Libby at the Botanic Gardens

Libby at the Botanic Gardens is a charming book by Basabi Banerjee.

It tells, for children and the adults in their life, the story of Libby the Labrador.

Libby was born in Australia but moved to Singapore to be with her new family.

Libby lived with her Mum, her Dad and Tipper and Ricky.

And they enjoyed living in Singapore, known as "the city within a garden" so she had lots of lovely walks.

One day a magic palm tree gives Libby a very precious, special gift. This leads to some wonderful walks and a exiting adventure in the Botanic Gardens.

In just one morning Libby learns to dance, foils a cruel bully and befriends some very special heritage trees.

Of course, Libby then wants to relate all of these wonderful tales to her new friend, the palm tree.

This book is illustrated by the skilful hand of Jeffrey Seow, an artist and illustrator with 30 years of experience.

The book is hard back and large format and costs £7.99.

It is published by The Book Guild and is available via the That's Books an d Entertainment bookshop. You'll find it to the right of this review.

A Sister's Crusade

A Sister's Crusade is a historical novel set in the times of the Crusades.

Written by novelist Ann Turner (author of Heartsease) tA Siater's Crusade tells the story of two sisters, Aubrette and Rowena. However, they grow to maturity unaware that they are related, that they are, in fact, sisters.

Rowena meets the man who is destined to become her future husband, Simon Fitzroy, who is one of the illegitimate offspring of King Henry II.

However, that day was to be a fateful day for other reasons, as it was also on that day that Aubrette discovers that they are related. That they are, actually, daughters of the local lord.

Aubrette stays with her sister, even serving as her maid after Rowena becomes married.

There is an incident that is most tragic and, Aubrette becomes the secret lover of Simon, her sister's husband.

Her sister is kept in the dark about the affair, until Aubrette becomes pregnant by her lover.

After the child is born, the baby boy is taken away from Aubrette and is given to Rowena for her to raise as her own child.

Aubrette, who thought that Simon was truly in love with her, was married, however unwillingly, to Hugh, who is a companion to Duke Richard who is a loyal and faithful friend of Simon.

However, when the King dies, Richard I succeeds him to the throne and he journeys with Simon to the Holy Land for a Crusade.

Aubrette and Rowena accompany them on the long, perilous journey as attendants to Queen Berengaria, Richard's wife, who has not been given the attention that is due to the wife of the King.

There are a whole series of calamitous and traumatic events that beset them and Simon marries Aubrette in Cyprus, before they return to England.

Now back at home, Aubrette believes she has settled into a life of comfortable domesticity. Life, it seems, is perfect.

Or is it? Can a threat from an enemy from a totally unexpected quarter spell ruin for her happiness?

This book is destined to become a classic of its genre.

It costs £9.99 and is published by Matador and is available through the That's Books and Entertainment bookshop, the portal to which is to the right side of this review.

A Stitch in Time

A Stitch in Time is the début novel from new author Ian Murray-Watson.

It relates the story of how a group of research scientists hidden away in a remote part of rural Wales are involved in a project which, unbeknown to them, has the capacity to destroy time itself, thus destroying the entire universe as it is known to us. And the rest of its inhabitants, also.

Unfortunately the Gods are, due to their somewhat restrictive terms of reference, unable to offer any interference to stop the cataclysmic events that the scientists are about to unleash  upon the universe.

However, what the Gods can do is they can send a special envoy to the dream world, Astralia, to seek help.

The inhabitants of Astralia, the Astralians, make the offer to send agents to the world. Unfortunately when these agents arrive it is usual that they have no clue about why they were dispatched to the world.

However, back in reality, or what is passing for reality at the moment, the leader of the scientific team, Tom, meets up with Lucy, who is the woman of his dreams.

And, true to the ways of the world, they fall in love. Or do they? And do they really, really have any idea of who they are, in reality?

Reality as we understand it starts to disintegrate. So can they, or anyone for that matter, really step in to save the universe? Yes or no? Or is the answer more complicated than that?

The novel is challenging, intriguing and exceptionally well written and is a worthy début novel.

It is published by Matador at £10.99 in paperback and is available through the That's News and Entertainment bookshop, which you will find to the right hand side of this review.

Rebel Without a Clue

Rebel Without a Clue is a memoir by Janet Green.

Janet was a social worker and a senior one, at that.

However, the pathway that Janet took to this position in her life, both professional and personal was just a little unusual and just a tad interesting, though that's probably an understatement, to be honest.

The memoir begins in the 1950s.

On the first page we find that Janet was more than a little bit stoned as she began her first gig as a stripper in a less-than-salubrious pub in Hackney.

She points out that at age 27 she should, probably, have been married to a Jewish accountant, had a couple of children, perhaps with another on the way. And maybe living in Croydon.

But, instead, there she was a dope smoking, stripping lesbian.

Her first gig was a little nervous as one would expect, but it went over quite well. As far as she could tell.

But how did she end up there?

Her family life was troubled, she was sexually abused at 14 and entered into a range of jobs from stripping to nude modelling, nursing, shop worker, secretary, student and finally a social worker.

She lived in a hippy commune, went from relationship to relationship, was a mother best described as "mad" and now, after her retirement, she decided to write her memoirs.

As an apparently respectable spinster (Janet's description) her friends were surprised at her decision to write her memoirs. After all, they thought, what had she got to write about?

Well, now they know!

Janet was a person of the swinging sixties, free love, sexual experimentation, hash smoking, the pain of discovering that her sister had been subjected to sexual abuse by their father during her childhood.

And how she finally managed to get it all together to become no less of a rebel but far more clued than she had been.

This is a very interesting book that probably tells something of  the stories of many people who lived through the swinging sixties. But thankfully Janet had the courage and the ability to tell her story.

It is published by Matador in paperback at £9.99.

It is available from the Thats Books and Entertainment bookshop, which you'll find to the right of this review.

The Mole Man Part 2

The Mole Man Part 2 is a continuation of The Mole Man books by author Gerry Rose.

The village of Umbridge in Berkshire is a lovely, happy, pretty village.

They are celebrating winning the Best Village in Bloom competition and the mayor of Umbridge, the Honourable Lancelot Stevenson OBE, should be a very happy and pleased man.

But he isn't. And with very good reason. For some time previously a village boy vanished, never to be seen again.

But then, something incredible happens. Another boy disappears, but he is found again.

And what is happening beneath the land just outside the boundary of the village?

Are the stories of strange, giant creatures living in a subterranean lair just a myth? Or is there some truth behind these tales?

The mayor is desperate to solve the case and fellow villagers Benjamin Crew and his smart friend Paula Gladstone are also eager to discover the truth of what happened and what might be happening.

But what, exactly, are Billy and Dave up to in the village woods at night? What are they doing? What might they find lurking there? Or what might find them?

And what was the significance of the next full moon? And who or what was it significant for?

This book is written for children aged 9 to 11 and it is published in paperback by The Book Guild at £9.99.

That is to say if they can prize this eminently readable book from the hands of the adults in their lives!

The Mole Man Part 2 and the Mole Man Part 1 are both available from the That's Books and Entertainment book shop, which you will find to the right hand side of this book review.

Rolo

Rolo is a book by drama teacher and new author Lawrence Prestidge.

It tells the story of a little boy called Max.

Max lives with is auntie, his uncle and his cousin, all members of the Whitfield family.

Sadly, the Whitfield trio are not the loving family that Max knows he wants and deserves.

Eventually, tired of being bossed around by them, he decides to run away to hide himself in the forest.

But! Max could not have known that the forest was the home to a large creature. A very large creature indeed.

Because the forest is the home to a nine foot tall Walpertinger!

Although the Walpetinger (who is called Rolo) looks extremely ferocious and frightening, he is really a very gentle natured soul and soon the two become firm friends.

But the two have not counted on the Whitfields! Despite their natural fear of the forest and all its inhabitants, the hatch a plot to enter the forest and recapture poor Max and return him to a miserable life of deprivation and slavery!

They devise a cruel and devious plot to force Max to return to a life of horror as their slave, but first they must outwit Rolo who is determined to save his new friend from the clutches of the evil Whitfields!

It's a fantastic tale with some wonderful illustrations by G. William, it's ideal  for children and adults to read together or alone. It is published by Matador at £7.99 in paperback.

It's available from the Thats Books and Entertainment bookshop, you'll find the entrance to the bookshop just to the right side of this review.

The Horch and the Rotterdam ingots

In The Horch and the Rotterdam Ingots, former detective and armed guard at a prime ministerial residence in East Sussex, author R. W. Strachan tells the compelling and exciting tale of four Wehrmacht officers who are given the task of removing in excess of 4,000 gold ingots from the vaults of a bank in Rotterdam.

The temptation they face is far too much And, well, who will miss the 40 ingots that they decide to liberate from the hoard?

They decided to stash these ingots in a secret safety deposit box in a bank in neutral Switzerland for their use after the hostilities were over.

However, this operation to free the golden 40 is taking place during the trying conditions of the Second World War and the final ten gold ingots never make it to their destination.

Their fate is to be stashed away, in secret, within the hollow chassis of a German officer's staff car, a Horsch.

70 years after these events a young English oil executive by the name of Calum Breffit finds himself working for a Texas-based oil firm in ther office in Baku, the capital city of Azerbaijan.

Whilst on a trip to the town of Kharkov in the Ukraine, Calum's car fails and he finds it necessary to seek the shelter of a farm in a remote rural area.

Within the buildings of the farm complex he discovers the abandoned Horch, covered in tarpaulins. The staff car still bore its official swastika pennants and bore enough traces of its sinister past to make it obvious what its original purpose had been.

Calum decides that he is going to rebuild this car and, as he starts to work on the car he begins to uncover the troubled backstory of of the vehicle, discovering links with the defeat of the German armies at Stalingrad and he discovers that the past has a way of linking to the present day, often in ways that involve one's own present in a way that was very unexpected.

This is an intriguing and charming tale and is published by The Book Guild at £8.99 in paperback.

It's on sale via the Thats Books and Entertainment online bookshop, the portal of which is to be found on the righthand side of this review.

The Mind-Forged Sword

The Mind-Forged Sword is an intriguing book (in hardback) by Richard Hughes.

It teachers readers how they should be able to derive principles from a wide range of different situations.

How we can then use study and reflection to refine them so that we may then be able to apply them to future situations.

Richard also uses his writings to mine from the book The Book of five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi and expands upon the core concepts within that seminal work.

He also uses as a source of inspiration the ancient and extremely worthy classic, The Art of War, by Sun Tsu.

Richard Hughes is a marital arts expert himself and is also a well-practised swordsman in his own right.

He teaches martial arts classes at Loughborough University, with the capability to teach multiple martial arts disciplines.

His deep studies on the theories behind martial arts have enabled him to develop a wide scope of knowledge which enabled him to develop and refine a system that develops the individual by the employment of the style, rather than fit the style ot the individual practitioner.

Richard enables and to some extent empowers the reader to work out which methods can lead to their individual success and then work on them.

The book is ideal for those who want to study martial arts and to develop not only their skills but also their own self.

At £13.99 (published by The Book Guild) this is a book for the bookshelf of every martial arts student or practitioner.

It will make an ideal present for them, it is available from the That's Books and Entertainment bookshop, just find the link to the right hand side of this review.

The Plane Now Standing at Platform 3

The Plane Now Standing at Platform 3 is a book by E. James Chapman.

It tells the hilarious story of how things went when he decided to take his family on holiday.

How hard, one might have thought, could it be to take a family from Spain to Canada by air, have a good time in Canada and then fly back to Spain?

This book by E. James Chapman will explain exactly how hard it can be, exactly how hard it was.

They meet up with a family that were so vile and so badly behaved that they would probably be barred from Hell, they then find a riot in the baggage hall, suffer from food poisoning and find themselves on a plane with some passengers driven to -quite understandable, really, given the rather trying circumstances- hysteria when the pilot announces that he "has lost the runway and can't find it" and several passengers began to hammer on the cockpit door, begging the pilot to "please!" take them down.

Well, that's fine, then? I mean, how could things really get any worse than that?

Oh, continue to read the hilariously harrowing (or harrowingly hilarious, take your pick) tale of the rest of the holiday, because, it seems that the flight out was really just a warm up act for the real horrors of this holiday!

There are airport staff who seem completely unfamiliar with how to operate their own computer systems, a pilot who seems unable to work out how much fuel he will require, and Canadian police officers who seem to be utterly bewildered by the concept of a country called Spain, with people living in it with British accents.

And who were utterly bemused by the concept that to the people of Spain their country is not Spain, but Espana. And also bewildered by the fact that they had had an encounter earlier that day with an Indian woman who had a British passport.

The Chapmans were also almost arrested by the officers for having friendly children (travel advice that you do not get on TripAdvisor is: "Do not be over-friendly in Canada as it confuses the inhabitants and makes them think you are up to something nefarious, like kidnapping your own children. For example.")

Eventually they were allowed to leave Canada (much to the annoyance of Eugene, find out about him in the book, OK?) and that should be that, right? All back to normal?

Well, no. Next came Jim getting stuck to a vacuum wielding airplane toilet seat. Just before his bowels... perhaps you'd best read the rest of this bit in the book...

There next came a fight with baggage handling systems and an unfortunate encounter on the London to Malaga return flight with a woman who was so large that she did not realise she was pregnant, not even when her waters broke. So the pilot made an emergency landing in France. Where the large pregnant woman was met with collapsable stretchers. Which almost certainly weren't supposed to be collapsible. And which probably assisted the woman in giving birth on the floor of the aircraft.

To learn more about the rest of the disasters, you'll need to buy the book published by Matador (in the That's Books and Entertainment bookshop to the right hand side of this review) for £8.99.

Nobody is Better Than Me

Nobody is Better Than Me is a passionate and compelling book written by Kate Vialva.

The concepts within this book are rooted very firmly in Kate's faith in God and Jesus.

Kate is a trained counsellor and has worked within the NHS as a staff nurse and has gained experiences and knowledge which have helped shape her into the person that she is today.

It is written with the intention of giving the reader a better understanding of what they can do should they find themselves facing major adversities and problems within their own lives, or perhaps when they find a friend or family member who is facing a dilemma, based on Christian principles.

Kate's message is a simple one, awaken the spirit within us so that we may reflect and recognise who we really are.

In the introduction she reveals the basis for her apparently sudden revelation that she should write what would become her book, Nobody is Better Than Me.

One point that she does make in the introduction is iterated and reiterated several times throughout the book is that: "As long as we become our brother's keeper, we can overcome the many storms  of life."

The book is published by Matador at £9.99 and is available from the That's Books and Entertainment Bookshop, which you you will find to the right hand side of this review.

Sea Journal

Sea Journal, written by Lisa Woollett, is one of the best researched, best written, most readable books that I have encountered in many years.

It is a wonderful book that covers a year long wandering along the coastal areas of Britain.

Lisa covers a wide range of topics and subjects. From natural history to evolution, to geology, latest scientific thinking and ancient myths and racial memories of cataclysmic floods that radically altered the shape of the British Isles, meaning that vaste swathes of land were lost to what is now the North Sea and the Irish Sea.

We learn about an adult and a barefooted four year old child who were walking through a forested area in Wales in what is now Cardigan Bay. We know this event happened because they left their footprints, now visible again, after they were created at some time between 4,000 to 6,000 years ago.

We read about skates and rays, of lost forests once again rediscovered thousands of years later, of great storms of the past that helped alter the very shape of our lands.

Then there's the tale of the Great Lego Spill of 1997. Whe3n five million Lego pieces were lost overboard in a great storm.

There's images of seaweeds of various types washed up after storms, branched sponges and of sea monsters heard and monsters seen. And, of course, identified as not being especially monstrous at all.

Lisa also meets wavewatchers who like nothing more than to visit the beaches and watch out for bigger and better waves, a potentially risky sort of a pastime, others who are beachcombers like Lisa, people who search out and seek out items that have been washed ashore.

(EDITOR: When I was a child I lost my spade on a beach in Wimereux, a coastal town in Northern France. We returned the next year. And, to my delight, I found what I considered in my childish enthusiasm to be moy spade. It had been battered by the waves and smoothed by the sands of the beach so was not exactly the same,m but in my heart I knew it was my wooden and metal spade. But I left it as I knew, even at that young age, that it was no longer truly mine, that it belonged on the beach of Wimereux.)

That incident left in me a sense of wonder about all things coastal. A wonder that this book has rekindled.

It is published by Zart Books (www.zartbooks.co.uk) in association with the Eden Project and costs £14.99. It's a book for everyone, but will make a welcome addition to any council library service and to any school, college or university library.

You can buy the book at the That's Books and Entertainment Bookshop, which you will find to the right hand side of this book review. Or to make a direct purchase of the title please visit https://goo.gl/MBWfyo.

Dragonsong

Dragonsong is a complex and a most praiseworthy novel (though, in truth, it is far more than being a mere novel) set very firmly in the fantasy genre.

It tells the story of Rebekah, a daughter of the wizard Merlin.

Rebekah is heartbroken, driven utterly insane by the murder of her one true love, Vidar.

With her soul tormented with a desire for revenge, she seeks out the Prince of Demons and she pleads with him to turn her into a dragon so that she may seek out her revenge against those she blames for the death of Vidar.

Unfortunately she has been tricked into believing that her father Merlin was responsible for the murder and she targets Merlin for her retribution.

But who has abused Rebekah so, by arranging this stratagem, this evil subterfuge? It is Oberon, the Elvish Captain-King. This was all done out of the twisted, jealousy of Oberon, due to his unrequited love for Rebekah.

But for all his machinations, scheming and clever plotting, he was utterly blinded to the terrible devastation and misery that his foolish actions would bring down upon the world of Gaia.

In order for Merlin to correct the great evil that Oberon has wrought upon the world of Gaia, Merlin must traverse the barrier of time itself, travelling back to locate a warrior of pure heart, Lady Attie.

With Michael, the seer of Albion to assist her, they must visit the very gates of Hell to obtain the sleep stone. For only this will persuade the dragon to fall into a slumber.

But this is not without risk. For if they fail to return the sleep stone to its rightful place at the mouth of Hell in time, then the demon army will awake and destroy Gaia and all its inhabitants.

Gaia's future and her destiny rely on Time to save it. But will the Asgardian gods be able to find a solution to stop this?

The book is a unique creation as it is, apparently, "an Arthurian Epic Fantasy in a formerly unknown meter and rhyme structure, with nothing comparable attempted since Tolkien abandoned The Fall of Arthur in 1934."

The book is published by Matador at £8.99 and can be purchased at the That's Books and Entertainment bookshop, which you will find over toward the right hand side of this review. Or click  on http://goo.gl/GjK2SB instead.

Rose: The Awakening

Rose: The Awakening tells the story of what happened when wilful, beautiful Rose Mainessuddenly loses her father.

His death means that Rose and her mother are left destitute, living in dingy lodgings within the heart of the East End of Victorian London.

Into their lives comes the mysterious Mr Weir, who her mother agrees to become a live in housekeeper for.

Rapidly there develops a relationship between Rose and Mr Weir that is a strong love-hate affair.

Rose is aware that she must take strong action if she is to survive.

The novel is set amidst swirling Victorian fogs, of shady dwelling places and of secret brothels.

Yet all is far from whst it appears to be. For who is Mr Weir? Who or what is Rose?

Krys Kingston bring the reader a glimpse behind polite society into a world of death, of murder and of the undead who stalk the world of the living.

This book is published by The Book Guild at £9.99 and is available via the That's Books and Entertainment online bookshop, which is to the right hand side of this book review.

It is the first book in a trilogy.

Two Bullets in Sarajevo

The book, Two Bullets in Sarajevo, is a novelisation by historian and author D. Lawrence-Young of the tragic events that caused the world to be tipped into not one but two world wars.

It tells the story of Princip, a poor student who became wrapped up in the machinations of the Black Hand, a Serbian nationalist organisation who had dreams of gaining freedom from Austria.

The emperor of Austria, Franz Josef has made a determination that there is on way that he could accede to these demands.

So he decides to offer a show of the strength of the empire and dispatches his nephew, Archduke Franz Ferdinand to make an official visit to Sarajevo.

Princip and his cronies decide to murder, in cold blood, the Archduke. And his wife, who in modern parlance, would be considered collateral damage.

The rest, as they say, is history.

The book barely touches upon the Great War, itself. It asks a question that seems to be all too often overlooked in the histories of those turbulent and dreadful times.

The question it asks is: "But what about the personalities behind this bald act of political murder?"

What were the members of the Black Hand like? Did they really think the assassin through?

And what of the apparently unbending Austrian rulers, the hidebound military leaders, the Serbians like Princip and his fellow revolutionaries in the Black Hand?  What really motived these people, these Serbian nationalists?

And what about Archduke Franz Ferdinand, often dismissed as a stuffed shirt who would have himself sewn into his military uniforms, it is often claimed?

For far from being the stuffed shirt that he is often portrayed as, Two Bullets in Sarajevo portrays a different side to him, a romantic side that led him to marry, against all Austrian royal court protocols, the woman of his dreams, his beautiful fiancée, Sophie Chotek?

The book is published by Matador at £8.99 and works well as a work of fiction and as a primer for anyone who is a student of that time period and who wants to try to understand what happened then, 100 years ago, that set the world on fire.

It's available through the That's Books and Entertainment bookshop. You'll locate this just to the right hand side of this book review.

King Garnet Stories

The King Garnet Stories are tales about King Garnet told to us by author Marianne Parry and charmingly illustrated by David Hill.

The book is a collection of three stories about King Garnet, his lovely wife Queen Amanda and their good friend, a fellow King, King Grundle.

King Garnet loves all of the subjects who live within his Kingdom. Which is good, because all of his subjects love him, back!

But one morning, something isn't quite right... Something strange has happened! Because, overnight, King Garnet's legs had grown!

At first, King Garnet did not mind this one little bit! After all, who wouldn't want to be just that bit taller?

But soon poor King Garnet realised that his legs were continuing to grow, becoming longer and longer!

As the days pass by, they become so long that they were so long that they reached the bedroom door and then even went half way down the palace's grand staircase!

It soon became clear that someone had cast a spell on King Garnet to cause his legs to continue to grow longer and longer!

But who would even do such a thing to a king who was so well-loved by everyone in his kingdom?

And would his legs ever go back to their normal size?

You can also read about what happened when the King pretended he could not speak and when King Grundle was tricked into declaring war!

These stories are designed for children aged 5 to 7 and they are charmingly told and equally charmingly illustrated.

The book is idea for reading out to children and for sharing between adults and kids!

It costs £8.99 and can be purchased via the That's Books and Entertainment online bookshop. the link to which you will find to the right hand side of this book review.

High Heatherton

High Heatherton is a historic novel by Sussex author Judith Thomson.

Set in the turbulent times of the 17th Century,  it follows the fortunes of Philip Devalle, who is the younger son of an Earl.

Unfortunately for Philip he is left without a penny piece when his older brother, unfortunately declared insane and incarcerated within the tender mercies of Bedlam hospital, inherits the family estate, High Heatherton.

Philip has been serving in the army of the French and when he returns to Britain he has one aim, to obtain High Heatherton for himself.

Philip Devalle has a potentially very able ally in the form of Lord Shaftesbury.  His Lordship is  man of many and varied talents, including the ability to create stratagems and craft plots so his promises to Philip Devalle to use his influences with the law courts to help him regain  High Heatherton were not beyond the boundaries of possibility.

But there's a rather large price attached to the help proffered by Lord Shaftsbury. For he demands, in return, that Philip Devalle assists him in a plot to place the illegitimate son of King Charles, the Duke of Monmouth, on the throne. For Shaftesbury is convinced that he could easily manipulate him, once he were placed on the throne of England.

But Philip Devalle has enemies in England, enemies who mean him harm. So he must treat them with caution and to keep as far away from them as he can. Especially as he is aware that the plot he is engaged in is treason. And the penalty for treason was an ignominious death by being hung, drawn and quartered.

He realises, in his attempts to regain what he has lost, to his mind, unfairly, that he has managed to get himself very deeply into a plot that could cost him his life.

But could he extricate himself from the situation and get what he prized?

The book is based on the real and tumultuous events of the Monmouth rebellion and is published by Matador at £9.99 and is an ideal real for lovers of historic fiction.

You can order it now at the That's Books and Entertainment bookshop, which you will find to the right-hand side of this book review.

Pariah

Pariah is a début novel from R. S. Bristowe, an author from the Eastern county of Leicestershire.

It tells the story of Eddie Boyle. Life has some amusing little tricks it plays upon us, from time-to-time.

In Eddie's case the trick is that by the time he is in line to receive it, the title Tenth Marquess of Exwick as without any value or worth at all! Or so Eddie is led to believe.

But Eddie soon receives a phone call from a vicar in Cambridgeshire. It concerns a mysterious and ancient treasure, rumoured to be "priceless" of the Fen Tigers.

Eddie decides to pay a visit to this mysterious clergyman and he arrives in the village of Herne Fen.

Eddie picks up on the fact that something is bothering the locals, worrying them, perhaps? Because their behaviour is more than a little disconcerting, to Eddie's way of thinking.

But then, and before Eddie has the chance to learn more about the village of Herne Fen, the vicar vanishes.

This is treated by the local police as a simple missing person enquiry (even though the disappearance of a Church of England clergyman is hardly a run-of-the-mill experience) but soon it becomes a murder enquiry.

But there's something happening, something that is very unpleasant as the case quickly widens to cover not only a recent spate of murders but also to a number of much older murders.

Soon Eddie Boyle is on the trail of the search of the priceless and ancient treasure of the Fen Tigers. And the trail is littered with mutilated corpses and sheer terror.

Will Eddie reach the end of the trail and find the ancient treasure? Or will he reach the end of the trail, another victim of the ruthless killers who are stalking the ancient fenlands of Eastern England?

This book is published by Matador at £8.99 and is available from the That's Books and Entertainment bookshop, just to the right of this review.

La Petite Mort

La Petite Mort is a novel by Eli Wilde.But it is not actually a novel. It is far, far more than that.

It tell the story of a talented young poet called Rufus Hobster.

Well, actually, that's not entirely truthful. That bit about Rufus Hobster being a talented young poet.

For not only is Rufus Hobster a talented poet, he is also a vampire, so the state of being youthful or otherwise is really of no significance as far as he is concerned.

Through La Petite Mort Rufus tells the story of his early life when first he was introduced into vampirism.

Yet this is not a standard book about a poet (who just happens to be a vampire) it is written by the eminently talented Eli Wilde who wrote poetry in the voice of Rufus Hobster throughout this truly remarkable book.

These Gothic poems are probably some of the most compelling lines of modern poetry that I have ever read. Anywhere, at any time.

They are moving, frightening, bewildering, intoxicating, dream-laden, of another world of another time, from a different realm where a dog lies weeping for its slain master as a vampire feasts on his blood, of death too early, of death delayed.

It is published by Matador at £7.99 and is available for purchase at the That's Books and Entertainment bookshop, a little to the right of this book review.

You should buy this book. But if you do, be prepared to carry these poems with you in your heart for a little while to come...

And do please check the bookshop for other collections of poetry by Eli Wilde.

The Adventures of Rodney Fluffychops

The Adventures of Rodney Fluffychops tells the amazing and utterly charming story of Rodney Fluffychops and his new best mate, Spike.

Rodney Fluffychops is a delightful and incredibly nosy cat and Spike is a hedgehog who loves nothing better than going out and picking up some litter to make his home more tidy.

Together the two friends have some absolutely wonderful adventures.

The book is beautifully illustrated -there's even a map that shows you all of the big world that Rodney lives in!- and illustrations of not only Rodney and Spike, and of their friends the rabbits who live in the Garden Centre that's not far from Rodney's home.

The book is designed to be read to and by children aged 3 to 5 years of age and their parents, grandparents and their older siblings.

And Rodney is a real cat, who does really live with Mr and Mrs C in the village, not far from the Garden Centre.

This book is written by Mr C, aka Mr F. Compton and illustrated by artist Rianna "Dolly" Aguilar.

It's published by Matador at £6.99 and is available at the That's Books and Entertainment bookshop which is, as ever, just a little to the right of this book review.

I can't recommend this charming book enough.

Get a Life

Get a Life is the fourth novel by author Don Snuggs.

There's a purpose behind the novel, it is intended to assist the reader to begin to question ingrained, routine ways of thinking.

It tells the story of Fiona.

Fiona is the daughter of a prosperous businessman and his wife.

Fiona was brought up during and after the beginning of the Second World War, when, for her, life was increasingly good as her family became more and more prosperous.

Her faith and her beliefs were inculcated within her by her parents and her mentors. But even so, Fiona had a desire and a need to question what it was that she was being taught.

Whilst still in her teenage years, a series of terrible disasters befell our heroine.

Her boyfriend, who she loved very much, died in an accident.

And then she was kidnapped by a criminal gang and held hostage. During her illegal incarceration she was raped and became pregnant as a result.

She struggles with conflicting emotions and ideas, based on what she had been taught whilst growing up.

Should she proceed with the pregnancy or not? She eventually decides to go through with the pregnancy, but that she should put the child up for adoption, which she does.

Throughout the following years she continues with her life as best she can. She attends university where she majors in business studies.

Her father too soon and Fiona takes the decision to turn her considerable talents to joining the family business.

She marries and is able to make a fresh start. Only for her oldest son from this marriage to decide to indulge in a notorious and high-profile affair with a woman who is older than he is.

This results in heartache and misery all round and brings with it the potential for disaster not only for her son but also for the entire family.

What should Fiona do? Gather up the determination to re-start her life all over again?

The book is intended to be an uplifting novel strength and success despite adversity and heartbreak along the way.

It is published by Matador in paperback at £9.99 and can be purchased from the That's Books and Entertainment bookshop, on the right hand side of this review.

Lights Burning Blue

Lights Burning Blue is a thriller novel set in the world of the theatre and it is written by a man who knows a great deal about this world, successful actor, Andrew Cullum.

It relates the story of a somewhat unlikely friendship set against the backdrop of a savage murder.

Brooke McCarthy has graduated from her drama school and she has landed her dream job. Well, it's not exactly her dream job. But it is a job in a theatre company, so there's that much to it, hopefully?

But it's not, actually, a proper acting job. She has had to take up a job in stage management. Which was not what she wanted at all. She wants to be on the stage, acting, not stage managing!

And the director of the play is Jimmy Knowles, notorious in the world of British theatre as being very difficult to please and not very nice to work with or for.

The play is in the rehearsal phase and it's not actually in the theatre, yet. The rehearsals are being undertaken in a village hall in a village that is probably as out of the way as you could possibly get, near to nothing but a woodland nature reserve.

But this whole thing beats Brooke's previous job, working as a temp in an office, so she grits her teeth and is determined to make as good a job of things as she can.

On her first day at work she meets up with an elderly gentleman who she finds endearing and who lives in a cottage which is just over the path from the village hall where the rehearsals  are taking place.

This elderly gentleman seems to have had something of an interesting past and a deep love of all things theatrical.

But is everything quite what it appears to be?

For just one week prior to her taking up her new job, a young girl was found murdered in the woods that make up the nature reserve.

And is it just a coincidence that the murder victim looks like Brooke?

What, exactly, is going on? Who, if anyone, can Brooke trust?

This is Andrew Cullum's début novel. And all I can say is that I hope it is not be his only novel!

We mystery lovers have found, in Andrew Cullum, a great new writing talent and, in Brooke McCarthy, a wonderful new character. Who I want to be able to learn more about in forthcoming novels.

Could she develop into a female version of a younger and perhaps more theatrically successful Charles Paris?  Oh, I do hope so!

The book is published by Matador at a remarkably reasonable £9.99 in paperback and if you buy only one book during 2016, please do make it Lights Burning Blue. You'll find it for sale at the That's Books and Entertainment book shop, just a little to the right of this review.

Horizons of Light

Horizons of Light is a passionate love story by Jaime Manrique-Palacin.

It's a novel in the erotic fiction genre (this is the English language version of the book which was first published in Spanish) which tells the story of Enrique who, in a hot summer's night back in 1964 takes the decision to leave his home town of Santa Maria de los Rios and emigrate to the United States of America.

He has to leave behind his wife and child -only for a while, of course- and leaves to make his mark in America.

He planned to bring his wife and his child over to join him in America, but a letter from home blew his plans into pieces, piercing his heart with the news that his family was now lost to him.

Eventually he makes his way across America and becomes a famous and wealthy actor in Hollywood, where his good looks and personality attracts admiration and romantic attention from members of both genders.

But Enrique needs more than brief encounters he knows that he must rediscover and fight for his one true love and bring joy and happiness to someone who had known misery and heartache.

This is a splendid and richly written novel which has heart and soul throughout it's pages.

It is published in hardback by The Book Guild at £17.99 and can be bought via the That's Books and Entertainment book shop, which you will find to the right of this book review.

A Game That Must be Lost

A Game That Must be Lost is a novel set in the world of international diplomacy, written by a former high ranking British diplomat and now a leading academic Alan Hunt.

A Game That Must be Lost takes the reader back to the year 2005.

On the eve of the Chinese New Year in Singapore, all is not quite what it appears to be.

Marina Singleton, the daughter of the British High Commissioner, has -somehow- become involved in the world of international drug smuggling and has vanished with a high value consignment of illegally smuggled heroin.

But that's not all she has done. For she has left an innocent man to face the death penalty for a crime he had no knowledge of.

A little while later, Marina's father, Andrew Singleton, also vanishes.

The repercussions of these events are potentially catastrophic for the British government, so it is decided that a high power investigation will be launched into the case, under the watchful eye of Adam White, Head of Chancery at the High Commission.

It is Adam White's task to try to establish the exact sequence of events and to discover the truth as to what actually had happened.

For example, was Marina Singleton really involved in the smuggling? Has she vanished of her own volition, or was she kidnapped? And if so, what could be the motives of the kidnappers?

And what of the equally problematic disappearance of her father? Is it linked to the mysterious disappearance of his daughter? Has he gone to ground? Or was he, also, kidnapped?

And why would anyone want to kidnap the Singletons?

But as Adam White commences on his somewhat tricky and potentially dangerous mission he discovers that, in the world of international diplomacy things are never quite what they appear to be and that there is a very dangerous plot that aims to bring the world to the brink of disaster with a nuclear holocaust as the eventual aim.

But is all that it seems? And how many would die before the case could be considered as closed? But how can Adam White, a man with troubles of his own, work to prevent this from happening? In fact, can he? Or is it beyond his abilities?

The book is a compelling read and is published by Matador at £7.99 in paperback and is available from the that's Books and Entertainment book shop, which you will find to the right of this review.

Hidey Holes

Hidey Holes is a book of Beautiful Hideaways, Bolt Holes and Harbours in England and Wales.

It is by Robin Whitcomb and it is a truly fascinating book. So fascinating that I have had to wait for a couple of weeks to review it because my wife was absolutely riveted by it!

Yorkshire-born Robin Whitcomb has lived an interesting life. A student of Cranleigh School in Surrey, after a couple of years working in the oil industry in Tulsa, Oklahoma, he spent time in LA with his older brother Ian, a musician who had a smash hit with "You Turn Me On", who introduced him to Sonny and Cher, who, at that time, were a pair of rapidly rising stars.

Robin became their drummer and perchusionist and who played on their smash massive hit: "I Got You Babe".

After returning to the UK, Robin played cricket for the MCC and rugby for Richmond and other clubs.

Amongst other things, after several years on The Daily Telegraph he taught at Dulwich Prep for 33 years.

This is his third book.

The book brings the reader to a variety of absolutely charming places in and around the coastal areas of England and Wales.

There are some perfectly crafted paintings by local artists and also some stunningly beautiful and well-composed images photographed by Robin himself.

There are also some first class descriptive texts that tell you all that you need to know about the villages, towns, hamlets and small communities that he found on his travels with his (late) companion, his Labrador Coco. She was his constant companion throughout the five years that it took Robin to create this utterly charming and quintessentially English book, which he, with considerable English charm,  dedicated to Coco.

See the drama that is Mullion Cove, the majesty of Boscastle -and the local Witchcraft Museum!- the Ship Inn of Mousdehole and the story of how it was attacked and almost totally destroyed by Spanish raiders. Squire Jenkin Keigwin was able to kill six of them who had attacked his house, before he was cruelly murdered, but still with his sword in his hand. A brave Cornishman to the very end!

It was later famed as the home of Dolly Pentreath who died at age 101 who was reputedly the last person able to speak in the ancient Cornish tongue, when she died in 1777.

See dramatic mine ruins, read about the smugglers who worked the coast and of novelists like D. H. Lawrence and Agatha Christie who made Cornwall their homes for lesser or greater times.

There are preserved railway lines, cliff railways and much, much more.

Moving on to Northern England there are castles, like Bamburgh, fishing villages like Craster, and locations like Robin Hood's Bay.

Moving round the coast we find the magic of Norfolk, with basking seals, motoring museums and the birthplace of Lord Nelson. And more preserved railway lines, like the Wells-Walsingham Railway.

There's the magical coastline of Pembrokshire, including Porthgain. There's Solva -with the horrifying story of why there was always three light house keepers and there's Abereiddy with its Blue Lagoon and the interesting story of how it came into being.

This high quality coffee table sized book is published in hardback by Troubador at a remarkably reasonable £14.99 and will make a wonderful conversation piece and an equally superb present for the armchair traveller. Or for the person who wants to have things to look for when they take a coastal holiday.

It is available from the That's Book and Entertainment book shop, which you will find to the right hand side of this book review.

More Thorns Than Roses

More Thorns Than Roses is a remarkable collection of short stories from H. A. Howe.

It's an interesting collection of disparate ideas and themes.

It's light and frothy, yet it is also tart and salty. It's as if someone has made a really rather splendidly fluffy meringue and replaced half of the caster sugar with some crunchy pink Himalayan salt.

There are tales of love, of betrayal, of fears, real and imagined and tragedic events of the kind that make people shake their heads and say: "We should have seen that coming" but, somehow, nobody ever does.

There's guilt, sometimes where there should be none, and an absence of guilt where guilt should be a crushing remorse.

There are cruelties upon cruelties and acts of stupidity, thoughtlessness and of fecklessness.

Yet there are also moments of great tenderness, of love, and of sacrifice and of hope. And of situations that are beyond all realistic hope. And, finally, of light.

This book is published in paperback by Victory and it is her second collection of short stories.

It is available through the That's Books and Entertainment book shop, which is to be found on the right hand side of this book review.

If I Can touch You With a Thought

If I Can touch You With a Thought is a collection of poetry and narrative prose by Bob Levine.

Blank verse is an interesting short poem seeing the world through the veil of a cataract. (A subject which your reviewer has some personal knowledge of, so read with interest and be-stirred memories.)

Other poems touch on the fleeting memories of our childhood days, of coal fires and the black and white images flickering on the telly, the time of your life, a surprise meeting, a time when someone, or something, takes over the land of the night.

When there is someone who is, truly and really, our best friend, and we, hopefully, there's.

Thoughts that arise when one is on a bench, by the sea, just you and your thoughts.

The different feelings engendered by one species over another, memories of disasters that have already been and others that might yet be.

For a mere £6.99 you can slake your thirst for new experiences in this delightful little well of ideas and thoughts.

It's published by Matador and is available in all good bookshops, including ours. You'll find our bookshop to the right of this review.

Planes, Passports and Porkie Pies - Slice One

Planes, Passports and Porkie Pies - Slice One is a fascinating read about what life was really like as an Immigration Control officer in the UK.

And, as author Mike Clarke points out, it's certainly nothing like as seen on TV!

Mike gives a genuine behind the scenes look at what it was like being involved in Immigration Control in and around London, working at Gatwick, Heathrow and Stansted Airports, then actually on the streets of London itself.

All of the stories contained in his book are utterly true. Though some names and some details may well have been changed in order to protect the innocent and the not-so-innocent. And also, as Mike points out, the details are as accurate as his own fallible memory allows.

There's the story of the Nigerian bank robber who was apprehended at the airport with the proceeds of his bank robbery found badly concealed about his person.

He was sent back to Nigeria. And was executed by firing squad almost as soon as he had been bundled off the plane.

There were forged passports, some that were so clever that they were hard to spot (these were the long ago days before barcodes and pre-electronics)  and some that were so badly done that the Immigration Control officers must have wondered exactly what on earth they had been thinking!

For example the man who had on hi date of birth no day, no month, just the year of 1845.

This would have made him to be 127 years of age.

And in the space for occupation was written 'witchdoctor.'

The passport had stamps in it showing he had visited the UK several times had had only ever made short visits each time.

So, was he really 127 years of age?

He was, once again, allowed in to the country. Probably just as well, really...

There were stories of 'helpful' MPs sticking their noses in to cases, a weird assortment of liars and chancers (that's not the MPs, by the way) and people who pretended to be children but who, in reality, were almost certainly were really adult Pakistanis, one of whom had x-rays but forgot he had a finger missing, or not, according to his x-rays. Or could this mean they weren't actually his x-rays. Oops!

This book is well worth the £9.99 price. It's published by Matador and will be available from all good shops, including the That's Books and Entertainment book shop which you will find to the right hand side of this book review.

Release From Stasis The Future is now

Release From Stasis The Future is now is a new novel by scientist, writer and author Dr Graham Clingbine, BSc, MSc.

The book is set in a far, distant future. Earth is dramatically different, it is under constant bombardment with deadly solar radiation which is being emitted by the ageing Sun.

John Powell -the father of Kevin Powell, seen in the earlier novel Disclosure, is the last surviving member of the human race.

He has a scheme to help repopulate the Earth by kidnapping humans from the past times of planet Earth and genetically modifying them so that they would be able to survive in the harsh environment of future Earth.

But there is a violent solar eruption that is so unprecedented in its sheer violence that all of his human test subjects are wiped out.

John Powell takes his family and a few other survivors aboard a spaceship and they flee planet Earth to undertake a long journey through space, safely placed in stasis.

When they become released from stasis John and his family are bewildered to discover that the other occupants of the ship have formed to opposing religions, Muons and Pions.

The groups are divided one against the other and, as a consequence, are at war.

John and his family decide to escape from the strife and, by employing a time-travel portal device, they are able to leave the ship and return to an earlier incarnation of Earth and start over, again.

The ship carrying the Muons and the Pions lands on a planet that is habitable and the two groups are left to work out their own destinies.

This science fiction novel costs £9.99 paperback and £15.99 haqrdback and is available from the That's Books and Entertainment book shop, which you will find to the right hand side of this book review.

Grand Vizier of Krar Strings of Destiny

Grand Vizier of Krar Strings of Destiny is the launch of a new voice in fantasy fiction, retired lawyer W. John Tucker.

The story introduces Blan and her followers and allies.

Blan and her adherents are trying to introduce a more advanced civilisation in a far distant future time on planet Earth, which is recovering after a catastrophic calamity almost destroyed all life on it.

But they are battling with an enemy who seeks to dominate mankind and planet Earth.

Sailing ships are, again, plying the high seas and seek safe ports.

Blan would like to continue to stay living in her peaceful seaside village. But she knows this will not be possible and she has to leave her village.

Blan is kidnapped by pirates and, upon obtaining her freedom, is horrified to discover that she has fallen into the clutches of the Black Knight, who wants her for his own bedchamber.

But Blan is made of stronger material than that and she uses her knowledge and wits to confront a great evil and to fulfil what is her true destiny.

But she must also rescue her own grandfather who is injured. He is a most important man as he possesses a special, secret knowledge that is vital to the ambitions of the Black Knight.

Great and terrible forces of tremendous evil face them. They meet with apparently insurmountable odds.

But can Blan and her followers and allies face them down and succeed?

If you are a fan of fantasy novels, or if you have a fantasy novel fan to buy a present for, then buy this book at the That's Bools and Entertainment Book Shop which you will find to the right hand side of this book review.

It's a stirring and exciting book and it costs £15.99, published by Matador.

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.