Clash

This is a first for me. It is the first time I have read a book based on the ancient Irish sport of Hurling.

Written by South African-based filmmaker and story teller Dermod Judge, it tells the story of what happens when an idiosyncratic and eccentric Irish millionaire gets a hold of Hurling and transforms it inot a dangerous gladiatorial style contest, with his own handpicked team "The Danann."

Into this sporting melee comes John-Joe Crosby a Kerryman who is a skilled hurler of the traditional kind.

John-Joe become embroiled in this new derivative of Hurling which seems dead set on eschewing the rules of safety because the lives of the players are deemed as not being as important as the viewing figures and the ratings.

However, he falls in love with the gorgeous Kitty and soon they find that their lives are both at risk when they inadvertently discover that far from being idiosyncratic and eccentric, the millionaire behind the new Hurling craze is nothing but a dangerous crook who is using graft, bribery and corruption in order to build a new sports complex and stadium in Dublin, Ireland's capital city.

John-Joe and Kitty are forced to flee for their lives.

However, John-Joe helps to bring together a Hurling team to battle the thuggish and brutal Danann team. But there is no intention of allowing John-Joe to survive the match. Nor to allow Kitty to take the evidence the two have amassed to the Irish authorities.

However, the match isn't over until it's over.

This is a rip roarer of a novel, powerful and as deadly as a Hurling stick.

It's the first of two novels in the series and is heartily recommended. 

It's published by The Book Guild at £8.99 and you can order it here https://goo.gl/wdCFDG.

The Happy Ending

Meet Harry. Harry is a widower who is only three years away from receiving his 100th birthday telegram from Her Majesty the Queen.  

So, what could Harry do? Take the morphine that his late wife had squirreled away to ease her passing, but had never taken?

Or would he while away his last remaining years in a nursing home, dozing in front of the telly with other people of his own age?

Not a chance of that! Because Harry decides that he was not going to do either of those things. He decided that, with the help of his late wife, he would do something completely and utterly different.

He becomes involved with a rich panoply of vibrant characters as he decides to join become a modern day William Wilberforce and join the campaign to help stamp out modern day slavery and people trafficking.

The author David Stokes draws Harry as a very sympathetic man who, though he would describe himself  as being a rather ordinary chap, turns out be be an extraordinary person, indeed.

Harry was thinking of ending it all, when his life suddenly took a dramatic new turn when an angel crashed into his house. Or rather, took his gate out with her car in a snowstorm.

This was how Harry met Bituin (it's Tagalog for "Star") and learns of Mr Sharma, his wealthy family and the modern slave trade.

This is the story of what Harry does, with the help of Betty and Bituin, to help bring justice to the modern slave traders.

It's a story that is both amusing, heartening and also a romantic tale, even though one of the loved ones is now in the cemetery over the road.

It's published by Matador at £9.99 and can be bought here https://goo.gl/wdCFDG.

The Mirror of Pharos

In The Mirror of Pharos J S Landor brings us the magical story of Jack Tideswell.

Jack's parents were a couple of natural born adventurers, always exploring something or somewhere.

Sadly they lost their lives in a dive that went horrifically wrong whilst they were exploring the submarine ruins of the ancient lighthouse of Pharos.

As a consequence and quite understandably, their son Jack eschews any adventurous inclinations.

However, one day Jack's life is completely turned upside down when he is visited by a messenger seagull which is bearing the gift of an unusual looking disc. Which is addressed personally to Jack. But even more curiously he immediately recognises the handwriting. For it was written by himself.

The fact that Jack has, somehow, delivered a message to himself plunges Jack into a whirlwind of an adventure with all kinds of weird, magical powers at play.

Can Jack learn how to navigate the flow of time? Can he rescue the one person who can help him understand and solve the mystery of the disc that he, apparently, sent to himself?

But there is someone, or something, that is looking ast Jack and watching his every move. But why? And was their motives good, or not?

This is an excellent fantasy novel and will please fans of that genre.

It's published by Matador at £7.99 and you can purchase it here https://goo.gl/wdCFDG.

The author has a website at www.jslandor.com.

Mist The Path of a Killer

Mist The Path of a Killer is the first part of a new crime series from author Jason Instrell.

It features Detective Inspector John Miste of the Leicestershire Police force.

He is deeply affected by the disappearance of his brother as a child and as a result he decided to join the police force.

As a result of his dedication and his hard work John rises through the ranks and is regarded as a competent and well-respected detective.

He becomes enmeshed in the hunt for a highly dangerous and prolific murderer who is known by the name The Wolf.

The Wolf always seems to be one step ahead of Miste and his dedicated team of police officers.

But why? And who is The Wolf? What are his motives for his murderous spree?

Can John Miste and his team cage The Wolf or will he continue to elude them?

This is an extremely taught and well-written and chilling novel which I can highly recommend.

It is published by The Book Guild at £7.99 and can be purchased here https://goo.gl/wdCFDG.

WE DIDN'T EXPECT THIS...

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You Must Be Jo King

This is a comic novel debut from author Moira Murphy.

It's about Joanne King who is recently divorced at age 39. Jo, as she is otherwise known, is well aware that she needs to make some changes in her life. And to this end she realises that she must set herself some goals.

Three goals! Yes, three goals should be more than enough.

The first goal is to ensure the future safety of her home and her furniture. Training her dog should achieve this.

Try not to be horrid about her husband's new woman, Fran. Well, especially in front of the children she shares with George, her ex-husband. And she hopes this will be for the sake of George, too.

Thirdly? Yes, her third goal is to get herself a new life all of her very own! And if his plan might include a little bit of some romance to lighten things up for her, so much the better!

However... however... her plans have to be bombproofed against the vagaries of her teenaged children, her mother who is 83 and also the puppy dog that was such a nice and thoughtful departing gift from George. And the thing was that the puppy was supposedly a present to the kids and not o!

Amidst all this internal, family-related chaos she has encounters with artists, a police officer (but not in a bad way!) and Nick King, who is a physiotherapist.

Plus there's the added and dubious pleasure of hostilities between Jo and her and the new love of her ex-husband George's life, his new 'soulmate', Fran.

But something seems to indicate that Jo will come out on top, ahead of the field, with Millie the dog in tow!

This is a gloriously written and very amusing book. It's fiction, but it's very, very truthful indeed!

It's published by The Book Guild at £7.99 and copies will be available here https://goo.gl/wdCFDG.