to justice after eluding prosecution for the violence on the previous cruise. In the second novel, Darcy will come face to face with even more madness.
While Alleman’s stories are both fictional, they both highlight the very real possibility of a ruthless killer eluding prosecution under the current laws. Currents Deep and Deadly and Currents of Vengeance not only entertain their readers, but they also call attention to the oft-overlooked issue of crimes at sea, making a serious case for significant change.
The Darcy Farthing Mystery Adventure Series
Alleman’s series centres around Darcy Farthing, a pragmatic woman in her forties, who readers were first introduced to in Currents Deep and Deadly. After coming face to face with a vicious murderer in the first novel, she wrote a book about the madness she confronted, which completely changed her life, both personally and financially. The third instalment in this page-turning series, Current Assets, is slated for release in Autumn of 2012. To watch the book trailers, visit www.arleenalleman.com/trailer.htm.
FACTFILE:
Arleen Alleman spent 21 years as an analyst for the US Government Accountability Office. After retiring from the GAO, Alleman and her husband became avid cruisers, which inspired her to write stories set on cruise ships. In her two six-week cruises around Cape Horn; the first was spent writing her book and the second was spent doing book signings and promoting her books. For more about Arleen Alleman, visit her website www.ArleenAlleman.com or follow her on Twitter @AAllemanWrites.
Book review blog site, with some entertainment material from time-to-time.
Showing posts with label novel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label novel. Show all posts
Sunday, 19 February 2012
Gunpowder, TREason or Plot, or How We Dug Up The Ancestors
Gunpowder, TREason or Plot, or How We Dug Up The Ancestors is a new book by respected historical writer Allan Frost.
But Gunpowder, TREason or Plot, or How We Dug Up The Ancestors tends to be a little more hysterical than historical.
In this fictional book, Tim Eason, (described as an unconfirmed batchelor!) visits Priorton in pursuit of a new lead on England's infamous Gunplowder Plot, he could not have anticipated just how close his relationship would become with the pub landlady, Sarah Brewer. But an elderly juke box in he corner of the bar seemed to have some sort of an inkling!
Nor did Tim quite realise that his research work would attract the attention of bungling conspirators Frank Fiddlit (a dubious solicitor), Tom Bleak (of Bleak Homes Limited) and Nevil Strubble (hapless Council Planning Officer).
Tim digs up enough information to attend a court hearing to determine ownership of Prioton Hall. However, Judge Sir Cedric Foot-Wart seems strangely preoccupied. Until an unexpected witness appears...
This somewhat explosive novel, set in an English town ignored by progress and time itself, will keep you intrigued and interested as its thickening plot and unforgettable characters interact.
You'll be chuckling from start to finish as farcical situation follows farcical situation!
This book is released via Amazon Kindle. You can buy it via the That's Books Amazon-powered bookshop. Just look for the Amazon Search Box to the right of That's Books.
But Gunpowder, TREason or Plot, or How We Dug Up The Ancestors tends to be a little more hysterical than historical.
In this fictional book, Tim Eason, (described as an unconfirmed batchelor!) visits Priorton in pursuit of a new lead on England's infamous Gunplowder Plot, he could not have anticipated just how close his relationship would become with the pub landlady, Sarah Brewer. But an elderly juke box in he corner of the bar seemed to have some sort of an inkling!
Nor did Tim quite realise that his research work would attract the attention of bungling conspirators Frank Fiddlit (a dubious solicitor), Tom Bleak (of Bleak Homes Limited) and Nevil Strubble (hapless Council Planning Officer).
Tim digs up enough information to attend a court hearing to determine ownership of Prioton Hall. However, Judge Sir Cedric Foot-Wart seems strangely preoccupied. Until an unexpected witness appears...
This somewhat explosive novel, set in an English town ignored by progress and time itself, will keep you intrigued and interested as its thickening plot and unforgettable characters interact.
You'll be chuckling from start to finish as farcical situation follows farcical situation!
This book is released via Amazon Kindle. You can buy it via the That's Books Amazon-powered bookshop. Just look for the Amazon Search Box to the right of That's Books.
Sunday, 15 January 2012
A Very Peculiar Talent
When Tessie runs away from home she doesn’t want her mother to find her, but disappearing is easier than she had thought possible. Just what is her peculiar talent? An intriguing mystery which will keep you guessing.
Seventeen-year old Tessie runs away to London, away from home and an abusive step-father. She wants to go missing because she has taken all the money she could find.
On the train, she meets what turns out to be her saviour, a young man whose sister is in need of domestic help.
As she and his family become intertwined, the unlikely Tessie finds herself with two suitors. She marries, but a series of tragedies ensure that she once again disappears. Inspector Wilson and DC Sloane investigate, until a dead body turns up. Can this be Tessie’s final disappearance?
Action, intrigue and character drive the plot to a surprising conclusion.
An extract from A Very Peculiar Talent by Charlotte A Hutt is available to read at www.authorsonline.co.uk
Imprint: Bright Pen
Published: 5 December 2011
ISBN: 0755213939
RRP: £9.99 paperback, £3.95 ebook
Available from the That's Books Amazon book shop on this site.
Seventeen-year old Tessie runs away to London, away from home and an abusive step-father. She wants to go missing because she has taken all the money she could find.
On the train, she meets what turns out to be her saviour, a young man whose sister is in need of domestic help.
As she and his family become intertwined, the unlikely Tessie finds herself with two suitors. She marries, but a series of tragedies ensure that she once again disappears. Inspector Wilson and DC Sloane investigate, until a dead body turns up. Can this be Tessie’s final disappearance?
Action, intrigue and character drive the plot to a surprising conclusion.
An extract from A Very Peculiar Talent by Charlotte A Hutt is available to read at www.authorsonline.co.uk
Imprint: Bright Pen
Published: 5 December 2011
ISBN: 0755213939
RRP: £9.99 paperback, £3.95 ebook
Available from the That's Books Amazon book shop on this site.
Sunday, 8 January 2012
ANGLE OF ATTACK - Author Lee Baldwin Launches Flying-oriented Adventure Mystery Title on Amazon for Kindle
Author Lee Baldwin has announced the release of his flying-oriented adventure mystery novel, ANGLE OF ATTACK, on Amazon.com for Kindle e-Readers. Vintage warplanes, extreme flying, quirky women, and diamonds diamonds diamonds blend in a fast-moving tricky plot.
Angle of Attack brings the reader to adventure and intrigue in a world of extreme flying, quirky women, and the power they covet.
Pilot Cicero Clay is a researcher of vintage WWII warbirds, a glider flight instructor, and an accidental convict. First, someone tries to kill him. That same day a former girlfriend becomes his shiny new Parole Officer.
This story is not about exploding cars and guys chasing about shooting at each other. These are more skillful and adventurous scenes of piloting gliders, flying WWII warplanes such as the P-51 Mustang, about an ordinary guy trying to get out from under the parole system. It's about an unsolved historical diamond theft, and pieces of a past Clay thought was gone forever.
While Clay pursues proof that he was framed and tries to stay alive, he struggles to complete his mission: piloting a stolen vintage fighter across three states to a secretive buyer. Added challenge: Clay has never flown powered aircraft.
To survive, Clay must deduce the motivations of shadowy characters, and face challenges that push him beyond his comfort zone. In action typical of the story’s unique action scenes, Clay finds out the hard way that a glider can become a murder weapon. And how to fix it before he hits the ground.
Amid the action, a charming personal story emerges, as Clay discovers a love he never imagined.
When asked how he conceived Angle of Attack, Baldwin said, "The core ideas came while studying to be a glider pilot. I found everyday flights in powerless gliders to be thrilling high adventure, so what would it be like to push that experience to extremes, such as using a seemingly passive aircraft as a murder weapon? This event became a key plot departure from the get go."
SPECIAL PROMOTION
During the weekend of January 7 and 8, Angle of Attack was available as a free Kindle download, a promotion of Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing programme. It now costs $3.05, but is still excellent value for money.)
(EDITOR: I am reading this book, now. Get a copy. Seriously. Get it from Amazon, this minute!) You can use the That's Books Amazon Shop, if you like, just get it!)
Angle of Attack brings the reader to adventure and intrigue in a world of extreme flying, quirky women, and the power they covet.
Pilot Cicero Clay is a researcher of vintage WWII warbirds, a glider flight instructor, and an accidental convict. First, someone tries to kill him. That same day a former girlfriend becomes his shiny new Parole Officer.
This story is not about exploding cars and guys chasing about shooting at each other. These are more skillful and adventurous scenes of piloting gliders, flying WWII warplanes such as the P-51 Mustang, about an ordinary guy trying to get out from under the parole system. It's about an unsolved historical diamond theft, and pieces of a past Clay thought was gone forever.
While Clay pursues proof that he was framed and tries to stay alive, he struggles to complete his mission: piloting a stolen vintage fighter across three states to a secretive buyer. Added challenge: Clay has never flown powered aircraft.
To survive, Clay must deduce the motivations of shadowy characters, and face challenges that push him beyond his comfort zone. In action typical of the story’s unique action scenes, Clay finds out the hard way that a glider can become a murder weapon. And how to fix it before he hits the ground.
Amid the action, a charming personal story emerges, as Clay discovers a love he never imagined.
When asked how he conceived Angle of Attack, Baldwin said, "The core ideas came while studying to be a glider pilot. I found everyday flights in powerless gliders to be thrilling high adventure, so what would it be like to push that experience to extremes, such as using a seemingly passive aircraft as a murder weapon? This event became a key plot departure from the get go."
SPECIAL PROMOTION
During the weekend of January 7 and 8, Angle of Attack was available as a free Kindle download, a promotion of Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing programme. It now costs $3.05, but is still excellent value for money.)
(EDITOR: I am reading this book, now. Get a copy. Seriously. Get it from Amazon, this minute!) You can use the That's Books Amazon Shop, if you like, just get it!)
Hot New Theological, Political, and Legal Thrillers On E-Book Critics Are Raving About
Three international thrillers released E-books in time for the New Year by best-selling author, filmmaker, and child advocate Peter Thomas Senese have top book critics raving about the writer's geopolitical must read, inspirational thrillers.
Peter Thomas Senese's geopolitical novels include CHASING THE CYCLONE, THE DEN OF THE ASSASSIN, and CLONING CHRIST written by best-selling geopolitical thriller writer Peter Thomas Senese. All three titles are available in E-book. Chasing The Cyclone will be released in hardcover mid-January, while both CLONING CHRIST and THE DEN OF THE ASSASSIN are presently available in hardcover.
Peter Thomas Senese commneted, "I am pleased to know readers from around the world have found great entertainment value while also embracing the messages or meaning of these three uniquely different stories. I write thrillers that are based on historical possibilities and truths. So in this sense, my books are intended to make readers think about the inevitable 'what if?"
Amazon's renown HALL OF FAME reviewers are praising best-selling author's Peter Thomas Senese's recently released E-book international legal thriller CHASING THE CYCLONEas an electrifying story fans of high suspense thrillers should read. CHASING THE CYCLONE, presently available exclusively as an E-book on Amazon in E-book, is the story of a father's search for his internationally abducted child inspired by the author's own experience chasing the cyclones of abduction.
Amazon Hall of Fame book reviewer Daniel Jolley commented, "Chasing The Cyclone" isn't just a powerful novel; it's a call to arms against a growing epidemic that is tearing lives apart behind the headlines... "Chasing The Cyclone" is much more than just a superb, can't-put-down novel, though; it is a book with a purpose... Peter Thomas Senese has become an outspoken advocate on this issue, and 'Chasing The Cyclone' makes for a clear and profoundly effective call to action. I would go so far as to encourage every loving parent to read this book, as the bond between this father and son is one to be emulated..."
Amazon Hall of Fame book reviewer Harriett Klausner added, . . . "This is an exciting cautionary thriller that grips readers from the onset . . . "Chasing The Cyclone" will shake the audience, this exciting cautionary thriller grips readers from the onset..."
Dr. Grady Harp, a highly respected Amazon Hall Of Fame book reviewer said, "Peter Thomas Senese now opens the windows on the magnitude of these tragedies in his excellent "Chasing The Cyclone"... As if the fast paced energy of this story weren't enough to satisfy the reader, Peter Thomas Senese demonstrates his quality as a writer of distinction on many levels... this impossible to put down book..."
In the wake of recent international events, including Iran's capture of a U.S. drone spy plane by possible cyber-hacking combined with Russia's immediate protective agreement to develop major oil fields in southern Iran, along with the death of North Korea's isolationist dictator, Kim Jong, II, author Peter Thomas Senese is pleased to announce the release of his geopolitical thriller The Den of the Assassin on e-book.
The multi-dimensional plot is set on Wall Street and is based upon historical events that jettison the reader on a thrilling global geopolitical journey into the hidden and unseen worlds that exists within nations that have different global agendas than the United States and the West, including but not limited to China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran. Most concerning, as each nation has become more reliant on one another in our global society, a new level of extraordinary vulnerability to our national security has been created, one perhaps we may not be prepared for. In The Den of the Assassin, believe readers will find the uniquely accurate information on this subject that is carefully weaved through an intricate, entertaining storyline to be quite fascinating - and disturbing.
Amazon Hall of Fame book reviewer Daniel Jolley stated, "This is one seriously good thriller. Billed as "a novel of international finance and espionage," Den of the Assassin is a super-realistic exploration of frightening possibilities, unsurpassed heroism, Lucifer-like evil, and terrorism of the worst kind . . . Peter Thomas Senese does a masterful job traversing the inner hallways of diverse institutions as he slowly brings all of these diverse elements together for a slam-bang climax ... "Peter Thomas Senese displays a wealth of knowledge of geopolitics, espionage, and international finance, describing all the technical intricacies of the story's elements and implications with great attention to detail -without ever letting the pace get bogged down or become confusing to the reader. He also keeps a number of secrets close to the vest, saving them for just the right time in the story . . . Many a writer of thrillers seem to drop the ball somewhere in the middle of their novels, but Peter Thomas Senese's' knowledge of geopolitics, international finance, and 21st century terrorist threats keeps the fires of detailed complexity and story evolution stoked and red-hot for the entire ride. Tyler Boxter is no James Bond, but Den of the Assassin proves to be just as exciting as any 007 caper - and much more realistic."
Cloning Christ, Peter Thomas Senese's theological thriller that asks the question, "What would you do if you held the potential True Cross of Jesus in your hands, and it contained blood and hair strains on it? has had readers from around the world talking about the endless possibilities Senese brings out in his novel that pushes the question of where and how science and faith can co-exist in today's world.
Amazon Hall Of Fame book critic Harriett Klausner commented, "Fans will relish this thriller. The tale is loaded with action yet uses the characters as symbols of mankind similar to a medieval passion play like Everyman. The cast represents the faithful, the disbelievers, the dividers (torn between science and religion) or the selfish. "Cloning Christ" brings the debate of religion vs. science to the forefront in an exciting manner that focuses on the sacredness of life."
Peter Thomas Senese is a child abduction prevention advocate actively engaged in trying to stop international child abduction and human trafficking. He is a director of the I CARE Foundation. 100% of Peter Thomas Senese's royalties earned from the E-book releases of Chasing The Cyclone, The Den of the Assassin, and Cloning Christ will be donated to the I CARE Foundation.
www.peterthomassenese.com
Peter Thomas Senese's geopolitical novels include CHASING THE CYCLONE, THE DEN OF THE ASSASSIN, and CLONING CHRIST written by best-selling geopolitical thriller writer Peter Thomas Senese. All three titles are available in E-book. Chasing The Cyclone will be released in hardcover mid-January, while both CLONING CHRIST and THE DEN OF THE ASSASSIN are presently available in hardcover.
Peter Thomas Senese commneted, "I am pleased to know readers from around the world have found great entertainment value while also embracing the messages or meaning of these three uniquely different stories. I write thrillers that are based on historical possibilities and truths. So in this sense, my books are intended to make readers think about the inevitable 'what if?"
Amazon's renown HALL OF FAME reviewers are praising best-selling author's Peter Thomas Senese's recently released E-book international legal thriller CHASING THE CYCLONEas an electrifying story fans of high suspense thrillers should read. CHASING THE CYCLONE, presently available exclusively as an E-book on Amazon in E-book, is the story of a father's search for his internationally abducted child inspired by the author's own experience chasing the cyclones of abduction.
Amazon Hall of Fame book reviewer Daniel Jolley commented, "Chasing The Cyclone" isn't just a powerful novel; it's a call to arms against a growing epidemic that is tearing lives apart behind the headlines... "Chasing The Cyclone" is much more than just a superb, can't-put-down novel, though; it is a book with a purpose... Peter Thomas Senese has become an outspoken advocate on this issue, and 'Chasing The Cyclone' makes for a clear and profoundly effective call to action. I would go so far as to encourage every loving parent to read this book, as the bond between this father and son is one to be emulated..."
Amazon Hall of Fame book reviewer Harriett Klausner added, . . . "This is an exciting cautionary thriller that grips readers from the onset . . . "Chasing The Cyclone" will shake the audience, this exciting cautionary thriller grips readers from the onset..."
Dr. Grady Harp, a highly respected Amazon Hall Of Fame book reviewer said, "Peter Thomas Senese now opens the windows on the magnitude of these tragedies in his excellent "Chasing The Cyclone"... As if the fast paced energy of this story weren't enough to satisfy the reader, Peter Thomas Senese demonstrates his quality as a writer of distinction on many levels... this impossible to put down book..."
In the wake of recent international events, including Iran's capture of a U.S. drone spy plane by possible cyber-hacking combined with Russia's immediate protective agreement to develop major oil fields in southern Iran, along with the death of North Korea's isolationist dictator, Kim Jong, II, author Peter Thomas Senese is pleased to announce the release of his geopolitical thriller The Den of the Assassin on e-book.
The multi-dimensional plot is set on Wall Street and is based upon historical events that jettison the reader on a thrilling global geopolitical journey into the hidden and unseen worlds that exists within nations that have different global agendas than the United States and the West, including but not limited to China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran. Most concerning, as each nation has become more reliant on one another in our global society, a new level of extraordinary vulnerability to our national security has been created, one perhaps we may not be prepared for. In The Den of the Assassin, believe readers will find the uniquely accurate information on this subject that is carefully weaved through an intricate, entertaining storyline to be quite fascinating - and disturbing.
Amazon Hall of Fame book reviewer Daniel Jolley stated, "This is one seriously good thriller. Billed as "a novel of international finance and espionage," Den of the Assassin is a super-realistic exploration of frightening possibilities, unsurpassed heroism, Lucifer-like evil, and terrorism of the worst kind . . . Peter Thomas Senese does a masterful job traversing the inner hallways of diverse institutions as he slowly brings all of these diverse elements together for a slam-bang climax ... "Peter Thomas Senese displays a wealth of knowledge of geopolitics, espionage, and international finance, describing all the technical intricacies of the story's elements and implications with great attention to detail -without ever letting the pace get bogged down or become confusing to the reader. He also keeps a number of secrets close to the vest, saving them for just the right time in the story . . . Many a writer of thrillers seem to drop the ball somewhere in the middle of their novels, but Peter Thomas Senese's' knowledge of geopolitics, international finance, and 21st century terrorist threats keeps the fires of detailed complexity and story evolution stoked and red-hot for the entire ride. Tyler Boxter is no James Bond, but Den of the Assassin proves to be just as exciting as any 007 caper - and much more realistic."
Cloning Christ, Peter Thomas Senese's theological thriller that asks the question, "What would you do if you held the potential True Cross of Jesus in your hands, and it contained blood and hair strains on it? has had readers from around the world talking about the endless possibilities Senese brings out in his novel that pushes the question of where and how science and faith can co-exist in today's world.
Amazon Hall Of Fame book critic Harriett Klausner commented, "Fans will relish this thriller. The tale is loaded with action yet uses the characters as symbols of mankind similar to a medieval passion play like Everyman. The cast represents the faithful, the disbelievers, the dividers (torn between science and religion) or the selfish. "Cloning Christ" brings the debate of religion vs. science to the forefront in an exciting manner that focuses on the sacredness of life."
Peter Thomas Senese is a child abduction prevention advocate actively engaged in trying to stop international child abduction and human trafficking. He is a director of the I CARE Foundation. 100% of Peter Thomas Senese's royalties earned from the E-book releases of Chasing The Cyclone, The Den of the Assassin, and Cloning Christ will be donated to the I CARE Foundation.
www.peterthomassenese.com
Saturday, 7 January 2012
"Bermuda Contrails" a novel by Alan Edmund Smith
This novel is set mostly in a background of Bermuda and the English Cotswolds during WW2. The real world and the fictional interact against a backdrop of genuine events, summarised at the start of most chapters.
Today, condensation trails made by high flying aircraft passing over Bermuda are a common sight, but Bermudians hadn't expected to see them over their Islands in 1940. Neither had Pamela Croft a young woman from Burford, England, who had just arrived in Bermuda on RMS Mataroa as a member of a British Censorship contingent of one hundred or so, from England. She saw her first contrail over Bermuda on her way to her temporary hotel, the Inverurie, just after she left the ship. She was on a horse and buggy and the sight sent shivers down her spine.
Bermudians felt sure that the contrails were the writing on the wall; Germany must be planning to invade Bermuda! Rumours began circulating that submarines had been seen off the South Shore. With no land aerodrome on Bermuda they knew these aircraft must be coming from overseas.
However the US, some 650 miles away, denied any knowledge of them. So did the British Government. The Royal Air Force were unable to determine which country these aircraft came from and did little to reassure Bermudians, although they tried hard.
Pam Croft quickly falls under Bermuda's spell and settles down there easily, in spite of the contrails, and stayed there as a Censorette for several years. During that time she developed a social life, mostly good but there were also some traumatic and complicated times, which she would never forget. She keeps up-to-date with Burford news by letters from her mother regularly.
There is not much good news, most of it is bad, some extremely bad which leads to an abrupt and dramatic end to her time in Bermuda. But this doesn't spoil her feelings for Bermuda, far from it; she returns there and eventually settles there, with a Bermudian husband and is present when a visitor provides the amazing truth about the wartime contrails.
Alan Smith first became interested in the wartime events in Bermuda following a visit to the Bermuda Maritime Museum in 1996, where he spotted some wartime photographs of flying boats moored off Darrell's Island, Bermuda. On the way back to Hamilton, the ferry passed Darrell's Island and it was the site of the now disused concrete ramps which were used to get the flying boats in and out of the water, which inspired him to try and find out more. His research has led to 3 novels, The Bermuda Affair, published in 2001; A sequel, the Bermuda Saga, in 2007, and now Bermuda Contrails.
Bermuda Contrails is published by Authors Online and can be purchased at www.authorsonline.co.uk as well as leading booksellers. An extract from Bermuda Contrails is available to read at www.authorsonline.co.uk
ISBN 9780755213900RRP: (paperback) £9.95, 370 pages : £3.95 (ebook)
Today, condensation trails made by high flying aircraft passing over Bermuda are a common sight, but Bermudians hadn't expected to see them over their Islands in 1940. Neither had Pamela Croft a young woman from Burford, England, who had just arrived in Bermuda on RMS Mataroa as a member of a British Censorship contingent of one hundred or so, from England. She saw her first contrail over Bermuda on her way to her temporary hotel, the Inverurie, just after she left the ship. She was on a horse and buggy and the sight sent shivers down her spine.
Bermudians felt sure that the contrails were the writing on the wall; Germany must be planning to invade Bermuda! Rumours began circulating that submarines had been seen off the South Shore. With no land aerodrome on Bermuda they knew these aircraft must be coming from overseas.
However the US, some 650 miles away, denied any knowledge of them. So did the British Government. The Royal Air Force were unable to determine which country these aircraft came from and did little to reassure Bermudians, although they tried hard.
Pam Croft quickly falls under Bermuda's spell and settles down there easily, in spite of the contrails, and stayed there as a Censorette for several years. During that time she developed a social life, mostly good but there were also some traumatic and complicated times, which she would never forget. She keeps up-to-date with Burford news by letters from her mother regularly.
There is not much good news, most of it is bad, some extremely bad which leads to an abrupt and dramatic end to her time in Bermuda. But this doesn't spoil her feelings for Bermuda, far from it; she returns there and eventually settles there, with a Bermudian husband and is present when a visitor provides the amazing truth about the wartime contrails.
Alan Smith first became interested in the wartime events in Bermuda following a visit to the Bermuda Maritime Museum in 1996, where he spotted some wartime photographs of flying boats moored off Darrell's Island, Bermuda. On the way back to Hamilton, the ferry passed Darrell's Island and it was the site of the now disused concrete ramps which were used to get the flying boats in and out of the water, which inspired him to try and find out more. His research has led to 3 novels, The Bermuda Affair, published in 2001; A sequel, the Bermuda Saga, in 2007, and now Bermuda Contrails.
Bermuda Contrails is published by Authors Online and can be purchased at www.authorsonline.co.uk as well as leading booksellers. An extract from Bermuda Contrails is available to read at www.authorsonline.co.uk
ISBN 9780755213900RRP: (paperback) £9.95, 370 pages : £3.95 (ebook)
Friday, 23 December 2011
Two Idiots By Waheed Mughal
Two Idiots is a contemporary story of two international students in London written by Waheed Mughal, a Pakistani student, doing a PhD in Social Policy and Administration at Nottingham University.
This fiction highlights the issue of forced marriages within the Pakistani community living in the UK and covers some of the socio-economic factors both in the UK and Pakistan which lead to such marriages.
The problems of international students who come to the UK gaining admission to low profile and bogus colleges with a dream of an affluent life are beautifully discussed in the novel.
An extract from Two Idiots by Waheed Mughal is available to read at www.authorsoline.co.uk
Imprint: Bright Pen
Available in paperback (£8.99) and ebook (£3.95) from http://authorsonline.co.uk; and the That's Books online bookshop
This fiction highlights the issue of forced marriages within the Pakistani community living in the UK and covers some of the socio-economic factors both in the UK and Pakistan which lead to such marriages.
The problems of international students who come to the UK gaining admission to low profile and bogus colleges with a dream of an affluent life are beautifully discussed in the novel.
An extract from Two Idiots by Waheed Mughal is available to read at www.authorsoline.co.uk
Imprint: Bright Pen
Available in paperback (£8.99) and ebook (£3.95) from http://authorsonline.co.uk; and the That's Books online bookshop
Tides Of Destiny By Sally Redmayne
The ‘Must Read’ book this Winter
Let Tides of Destiny sweep you away from the dark winter nights to the dazzling, swirling dance floors of wartime Blackpool.
With the publication of her second novel in seven years, 87 year old Manchester author Sally Redmayne shows it’s never too late to achieve your lifetime’s ambition.
Born and brought up in the famous seaside resort, Sally Redmayne was 80 years old when she transported her readers back to the end of the Great War with her first novel Sigh with the Tide, a story of love and betrayal between two neighbouring Blackpool boarding house families.
She had always wanted to become a writer and was even sent by her teacher for a job as a cub reporter at the Backpool Gazette on leaving school at the age of 14, but was thwarted in her ambitions by being interviewed for the wrong job and ended up in the typing pool.
It wasn’t until she had retired that she had a chance to attend a creative writing course in her adopted home town of Bury, Manchester which gave her the confidence to draw on her own vivid memories of her grandparents’ Blackpool boarding house as a starting point for her first novel, Sigh with the Tide,
Tides of Destiny, the second novel in her romantic family saga series turns the spotlight onto the dance floors of the Tower and Winter Gardens, brilliantly capturing the flavour of wartime Blackpool as well as the timeless passions that beat at the heart of family life.
Sally Redmayne draws on her own breathless wartime teenage years, danced away in the Blackpool ballrooms where she regularly enjoyed the thrill of dancing to top class dance bands such as The Squadronnaires, She gives a delightfully authentic voice to her diverse cast of characters, including exotic wartime visitors to the Blackpool Rhythm Club which she helped run, among whom were the locally billeted American airmen who brought a welcome note of fun into a drab world of rationing and austerity.
Tides of Destiny follows the next generation of Crossleys and Tomlinsons as they play out their lives against the turbulent backdrop of the Second World War, bringing opportunity and excitement to some, but also pain and loss to others.
When Lyn’s mother Janet, discovers her daughter’s wildly inappropriate flirtation with her father’s aide de camp, she packs her off to Blackpool to kick her heels at her grandparent’s boarding house.
Elsewhere in Blackpool Alice finds herself a widow with two small children and she enters into a marriage of convenience with Alfred, a prosperous grocer with a dangerous secret.
These two women find liberation and love on the vibrant wartime dance floors of the Tower Ballroom and Winter Gardens, but as the town sees its first GI’s and the war intensifies, both women are engulfed by the tide of destiny that will see lovers and families torn apart, sometimes for ever.
Tides of Destiny is a story of passion, loss and renewal that shows the resilience of ordinary people who find themselves caught up in extraordinary times. It is written with a warmth and liveliness that will keep the you reading to the very last page.
An extract from Tides of Desiny is available to read at www.authorsonline.co.uk
Imprint: Bright Pen
Available in paperback (£9.99) and ebook (£3.95 ) from http://authorsonline.co.uk and the That's Books online Amazon bookstore.
Let Tides of Destiny sweep you away from the dark winter nights to the dazzling, swirling dance floors of wartime Blackpool.
With the publication of her second novel in seven years, 87 year old Manchester author Sally Redmayne shows it’s never too late to achieve your lifetime’s ambition.
Born and brought up in the famous seaside resort, Sally Redmayne was 80 years old when she transported her readers back to the end of the Great War with her first novel Sigh with the Tide, a story of love and betrayal between two neighbouring Blackpool boarding house families.
She had always wanted to become a writer and was even sent by her teacher for a job as a cub reporter at the Backpool Gazette on leaving school at the age of 14, but was thwarted in her ambitions by being interviewed for the wrong job and ended up in the typing pool.
It wasn’t until she had retired that she had a chance to attend a creative writing course in her adopted home town of Bury, Manchester which gave her the confidence to draw on her own vivid memories of her grandparents’ Blackpool boarding house as a starting point for her first novel, Sigh with the Tide,
Tides of Destiny, the second novel in her romantic family saga series turns the spotlight onto the dance floors of the Tower and Winter Gardens, brilliantly capturing the flavour of wartime Blackpool as well as the timeless passions that beat at the heart of family life.
Sally Redmayne draws on her own breathless wartime teenage years, danced away in the Blackpool ballrooms where she regularly enjoyed the thrill of dancing to top class dance bands such as The Squadronnaires, She gives a delightfully authentic voice to her diverse cast of characters, including exotic wartime visitors to the Blackpool Rhythm Club which she helped run, among whom were the locally billeted American airmen who brought a welcome note of fun into a drab world of rationing and austerity.
Tides of Destiny follows the next generation of Crossleys and Tomlinsons as they play out their lives against the turbulent backdrop of the Second World War, bringing opportunity and excitement to some, but also pain and loss to others.
When Lyn’s mother Janet, discovers her daughter’s wildly inappropriate flirtation with her father’s aide de camp, she packs her off to Blackpool to kick her heels at her grandparent’s boarding house.
Elsewhere in Blackpool Alice finds herself a widow with two small children and she enters into a marriage of convenience with Alfred, a prosperous grocer with a dangerous secret.
These two women find liberation and love on the vibrant wartime dance floors of the Tower Ballroom and Winter Gardens, but as the town sees its first GI’s and the war intensifies, both women are engulfed by the tide of destiny that will see lovers and families torn apart, sometimes for ever.
Tides of Destiny is a story of passion, loss and renewal that shows the resilience of ordinary people who find themselves caught up in extraordinary times. It is written with a warmth and liveliness that will keep the you reading to the very last page.
An extract from Tides of Desiny is available to read at www.authorsonline.co.uk
Imprint: Bright Pen
Available in paperback (£9.99) and ebook (£3.95 ) from http://authorsonline.co.uk and the That's Books online Amazon bookstore.
Wednesday, 21 December 2011
We all Have a Dark Side... Honor's Shadow
“We all have our dark side.” This debut novel, from the new fiction imprint, Karnac Library, is a contemporary tale of betrayal and revenge. Through the lives of two women, Honor and Madalena, compelling issues are explored: rivalry and vengeance; mother-love and sexual jealousies; and the ‘sliding doors’ effect that spins its web around the lives not only of these characters but of all of us. Honor’s Shadow By Voula Grand
Published September 2011 by Karnac Library, the new fiction imprint of Karnac Books. Price £16.99 hardback. 290pp. www.karnacbooks.com
Honor’s Shadow explores betrayal and revenge through women who were rivals for the love of Thomas when they were all young. Now middle-aged, the paths of Honor and Madalena have crossed once more, awakening old feelings, and both women struggle to maintain control as their lives become intertwined.
A series of events (a painful and poignant anniversary, a new psychotherapy client, a newspaper image) have awakened disturbing memories in Honor. Through her work with a strange new client, Tisi, and her memory of a painful betrayal, Honor seeks to use her professional expertise to work out what is driving her own unusual behaviour.
Her efforts to contain the vengeful impulses of Tisi and herself are failing, and she becomes increasingly desperate. A Greek myth introduces her to the Furies, Goddesses of revenge who haunted those who committed crimes against humanity, to madness, death and beyond. This story, and its prescription for consolation, provides a chance to avert disaster and ultimately reveals to Honor the drive behind her own desire for revenge. As the novel echoes the ancient myth, it becomes a tale of redemption and a parable for modern times.
An anonymous letter jolts Madalena’s seemingly secure life of comfort and luxury: somebody thinks they know something about her past that threatens to destroy all that she holds dear in her carefully constructed lifestyle. She is desperate to find out who wrote the letter so she can stop their destructive actions.
The author, Voula Grand, is a practising psychologist who works as a top level executive coach. In this, her gripping debut novel, the imaginative tale unfolds with well-rounded, utterly believable - and not always likeable - characters. Fast-moving though the plot action is, Honor’s Shadow often gives pause for thought and, like all good writing, doesn’t just illuminate the story but one’s own reality. The novel explores profound topics: infidelity, personal memory; the nature of parenthood; vengeance; loss of control; and the big question of whether forgiveness can ever lead one to forget.
Honor’s Shadow is the first of a trilogy – Honor’s Dilemmas. Honor’s Ghost and Honor’s Spirit will be published soon.
Voula Grand was born and raised in South Wales and now lives in Hertfordshire with her husband. She is mother and stepmother to five adult sons and daughters. Educated at London School of Economics (BSc(Hons) in Psychology) and at Birkbeck College, London University, (MA in Creative Writing), she is a business psychologist and founder of Grand Shearman Consulting Ltd through which she works as a coaching psychologist for business executives and leadership teams www.grandshearman.com .
Visit www.voulagrand.com for more about the author and to access the blog which continues the exploration of some of the issues touched on by the book. Hear an interview with the author about Honor’s Shadow http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DTToeYs__U
Karnac Publishing is well-established in the field of psychology and psychotherapy publishing with a well-established list of 400 current titles and our own book-shop on London’s Finchley Road. They decided to move into fiction with a new imprint, Karnac Library and opted to select the novels by democratic means. Some of the brightest and best amateur writers’ groups were involved in short-listing manuscripts and then, without the aid of literary editors and agents, these same amateur writers selected the three novels to be published. Honor’s Shadow is the third to be issued.
www.karnacbooks.com
Published September 2011 by Karnac Library, the new fiction imprint of Karnac Books. Price £16.99 hardback. 290pp. www.karnacbooks.com
Honor’s Shadow explores betrayal and revenge through women who were rivals for the love of Thomas when they were all young. Now middle-aged, the paths of Honor and Madalena have crossed once more, awakening old feelings, and both women struggle to maintain control as their lives become intertwined.
A series of events (a painful and poignant anniversary, a new psychotherapy client, a newspaper image) have awakened disturbing memories in Honor. Through her work with a strange new client, Tisi, and her memory of a painful betrayal, Honor seeks to use her professional expertise to work out what is driving her own unusual behaviour.
Her efforts to contain the vengeful impulses of Tisi and herself are failing, and she becomes increasingly desperate. A Greek myth introduces her to the Furies, Goddesses of revenge who haunted those who committed crimes against humanity, to madness, death and beyond. This story, and its prescription for consolation, provides a chance to avert disaster and ultimately reveals to Honor the drive behind her own desire for revenge. As the novel echoes the ancient myth, it becomes a tale of redemption and a parable for modern times.
An anonymous letter jolts Madalena’s seemingly secure life of comfort and luxury: somebody thinks they know something about her past that threatens to destroy all that she holds dear in her carefully constructed lifestyle. She is desperate to find out who wrote the letter so she can stop their destructive actions.
The author, Voula Grand, is a practising psychologist who works as a top level executive coach. In this, her gripping debut novel, the imaginative tale unfolds with well-rounded, utterly believable - and not always likeable - characters. Fast-moving though the plot action is, Honor’s Shadow often gives pause for thought and, like all good writing, doesn’t just illuminate the story but one’s own reality. The novel explores profound topics: infidelity, personal memory; the nature of parenthood; vengeance; loss of control; and the big question of whether forgiveness can ever lead one to forget.
Honor’s Shadow is the first of a trilogy – Honor’s Dilemmas. Honor’s Ghost and Honor’s Spirit will be published soon.
Voula Grand was born and raised in South Wales and now lives in Hertfordshire with her husband. She is mother and stepmother to five adult sons and daughters. Educated at London School of Economics (BSc(Hons) in Psychology) and at Birkbeck College, London University, (MA in Creative Writing), she is a business psychologist and founder of Grand Shearman Consulting Ltd through which she works as a coaching psychologist for business executives and leadership teams www.grandshearman.com .
Visit www.voulagrand.com for more about the author and to access the blog which continues the exploration of some of the issues touched on by the book. Hear an interview with the author about Honor’s Shadow http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DTToeYs__U
Karnac Publishing is well-established in the field of psychology and psychotherapy publishing with a well-established list of 400 current titles and our own book-shop on London’s Finchley Road. They decided to move into fiction with a new imprint, Karnac Library and opted to select the novels by democratic means. Some of the brightest and best amateur writers’ groups were involved in short-listing manuscripts and then, without the aid of literary editors and agents, these same amateur writers selected the three novels to be published. Honor’s Shadow is the third to be issued.
www.karnacbooks.com
Saturday, 17 December 2011
Old Scores Are Settled On And Off The Pitch...
The murky underworld that lurks beneath top-flight football.
The ins and outs of top-flight football don't come much more exciting than this.
Paul Breakwell may be a gifted player, but he lacks ambition and direction and looks as if he's stuck in a Sunday parks team. That is until he meets Nigel, washed out, washed up and down on his luck - but with an eye for the game and the ability to spot potential. Once jailed for fraud, Nigel now rediscovers his own passion for the beautiful game while igniting Paul's, and sets about making his discovery of football's latest hot property.
For Paul and his wife Carly things seem to go from strength to strength - new jobs and exciting prospects with local on-the-up club Barrowcliffe, more money, a new car and an expensive big house in footballers' row. It's as though all their dreams have come true; but are things ever quite that good for real?
While they enjoy fast-paced football matches and a meteoric rise up the leagues, Paul, Carly and Nigel uncover scandal after seedy scandal underneath the club's cover. What really goes on behind closed doors across the road at club owner Billy's house? Why has former player Stan Page reared his ugly head again? And what do they do when the answers leave them fighting for their lives?
Leigh Rose, originally from Derby, combined a career as a PE teacher with roles at several top-flight football clubs, including coaching and scouting for Southampton, Reading and Derby County. He lives with his family in Belper, on the edge of the Peak District.
Taps into the huge loyal football fan market
Will also appeal to female fans of Footballer's Wives
Author has scouted and coached for several top football clubs including Southampton
Leigh Dallas Rose
27th January 2011
£17.99 Hardback
978-1-84624-645-6 216 x 135 mm
The ins and outs of top-flight football don't come much more exciting than this.
Paul Breakwell may be a gifted player, but he lacks ambition and direction and looks as if he's stuck in a Sunday parks team. That is until he meets Nigel, washed out, washed up and down on his luck - but with an eye for the game and the ability to spot potential. Once jailed for fraud, Nigel now rediscovers his own passion for the beautiful game while igniting Paul's, and sets about making his discovery of football's latest hot property.
For Paul and his wife Carly things seem to go from strength to strength - new jobs and exciting prospects with local on-the-up club Barrowcliffe, more money, a new car and an expensive big house in footballers' row. It's as though all their dreams have come true; but are things ever quite that good for real?
While they enjoy fast-paced football matches and a meteoric rise up the leagues, Paul, Carly and Nigel uncover scandal after seedy scandal underneath the club's cover. What really goes on behind closed doors across the road at club owner Billy's house? Why has former player Stan Page reared his ugly head again? And what do they do when the answers leave them fighting for their lives?
Leigh Rose, originally from Derby, combined a career as a PE teacher with roles at several top-flight football clubs, including coaching and scouting for Southampton, Reading and Derby County. He lives with his family in Belper, on the edge of the Peak District.
Taps into the huge loyal football fan market
Will also appeal to female fans of Footballer's Wives
Author has scouted and coached for several top football clubs including Southampton
Leigh Dallas Rose
27th January 2011
£17.99 Hardback
978-1-84624-645-6 216 x 135 mm
Thursday, 15 December 2011
Deep Secret By Nigel James
With a fast pace leading to a sprint finish, Nigel James’ debut novel, Deep Secret, takes horse racing thrillers to a new level.
Champion jockey, AlecHammond, finally has a horse capable of winning the Cheltenham Gold Cup, the one race he needs to win to crown his glittering career. But while Alec embarks on a relationship with a top adult movie star, desperate to keep her lurid past from him, others are plotting to prevent his horse from winning at any cost.
Thrilling races, fixed races, a massive betting coup, sex, murder, kidnap and blackmail all feature as the seamier side of the racing world is laid bare. The action gallops along before the dramatic twists and shocking climax on the day of the race.
An extract from Deep Secret is available to read at www.authorsonline.co.uk
Deep Secret is published by Authors Online
ISBN (Paperback editions): 0 7 552 13785
ISBN-13 (Paperback editions): 9 7807 5521 3788
RRP: £8.99 paperback or eBook Download Price: £3.95
Champion jockey, AlecHammond, finally has a horse capable of winning the Cheltenham Gold Cup, the one race he needs to win to crown his glittering career. But while Alec embarks on a relationship with a top adult movie star, desperate to keep her lurid past from him, others are plotting to prevent his horse from winning at any cost.
Thrilling races, fixed races, a massive betting coup, sex, murder, kidnap and blackmail all feature as the seamier side of the racing world is laid bare. The action gallops along before the dramatic twists and shocking climax on the day of the race.
An extract from Deep Secret is available to read at www.authorsonline.co.uk
Deep Secret is published by Authors Online
ISBN (Paperback editions): 0 7 552 13785
ISBN-13 (Paperback editions): 9 7807 5521 3788
RRP: £8.99 paperback or eBook Download Price: £3.95
The Elephant Within Us By Peter Peeters
A beguiling tale of transformation, romance and environmental politics
Dr John Garfinger is a penniless, jobless about-to-be divorcee, a man with an unwarranted reputation for philandering and a hapless knack for getting himself into embarrassing situations. In desperation he goes to East Africa to start a new life working on a remote elephant reserve - even though he knows nothing about elephants.
But this is Africa where things never quite go to plan. By a bizarre turn of events, the naïve young doctor of biotechnology soon finds himself embroiled in the strange goings-on in a private laboratory where a half-mad German scientist is working on a very unusual time machine. Then John complicates things by falling in love...
Part sci-fi fantasy, part farce, The Elephant Within Us is a beguiling tale of transformation, romance and environmental politics and a fascinating foray into the world of the elephant.
Dr Peter Peeters was born in Belgium where he studied and specialised in high-energy physics. He worked at Brussels University in collaboration with CERN, the European accelerator centre in Geneva, and carried out research at the Argonne National Laboratory in the United States. He has travelled throughout the world and spent a year in Africa with his wife making documentary films, criss-crossing the continent, sleeping in bush and forest in their Land Rover. Dr Peeters has written several non-fiction titles concerned with the future of humanity and the planet. His latest are The Four Phases of Society (1997) and The Global Economy and its Long-Term Future (2008). This is his first novel, and he currently lives in Spain.
FACTFILE:
A witty, entertaining novel that will appeal to readers of the likes of David Lodge and Alexander McCall Smith
The Belgian writer has an intriguing backstory: a doctor of high energy physics and an inveterate global traveller who spent a year in Africa
Peter Peeters is a well-established and respected non-fiction author
£14.99
Hardback
978-1-84624-638-8
Publication date: 27th January 2011
Dr John Garfinger is a penniless, jobless about-to-be divorcee, a man with an unwarranted reputation for philandering and a hapless knack for getting himself into embarrassing situations. In desperation he goes to East Africa to start a new life working on a remote elephant reserve - even though he knows nothing about elephants.
But this is Africa where things never quite go to plan. By a bizarre turn of events, the naïve young doctor of biotechnology soon finds himself embroiled in the strange goings-on in a private laboratory where a half-mad German scientist is working on a very unusual time machine. Then John complicates things by falling in love...
Part sci-fi fantasy, part farce, The Elephant Within Us is a beguiling tale of transformation, romance and environmental politics and a fascinating foray into the world of the elephant.
Dr Peter Peeters was born in Belgium where he studied and specialised in high-energy physics. He worked at Brussels University in collaboration with CERN, the European accelerator centre in Geneva, and carried out research at the Argonne National Laboratory in the United States. He has travelled throughout the world and spent a year in Africa with his wife making documentary films, criss-crossing the continent, sleeping in bush and forest in their Land Rover. Dr Peeters has written several non-fiction titles concerned with the future of humanity and the planet. His latest are The Four Phases of Society (1997) and The Global Economy and its Long-Term Future (2008). This is his first novel, and he currently lives in Spain.
FACTFILE:
A witty, entertaining novel that will appeal to readers of the likes of David Lodge and Alexander McCall Smith
The Belgian writer has an intriguing backstory: a doctor of high energy physics and an inveterate global traveller who spent a year in Africa
Peter Peeters is a well-established and respected non-fiction author
£14.99
Hardback
978-1-84624-638-8
Publication date: 27th January 2011
A Journey Of Ascent By Andy P Weller
A sweeping historical novel spanning 350 years of a British family's history. To be published 27th January 2011
A Journey of Ascent: a gripping family saga tracing nine generations of a family from the sixteenth century to the Great War: 350 years of social revolution, agricultural and industrial transformation.
Andy Weller has masterfully rewrought the known facts of his long family history into a sweeping historical novel embracing the Reformation, the English Civil War and the Industrial Revolution, populated by novelists, landowners, smugglers, highwaymen, farmers and industrialists, all with one aim in mind: survival in turbulent times.
Weller has not rewritten history here: he has brought the reality of times past to vibrant life in a novel with huge appeal for anyone with an interest in English history from the perspective of the common man.
Andy Weller was born in 1954 near Little Chalfont in Buckinghamshire and first went to school in the very quaint village of Chenies. He became a career civil servant, starting as a clerk involved with the Concorde project. His later civil service career included representing the UK administration in Brussels and Geneva covering a wide range of trade policy issues, often working in partnership with UK business. He is currently working on his second book and lives in Pinner, Middlesex.
FACTFILE:
A true chronicle of early working-class life
One family's eventful route through British history
A fascinating personal journey through an author's family history
£17.99
Hardback
978-1-84624-649-4
Published by The Book Guild www.bookguild.co.uk
A Journey of Ascent: a gripping family saga tracing nine generations of a family from the sixteenth century to the Great War: 350 years of social revolution, agricultural and industrial transformation.
Andy Weller has masterfully rewrought the known facts of his long family history into a sweeping historical novel embracing the Reformation, the English Civil War and the Industrial Revolution, populated by novelists, landowners, smugglers, highwaymen, farmers and industrialists, all with one aim in mind: survival in turbulent times.
Weller has not rewritten history here: he has brought the reality of times past to vibrant life in a novel with huge appeal for anyone with an interest in English history from the perspective of the common man.
Andy Weller was born in 1954 near Little Chalfont in Buckinghamshire and first went to school in the very quaint village of Chenies. He became a career civil servant, starting as a clerk involved with the Concorde project. His later civil service career included representing the UK administration in Brussels and Geneva covering a wide range of trade policy issues, often working in partnership with UK business. He is currently working on his second book and lives in Pinner, Middlesex.
FACTFILE:
A true chronicle of early working-class life
One family's eventful route through British history
A fascinating personal journey through an author's family history
£17.99
Hardback
978-1-84624-649-4
Published by The Book Guild www.bookguild.co.uk
Saturday, 10 December 2011
Magic City by Michael Dean
A sexual coming-of-age comedy set in seventies Berlin.
Magic City is a comedy of errors set in West Germany in 1971. Marcus Himmelfahrt, unable to come to terms with his Jewish heritage and his sexual impotence, has no idea what to do with his life. He takes a job as an English teacher in Ludwigsburg, the Magic City of the title, intending to re-invent himself under a false name.
On day one, he does something he shouldn't in a graveyard and the police are called. His personal habits repeatedly upset his highly strung landlord. He is nevertheless a hit at the language school, and fast establishes a reputation as a ladies' man. But can he live up to it?
Meanwhile, as he wanders around unaware in dreamy innocence, he is framed, followed and shot at. He finally finds love only to be wrongly accused of rampant womanising. Against a background of retribution against a former Nazi and a robbery by the Baader-Meinhof gang, our still oblivious hero is hunted by drug dealers, by his terrifying employer, and by both the East and West German intelligence services.
As the forces against him gain momentum and menace, even the Magic City may not be enough to save him.
Michael Dean read history at Worcester College, Oxford, and has an MSc in Applied Linguistics from the University of Edinburgh. He is a fluent German speaker and a translator - an Associate of the Institute of Linguists. He has had three previous novels published, The Crooked Cross, Hirschfeld's Friends and THORN. He is also the author of Chomsky: A Beginner's Guide and more than 30 English Language Teaching titles, including the best-selling short story New York Café. He lives in Colchester, Essex.
£16.99
978-1-84624-637-1
Magic City is a comedy of errors set in West Germany in 1971. Marcus Himmelfahrt, unable to come to terms with his Jewish heritage and his sexual impotence, has no idea what to do with his life. He takes a job as an English teacher in Ludwigsburg, the Magic City of the title, intending to re-invent himself under a false name.
On day one, he does something he shouldn't in a graveyard and the police are called. His personal habits repeatedly upset his highly strung landlord. He is nevertheless a hit at the language school, and fast establishes a reputation as a ladies' man. But can he live up to it?
Meanwhile, as he wanders around unaware in dreamy innocence, he is framed, followed and shot at. He finally finds love only to be wrongly accused of rampant womanising. Against a background of retribution against a former Nazi and a robbery by the Baader-Meinhof gang, our still oblivious hero is hunted by drug dealers, by his terrifying employer, and by both the East and West German intelligence services.
As the forces against him gain momentum and menace, even the Magic City may not be enough to save him.
Michael Dean read history at Worcester College, Oxford, and has an MSc in Applied Linguistics from the University of Edinburgh. He is a fluent German speaker and a translator - an Associate of the Institute of Linguists. He has had three previous novels published, The Crooked Cross, Hirschfeld's Friends and THORN. He is also the author of Chomsky: A Beginner's Guide and more than 30 English Language Teaching titles, including the best-selling short story New York Café. He lives in Colchester, Essex.
£16.99
978-1-84624-637-1
Fish in Water by Alain Merheje
A tiny, remote village in Cyprus is the scene for a romantic farce.
Cyprus in the summer heat. The smallest village in the world. Nine inhabitants, one drop-dead gorgeous tourist, a flock of impatient hens and an exhausted rooster. This is the stuff that chaos is made of.
Centred on Toni's crumbling taverna, and his surprisingly well-equipped cellar, the action takes place in the course of one dramatic day. What made the delicious Gina behave so oddly? Will Yiannis get his true love back? Can the village idiot save the day? Will Toni ever get a customer to pay for a meal? Can anyone smell chicken cooking?
This is a laugh out loud Hellenic novel of Latin proportions!
Alain Merheje was educated in Syria and Lebanon before relocating to London where he held various posts in the advertising industry which took him all over the world. Eventually he settled on Cyprus (where he now lives) and now indulges his passion for writing and photography. His previous works include a collection of poetry in French and, in English, a collection of poetry, a children's story and a pantomime.
Ideal title to take on holiday
Light, humorous romance set in the sunny Mediterranean calls to mind Mama Mia and Shirley Valentine.
£16.99
978-1-84624-644-9
Cyprus in the summer heat. The smallest village in the world. Nine inhabitants, one drop-dead gorgeous tourist, a flock of impatient hens and an exhausted rooster. This is the stuff that chaos is made of.
Centred on Toni's crumbling taverna, and his surprisingly well-equipped cellar, the action takes place in the course of one dramatic day. What made the delicious Gina behave so oddly? Will Yiannis get his true love back? Can the village idiot save the day? Will Toni ever get a customer to pay for a meal? Can anyone smell chicken cooking?
This is a laugh out loud Hellenic novel of Latin proportions!
Alain Merheje was educated in Syria and Lebanon before relocating to London where he held various posts in the advertising industry which took him all over the world. Eventually he settled on Cyprus (where he now lives) and now indulges his passion for writing and photography. His previous works include a collection of poetry in French and, in English, a collection of poetry, a children's story and a pantomime.
Ideal title to take on holiday
Light, humorous romance set in the sunny Mediterranean calls to mind Mama Mia and Shirley Valentine.
£16.99
978-1-84624-644-9
Friday, 9 December 2011
A Really Raunchy Read? But That's Not Another Story by Rogeri
“Written strictly tongue-in-cheek with a large dose of poetic license coupled with pulp fiction overtones and underlying black comedy,” is how author Rogeri (his pen name) describes his recently published book.
But That’s Not Another Story is an offbeat tale of interconnected stories involving a variety of far-fetched scenarios laced with charmless characters. Each chapter’s chain of events gradually evolves, leading to the next extreme set of circumstances as a result of a telephone call.
Interspersed with sexual situations of a mixed nature (although such scenes are composed in the best possible taste!) the chapters are accompanied by an illustration for the purpose of illuminating each opening scenario.
The storyline ultimately completes a full circle, leading to the opening chapter’s character’s dire set of circumstances that result in a dramatic and conclusive ending.
Having been an avid reader at an early age and encouraged by an English teacher, creative writing in one form or another became one of the author’s prime hobbies. In the case of this novel, a sketch he made during a particular lunchtime whilst at work, as depicted in the first chapter, ultimately transpired itself into this completed and illustrated manuscript masterpiece!
An extract from But That’s Not Another Story is available to read at www.authorsonline.co.uk.
ISBN: 0755206819
RRP: £9.95
Imprint: Authors Online
But That’s Not Another Story is an offbeat tale of interconnected stories involving a variety of far-fetched scenarios laced with charmless characters. Each chapter’s chain of events gradually evolves, leading to the next extreme set of circumstances as a result of a telephone call.
Interspersed with sexual situations of a mixed nature (although such scenes are composed in the best possible taste!) the chapters are accompanied by an illustration for the purpose of illuminating each opening scenario.
The storyline ultimately completes a full circle, leading to the opening chapter’s character’s dire set of circumstances that result in a dramatic and conclusive ending.
Having been an avid reader at an early age and encouraged by an English teacher, creative writing in one form or another became one of the author’s prime hobbies. In the case of this novel, a sketch he made during a particular lunchtime whilst at work, as depicted in the first chapter, ultimately transpired itself into this completed and illustrated manuscript masterpiece!
An extract from But That’s Not Another Story is available to read at www.authorsonline.co.uk.
ISBN: 0755206819
RRP: £9.95
Imprint: Authors Online
Sunday, 27 November 2011
Anya - A Thriller Based In The Shady World Of Car Dealers
Anya by R J DeLittle
Paperback £9.99
Anya is a complex, multi-themed thriller based in the milieu of an historic car dealership.
Vintage cars, beautiful women and a thriving business - Rick Manners has them all. He owns a successful historic car dealership, which runs smoothly with the help of his loyal Girl Friday, Sam Warrenne, and his raunchy good looks ensure he's never without a girlfriend. But when Rick meets the stunning Anya, he can't help wondering if she could be the one - and as Sam falls in love with aristocratic Bugatti owner Bruno Thierry, it looks as if each of them has found the perfect match.
But the discovery of a neglected Mercedes in a French barn sparks a series of shocking events, as long-buried race hatred is kindled and Rick and Sam's idyll is shattered by a burglary, a stalker - and someone with the drive to commit murder.
R J de Little has worked as a professional investor and company director, while indulging his passion for vintage and veteran cars. He owns and runs eight historic cars, the oldest dating from 1898. He lives in a converted Victorian gas works in Bolney, Sussex with a 27-foot windmill in the garden. Windmills are another passion in his life, and he has published several books about them and their history
A wealth of technical detail will delight historic-car enthusiasts and racing fans. It is reported that the film rights have been optioned.
The book is published by The Book Guild. www.bookguild.co.uk
Paperback £9.99
Anya is a complex, multi-themed thriller based in the milieu of an historic car dealership.
Vintage cars, beautiful women and a thriving business - Rick Manners has them all. He owns a successful historic car dealership, which runs smoothly with the help of his loyal Girl Friday, Sam Warrenne, and his raunchy good looks ensure he's never without a girlfriend. But when Rick meets the stunning Anya, he can't help wondering if she could be the one - and as Sam falls in love with aristocratic Bugatti owner Bruno Thierry, it looks as if each of them has found the perfect match.
But the discovery of a neglected Mercedes in a French barn sparks a series of shocking events, as long-buried race hatred is kindled and Rick and Sam's idyll is shattered by a burglary, a stalker - and someone with the drive to commit murder.
R J de Little has worked as a professional investor and company director, while indulging his passion for vintage and veteran cars. He owns and runs eight historic cars, the oldest dating from 1898. He lives in a converted Victorian gas works in Bolney, Sussex with a 27-foot windmill in the garden. Windmills are another passion in his life, and he has published several books about them and their history
A wealth of technical detail will delight historic-car enthusiasts and racing fans. It is reported that the film rights have been optioned.
The book is published by The Book Guild. www.bookguild.co.uk
Saturday, 26 November 2011
Phillipa Knickerbocker Glory And The Ice Cream Castle By Sarahjane Funnell
Published by Gibson Publishing
Price: £6.99
Available: Monday 26th March 2012 from Waterstones and other leading book stores
Phillipa Knickerbocker Glory is a beautifully illustrated children's picture book targeted towards the 3-6-age range and is the debut picture book by published Children's Author Sarahjane Funnell.
Phillipa loves ice cream. She loves ice cream almost as much as she loves her pet cat Little Miss Whiskers. Little Miss Whiskers is her fluffy white cat with a purple collar and bell. She doesn't like ice cream at all but loves nothing more than to curl up into a ball and fall fast asleep on the end of Phillipa's bed.
One day Phillipa Knickerbocker Glory and Little Miss Whiskers embark on a deliciously exciting journey. Through a secret tunnel, they enter a magical dreamland where they find the Ice Cream Castle and discover every flavour of ice cream imaginable. The Ice Cream Castle seems like a dream come true but will it be just how Phillipa imagined? With all that ice cream, will she and Little Miss Whiskers ever want to go home?
Find out just what happens in this deliciously delightful adventure...
Price: £6.99
Available: Monday 26th March 2012 from Waterstones and other leading book stores
Phillipa Knickerbocker Glory is a beautifully illustrated children's picture book targeted towards the 3-6-age range and is the debut picture book by published Children's Author Sarahjane Funnell.
Phillipa loves ice cream. She loves ice cream almost as much as she loves her pet cat Little Miss Whiskers. Little Miss Whiskers is her fluffy white cat with a purple collar and bell. She doesn't like ice cream at all but loves nothing more than to curl up into a ball and fall fast asleep on the end of Phillipa's bed.
One day Phillipa Knickerbocker Glory and Little Miss Whiskers embark on a deliciously exciting journey. Through a secret tunnel, they enter a magical dreamland where they find the Ice Cream Castle and discover every flavour of ice cream imaginable. The Ice Cream Castle seems like a dream come true but will it be just how Phillipa imagined? With all that ice cream, will she and Little Miss Whiskers ever want to go home?
Find out just what happens in this deliciously delightful adventure...
The Man who Planted Trees
The Man Who Planted Trees is a thoroughly enchanting book by Jean Giono. The book is charmingly illustrated by Vanessa Capela.
Who was Jean Giono? He was born in 1895 to an ordinary family of somewhat modest means in Manosque, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence in France.
He started working in a bank when he became 16, but he continued with his deep and abiding passion for reading the great classical works of literature.
At the outbreak of the Great War he left the bank as he was called up for military duty.
The dreadful suffering he witnessed during his time during that terrible war turned him into a life-long pacifist.
A year after the end of the war, 1919, he returned to his duties at the bank. Within a year he had married a childhood sweetheart and together they had two children.
Success as a novelist came to him when, in 1929, he published his first novel, Colline. A year later he left the bank, this time for good, concentrating on writing full-time.
He went on to write 30 novels, numerous stories and essays.
The book for which he is probably best known for outside his native France is this book, The Man Who Planted Trees.
It's a charming, optimistic and hopeful story which relates how a man brings a deserted valley back to life by simply planting trees in it.
It reflects the lifelong love that he had of the natural world and his concerns pre-date the fashionable green movement by many decades.
This book is a masterpiece of storytelling. It is another book I shall recommend as a Christmas present.
You simply must read this book. As for me? I think I shall plant a tree, or three... In fact, if your buy this book, a tree has already been planted for you.
It is published by Far Away books www.farfarawaybooks.com
Who was Jean Giono? He was born in 1895 to an ordinary family of somewhat modest means in Manosque, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence in France.
He started working in a bank when he became 16, but he continued with his deep and abiding passion for reading the great classical works of literature.
At the outbreak of the Great War he left the bank as he was called up for military duty.
The dreadful suffering he witnessed during his time during that terrible war turned him into a life-long pacifist.
A year after the end of the war, 1919, he returned to his duties at the bank. Within a year he had married a childhood sweetheart and together they had two children.
Success as a novelist came to him when, in 1929, he published his first novel, Colline. A year later he left the bank, this time for good, concentrating on writing full-time.
He went on to write 30 novels, numerous stories and essays.
The book for which he is probably best known for outside his native France is this book, The Man Who Planted Trees.
It's a charming, optimistic and hopeful story which relates how a man brings a deserted valley back to life by simply planting trees in it.
It reflects the lifelong love that he had of the natural world and his concerns pre-date the fashionable green movement by many decades.
This book is a masterpiece of storytelling. It is another book I shall recommend as a Christmas present.
You simply must read this book. As for me? I think I shall plant a tree, or three... In fact, if your buy this book, a tree has already been planted for you.
It is published by Far Away books www.farfarawaybooks.com
Deep Water. A Cate Carlisle Files novel
Cate Carlisle receives a worried and, to be honest, rather frantic phone call from her boyfriend Michael in Australia.
Michael is working at a special marine sanctuary that, for no known reason, has become over-run with sharks. But these are no ordinary sharks. They are hyper-aggressive, and pose a very real and very lethal danger to not only the animal denizens of the marine sanctuary, but to the human population, too.
For some reason the authorities seem reluctant or unwilling to provide any assistance at all.
So Cate decides to step in to see exactly what she can do to help put things right. She soon discovers that she needs all of her natural quick wits and the expert help of her computer genius brother and her glamorous friends to avert an ecological catastrophe of immense proportions!
But all is not what it seems. Who can Cate trust? Is everyone quite who or what they appear to be? Someone, a boy, has vanished in mysterious circumstances. What is the meaning of the strange, shadowy figures and the mysterious lights that seem to be haunting the ocean?
Deep Water is an ideal teen read and will make a super Christmas present. It is published by Piccadilly Press in paperback at £6.99. www.piccadillypress.co.uk ISBN 978-1-84812-155-3.
Michael is working at a special marine sanctuary that, for no known reason, has become over-run with sharks. But these are no ordinary sharks. They are hyper-aggressive, and pose a very real and very lethal danger to not only the animal denizens of the marine sanctuary, but to the human population, too.
For some reason the authorities seem reluctant or unwilling to provide any assistance at all.
So Cate decides to step in to see exactly what she can do to help put things right. She soon discovers that she needs all of her natural quick wits and the expert help of her computer genius brother and her glamorous friends to avert an ecological catastrophe of immense proportions!
But all is not what it seems. Who can Cate trust? Is everyone quite who or what they appear to be? Someone, a boy, has vanished in mysterious circumstances. What is the meaning of the strange, shadowy figures and the mysterious lights that seem to be haunting the ocean?
Deep Water is an ideal teen read and will make a super Christmas present. It is published by Piccadilly Press in paperback at £6.99. www.piccadillypress.co.uk ISBN 978-1-84812-155-3.
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