The Secret Scrolls

The Secret Scrolls is a new novel by a Church of England Priest, Sonia Falaschi-Ray. Originally trained as an engineer she has also worked as a City investment analyst and is now a Church of England Priest and a published author.

The Secret Scrolls tells the story of historian Verity Hunter who has discovered a chest hidden for two Millennia in a catacomb in Sicily.

When she opens the chest she is astounded to find that it is stuffed with documents.

Together with a classicist colleague, Crispian Goodman, they work feverishly to translate the documents and put them back before anyone else becomes aware of their existence.

Once the content is revealed, there develops a major fight for possession of the documents and the information that they contain.

For they are of great doctrinally sensitivity. And it is for this reason that the Catholic Church believes they should be transferred to the Vatican to ensure that they are taken into safe custody, as it were.

The director of the catacombs wants them kept for a tourist attraction, historians and theologians want them for their historical data and someone who is charged with their restoration is fully aware of their true financial value.

However, who is the mysterious Russian private collector of religious artefacts and relics? And does he really have links with the Mafia?

But. Are the genuine? And if they are, what is the likely outcome of their existence?

The book is exciting and the story is propelled along with pace, but not excessive speed, thankfully!

But as well as being exciting and entertaining it does something Dan Brown has never done in his works. It is genuinely thought-provoking.

So this book out Dan Browns Dan Brown!

It costs £9.99 and can be bought via the That's Book and Entertainment bookshop which you will find to the right hand side of this book review.

The Truth in Fiction

The Truth in Fiction is a collection of short stories by a highly skilled author, Peter Crawley.

A decade ago Peter's sister-in-law was undergoing stem cell transplant therapy whilst she had leukaemia.

As a way of helping to keep her mind occupied, Peter wrote her some short stories.

Over time he wrote more short stories and eventually, these grew into The Truth in Fiction.

There are 18 stories, all written within the last decade.

We read of the story of Padraig, in 'A Prodigious Epiphany for Padraig. This story was written in Santiago de Compostela, after the compeltion of walking the Camino de Santiago.

Why is Padraig taking this walk? Why did he have to say then Hail Marys? And why does he have a scar on the palm of one had?

Other stories are set in a variety of locations including  London, ("I Know" is a particularly poignant story) Geneva, and New Zealand.

At £9.99 this is a must have book for those who enjoy their stories short and capable of casting illumination upon the human condition.

You can buy it at the That's Books and Entertainment bookshop, which is to the right hand side of this review.

The Frog in the Skyscraper

The Frog in the Skyscraper is a wonderful book for children superbly written by Faiz Kremani and skilfully illustrated by Korey Scott.

It tells the story of Frijibold who is a frog in a million, to be honest.

Not for Frijibold the common lilly pad for his accommodation! Because he wants to live in a skyscraper!

He was bored with his life in the pond in the centre of New York.

Oh, no! Not more of the "singing" of his elderly uncle  Krustnut? Exactly how much could a young frog take?

He decided that he would leave his relatives and friends to their life in the pond. Because he wanted to become a dweller in a skyscraper with the humans!

He obtains a luxury apartment in Shark Fin Towers and then everything seems to start happening all at once!

Add some crazed TV presenters, and ambitious property developers and his life becomes one long, action-filled adventure.

But would he tire of this great adventure? Would he begin to pine for his pond life? And would he ever taste another mouthful of Mrs Bogel's spicy fried fly pizza?

It is published by Matador at £9.99.

This is a great book for adults and children and you can buy it at the That's Books and Entertainment bookshop to the right hand side of this review.

At Night You Sleep Alone

At Night You Sleep Alone is a new novel by Parkash Sohal. It is his first novel in English, having written novels previously in Punjabi and Hindi.

The novel is set in India in the 1960s. It relates the story of a love that was born in the innocence of the young.

It is a happy, idyllic love between two soulmates, Parkash and Nirmal who knew that they were destined to be together forever.

However, Nirmal's mother, who is a politician, takes a decision, apparently a tiny one, that sets of a chain of events that spell disaster for both Parkash and Nirmal.

It causes Nirmsal to be forced into a life that is horrendously different from what she could ever have imagined. And unfortunately there is no place her soulmate, Parkash, in this, her new life.

It seems now that Nirmal's life must depend entirely upon the fanciers and whims of her mother.

But what will her mother do? Tend to the needs of her daughter? Save the honour of her daughter?  Or sacrifice her daughter to her own political career?

A couple of decades pass and eventually an older and wiser Parkash is suddenly faced by his own past and by what he had thought would be his destiny.

But could there be salvation? Could the past be re-imagined as the future? Could there, after all these years, be even one glimmer of hope for the love story of Nirmal and Parkash?

Your reviewer will not reveal any more, but suffice to say that he was left with several tears in his eye at the end of this beautifully and sensitively written book.

It is published by Matador at £8.99 and is available for purchase through the That's Books and Entertainment online shop, which you will find to the right hand side of this review.

Never Trust Professors

Never Trust Professors, Life and Death on Campus, is a novel by Donald Read.

Now, I say that is is a novel, but it seems as if it might make uncomfortable reading for some professors as it looks to be a little too close to the truth of saome of our higher seats of academe!

Blackchester University is a somewhat troubled place. There are problems on campus that are making life harder for both students and staff members.

The English and History departments are in a state of war, with the Professors of each department battling and bickering over student numbers and how to increase them.

And, once they have more students, they might like to work out a way to stop the female students falling in love, not only with their fellow students but with the teaching staff. Including the married ones.

And you know what journalists are like. Even a whiff of a sexual scandal at a university gets the prurient side of their dander up and you can almost write the headlines in your mind's eye now, can't you?

And parents read those headlines in the morning papers and fret and worry about what might be happening near or (God forbid!) to their precious little innocent child!

But who can the parents trust for a straight answer? Certainly not the professors for, as the headlines scream: "Never Trust Professors!"

The Daily Express even has a reporter embedded (if you'll pardon that expression!) in the campus.

But what about the stories behind the headlines? The truth behind the common room gossip, the veiled looks and tutting as a certain person walked by?

And what of those who should have known better, but acted as though they didn't?

What happens when a married woman becomes pregnant and the likelihood is that she has been impregnated by a professor? But unfortunately not the professor she is married to.

What would the press make of this scandal? And what of the poor innocent baby in all this muddle and drama?

And what happens when the situation escalates to outright violence?

The book is a satire, true, but it is very sensitively and thoughtfully written by a Professor of History who, like your reviewer when at university heard rumours and saw some rather strange goings on.

The book is £17.99 in hardback and is published by The Book Guild.

Becoming a Tree Poems 2007 - 2015

Becoming a Tree 2007 - 2015 is an anthology of the poetic writings of James Graham.

It is an interesting and eminently readable collection of poems from a poet who is clearly a deep and very perceptive person.

There are poems that are terrifying, others that are uplifting, some that are amusing, whilst there are some that are wacky and just a little bit off the wall.

Pathos, hope, glory, love, joy, fear, horror, humorous: To quote a saying of several years ago it can be truly said of the collected works of James Graham that: "All Human Life is Here."

Becoming a Tree, for example, takes as the genesis of the poem a quotation from Walt Whitman: "There was a child went forth every day,
And the first object he look'd upon, that object he became."

To become a squirrel and to become a tree... what a glorious thing that would be.

The poems are well though through and perfectly executed and perfectly realised.

I can heartily recommend this collection of poems.

It is published by Matador at a very reasonable £8.99 and is available from the That's Books and Entertainment online bookshop, along with Clairvoyance: Selected Poems 1990-2007 by James Graham, and hundreds of other books and DVDs of poetry.

His Life Was Revenge

His Life Was Revenge is a new crime thriller of a novel by a retired police detective Jonathan S. Harvey.

It tells the story of Adam, a former special forces soldier.

He learns of a brutal Brighton crime family who, it seems, can get away with everything, including torture and murder of innocent members of the public. without any fear of retribution or justice.

Adam decides if the law cannot, or will not, do anything about this sick crime family, then he will.

He joins forces with a former comrade and he researches the murky and deep underworld of the criminal fraternity of Brighton.

And decides to eradicate them one, by one, with each member of the gang to be dispatched in diabolical fashions.

However, it becomes obvious that a corrupt member of the detective force is attempting to help the gang discover who is targeting its members and to apprehend him.

But is everything exactly as it seems? And can revenge ever be fully justified, even if the target is an evil, wicked criminal gang?

The book is published by The Book Guild at £10.99 and is an exciting, gripping thrilling crime novel.

It is available via The That's Book and Entertainment online bookshop, which you will find on the right hand side of this book review, along with hundreds of other crime novels, DVDs, etc.

Transform Your Communication Skills Speak, Write, Present with confidence

Transform Your Communication Skills Speak, Write, Present with confidence is a book created by a master of the craft Steve Bridger.

The book aims to assist you to get where you need to be, where you should be, by stimulating positive personal change.

It distils the wisdom of 11 professional coaching experts and its aim is to develop your speaking, writing and presentational skills.

It promises positive outcomes in not only your professional life but also in your personal life.

It is a practical self-help book which imparts the vital knowledge and information in a fashion that is more conversational than most, eschewing the usual hard to understand managerial flannel that can, rather ironically, bedevil many books on improving communication skills.

You can learn to cope better with nerves before speaking engagements, learn how to craft presentations that will engage your audiences time-after-time. And how to develop writing skills that will enable you to produce clear, concise and effective communications whenever you need them.

The key selling point of this book is that it is not just one voice that you will hear, with only one viewpoint, you will hear from a total combination of 11 specialists who will be sharing with you their expertise, knowledge and experience in the 220 pages.

You'll learn about a wide range and variety of subjects, including NLP, how to make the best and most effective use of social media, and online presentation techniques and presentational skills from an outfit that employs professional actors to "work magic" on nervous or inexperienced participants.

The different voices combine to create a range of diverse yet dynamic knowledge resource.

It costs a very reasonable £9.95 from Matador and is an utterly indispensable book that should be in the resource library of any businessman, businesswoman and entrepreneur.

It is available from the That's Books and Entertainment bookshop, along with hundreds of other business books and DVDs. The bookshop will be found to the right hand side of this book review.

Ripples in a Pond

Ripples in a Pond is the début novel by Educational Psychologist and teacher Sheila Shaw.

It tells the story of retired deputy head teacher Sarah Chilton.

She is very proud of her son, Jamie. He is far ahead of his fellow pupils in a number of subjects such as reading and writing and general knowledge.

She is confident that Jamie will sail through school without a care in the world.

But, somehow, during Year Two, it all began to rapidly and catastrophically wrong.

It becomes clear that, although he is of above average intelligence, his social skills are lacking,

He begins to fall behind his peers and begins to show problems with following instructions and he finds it hard to relate to his classmates.

Unfortunately they encourage his erratic and strange behaviour and his teachers merely dismiss  him as being difficult, rude and disruptive.

But Sarah cannot believe this of her son who had, at least initially, shown such promise.

She endeavours to discover what has happened to Jamie and what is causing his erratic behaviour.

Sheila explains: "Children with social communication disorders (or semantic/pragmatic) are very often misunderstood. They all too often end up with an inadequate education, find they have problems and difficulties in their communications and interactions with other people.

"As a result in later life they can find it harder to sustain employment. I believe that raising awareness of this issue within the community is of vital importance. I think that this novel should be on the bookshelf of every teacher and ever doctor."

This book is published on March 28 and is published by Matador at £9.99.

It can be pre-ordered at the That's Books and Entertainment bookshop which you will find to the right hand side of this book review. That's Books and Entertainment concurs with Sheila Shaw, this book does belong on the bookshelves of all teachers and doctors.

Sandra and the Flying Elephants of Belfast

Sandra and the Flying Elephants of Belfast is a wonderful biographical book by Darrin Wedlock.

The book tells the story of Darrin's mother, Sandra, and how she coped with the Belfast Blitz.

When her father left the family home in Northern Ireland to fight against the Nazi German army he gives his daughter an order. He charges her with the important job of looking after her mother and her little brother, Billy.

She sets to the task with great gusto, but she has to do this against a backdrop of the Nazi blitz that severely damaged Belfast, being strafed by the Germans, nearly drowning, but fortuitously saved by a Gypsy, getting burns and also suffering the ignominy of having her hair turn green!

The book that Darrin has written is filled with moments of high drama (such as being strafed by a Luftwaffe pilot) but also the ordinary and the mundane events and the funny and amusing happenings that run together to make up a person's life.

In this case the life of his mother Sandra. The family, including grandparents, were close and they looked out for each other, especially during times of danger, such as the blitz aimed at destroying the docks and the Harland and Wolff yards.

Only this time the house of Sandra's family was subject to a direct hit, luckily when the family were out of the house. But even so, they lost everything, not even one piece of crockery survived.

The book has some lovely photographs that certainly made much to the stories contained in it.

The family moved to a cottage in Bangor which was owned by an aunt where Sandra made friends with a sickly rat.

Did her dad return safely? And as for what a flying elephant might be and why there is a picture of Sandra on board a ship, you will have to stump up your £8.99 to find out.

The book is published by Matador and is available through the that's Books Bookshop, just look for it on the right hand side of this review.

Gnomes an adult 'airy tale

What happens when worlds collide?

When the world of the modern, physical realm and the world of the realm of magic collide?

Well, you'd expect all sorts of mayhem to start happening. And you would be right.

For that is the starting point of the book Gnomes an adult 'airy tale, from author Paul J. Elliot.

James and Alison Allison had a perfectly normal and perfectly happy life together.

Well, that was the case until, well, until the Gnomes turned up.

The Gnomes. Happy go-lucky  little chaps (well, with one notable exception, of course!) who live with a Princess and work down the mine, right?

Wrong. Very wrong. For these Gnomes are not friendly or happy go-lucky little chaps.

These Gnomes take over the home of James and Alison and spread misery and destruction as if they were frightened they might be going on ration any time soon.

There is Cedric, who is a philosophical and compassionate sort of chap, Joshua (who is grumpy by nature, if not by name), there is Archbald who is inventive and quite clever.

Then there is Florence (who flirts. Perhaps a bit too much?) and Ernest who is moody and a bit touched and his wife who is very bored and perhaps also board as she is as thick as one.

But why are the Gnomes really there? What, as every good method actor wants to know, is their motive?

Are they there to just have a good time by stirring things up and generally causing a whole lot of chaos and consuming vast quantities of alcohol?

But what if there is a different, rather more sinister motive for their presence, for their behaviour?

And exactly how much devastation could they bring about?

(EDITOR: Please note this is, as the title states, a tale for adults)

It is available via the That's Books and Entertainment book shop, you'll find it to the right of this review.)

"The Dwelling" The poems of Eleanor Zuercher

"The Dwelling" The poems of Eleanor Zuercher is a collection of highly evocative poems that are aimed at assisting those people who are on a spiritual quest or a spiritual journey. No matter what their faith.

The author takes as the source of inspiration poetry in the classical Anglican tradition, plus it combines other influences such as ecclesiastical architecture, texts from the Bible and also the English countryside.

The result is something that is both wonderful and highly inspirational.

It examines the human soul, the existence and the assistance of God. Which might, sometimes, not be what one is expecting but is, however, what one truly needs and what one will benefit from, more.

It brings concepts to mind that might not have previously come to our attention. For example, we look at how prayer can serve as the punctuation of our day, (page 48) or read such thoughtful and quite brilliant poems as Sound II in Winchester Cathedral (page 9) or the somewhat ethereally charged An Affectionate Appreciation of the Churches of the West Buckingham Benefice (page 11) which is both edifying and uplifting.

On the face of it, this poem is An Affectionate Appreciation of the Churches of the West Buckingham Benefice, but when one reads it and studies it, one will appreciate the subtle undertexts that playfully illuminate this poem from within.

Indeed, all of these poems are playfully illuminated from within.

Published by Matador at £7.99 this book of poems would be a boon and a benefit to any bookcase, be it a person who is a believer or otherwise.

It is the opinion of this reviewer that every church and chapel in the land should buy at least four copies of this wonderful book of poems. Perhaps more, as they will make a fine resource for people who are seeking spiritual enlightenment or spiritual comfort.

It is, of course, available through our bookshop, just to the right of this review.

The Dreams of the Black Butterfly

The Dreams of the Black Butterfly is a fantasy novel by Mark James Barrett.

It tells the story of Moises Quispe who has heard rumours and reports that there could well exist a Black Butterfly that resides in the jingles of Peru.

With its wings of velvety black, with a span of two feet across, it lives in the jungle that is under threat of destruction of the chainsaws of the loggers.

Why does Moises want to track down this elusive Black Butterfly?

Is it the reward of a million Nuevo Sol that is offered by the mysterious Mr Dollie?

Or are there other calls upon Moises, that compel him to seek out the Butterfly that might, or might not exist in the dark nights of the jungles of Peru?

But what is the purpose of the Black Butterfly? What terrifying messages does it carry for humanity?

This book is available from Matador at the price of £8.99 and can be bought through the That's Books bookshop, which is to be found on the right side of this review.

Mutable Passions

Mutable Passions is a new novel by a novelist about another novelist. One of the greatest English novelists of the last 200 years, Charlotte Bronte.

April 21st is the bicentenary of the birth of Charlotte Bronte.

But author Philip Dent poses some interesting questions about Charlotte Bronte.

What, exactly, do we know about Charlotte Bronte?

What, for example, do we know of the experiences of Charlotte Bronte in regards to love in her own life?

During her life Charlotte Bronte knew of the pains and problems of poor health, insomnia and of an extreme form of loneliness.

At the time of this novel, her siblings were all dead and Charlotte had the distinction or honour (dubious though this might be)  of being her father's sole companion at the parsonage.

But all was to change for Charlotte! For this novel is based on the true life facts of the situation that saw Charlotte Bronte wooed, courted and married by her suitor Arthur Nicholls.

The novel is a compelling, evocative and sensitive examination of what happened to Charlotte Bronte when the fictional knowledge of love that she had written about became, for her, an exciting, vibrant reality.

The author takes the known facts of the situation and brings to life an imaginary, but utterly realistic, real life story of what happened when Charlotte Bronte threw off the mantel of Victorian spinster and placed upon her head, instead, that of a Victorian wedding bonnet.

This delightful book is published by Matador at £8.99 and is, of course, available via the That's Books and Entertainment bookshop which you will find to the right of this book review.

It will make an ideal gift for the Bronte fan, Why not buy a copy and put it away until Christmas?