Jan

Jan is a fictional thriller from former military officer Peter Haden. But it is based on the true life story of his Uncle Jan.

Jan was a young Polish boy who, due to the depression of the 1920s, was forced to seek employment in Germany, just over the border.

During the invasion of Poland by Nazi germany his sister and father brutally lose their lives and Jan's brother remains on the family farm to work with the Polish partisans.

As Nazi persecution increased, Jan was asked to help by assisting his employer's Jewish daughter to flee to a farm on the Belgian border where she could seek refuge.

After making a motor journey across Germany Jan manages to reach England.

He is given intensive specialist military training to enable him to undertake missions for the Allies.

He undertakes two missions, the first with the Polish partisan forces. He then meets up with the Jewish girl, Renate, with whom he must make reports to the Allies on the German build-up behind the Western front.

Renate and Jan are captured by the Gestapo and they must make good their escape to flee across the border into Belgium and then on to England.

It's a riveting and thrilling book, and is the third military thriller from Peter Haden.

It's published by Matador at £9.99 and really should be in the Christmas stocking of any fan of military thrillers.

You can purchase it here https://goo.gl/wdCFDG.

Storyteller

Storyteller, On the Journey of Poetry, is the third collection of poems from David Hamilton.

It is like no other collection of poems that I have ever read before. And I mean that in a very good and very positive light.

David Hamilton is a poet for the modern age, yet he is able to drawn upon the poetic traditions of Homer, Chaucer, Pope and Tennyson.

It's not just a collection of poems, it contains the distilled wisdom of the author, plus a collection of extremely high quality photographs (all taken by David Hamilton) that really add to the vitality of this anthology. 

There are poems, sonnets and stories told from the perspective of a variety of historical characters, all smartly linked together by the weaving prose of David Hamilton who acts in the guise of a literary master of ceremonies. And what splendid ceremonies they are!

The book is published by Matador and costs £12.99 and will make an excellent Christmas gift for the poetry reader in your life. And for the non-poetry reader too, for that matter.

Will also be a useful purpose for poetry lecturers, too.

It can be purchased here https://goo.gl/wdCFDG.

Blackhart

Blackhart is a novel from D L Millan.

In the year 1822 Lord Blackhart is thrilling his young grandsons with the stories of a mystical curse that has been placed upon their family. It is the story of the Black Dove.

But the threat will only come good should the Blackhart line die out.

The story then moves to the present day when a teenage girl by the name of Callie follows a mysterious stranger and finds herself in a totally different world.

A battle, using the powers of magic, breaks out between the mysterious stranger (who is called Alex) and James Blackhart and his cohorts.

In the nick of time reinforcements arrive in the form of the Doves, who are Alexis' previously estranged sisters.

The Blackharts flee to their home in the early 19th century.

It becomes clear that the two time streams have become linked due a a Blackhart portal, which is an ability unique to the family, which gives them the ability to travel backward and forward in time.

James Blackhart's niece lives with the sisters and sahe discovers evidence that Callie's late father was a creator of portals.

Callie and Alexis meet, once again, under extremely trying circumstances and a secret from Callie's life is revealed. A secret that has haunted her for years.

Callie is drawn into a dangerous world of time travel and magic, where she learns about ancient secrets and the curse of the Black Dove.

This book is published by The Book Guild at £9.49 and can be purchased here
https://goo.gl/wdCFDG.

Aaron's Rod

In 1938, during archaeological digs at Lachish, James Starkey discovered a copper scroll that had been buried in a clay cylinder, hidden beneath a pyramid of skulls. 

It is believed to date back to the 7th century and the Assyrian conquest. The contents of the scroll are so shocking that Starkey decides to hide them in a cave where his body is found the next day.

Some 70 years later Professor Joshua Black, professor of surgery at London University, is discovered hanging from a tree on Hampstead Heath. It's theorised that he committed suicide.

But not everyone is convinced of this, including an elderly and somewhat genteel older lady called Olive Hathaway. Dr Sanjay Manchanda also doubts that it was a suicide and the Indian born doctor and the elderly widow team up as a somewhat unlikely detective team.

The duo follow a trail from London to the Holy Land and discover the mysterious scroll that had been hidden  decades previously.

Deep beneath the site of the temple of the ancient Samarian Kingdom, near to the modern day borders of Syria and the Golan Heights they discover an amazing treasure trove hidden in a secret vault.

But why were ISIL interested in their search? And what, exactly, would they find?

This is a compelling adventure novel and at £7.99 will make a spiffing Christmas gift.

It's published by Matador at £7.99 and can be bought here https://goo.gl/wdCFDG.

No Turning Back

Published author Fred Smith is back with the second installment of the life of James Williams.

James Williams is the son of Robert Williams, a bailiff who readers first met in the novel The Devil Returns Twice as Deadly. 

Robert's son James has a consuming passion for all things involving engineering and he starts and builds a highly successful engineering works and iron foundry.

In common with many entrepreneurial engineers of his day he joins forces and becomes involved in the early days of the advent of what was to become the railway network of the United Kingdom and made their fortunes.

However, it wasn't an easy task and there are many trials and tribulations that beset James as he works hard to establish himself.

The story is filled with a number of subplots and mysterious events and some rather unexpected twists and turns along the way.

It's a compelling novel written in a rapid pace that takes the reader back to the early 19th century to a daring and dashing time of disappearing vicars, of outrages and revenges.

It's published by The Book Guild at £8.99 and will make a most excellent Chirstmas stocking filler.

You can purchase it here https://goo.gl/wdCFDG.

Conkers and Grenades

Conkers and Grenades is set in the city of Bristol in 1916 in the midst of the Great War.

This is the debut novel from Hillary Lee-Corbin and is a book for children.

Mar and Appy are two ordinary boys, living in Bristol. Their fathers are both fighting on the front, so not unnaturally they both decide to do their bit for the war effort to help defeat the Kaiser and his Imperial army.

However, they inadvertently become entangled in a net of spies, secret agents, special secret codes and an ever-present sense of danger.

They find themselves caught up in a world of intrigue and menace where people are not quite as they seem ad they run the risk of betrayal.

They find themselves facing foes who are much older than they are who are far more experienced than a pair of Bristol boys who are also facing shortages of food, and the ever-present risk that their families might receive a telegram about a loved one who had gone missing in action. Or worse.

They discover a German spy ring and an audacious plan to murder the King and Queen of England.

But what can two boys do against a team of dedicated German spies? However, they've probably not met any Bristol boys, before!

This is a very intriguing mystery for children and hopefully the first of many novels about Appy and Mar.

It's published by Matador at £7.99 and will make a really good Christmas present.

You can order it here https://goo.gl/wdCFDG.

At Reception

At Reception is the debut novel of Galahad Porter.

Sally is a lonely person. However, it's a lonely world that she inhabits that is, largely, of her own making.

She is a victim of psychological stress which is, unfortunately, mistreated and unsupported.

She lives alone by choice, with only stuffed toys for company.

She seems locked into a situation that she is unable to break out of. She is, in effect, crippling her life.

Sally works at a hotel and a guest arrives there. This proves to be an event which is a catalyst for helping Sally to become more open to the idea of forming human relationships.

The novel follows Sally's life over a period of three days, and shows how she reacts with guests (such as new arrival John) and other staff members and how Sally's opinions on love, life and relationships begins to develop some interesting changes in her own perception of self and how she perceives other people.

John is a charming man, yet can his charm help Sally come out of her shell and will she be ready to consider going on a serious date with him and potentially developing a relationship with him?

It's a very well written book and will make an excellent Christmas gift for the lover of romantic fiction with a bit of thought behind it.

It's published by Matador at £7.99 and is available to purchase here https://goo.gl/wdCFDG.