Unauthorised Action

Unauthorised Action is the final instalment in the thriller series from Alan Hunt.

In the aftermath of devastating terror attacks in London the Foreign Office is shaken to the core by the murder of Kate Thomas, an attractive young diplomat.

Adam White, a fellow diplomat, is immediately suspected of the murder. But his fiancee, Alison, firmly believes in his innocence and sets out to find the proof to clear his name.

But Adam discovers an apparently impenetrable wall of secrecy from Foreign Office officials who are, apparently,  enmeshed in a highly secret covert operation.

Acting on his own in direct defiance of his bosses, Adam follows a lead to Madrid. And he is certain that he knows the identity of the man who he believes killed Kate.

Then other people start to fall victim to the killer as he makes preparations for a truly outrageous hit in London.

Can Adam work out who the intended target it? Can he save the victim before they are assassinated? But who, exactly, can Adam trust? Is their a traitor at the very heart of the British establishment? And if there is, can Adam thwart the killer and the traitor?

This book is published by Matador at £7.99.

Red Snow

Red Snow is a debut mystery novel from Larraine Susan Harrison for young readers which also touches on contemporary issues.

Megan is 12 years of age. She was convinced that she had all the details of what caused the death of her mother. But Megan was wrong. Very wrong indeed. There was a great deal about the death of her mother that she did not know.

She finds herself facing a veritable spider's web of lies, obfuscation and outright deceit from the very people who she should have been able to trust. Her own family.

She finds herself excluded by her classmates at school and so she decides to befriend her new neighbour, Ryan.

But is Ryan all that he appears to be? Because Ryan is hiding something, something that is potentially a dangerous secret within the local woods. He has discovered some blood on the snow besides an old watchtower. And Megan begins to be drawn into a situation that she'd rather not be a part of.

The two are rescued from danger by a woman called Irene who seems interesting and mysterious to Megan. Her father, who she is the carer for, slips even deeper into depression and forbids her from seeing Irene again. But why? What is happening? Can Megan get to the bottom of the mystery?

After a burglary attempt that failed and an intruder in the garden of Ryan's house, truths suddenly start to bubble to the surface.

But what does it all mean to Megan? Will she find out the truth of what happened to her mother?

This book is published by Matador at £7.99.

The Cats of Butterwick Sands

In Gabriella Thomas' The Cats of Butterwick Sands readers will meet with the cats of Butterwick Sands.

The cats are lead by a very special cat called Percy. Percy is very clever, very dignified and also very popular in the small seaside resort town of Butterwick Sands.

Sadly, Butterwick Sands had seen better days and it is now a little bit tired and in need of some Tender Loving Care or TLC as it is also known.

You'll meet a whole range of cats in this book. Some are brave, some not very brave, some nice, some who are not as nice as they mother would have liked, some are funny, some a bit more serious.

You'll meet the cats in a series of stories which all culminate in all of the cats, under the leadership of Percy, working together to restore the town's caravan park and its once bustling funfair.

The stories are all illustrated with charming line drawings from Ena Hodzic.

These stories are ideal for children and parents or grandparents to read together. And will make a super Christmas present.


It is published by The Book Guild at £7.99.

The Conquistador's Horse

The Conquistador's Horse is a story for children written by author Barry Cole.

It is set in North America during the years 1540 to 1550.

It tells the fictionalised account of historical events surrounding the events that brought horses to the American native tribes.

A Cheyenne hunting party with Tall Bull are crossing the Arkansas river, they are taking something of a risk, for they are entering the hunting ground of their enemies to hunt for some buffalo.

However, other men are crossing the same river, fierce warriors armed with bow and arrows, war-clubs and spears. They are wearing war paint. They were a war party from the Pawnee nation making their return journey to their home village after they had made an attack on the Sioux, their bitter enemies.

However, those two groups were not the only ones to cross the river. There were men of pale skin who were riding on horseback. They, too, were armed. But they were armed with swords and muskets. These were a group of Spanish Conquistadors, searching for a city of gold, Quivira.

The three disparate groups eventually met and Tall Bull would come across an amazing animal, the likes of which he had never seen.

These animals infiltrated his mind, inhabiting his dreams. They would change not only Tall Bull's life, but the lives of generations of his people to come. He had seen his first horses.

This is a very well researched and equally well written book aimed at children from ages 10 to 14.

It is published by Matador at £6.99.

Incidentally the author has also included an extra bonus story "The Birth of the Wolf Clan."

Rift Wars The Entity Within

Rift Wars the Entity Within is a science fiction debut novel from Nitin Suneja which is aimed at a young adult audience.

It tells the stroy of Jon Farrell who, at the age of 15, has to flee the ruins of the Roman catacombs. Unfortunately for Jon and his parents, his parents did not survive.

When he reaches the surface he discovers that the entire ancient cit of Rome, which he was visiting with his parents, has been devastated.

Eventually Jon finds his way to a military base and finds to his horror that the attack has been planet-wide and that only a small fraction of the human race was able to survive the attack.

As Jon discovers more about the attack from a highly technologically advanced alien race, he realises that he must do what he can to fight against the enemy.

Those in charge feel it is likely that another attack is imminent. However, is it possible that, by providing humanity with a common enemy, that the aliens have proved themselves vulnerable by their blunder?

Earth is not the only planet that was attacked by the enemy and other races visit the Earth in order to work together to provide a common defence against the attackers.

Humanity receives body armour, amazing weaponry and medical drugs to provide longer lives. And they take up the fight with the common enemy and become involved with the Rift Wars.

It's an extremely well written novel which is modern day Space Opera at its best.

It's published by The Book Guild at £9.49.   

The Horsekeeper's Daughter

The Horsekeeper's Daughter Is the true and absolutely amazing account of the life story of one 19th century woman's journey from a mining village in County Durham to the rainforest's of Queensland, Australia.

Sarah Marshall left her pit village during the wintertime of 1886.

She bravely used the Single Female Migrant Scheme to emigrate to Australia.

A battered and very elderly attache case has come into the possession of the author of this book, Jane Gulliford Lowes.

It had been the property of her Auntie Edie. Edie was not a familial aunt, she was one of that class of elderly female friends who had bestowed upon the the honorific title of aunt or auntie.

One day, Jane began to make a serious study of the contents of the case. And what she found was an astonishing story of bravery, courage and adventure starting in the 1880s in County Durham and into the 20th century in Australia and back to County Durham and Aunt Edie.

Although Jane points out that her book is not an academic work, I can confirm that it is very well researched and incredibly well written. It is laos well illustrated with historical and contemporary photographs.

It tells the story of Sarah Marshall, her marriage and of her family in Australia and also in County Durham.

The book is published by Matador at £8.99 and is a must have books for all students of social history.

Sleeping Through War

Sleeping Through War  is a novel from Jackie Carreira.

It is set in the year 1968. 1968 was a time of great political upheaval. The Vietnam War was raging, students were rioting, nuclear bomb test were commonplace, civil rights were being fought for.

Everywhere it seemed to be a highly volatile year, 1968.

But life for the vast majority of people had to continue as normal. As it always does.

There's Rose, a nurse living in London, Amalia who dearly hopes her son can get out of the life they live in Portugal and then there is Mrs Johnson who lives in Washington DC, who writes letter after letter to her son who is serving in Vietnam.

Like so-called ordinary people do, they do their best to live normal lives, with quiet dignity and a remarkable degree of bravery and courage.

It's an incredibly moving book that will bring smiles and some tears to those who are fortunate enough to read it.

It's published by Matador at £8.99.