Rendezvous With Death

Rendezvous With Death is the latest novel by former lawyer turned novelist Gil Hogg.

A VIP in the form of a British diplomat has been abducted in Pakistan.

At first it is believed that the kidnapping is a terrorist outrage. But then evidence comes to light that this may not be the case, that the disappearance may have been engineered on behalf of a powerful tycoon with vendetta on his mind.

Nick Dyson is a London-based Barrister who decides to accept an  apparently lucrative position as the personal assistant to an old friend of his, Robert Laidlaw who is employed as a Special Envoy to the Middle East, based in Islamabad.

Unfortunately Robert and his wife Emma and also now Nick have made a bitter personal enemy of an influential tycoon who is based in the city of Islamabad, a man by the name of Gerald Macbeth.

Robert suddenly vanishes and his security guard is discovered, beheaded.

Nicks' suspicions are raised and he begins to believe that Gerald Macbeth, and not 'terrorists' are involved in the murder of the security guard and the disappearance of Robert Laidlaw.

He attempts to persuade Emma to escape from Pakistan with him.

But is Nick all that he seems? And who, exactly, are the guilty ones?

Who are the real sinners? Who the really sinned against?

And what dreadful events from the past have reached their bony fingers down to the present day?

This is a fascinating book with more than a few twists and some rather unexpected turns.

It's a welcome addition to the canon of works of Gil Hogg.

It is priced at £8.99 and is published by Matador and is an excellent stocking filler for the mystery novel fan in your life.

You can buy it from the That's Books and Entertainment book shop and gift shop. You'll find the portal to said shop just to the right hand side of this book review.


 

Find a Better Life

You can Find a Better Life. That's the promise of author Brian Fitzpatrick.

Throughout much of his life he felt that there was something that was lacking. Something missing.

He took the decision to dig deeper and to consider a new view.

Brian said: "I went in search of answers and finally found the clarity and contentment I had been lacking."

He decided that he would not merely keep what he had discovered to himself, that he would share it with everyone else who was struggling for answers, for a sense of direction.

There's a good deal of information and advice available to us from all types of sources.

But if that is the case, how is it that worry, tension and stress are always so close at hand?

Brain acknowledges that there are many causes for this, but he believes that the major cause is a lack of personal growth. A common problem, he asserts.

Brian's book will help you to take a step back and take in the wider, broader view. To eschew the temptation to just follow the crowd.

Brian feels that we must ask ourselves some deep and penetrating questions, even if this might make us feel somewhat uncomfortable.

But by following the principles in this book you can Find a Better Life.

It is published by Matador at £9.99 and will be a good Christmas gift for the thinker in your life.

You can buy it at the That's Books and Entertainment bookshop and gift shop, the portal to which is just to the right of this book review.

You can also find some related music that Brian has created in the store. Just search under "Love & Happiness Brian Fitzpatrick."

Little Professor and his Robot Factory

Little Professor and His Robot Factory is a wonderful new book for children -and their parents and grandparents, too!- that takes the reader on a whacky and wondrous journey through the world of science.

Marienne Parry is a retired teacher and she originally wrote The Little Professor and His Robot Factory as part of a lesson she was teaching her class about the world of robotics,

She eventually decided to re-write it as a book for all children.

It consists of three stories that introduce children to the fields of magnetism, electricity and light.

The readers follow the adventures of three of Little Professor's robots who are aided and abetted by their little helper friend, Scooper Man.

Children will learn about what happens when Magnet Man decided, not long after he had been built, to go out into the world beyond the factory to explore things for himself.

But as he is magnetic he attracts lots of metal things to himself, including a car, a gate and various other metallic items. 

In fact, local people mistake him for a weird monster!

Electric Man is a friend of Magnet Man. He can work out sums really, really quickly. so he goes to the local school to help the teacher. But what happens when the children misbehave? You might be surprised!

And then there is their best friend, Light Man. He is a little bit envious of his two friends who have had such big adventures outside the factory, but soon he, too, is having a wonderful adventure all by himself!

Then Light Man hits on the idea of holding a street party with the help and assistance of his friends and Scooper Man, to the delight of the local families!

The book is also charmingly illustrated.

This is a must buy book if you have children up to Primary School age and it is great for self-reading for older children and for parents or grandparents to read aloud to the children.

It's an excellent Christmas stocking filler.

It will be ideal for schools and local children's libraries. It can be bought via the That's Books and Entertainment book shop, which is just to the right hand side of this book review.

Thinking Lies Learning how to Believe in Yourself

Thinking Lies Learning how to Believe in Yourself is the new book from David Hulman.

It is based on and inspired by his own person experience and it is aimed at inspiring people aged 16 to 25 to gain belief in themselves and to go ahead with their lives and achieve their own dreams.

David Hulman points out that 16 to 25 is a period of immense physical and emotional changes for all of us.

He offers nine special techniques and strategies based on intensive research into the fields of numerous theories, psychology, neuro-linguistic-programming and a number of inspirational stories that are designed to help the reader to develop self-belief.

The background to this book is fascinating.

He developed a mental complex at the age of seven, which he called "thinking lies." He could not trust his own thoughts, what he believed or even what he remembered, or thought he remembered.

As he grew up and matured, he came to realise that this mental complex was merely doubt, something that everyone experiences but which, if left unchecked, can stop us from ever reaching our full potential. Which can thwart our attempts to attain our dreams.

David has written this book to enable those aged 16 to 25 to reduce or eliminate self-doubt and to help them attain their goals.

The book is published by The Book Guild at a remarkably decent price of only £7.99 and it will make a fantastic stocking filler for any person aged between 16 to 25.

He also runs a Youtube channel, #HelpFromHulman, in which he gives answers to commonly asked questions.

This book is available now from the That's Books and Entertainment book and gift shop. The portal to enter this bookshop is over to the right of this review.

Shine on, Marquee Moon

Shine on, Marquee Moon is the debut novel of Zoe Howe who is one of the UK's leading music writers.

Although this is her first novel, Zoe has written five non-fiction books on thr world of rock music and she is also a drummer.

The novel tells the story of Sylvie who works as a dresser for a New Romantic band that is currently undergoing something of a 21st century revival.

Sylvie manages to become romantically involved with band member Nick. Nick is a fairly rare bird in the music industry, one might say. how so? He is the least unhinged member of the band and although he is something of a heart-throb, he is a somewhat reluctant heart-throb.

Sylvie and Nick bond amidst the drama, angst, fun and chaos of the tour of the band. They have a shared passion for the highly important album by the group Television, called "Marquee Moon."

Things are going very well for them. Perhaps too well?

 For a secret, a rather dark, dirty secret, at that, could threaten to totally wreck and destroy not only their relationship and blight any possibility of a future for them as a couple, but it could bring about an even wider circle of destruction, too.

The novel is a free flowing excursion through the public and private lives of Sylvie, her fiance Nick, his dog Brando and the other members of the entourage of the New Romantic band Concierge as they toured again.

But what does actually happen when the band is on the tour bus, between gigs? You might be surprised to learn the truth.

And what occurs to Sylvie and Nick and the other extremely well-drawn characters in this novel? You'll want to find out, as you'll be gripped from the first paragraph to the last of this refreshing, highly readable novel.

It is to be hoped that this is the first of many novels by Zoe Howe.

It is published by Matador in paperback and a remarkably affordable £8.99 and will make a most excellent Christmas present for the modern music fan in your life.

It's available from the That's Books and Entertainment bookshop and gift store.The portal to which you will find on the right side of this review.

If You Can't Take a Joke

The Travels of a Naval Salesman is a memoir written by Gordon Gray, relating how he began his career in sales as an utter novice and how he rose through the ranks of his peers to become an expert in the field of the worldwide field of naval defence sales.


It's a fascinating read and is a tell all book that covers a vast range of subjects, topics and the highly intelligent musings of a man who has been there, done that and also sold it!

Join Gordon as he drinks some highly illegal and absolutely disgusting moonshine alcohol in Saudi Arabia. Gordon reveals that, on balance, he would rather have been drinking Cola!

Also puzzle with Gordon as to why certain sections of the media (you know who they are!) prefer to eschew the pedestrian descriptive phrase "international Defence Salesman) for the somewhat more pejorative term: "Arms Dealer?"

It couldn't be because they are -gasp!- clueless as to the reality of the situation, or perhaps even just a little bit biased?

It's clear from reading Gordon's book that this is his viewpoint and one that he puts forward with admirable alacrity and commonsense.

Travel with Gordon as he takes his first steps in his career in 1977 with Decca Radar/Racal Decca, where he worked as Sales Manager and Far East Sales Manager, culminating with a position as International Sales Executive for BAE Systems. From which he took early retirement at age 57, with a voluntary redundancy package.

Find out why, during his career after he left the Royal Navy he turned down and eyewateringly high salary increase to tempt him to take a new job, and how some time later he was proven to be absolutely correct to turn the job down and the several desperate entreaties for him to please reconsider his decision.

Learn about Gordon's first and long lusted for first sales trip. Which was all the way to Bradford in West Yorkshire. Which helped him to decide on a sideways move to another part of the Decca group which, eventually brought Gordon to the field of international sales and visits to Saudi Arabia, Korea, Hong Kong and beyond.

This is a highly entertaining and informative read, amply illustrated with a variety of photographs,  and your reviewer can recommend this book as a stocking filler this Christmas for people in sales and also for those who are fans of well-written biographical memoirs.

It is published in paperback by Matador at a very reasonable £9.99 and is available to purchase from the That's Books and Entertainment book and gift shop, the portal to which you will find to the righthand side of this review.

Times Change

Times Change is the debut novel of solicitor turned novelist John Ellison.

It is set ten years prior to the introduction of the Children Act of 1989.

That act brought about radical and far reaching changes to a legal framework that had not changed in many decades and which struggled to be relevant in the modern world.

Newly qualified solicitor Robert Fordham has made the move from rural Somerset to the London Borough of Haringey.

He starts working on some fairly tough and stressful child removal court cases and also on the perhaps equally stressful task of finding himself a woman to share his new life with.

The author has based the novel on his own experiences as a solicitor working for the London Borough of Haringey during the time in which this novel is set.

He explains: "In those days, child protection law was a mess. On the one hand, when strictly applied, the rules deciding what evidence be given in the juvenile court to support the making of a care order were absurdly restrictive.

"But on the other hand," he continued: " the rights of both parents and children to be represented were inadequate. Results all too often resembled lotteries. But whilst it is true that the legal framework today is much safer, social work time has become obsessed with computer record keeping and impossibly restricted."

The novel explores the social life of Robert Fordham and also the professional life which saw Labour council members refusing to implement budget cuts demanded by the newly elected Conservative government and what happens when he comes face-to-face with the magistrate's bench in Haringey, a bench lead by a strong-willed female magistrates.

The book is published by Matador at £8.99.

Happiness Diary

Happiness Diary is a splendid new book from psychologist and researcher Narissa Phipps.

Narissa has undertaken detailed research on the concept of happiness and the result is this highly useful and extremely readable book called Happiness Diary.

It is aimed at helping and uplifting late teens and adults and helping them to become more happy.

Readers are encouraged to use the book for just five minutes a day and it is aimed at helping the reader to be able to create healthy and log-lasting habits towards happiness.

There are daily contemplations that are designed to inspire the read, plus there are daily challenges that are intended to test the reader.

It is intended that people reading this book will soon be able to experience the fact that actions really are better than mere words.

Narissa believes: "One day at a time, you can make a difference." And she is confidant that this can start for people once they begin to read her book.

The book can help readers to become inspired to change their attitudes to their own surroundings and also to others in their lives, in order to bring about a way of life that is truly happier.

Narissa was able to draw upon her qualifications as a psychologist and her experiences employed in the field of children's mental health.

The book will make an ideal Christmas present for those who are faced with the vicissitudes of life and who might need the highly valuable help that this book can offer.

It is published in hardback by The Book Guild and costs £11.99.

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

I believe this book will make a most excellent stocking filler this Christmas.

Peginoor Land of the Lost

Peginoor Land of the Lost is a new novel for children by Nanna Lambert.

What happens to all the objects ad things that get irretrievably lost?

They all travel to a very special, mystical land called Peginoor.

Sometimes they travel to Peginoor because they feel a call to go there because they are required there.

Sometimes they decide to travel there of their own volition, because they feel that they are unloved and unwanted.

Brother and sister Jack And Marcie are holidaying with their grandparents and whilst exploring their grandfather’s allotment they discover a strange code hidden there.

This single event is just the beginning of a fantastical journey which eventually leads them to the secret land that is Peginoor!

It is a truly wondrous place filled with mystery wisdom and much, much more.

But eventually they come to understand that the very realm of Peginoor is under threat from dark forces that challenge the important goodness that is at the very heart of the existence of Peginoor.

Jack and Marcie find themselves at the heart of a battle to defeat these dark forces, yet they ultimately become aware that Peginoor is holding them both captive. And to free themselves they must seek out and discover the object that they are searching for.

This is an ideal Christmas present for children aged 7+ (for parents or grandparents to read from) or for older children aged 9 and upwards.

The book is published by Matador at a very reasonable £7.99 and will make an excellent stocking filler.

You can buy this book just over to the right from the That’s Books and Entertainment bookshop.

Ilona Lost

Ilona Lost is a romantic yet tragic novel by author Jim Pinnells.

It is set during the First World War and it tells the story of an English nurse called Evelyn who is working with the wounded on the Eastern Front in the year 1916.

She witnesses great horrors, the mutilations, the loss of sight, the illnesses like tetanus, the problems caused by gangrene and even worse as the “lucky” ones are invalided back home to face an unknowable future filled with pain and heartache.

Evelyn rescues a teenage Polish girl, Illona, from being raped by Cossack cavalry.

Numbed by the horrors that they have seen the two women manage to flee as Lenin and the Red Army begin to take over and they fall in love.

Eventually they arrive in England but they quarrel and part.

But is their love story over?

Or is there still more tragedy to follow?

Read this novel to find out more.

It is published by Matador at £7.99.

Twelve Thrilling Tales

Twelve Thrilling Tales by Rita Cheminais is exactly what it says on the tin. Twelve thrilling tales.

Each of the stories is short, yet are packed with several punches lacking in some novel length works that I could mention. But wont!

And the twists within each story? Oh, how beautifully they are executed!

And all with a touch of humour that certainly helps to boil the pot just a little more!

There’s a couple who meet up with a dead woman on a luxury cruise ship, a murder mystery weekend with a difference, a very unfortunate occurrence at the Hotel California, a little trouble in an overgrown jungle of a garden, some problems at a writers’ circle and a variety of other grim, yet gripping, stories.

Rita Cheminais is a film and TV extra, a voice over artiste and also works as a promotional model when she is not penning cracking short stories. And she is also a member of a writers’ club.

The book is published by Matador at the rather nifty price of £7.99 and will make an excellent Christmas gift for the reader in your life.

It's ideal for reading in front of an open fire, with brandy and minced pies at your side on Christmas afternoon!

You can buy it from the That’s Books and Entertainment bookshop. You’ll find the portal just to the right hand side of this review.

You can also purchase thousands of other books, Christmas presents, Christmas food and drink, etc., there, too.

Belinda: The Forest How Red Squirrel

Belinda: The Forest How Red Squirrel is an utterly charming and highly captivating book that is a three-year photographic study of red squirrels in their natural habitat by squirrel enthusiast Peter Trimming.

The study was undertaken by Peter in Forest How, which is situated in Eskdale, Cumbria.

During his research he witnesses a terrible and highly destructive outbreak of squirrel pox. Sadly this outbreak killed the entire adult population in Forest How.

However, despite this dreadful event a small number of the younger red squirrels who were born in the spring of 2014 managed to survive the outbreak and began to rebuild their shattered colony.

They emerged in gu4esthouse gardens from the late summer of 2014. A squirrel, named as Belinda, is chosen by Peter as a special recipient of his attention and he watches her closely.

This book is about wildlife conservation and it contains a wealth of detail about the colony, but it also features a multiplicity of full-colour images of the squirrels and their lay-to-day lives.

The introduction was written by Helen Butler MBE, who is of the Wight Squirrel Project and the IOW Red Squirrel Trust.

As Helen Butler MBE puts it: “Peter is not only a keen observer but a very good photographer.”

The book is published by the Book Guild in hardback at £12.95 and is a must buy Christmas present for the wildlife lovers in your life. Or even for your own Christmas stocking!

You can buy it from the That’s Books and Entertainment bookshop, which you will find just to the right of this book review.

A Door Marked Hawker

A Door Marked Hawker is an intriguing mystery, written by novelist Nigel Milliner.

It tells the story of Dorgy Pascoe, a village artisan and what happens after is untimely demise.

Jack is faced with the task of acting as the executor of the estate of Dorgy.

Jack believes that the matter will be a simple affair which he would be able to deal with in a very straightforward manner.

But Jack soon learns that nothing could be further from the truth.

Jack discovers there is a complicated web of intrigue surrounding Dorgy Pascoe. And that some attacks that seemed to surround Pascoe before his death had more significance than might have seemed possible at the time.

Jack feels compelled to dig deeper into matters that took place in the past and he becomes aware that the past that he is uncovering is far more dark and dangerous than he could have imagined possible.

Will Jack be able to resolve the matters that he has discovered to the satisfaction of the Pascoe family?

Or might the dark and murky past of Pascoe mean that Jack might even be endangering his own life?
This is an ideal Christmas present for those who like their mysteries.

It’s published by The Bookguild at £9.95.

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

Snatched

Kieran. He is a normal, average businessman, running a normal, average (but high end) ticket agency.

But the truth is that Kieran is not, by any means, what he seems.

In truth Kieran, with his degree in Child Psychology, runs a high end agency, a very high end agency indeed, that deals in a very precious commodity.

In fact, Kieran deals in the most precious commodity that there is. Stolen children.

It's probable that you could describe his business as being a sort of adoption agency. Although the parents and the child are unwitting and completely non-consenting participants.

All goes well for Kieran as children are spirited away from their families to be delivered to super rich oligarchs who have much more money than sense or moral fibre.

Until, that is, Kieran decides to kidnap Thomas who lives in the London borough of Chiswick.

He is on holiday with his family and it is planned that the family's au pair will snatch Thomas.

However, things go very badly wrong and the consequences for everyone concerned, but especially Kieran, are, to put it mildly, shocking.

This is a very well written book and will make an ideal Christmas present for lovers of thriller novels.

It is published by Matador at £7.99 and is available from the That's Books and Entertainment bookshop, which you will find to the right of this book review.

Eugene

Eugene is a novel from author John G. Smith.

John G. Smith was talking with a veteran of WW2. He heard a tragic story of how the veteran was torn from his first true love, a beautiful Burmese girl.

Even now, all these years later, he secretly carried a photograph of himself and his girlfriend, hidden within his wallet.

As it does with every other good author, this set up a "what if...?" moment within the imagination of John G. Smith.

And he brings to his readers the story of Eugene.

Eugene had been conscripted into the RAF and suffered a particularly harrowing tour of duty in Burma.

All Eugene wanted to do was to return home to Britain and to be welcomed back into the family butchery business.

But due to the infighting of his brothers and the fact that at 74 his father had lost control of the business, Eugene was, in effect, banished from the family business.

He decides to move forward, setting out to become a successful businessman in his own right, embracing the opportunities that existed in post World War 2 Britain.

For all his advancements in his life, both business and pleasure, Eugene still resents the fact that he had to leave behind him is girlfriend, a Burmese nurse called Chit.

Because so-called fraternisation with a local girl was considered a serious offence.

Eugene thrives commercially, even during times when others are going under, yet his personal life began to disintegrate around him.

This is a well-written and very moving novel.

It is published by Matador at £8.99.

In No Time At All

Do you remember the novel by N. A. Millington, Time for Tanechka?

Now it is time for In No Time At All, the long-waited sequel, which also features Ary and Tatiana as they find themselves, once more, grappling with the problems and vicissitudes of travelling through time.

Winston Peabody is described as being "incomparable." He is a cat burglar and jewel thief for part of his life. And for the rest of his life? He is an apparently blameless dean of a very famous college in the English county of Lancashire.

He has been given an assignment by a shadowy and somewhat sinister organisation called the Masters Club.

The task? One that seems impossible. To track down and purloin or rescue a religious relic known as the Parchment of Life.

This relic is said to be so important that whoever is in possession of it would gain utter and total control over the whole of humanity.

There are two devices, cunningly disguised to make them look like egg timers, that are able to transport whoever handles it through time, both the past and the future.

During this operation Winston Peabody is shadowed by his accomplice Charles Henry Smith.

They are compelled to experience a horrifying range of unpleasant and nightmarish events and situations in order to comply with the dark desires of not only the mysterious Masters Club, but also of the dark desires of Winston Peabody himself.

However, there's many a slip between the cup and the lip, as they say. Especially when time travelling is involved!

It's published by Matador at £9.99 and will make a nifty Christmas present for the book lover in your life.

You can purchase it now by visiting the That's Books and Entertainment book shop, which you will find to the right of this book review. Along with tens of thousands of other books and Christmas presents and food and drink of all types.

The Road to Corbyn

The Road to Corbyn a Modern Day Pilgrim's Progress, is a new book from author Rob Donovan.

When the financial crisis burst forth in 2008, Rob Donovan was able to sense the historical significance of the event.

He began to collect and collate material from a wide range of sources. He hoped that this activity would help him to understand what had happened and what was still happening.

By the year 2013 Rob Donovan had begun the task of writing what he described as "a secular fantasy" in the style of a pilgrimage through the landscape of the UK.

In this way, he proposed to "expose the real meaning behind austerity and Tory neo-Liberalism."

In the style of Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress, The Road to Corbyn starts with the conceit of a dream in which Pilgrim, described as a "contemporary seeker after truth" is introduced to the characters of Hope, Charity and the Interpreter.

The role of the Interpreter is to act as Pilgrim's guide, offering him the "big picture" of humanity and its developmental, especially during the last several centuries.

The book is, in essence, a sort of anti-Pilgrim's Progress, working as a anti-Christian counterpoint to the beliefs of John Bunyan.

I am sorry to say that I fear the book does not work particularly well in that it is based on a number of presumptions that might or might not have any validity.

It is published by Matador at £8.99.

Abdication

In his latest work, Abdication, historian and biographer Mark Hichens takes a detailed and percipient look at the story of the man who could well have been Britain's shortest serving monarch, King Edward VIII.

This year 2016, is the 80th anniversary of the dramatic abdication of King Edward VIII.

Mark Hichens realised that there were still questions from those events that remained unanswered, and ambiguities that remained unsettled.

He undertakes a detailed examination of the psychological character of King Edward VIII, making note of the various character flaws that were identified and noted by his peers.

Chief of which and one might hold the most damaging for a person in his postilion was the instability of his character and his lack of maturity.

He also examines the Duchess. She was arguably a woman who possessed no great beauty and had somewhat limited intellectual gifts. Yet she had captivated and married two men, plus had a number of lovers, before she captured the heart of someone described by some as "the world's best-loved man."  

The book looks at how she was able to bring the Prince to his knees.

Mark Hichens looks at the key players in this rather sordid episode, including Stanley Baldwin, King Edward VII's Prime Minister, who was the lead figure in the negotiations.

Although a book which adheres to academic rigour, it is written throughout in a style that is open and accessible.

It is published in hardback by The Book Guild at £14.99 and will make a warmly received Christmas present for lovers of history or biography.

It's also available from the That's Books and Entertainment book shop. Just take a look to the right hand side of this book review and you will finds the portal to the book shop. You'll also find thousands of other books, plus DVDs, Christmas gifts and festive food and drink.

Tears of the West

Tears of the West is the third novel from Ted York.

In it York explores the terrifying possibility of biological warfare.

The source of inspiration for this novel? His wife's makeup bag.

He happened to glance at the long list of chemical ingredients in them and began to wonder who, if anyone, was monitoring the contents of the various makeup products?

How easy would it be, he mused, to secretly begin adding toxic agents into the products?

The novel follows Dee, a postgrad student who is working on her PhD thesis at Imperial College London.

The title of her thesis? "Is Nanotechnology being Properly Controlled?"

She begins to investigate the growing number of potentially dangerous nanoparticles that some cosmetic firms, but one in particular, are starting to use.

She realises that something is wrong. The nanoparticles' composition is unlike anything she has ever seen before, so she decides to call upon the assistance of two people, a friend of hers and a tutor.

Soon afterwards, both are found dead.

However, it seems that the people behind the murders might be accused of a lack of due diligence in that Dee's godfather Colonel John Harriman is a retired SAS officer. And SAS officers never, really, retire...

The Colonel readily agrees to help Dee in her investigations and they make a horrifying discovery.

Meanwhile the CIA is also running an investigation into the cosmetic nanoparticles as they are concerned that the ingredients discovered in some cosmetics could severely impact fertility.

The true and horrific nature of the plot is discovered when they uncover a link to al-Qaeda.

A manhunt is triggered to uncover those behind the plot. But is it to late to stop their nefarious scheme?

This book is published by Matador at £8.99 and is a great Christmas gift for lovers of adventure fiction.

You can buy it from the That's Books and Entertainment book shop, just to the right of this book review.

Second Strand

Second Strand is the latest novel from Devon's very own mystery writer, Carolyn McCrae.

Alex and Teri are in a difficult situation. They have been together for 12 years and they are now on the verge of splitting up and and going their separate ways.

However, an elderly neighbour is found dying, which forces them to put their plans on hold at least for the immediate future.

But the police have decided that their only suspect for the killing is Alex and he quickly vanishes, leaving no trace.

Teri decides that she must know what has happened and wants, obviously, to know where Alex is, so she hires two private  investigators, Skye and Fergal, to find Alex and to see what they could find out about the death of their late neighbour.

However, Skye and Fergal uncover some rather startling facts about a hitherto unknown link between Alex and the victim, a link that proves surprisingly difficult to trace.

Skye and Fergal are sure that Alex is innocent, however they realise that the murder is actually linked to another, as yet, unsolved slaying in the same town two years previously.

Is Alex innocent? And if Alex is innocent, what is the exact nature of the link between Alex and the latest murder victim? And who committed both murders?

It's a very intelligently written book and explores not only the traditional nuts and bolts of a murder mystery but examines the frailties of human relationships and how things can go wrong without people even noticing.

This book is heartily recommended as the ideal stocking filler for the mystery novel reader in your life. Or it might even make an even better present for you!

You can buy it at the That's Book and Entertainment book shop, which you will find just to the right hand side of this book review. Along with a whole plethora of other books and a wide range of gifts, presents and Christmas foods and drinks.

Stay Put? Make a Move?

Thomas Nevins is an international labour and human resource development consultant.

He is the founder and chief consultant with TMT Inc., which you can find at www.tem-aba.com.

He established TMT in Tokyo almost 40 years ago, in 1978.

He is the author of a number of books aimed at the business community, covering human resources, employment matter and the like.

And now there is his latest book, Stay Put? Make a Move, from Lake Waccabuc to Omotesando.

Thomas Nevins claims that the book came about because he took dictation from his blind dog.

And, from his prosaic and very touching description of his dog (who started to lose his sight from age three) one can only presume that he might, indeed, have received some sort of inspiration to pen this book from his dogged (no pun intended) canine companion.

The book weighs in at nearly 400 pages and it is a book that is both fun and yet also of serious intent.

There are hundreds of stories, little and some large snippets of pop culture and a stupendous range of facts, current and/or historical, of people, places and things.

Tom also uses the book as a way to gently and amusingly make a sort of a sales pitch for moving to Tokyo and enjoying life in this Japanese city.

Learn about love hotels (which have bigger baths than most other hotels, apparently) about the very strict drinking and driving laws in Japan, the man who kept two hissing monkeys as pets, and took them for walks, one on each shoulder.

He also relates his early life in America, which included petting the cows of one of America's wartime leaders and how he got sick from eating a tin of beef stew and related that he realised it was all his own fault.

It's a stunning work of social history filled with praise and criticism in almost equal measure.

It's published by Matador at a very reasonable £12.99 and will make an excellent Christmas present for the person in your life who loves facts and opinions. It is also available as an e-book.

You can learn more about Thomas Nevins by visiting www.thamasnevins.co.uk where you will also see a video trailer and picture tour of Tom's New York hometown and the area in which he lives in Tokyo.

birds on the water

Privilege and the Mental Race War

Beer & Cheer - "Fields of Anfield Road" (3D 360°)

Blood, Sweat and Schemes

Blood, Sweat and Schemes is the latest crime novel by Rob Watkins.

Bob is in trouble. He had a one time only quick fling, when he and a woman called Charity were thrown together as they escaped death by boredom at a particularly tedious party.

That event occurred well over a decade ago. And now Bob is very happily married to his wife, Sue.

However, by a set of extraordinary coincidences his one time fling has become the boss of his wife.

And it becomes painfully clear that the one time fling is out to try to mess up Bob's happy married life and test it to way beyond breaking point. But just for some fun, you understand!

Charity blackmailed Bob into servicing her sexual needs and it seemed that every time he attempted to escape from Charity's clutches, something truly dreadful would happen to one of his loved ones.

But far from something perpetrated for the mere fun of it, Charity has upped her game substantially.

Because now? Now she wants vengeance. Real, bloody vengeance.  A deadly sort of vengeance of Biblical proportions, that could result in severe injury or an even a more severe death or several deaths.

Will Bob be able to sense the danger that he and his family are in, at the hands of Charity?

Will he be like a lamb to the slaughter?

Or will he be able to face Charity down and deal with her like-for-evil-like?

This is a thrilling book and a mere snip at £8.99, this Book Guild Book is a must for all lovers of crime and thriller novels.

You can buy it via the That's Books bookshop.

When the Ice Melts

When the Ice Melts is a novel by Phyllis J. Burton.

The writing of When the Ice Melts came about as the result of Phyllis J. Burton reading a  article about a woman whose son was in a long-term coma.

Phyllis J. Burton began to wonder what it would be like to be in such a situation and so she decided to write her novel, When the Ice Melts.

It explores the story of Sarah Wenham and what happened when her husband fell victim to a tragic accident that resulted in him being in a hospital's ICU, only kept alive by a life support machine.

Successful solicitor Tom Wenham was severely injured in a plane crash which left him in a coma.

Several months later his wife needs to give her authority to have the life support machine switched off, which results in the death of her husband.

Subsequently Sarah begins to doubt that her decision was the correct one. Should she have insisted that the doctors at the hospital continue with the operation of the life support machine?

Or had she, actually, made the right choice?

Pricked by her conscience she protects her emotions by building a thick wall of ice between herself and the outside world.

However, Sarah finds that she in physically unable to cope with the volume of work within the legal practice that she had operated with her husband, so she decides to take on a new partner to help deal with the casework.

John Bradley is selected as the new partner and Sarah shields herself from him behind her wall of ice.

She attempts to do her best to, somehow, get on  with her life and takes a weeklong break on a Greek island.

She meets silver tongued and handsome Theodorus, but the revelation that he is, actually, a serial womaniser makes her reject his advances.

She returns home to her life in England.

But something is happening. Someone is stalking her, someone who seeks vengeance upon her.

When she vanishes in mysterious circumstances John Bradley becomes frightened for her safety and he launches a desperate attempt to find her.

But can he find her in time? And what has happened to her?

If you like your romance novels with a bit of a thrilling edge to them, then this is just the right book for you.

It's published by Matador and costs a rather keenly priced £7.99. It's available from That's Books.

Prince Hal and his Friend Jack Falstaff

Prince Hal and his Friend Jack Falstaff is a Shakespearean tale that has been retold by Alan Oberman.

Rather than being merely new words, the story is also set to new music by Alan Oberman and also is accompanied by evocative and colourful illustrations created by Robin Carter.

There are two CDs that accompany the book, the first CD includes the story with and without the music, whilst the second CD has incidental music and the story told through music, alone.

The narration is by Philip Bowen, and the musicians are Laura Greenwood (piano) John Hymas (violin) Alan Oberman (saxophone) Graeme Lamble (electric bass and guitar) Tony Egan (drums) Lu Mason (vocals) and Simon Fraser (flugelhorn).

The engineering and editing work were all undertaken by Robin Lamble and the work was recorded at The Institute, Llangamach Wells, and Penlanole, Rhyader, both in Wales.

The story is re-told in a more modern language, yet it is still able to capture what makes this story one of the best-loved of all the stories told by master storyteller, William Shakespeare.

It is published by Cambria Books at an exceptionally reasonable price of £9.99 and this book belongs on the shelves of every family in the Kingdom and also in every school in the land, too!

It is published by Cambria Books (www.cambriabooks.co.uk) and is available through That's Books.

The Compass Dances

The Compass Dances is a collection of the writings of poet Michael Pickering.

It covers the years 1955 to 2015.

Michael Pickering began writing poems when he was seven years of age, although this anthology of his poems starts from when he was roughly 20 and carries on until he was 80.

The subject range is breathtaking covering people, places, ideas, modes of thinking, dreams, realities, legends both modern and ancient.

There are also poems in the style of others (look out for the rather charming tribute to Hilaire Belloc) on page 266, for example.

Mr  Pickering has kindly and thoughtfully provided some footnotes and pronunciation guide notes for several of his poems.

He has used a wide variety of poetic styles throughout this anthology including some styles not much used in modern times and also some poems that are of a more experimental nature.

This is a fascinating and interesting work.

The book is published by Matador at £10.99 and is available from That's Books.

Fast Forward Music and Politics in 1974

Fast Forward Music and Politics in 1974 is the fourth book by Steve Millward.

He observes, sagely, that "It was a period of tumultuous change, the repercussions of which are still being felt today."

Steve's books have covered the time period between 1964 and, with this fourth book, 1974.

It was an amazing ten year period, and 1974 -when Steve started his first job- was an amazing year both musically and politically.

There was the oil crisis, an international recession, the Watergate scandal that felled a president, Richard Nixon, the strange case of Patty Hearst and the Symbionese  Liberation Army, the terrible situation in Northern Ireland, football violence, the increasing fervour of the National Front and more troubles besides.

However. All was not doom and gloom, because as well as being a time of political turmoil, 1974 was an absolutely stunning year for new music.

Billy Swan with "I Can Help",  Carole King was scoring remarkably well -her 1971 album Tapestry was joined three years later by her album Wrap Around Joy, from which were released two hits, "Jazzman" and "Nightingale."

Elvis Presley was enjoying his popularity and Paul McCartney's band Wings release of Band on the Run toward the rear end of 1973 was receiving both critical and popular acclaim. (REVIEWER'S WHINGE: I do wonder what happened to my copy of that!)

Another former Beatle, Ringo Starr, was also doing very well for himself. His version of "You're Sixteen" released the year before was a fairly major hit for him and the album he released in 1974, Goodnight Vienna did well on both sides of the Atlantic.

The book also touches on the rise of Bruce Springsteen, the advent of Punk music (the American and the British varieties) and other such luminaries as the Wolf Tones -with their Irish Nationalist songs, and a host of artistes of various stripes such as Flora Purim, Santana and who can forget the Average White Band's ultra funky song "Pick Up the Pieces"? You'd never guess that, far from being an American band they actually haled from Dundee in Eastern Scotland.

This book belongs on the bookshelf of anyone with an interest in the history of popular music.

It's published by Matador at £8.99. You can buy it through That's Books.

Chorus Endings

Chorus Endings is a novel by David Warwick.

Peter and his friends grew up in rural Hampshire directly in the years that were just after the Second World War.

Their lifestyle was a pretty idyllic one, they had carte blanche, in effect, to roam around the villages and countryside of their part of Hampshire with nary a care in the world.

It seems that in those blissful days there was always something to see and something to do and always an adventure or two just beckoning them on.

Jimmy the Saint, a local artist in their particular favourite and something of a hero to them all.

As well as being an artist Jimmy is also a fount of all knowledge of the folklore of the village and of the amazing characters who occupied it down through the years.

There was Chirper Edwards, a not especially good town-crier, Freddy the Fop and No-Good Naughton, Stoytan the Jutish warrior, Morgana the pagan goddess and also the less than favourable ancestors of the current Squire.

But was everything right? What if things were not as it seemed?

By chance, four decades later, Peter stumbles on information that changes all that he new about Jimmy the Saint, and Peter and his wife Helen find themselves attempting to find the truth of the circumstances that surrounded the sudden and apparently mysterious disappearance of Jimmy all those years ago.

They find evidence of murder and of madness of insanity, espionage and betrayal and it seems that his hero was centre-stage throughout all of these incidents.

And what role had the mysterious wealthy American played in this tangled web?

It's an interesting novel as it reflects very well the zeitgeist of the years post war up to the present day with new religions and cults springing up almost daily, or so it seemed.

To book is published by Matador at £8.99 and it's available via That's Books.

Get Lucky

A blue-eyed boy, a rebellious teen, a womaniser, a brawler, a boozer, an International art thief, gaol habitue of prisons in several countries, jail breaker, a successful entrepreneur.

These are not the cast members of the latest Hollywood blockbuster movie, they are the various attributes of one very extraordinary man, Paul Eagles.

Paul Eagles' autobiography opens with Paul at 22 stone in a hospital bed, chained to two prison warders.

His mind begins to wander over some events from  his past life. Art theft, a young lady called Joker at his side as he checked over the security system of the Singer Museum in Laren, temporary repository for a Ruben's. And likely to be more temporary than originally envisaged if Paul Eagles has his way.

He has made, both by legitimate and less than legitimate means, several fortunes and lost them in a variety of ways including being cheated by people who  he should have been able to trust, including his lawyer and a so-called business adviser.

But no matter what happened, who he had upset he always seemed to end up smelling of roses.

It is a book with a wide cast of heroes and villains of various stripes and types and of moments of deep sadness interwoven with his sardonic wit and humour.

It's a quirky tale and ideal for your last minute summer holiday reading if you haven't been on holiday yet.

It's published by Matador and costs £9.99, you can buy it from That's Books.

A New Day Dawning

A New Day Dawning is a new book by Edward Forde Hickey.

The book follows a group of children in the part of Ireland that is Tipperary and a hillside community therein.

The novel follows a group of children through their early lives as they learn the ways of life in Rural Ireland during the 1940s as their grip on who they are and their unique, individual personalities grow and develop.

Hickey knows the area depicted well, as he was born in Dolla, Tipperary. Where he still has a small hillside farm, together with a home in Kent shared with his wife and three children.

The setting of the book is, says Hickey: "the unreal world of Rookery Rally."

The format of the book is interesting as it eschews ordinary chapters for a series of vignettes of varying lengths, each of which relate to different events in a particular month of a particular year as the book continues from September 1945 and the cessation of the distant war right through to late September 1946.

We follow the children as they learn right from wrong, sometimes with horrible consequences, they learn to say their Rosaries ("inspired by the bespectacled Pope" in a message sent all the way from Rome.

They learn that killing is wrong and that some adults are not as nice as some other adults, and that's putting it very mildly as some of the adults in the area are, to put it mildly, not very nice at all.

Slipperslapper, for example is one of the most horrific characters that I have ever come across.

The book is published by Matador at £10.99 and is available from the That's Books and Entertainment bookshop, just to the right of this review.

Early Days

Playwright Caroline Mitchel Rehder has written two plays that are emotionally charged as they offer the theatregoer an insight into how suffering can begin in the life of a child.

The plays show two entirely different ways, that are all too common, in which a child can find themselves trapped and, as a result, can suffer horribly and, apparently it would seem, totally unnoticed by the adults that surround them.

In the play is "Contractual Obligations"  we see a mother who is incapable of forming that all important mother-child bonding. We watch the unfortunate consequences of this failure as they negatively impact upon the relationship between the two of them.

The second play is called "The Divorce."

It tells the horrible story of a child who disintegrates before the audience as the parents battle each other for supremacy in their divorce, yet fail to notice the horrible impact this event is having on their own child.

The plays are highly stylised and, should they be produced, would probably be best suited to all cast members being played by adult actors, rather than children.

The playscript is published by Matador and costs £9.99 and is available from the That's Books and Entertainment bookshop, which is to the right of this review.

The Silent Land

Whilst undertaking research for his day job as a newspaper journalist, David Dunham realised that, for some reason, very little had been recorded about a British army regiment that had been, at the time, praised for having "saved the British Empire."

David decided to dig deep into the research archives to learn more about the regiment, but he did not use his research material to relate the history of the battle in which they fought,

Instead he used his research to tell the story of the humanity, of the people who survived, those who didn't survive and the great and abiding terrible griefs that this occasioned in their loved ones.

It is a detailed story that shows what happens when their are dreadful and terrible secrets within a family and how the shadow of the great and terrible Great War was a long a dark one.

It is the story of Rebecca and her mother, how Rebecca learned and had to come to terms with the way in which he mother died.

How the marriage to her one true love and her own venture inot motherhood brings about resolution and happiness for Rebecca, until the advent of the Great War, a maelstrom into which her husband, along with millions of men like him, were forced to enter.

Can she ignore the terrible things that have happened in the past? Or will he allow them to mar the rest of her life, spoiling her future as they had already spoiled her past?

This is a well-crafted debut novel published by Matador at £7.99.

It's on sale in the That's Books and Entertainment online book emporium, you'll find the entry to the bookshop just to the right of this book review.

Children of the Mists

Children of the Mists is a novel by author Lexa Dudley.

It takes us to the island of Sardinia to a time of long, long ago.

Set well over 200 years ago Children of the Mists is a Love story.

For the inhabitants of Sardinia, life had not altered much since the time of the ancient Romans.

It is a love story, but it tells what happens when revenge and the Sardinian concept of vendetta become enmeshed with a once pure love, the love of two young people, Raffaella and Antonio.

Devotion is set to one side because a death has occurred.

Honour must be avenged, ambitions befoul all they touch or influence.

But the love of Raffaella and Antonio is a strong love.

However, is it a love that can stand against what are traditions and a way of life that predates even the laws and customs of ancient Roman times?

This is a classical romance in the best sense of the term and is an ideal read for someone who wants their romance with some spark and a lot of heart.

It is published by Matador at £7.99 and can be bought from a variety of outlets including the That's Books and Entertainment online book shop, which you will find on the right side of this review.

Grand Vizier of Krar Fulcrum of Power

Fans of the Fantasy Science Fiction Grand Vizier of Krar novel Strings of Destiny, by W. John Tucker, will be pleased to note that he has published the second novel in the series, Fulcrum of Power.

After her dramatic discovery of the Occidental Communicator (a device of stunning power, installed by extraterrestrial visitors) Blan found herself trapped as a prisoner on the dreaded Slave Island.

She is forced to submit to the Black Knight at Austra Castle.

But now, Blan is going to take matters into her own hands and, though deep within enemy territory, she decides to make her own way and make her own unique mark on the situation.

However, she will not be allowed to face her enemies alone. And her protege, the worryingly brilliant and very strong-willed Memwin who, although only five, is proving herself to be someone who will not be thwarted in her ambitions. Hardly a surprise, when one considers that the Black Knight is her blood father.

The two friends come to a realisation that they are inextricably interlinked under the Great Plan. But can they possibly know or understand the great and terrible risks they are to undertake?

As events take apparently unpredictable and somewhat wild turns, they two expose themselves and, indeed, all of the denizens of Dabbin to the threat of a retribution that would be most terrible to comprehend.

It's a novel of love, tragedy, danger and retribution and excitement! Think Space Opera, think Olaf Stapledon, think E E "Doc" Smith, think big, because this novel's 474 pages has it all and more besides!

It's published by Matador at £15.99 and can be ordered now at the That's Books and Entertainment bookshop, which you will find over to the right hand side of this book review.

The Blue Pendant

The Blue Pendant is a novel by Valerie Duncan that is a novel from our near history, it tells the story of a growing and developing relationship between two women in the 1960s.

The novel launches in the year 1962 where the protagonists, Jo and Jenny, make their acquaintance in college. 

As their friendship ripens they realise that they share passions for music, the dramatic arts and poetry. 

Over the years their friendship becomes deeper and transcends mere friendship, becoming something much more than that.

To their other friends and the outside world they appear to be just good friends. But behind closed doors, it is an entirely different matter as true love blooms and blossoms.

However, Jenny becomes fearful that the true nature of their intense relationship will be revealed to the world so she makes a instant decision to leave Jo behind and flees for a new life in France.

Meanwhile Jo forges a new life for herself as a highly successful magazine editor.

The novel looks at their parallel lives, examines how they live their now separate lives as they attempt to move on.

Jo and Jenny both find a measure of joy and happiness in their lives but both feel that, somehow, there is a certain lack. That something is missing.

Can their love bring them back together? Or will they still be haunted, their hopes blighted and dashed by by that fear of discovery, that fear of what others might think, do or say?

This book is a published (in paperback) by The Book Guild at £8.99 and is available via The That's Books and Entertainment bookshop, just to the right side of this review.

End Point

End Point is the debut science fiction novel of Author Peter Breakspear.

The book is interesting as it was an entry for a competition in Writing Magazine to have a novel published by Matador Books.

And as the book is, indeed, published by Matador, you'll gather that it was the winning entry out of over 100 hopeful authors.

We find ourselves in a Welsh valley with Tom and his special team who are there to retrieve something that has fallen to the Earth.

Missions to Mars and Venus offer proof to the team that planet Earth has been the subject of intense interest from beings from other worlds for a considerable period of time.

They also discover evidence that the environmental conditions of our planet had been subject to manipulation and outside influence for thousands and thousands of years.

Suddenly a member of the team disappears only to be returned to the team but as a radically changed being.

What, exactly, is he, now? An enemy or just someone who is attempting to guide the team, to help them in their ongoing quest?

Even so, they find themselves subjected to numerous examples of misdirection. But, ultimately they arrive at the answer they have been seeking. Or is it?

Is the Biblical story of the Ark of the Covenant somehow linked in to the events they have been investigating?

Is this an End Point or is it really a Beginning Point?

This book costs £8.99 and is available from the That's Books and Entertainment Bookshop. You'll find that just over to the right of this review.

Ben and the Spider Prince

In this delightful follow up to Ben and the Spider Gate, in Ben and the Spider Prince, we learn that, once again, Lox and the Spider Wizard are in desperate need of the assistance and help of Ben, their human friend.

The Spider Princess is suffering from a dire illness and she is in need of the treatment of a specific, special cure.

However, the ingredients required for this particular type of medicine are all highly special and need to be gathered together so that the medicine can be made.

And it is Ben's task to find those special ingredients!

Can Gran give Ben a special secret that would be capable of keeping Ben safe from Spindra, the wicked sister of the spider Queen?

Written by Angela Fish, this is a charming and eminently well-written book for children.

Again, this book is beautifully illustrated and will be a great book for all children and adults from parents to grandparents and older siblings who like to read to their little brothers and sisters.

In a review Maria Grachvogel very wisely points out that it is "a story about loyalty and friendship."

It's published by the Book Guild in hardback at a very reasonable £9.95 and is available through the That's Books and Entertainment online bookshop, the portal of which you will find on the right hand side of this book review.

Buy it early for Christmas, that's my advice!

Clearful and the Queen

Once upon a time (well, not that long ago) a real little girl who goes by the name of Lali, invented a new word.

In the story of Clearful and the Queen, Lali and Abba, her big sister, decided that they should tell the Queen the story of the new word so they embarked on an amazing adventure, assisted by their speical pet cat, called Smokey.

After they invented their new word, "Clearful" they thought it best to tell the Queen that they had invented a new word.

So they wrote a letter to the Queen explaining all about the new word, which they had invented during a visit to their grandparents' house.

Much to their delight and surprise, the Queen writes back to them and even more spectacular, the Queen decides to invite them to tea!

They set out on a simply stunning adventure to travel from their house to Buckingham Palace to accept their invitation.

This is a charming and exceptionally well illustrated book written by  M J Exon (who in her day job is the Managing Director of BBH, a leading creative agency) and illustrated by Sid Russell, who is a highly talented artist and designer who is head of BBH's Design Department.

The book costs a remarkably reasonable £6.99 and will delight both parents, grandparents and children.

It is published by Matador and is available via the The That's Books and Entertainment book shop, which you will find to the right of this review.

The Conjurer's Mouse

The Conjurer's Mouse is a clever and light collection of rhyming short stories and other bits of random fun that are designed to keep all children and adults amused and entertained.

Authored an illustrated by Ann and Fred Onymouse (who have decided to tick the 'no publicity box' of life!).

The book is an amiable and delightful little diversion which is chock full of a wild melange of stories from a frightened rodent cafe owner, the benefits of humming, what happens at the alien's party night, a guitar playing kitty, a young rat with a problem, what monsters watch on their T.V. News.

What happens when a mongrel wants to enter a village dog show, what happens when you have a dinosaur for a brother and what happened to poor Ned Willow with his absolutely dreadful new pillow!

The book is published by Matador at £6.99 and is available from the that's Books and Entertainment bookshop, which is to be found at the right hand side of this book review.

Highlanders' Revenge

Highlanders' Revenge is a novel by a writing team made up of Uncle and Niece Paul and Victoria Richman in their debut novel under the pen name of Paul Tors.

Highlanders' Revenge tells the story of a Mash Man, the name of an outsider with a group of Highland soldiers.

This Mas Man is an Englishman, already marked by the loss of the love of his life by a murder and by the retreat before the advancing Nazi hordes of the Blitzkrieg.

His fellow soldiers are wary of this sullen and secretive outsider as they find themselves in Egypt where they find themselves battling an enemy ad natural conditions that test them to the very limits of their physical and metal endurance.
  
They find themselves caught up in one of the largest and most vicious battles of the entire Second World War, El Alamein.

The novel combines truth with fiction as it retells the exploits of the 5th Camerons, an amazing military unit as it saw action in most of the decisive and major battles of not  only the North African theatre of war but also of Western Europe.

Our two authors skillfully interweave the fictional life of Mash with the factual history of the 5th Camerons.

At only £9.99 this is a gripping military novel and, with its meticulous research, will be an ideal book for lovers of this genre.

It's available from the That's Books and Entertainment bookshop, just to the right of this review.

The Cow That Jumped Over the Moon

The Cow That Jumped Over the Moon is a new retelling of a classic tale.

Jooks, who is eight years old, has taken her favourite nursery rhyme, Hey Diddle Diddle, and re-imagined  it as a stunning new and very captivating story of what the cow who jumped over the moon did next.

Bored with his everyday life of continually leaping over the moon the cow seeks out new experiences and new adventures in a host of new environments and locations.

The cow journeys to the Earth where it jumps over Antarctica, leaps over a rainbow (with hilarious consequences!) bounds about over Ice Cream Land and eventually he decides that he has had more than enough mad jumping about adventures for one day.

But the cow discovers that he isn't quite the cow that he used to be!

To find out how the cow and why has changed, and how thrilled he is, you will have to buy this wonderful and highly charming book.

It costs a remarkably pocket money friendly £3.99 and with the highly colourful and delightful illustrations by Anna Kubaszewska, this new book will be a must buy for any child from 0 to 5 or so.

It is published by Studionesh Limited and is printed and published in Wales.

Jooks (who hails from Cardiff in south Wales) was inspired to write the book when she was singing nursery rhymes to her little sister, after she started to make up some new stories for her, Jooks decided to write her favourite one down and thus The Cow Who Jumped Over the Moon was born.

Ideal for children, their parents and grandparents this is a must buy book.

It is available from the That's Books and Entertainment bookshop which is to be found to the right of this book review.

The Water Babes

The Water Babes is a first novel by retired successful text book author and editor Norman Whitney.

It's set in the perhaps unlikely milieu of a water aerobics class.

It brings together people of widely or wildly differing backgrounds, classes, races and religious.

Readers who are looking for a warm, humorous novel in which there is absolutely no violence or murders, will love this debut novel.

You'll witness smiles, laughter and some tears, and a variety of incidents events and accidents some funny, some not all that funny.

But this is a special day, for it's the last of their lessons and to mark this momentous event, they are going to hold a party in the evening,

Food and drink are shared in friendship, then as the night progresses, something more than mere nourishment is shared. Secrets are revealed, confessions made, some of which are mildly amusing, others which are, to be quite frank, a bit of a shock.

But there is also something else., too. The novel explores how, apparently totally different people are perhaps not as different as one might think.

In fact the levels of connectedness might be deeper than one might expect.

The book is also nicely illustrated, too.

This is a heartwarming debut novel and it is published by Matador at £9.99.

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