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.