Last Sardana by Roy Harwood

What is the Sardana? It is a group folk dance that dates back to Medieval times in Catalonia.

Last Sardana is the first of an epic six volume story of the family of Maria, a mother tragically widowed at an early age with her son Pedro to raise.

Maria does a good job brining up Pedro who, at the insistence of the village priest (at a boozy fiesta) becomes known as Peter because, intuited the priest, Pedro would. in the same fashion as the Disciple Saint peter, be destined to travel both far and wide.

Peter becomes an internationally renowned architect and property developer as far afield as the UK and Malaysia, but he never forgets his roots in Catalonia, nor does he forget his mother, Maria, who he still dotes on as only a good son of a widowed mother can.

This, the first book in the series, takes us through the early part of his career, right through to his participation to helping to stage the 1982 Barcelona  Olympics and his relationships with friends, colleagues and family members.

The book will be published on July 28 at £9.99 in paperback, by Matador.

Please look out for the subsequent books in this series, Last Sardana and Sardana Encor, both at £9.99.

Other books in the series will be published soon.

The Real World

What would happen to you if you were a disembodied being (called Hedstrong) from another realm when the host body that you occupied died in rather distasteful circumstances? Beaten to death before a large crowd of onlookers at a charity function who, because nobody liked the victim, managed to fail to witness the murderous attack that swiftly put an end to his life. Can't really get much more distasteful?

The spiritual being finds himself residing in a stately home, where he meets another of his kind, a female of his species.

Who, he discovers had found, by a chance encounter with a torch battery, that she can 'feed' on electricity.

Which means that they no longer have to rely on being hosted in the bodies of living humans.

But then village girl Phyllis manages to get herself involved with the manor house and its Lord of the Manor.

Phyllis can see the spiritual inhabitants of the house. There's Hedstrong, his new found love interest Antedote and all is well.

Or it was before the arrival of Upstart, who, because Antedote is a bit too domineering, manages to capture the affections of Hedstrong.

But what, exactly, is Upstart up to? Does he really want to drag Hedstrong into the midst of a potentially dangerous conspiracy to overthrow Jenius, who is the leader of the Spiritual World Council, with something of a reputation for being ruthless and dictatorial?

Eventually the property becomes part of the large number of stately homes under the protection of the National Trust. Though this one is different, it is also under the 'protection' of Phyllis, left in charge upon the death of the last Lord of the Manor.

Phyllis is not without certain psychic abilities and she manages to anger the inhabitants of the spirit realm by communicating with them.

There's the equivalent of an armed rebellion in the spirit realm and both realms of existence could see lives being snuffed out. But who is at risk? Who will live, who will die?

It's a highly intelligent fantasy novel by Roy Hewetson and is worth every penny of the £8.99 asking price for the paperback, or £2.99 for the e-book version.

It is published in paperback by Matador.

Thicker Than Soup

Thicker Than Soup is a novel by Katheryn Joyce.

It explores a whole range of emotions and challenges within the lives of its characters.

There is Sally Lancing, the daughter of an English mother and an immigrant from Pakistan, and John Sommers, a son of adoptive parents, who is greatly loved by them.

A surprise pregnancy, which brings about some questions as to the paternity of the child, throw the two into different, but separate lives.

Sally is destroyed by the loss of her job, her partner, even her home. So she decides to take her infant son to Pakistan so that they can meet with her father's family  members.

What she sees shocks her and challenges everything she thought she knew.

John, meanwhile has his own problems that he attempts, with some success, to hide.

But the situation that developed has raised old and previously buried concerns and problems within him and he takes the decision to embark on an equally fraught journey, a journey as long as that taken by Sally and her son, but long in emotional rather than physical terms.

And yet there were still ties that bind, including the tie of the boy, Sammy.

It's a moving story of multiple layers that shimmer and glimmer in the various lights that are shone upon them.

It is a book of love, of fidelity, of infidelity and pathos.

It is published by Matador at £8.99 and is, of course, available through the That's Books and Entertainment book shop which is powered by Amazon.

Will Smith, Alfonso Ribeiro and DJ Jazzy Jeff Perform The Carlton Dance ...

The Ghost

The Ghost is a new novel by Andrew Lowe.

It is a compelling story that relates how film critic Dorian Cook is a man who is haunted by a childhood prank which, although many years ago in the distant past, still has a dark resonance in his life as an adult.

The prank went wrong. Very badly wrong.

It happen in that long, hot summer of 1976, when the government had to appoint a minister for droughts, when people thought flares to be the height of fashion and when Dorian's childhood in his Northern industrial town was, in effect, ruined by the shocking event that took place.

As an adult in contemporary London, Dorian has a certain cache as a fairly influential film critic.

But now the past has reached out to him with bony fingers, bony fingers that seek out for revenge in the shape of an old acquaintance of Dorian's, who is back. With a sick vengeance on his mind.

Dorian finds himself acting the hero (albeit unwilling) when he must fight for what he believes in, to protect his own family from harm and to battle to stay alive.

The novel switches from his day-to-day work as a critic (EDITOR: All very realistic, I can assure you!) to what becomes a vitally important fight for everything he holds dear to him, including his own life.

It's gritty, it's primal and it's protagonist is a writer and a critic. I mean, what's not to like?

It's an exceptionally good read and Andrew Lowe has made the transition from writing fact to writing fiction with an ease and an aplomb that I can only envy.

It's due out on 28th June and is published by Matador at £9.99, and is available via The That's Books and Entertainment online book shop.

Epitaph for a Working Man

Epitaph for a Working Man is a highly important novel by Erhard von Buren.

It relates in a clear and vivid fashion the story of a man who is moving toward the last chapter of his life.

His health is not as good as it once was, yet he bravely and sincerely refuses to make any compromises.

He continues to work as a stonemason, he continues to visit his local bar to enjoy himself and decliners to stop smoking.

He is also a witty and careful observer of what is happening in his Swiss town, of who is doing what and why it is being done.

He is capable of being tough, yet can also show gentleness. He is both weak in some ways, yet strong in others.

The novel is seen from the point of view of his adult son, who writes a warts and all account of the last year of his father's life.

It is set in the 1980s in a small, provincial town in Switzerland and it is a moving, fascinating look at the life of an individual soul.

It is the fourth novel by Erhard von Buren, but the first of his novels to be translated into English, the translator being Helen Wallimann MA.

It is to be hoped that Helen Wallimann will translate the other works by Erhard von Buren.

It will be published on May 28th by Matador at £8.99, a Kindle edition will cost £2.99.

Both versions will be available via the That's Books and Entertainment book shop.

From Farms to Pharma

From Farms to Pharma is a highly interesting book about Pharma, the pharmaceutical industry, from the point of view of a sympathetic insider.

This is a highly useful book as it offers the reader a rare insight into this vitally important industry.

It is a rare book as, all too often, books with "Pharma" in the title are fairly hysterical tomes written from the perspective of people who have spent decades decrying every aspect of "Big Pharma."

From Farms to Pharma is written by industry insider Ron Stark.

Ron takes us on a very illuminating journey through a lifetime spent working in medical research. He spent a large proportion of his working life employed as an industrial troubleshooter.

The book is filled with the wit, good humour and humanity of Ron, who relates a number of stories, some amusing, some tragic, some fairly heroic as researchers battled to come up with solutions for diseases that afflict mankind.

The book is populated with a wide range of characters, some flawed, some saintly and some who, like most of humanity, are both flawed and saintly, sometimes in equal measure.

One of the most moving stories is that of the dreadful typhoid fever epidemic that struck the city of Aberdeen in May 1964.

It tells the story of how the epidemic started, how its source was traced and how the several hundred victims were treated.

It also covers a number of interesting cases where problems were caused by drugs and other cases where physicians had chosen to blame drugs for causing problems within their patient that, it transpired, really had other causes.

The book is published by Matador on 28th June and will cost £9.99. It is highly recommended to anyone who plans to working in the field of pharmaceuticals, is a doctor or a medical student or the general reader who wants to look at all sides of a situation.