Appetite for Risk

In Appetite for Risk we read Jack Leaver's story that is inspired by real events that took place in the aftermath of the war in Iraq.

John Pierce is a former Royal Marine who has a new but struggling business in the UK. It's proving difficult for him to generate enough income to support his wife and young family so he decides to use his connections in the capital of Iraq to see if he can use the situation in Iraq, a country desperate for rebuilding work to be undertaken after years of bitter conflict.

In 2004 he finds himself in Baghdad to get into the reconstruction gold rush. But when the whole country is falling rapidly into a full insurgency, he has to rely on his own Royal Marine training, his natural talents and the skills of his own local contacts to avoid becoming just another victim of the fighting.

Soon Pierce finds that he is treading on toes and he is in trouble with the government at home and he is soon in the midst of allied covert operations against Al-Qaeda operatives in Iraq.

Can this former bootneck make it through the ver-mounting chaos in Iraq to return home to his wife and family with his life intact and with some funds to show for his efforts?

Jack Leavers is a former Royal Marine Commando with over three decades of experience in the Royal Marines and latterly in private security, corporate investigations and anti-maritime piracy operations. and these experiences shine through in his powerful and hard hitting thriller.

The book is published by The Book Guild at £9.99 and will make an ideal summertime read.

Twenty Tiny Tales

Twenty Tiny Tales and a few tails is an amazing collection of 22 short stories that are truthful, witty, humorous and also heart-warming.

You'll be taken on 22 different journeys to places you have dreamt of, places you might have heard of, places you might know well. Or places that you might think you know well, for debut author Elaine J. Bradley's imagination and skill as a writer will make you see the familiar in a completely new light.

You'll visit the museum of childhood, which might produce an effect that you were not anticipating. Pretty much like what happened to poor Sadie. (That story sent a shiver down my spine.)

You'll visit the idyllic flower power era, a time of free love, flowers and pacifism, now epitomised by a flower shop called Flower Power, owned and operated by Clara, a child of the sixties, described by locals as an ageing hippy.

She owned and ran a 1967 VW camper van, for use as a delivery van, painted in suitable colours and images.

But what exactly was happening at the shop? And why was there such an interest in the goings on there?

There are stories of befriendings, of friends in desperate needs of assistance, hauntings that might be more than they seem at first sight (or should that be site? No matter!) Another story, Dicing With Death, that sent a shiver up and down by spine.

It's published by Matador at £9.99 on 28th July and you really need to buy this book for your holiday reading. But it's probably best not to read it last thing at night! Unless,of course, you like to be scared?

Never Again -Moving on From Narcissistic Abuse and Other Toxic Relationships

Never Again -Moving on From Narcissistic Abuse and Other Toxic Relationships is a new and very important book from Dr Sarah Davies who is a Chartered Counselling Psychologist.

It draws from her experiences as a practitioner working with patients at her Harley Street, London, practice. However, she also brings to bear her own personal experiences coping with a narcissistic abuser.

It's designed not as a text book but as an easy to use self-help guide to understand and move on from toxic, abusive relationship.

It will show readers how to identify if they are the subject of an narcissistic abuser, plus the complicated ramifications of being in such a relationship.

Dr Davies also shares tools that will be required to help the victim of such an abusive partner to move on, and to hopefully end destructive relationship patterns for good.

The book also tells you exactly what is entailed here, Narcissistic Personality Disorder or NPD.

The person who has NPD might show the following traits: An overwhelming sense of grandiosity, with expectations of preferential treatment or service from other people, or institutions. 

They'll generally require a lot of positive regard and positive feedback, plus admiration and worship from others.

They are arrogant, selfish, but are often anxious, too. They lack genuine empathy for others, lacking in any fellowfeel toward other people, they cannot accept blame when anything goes wrong, they like to use blame transfer when they need to blame others when they have done wrong or made a mistake.

They often have problems with addictive behaviour and are unable to form or maintain any meaningful long term relationships.

They can be aggressive, and subjected to unreasonable rages and cannot control their anger. They also have problems accepting responsibility for problems and can be very manipulative.

Dr Davies points out that because NPD is often linked to exceptionally early emotional and psychological damage it is a very difficult condition to treat.

The book also helps the victim of the NPD abuser to work on their self-esteem problems, learn what healthy boundaries are and learn how to enforce them, how to address unhelpful thinking, how to employ tools and coping strategies such as emotional regulation,  the use of mindfulness and the technique of grounding.

It's an important book and is a must have if you are a victim of an abusive NPD partner, spouse, family member or spouse, if you are a therapist dealing with NPD issues or, indeed, if you think you might have NPD.

It's published by Matador at £14.99. It just might be the best £14.99 that you will ever spend.

Pass the Pickled Porcupine & Other Wild Food Stories

Pass the Pickled Porcupine & Other Wild Food Stories is a new book from Graham Chalmers who is an expert hunter, fisherman and food forager.

Born in Zimbabwe in 1957 he was privileged with access to wilderness areas in Africa.

He eventually moved to South Africa and whilst earning degrees in business and law, he continued to develop his skills as a food expert and game cook.

In 2000 he moved to Britain and continued his interest in wild-sourced food i not only the UK but also Europe and America.

This book is a series of essays about a staggering 50 different types of wild foods, which also contains information about Graham's abilities as a forager,a hunter, a fisherman and a cook.

You'll learn about collecting hedgerow blackberries in Britain, and hunting Cape buffalo in South Africa.

Learn how to make Mopane Worm Stew, using dried mopane worms), how to make a delicious traditional biltong, learn that aardvarks are not, generally, eaten in Africa (despite what some books might try to claim), learn how to prepare an abalone, how to make impala chops teriyaki, how to cook bass, freshwater or Texan black.

You'll learn how to cook medallions of wild boar with banana, (ripe bananas are specified) how to fry crocodile steaks, and even more interesting meals besides.

The book contains some cautionary tales, including how mussels can kill you, even should you not eat one. Scary stuff, mussels!

The book makes a fascinating read for the amateur or the professional cook who will now know how to cope if the owners of an eating establishment comes into the kitchen with a mysterious delivery shouting: "I've just got a load of Ostrich meat. Do something with it, OK?" The recipe for Ostrich Stroganoff is on page 181.)

I feel that the book would have greatly benefited from illustrations (either line drawings or photographs) but there are none. A pity, but it's still a very interesting book that you should add to your collection of culinary books.

It's published by The Book Guild at £9.99.

Victoria to Vikings

Victoria to Vikings The Circle of Blood is a new historical novel from published author Trisha Hughes.

Although a work of fiction the book is filled with historical detail and it covers in great detail the Georgian and Victorian eras, up to the reign of Queen Elizabeth II.

It also examines in part two the Kings of England and of Denmark.

Queen Victoria is looked at in great detail. Under the reign of Queen Victoria, England, argues Trisha Hughes, achieved a rank on the international stage that it had never aspired to previously.

She also touches on another Queen of equal greatness, Queen Elizabeth II. She also indicates that the Prince Phillip her "Stalwart and loyal" husband also has a strong Viking heritage.

Although written as a work of fiction I would heartily recommend this book to any students of history as you will find that Trisha Hughes as already done all the work for you. But if you quote from her work, do remember to properly cite it!

It's published by The Book Guild at £8.99.

Arthursdale Boy Nidderdale Girl

Arthursdale Boy Nidderdale Girl is a memoir bu Frank Pedley. Frank is 85, a former soldier and a Wensleydale sheep enthusiast.

He was subjected to the kind of unofficial familial adoption that was once fairly common in Britain, but not so today. He was "adopted" by his Victorian grandparents, an action which rescued him from a probably fairly grim existence in the slums of industrial Leeds.

He was able to enjoy the benefits of a decent education at Tadcaster Grammar School. He also met with and became utterly enchanted with an attractive girl with brunette hair (in short pigtails) who wielded a large hockey stick. They were in the same form at school, which is how they met.

A family bereavement meant they were separated, but several years later they met again. But the circumstances were a little bit awkward. Frank was commissioned after passing out at Sandhurst, and was about to embark on an overseas tour of duty with his first regiment. Also, Ruth was engaged to be married.

Through the pages of this fascinating book we read of their long courtship and their long marriage and their life together, sometimes turbulent, sometimes not. Their marriage was brought to a conclusion only by her death in 2007.

The memoir is both poignant and utterly candid, more so than many autobiographies, it has to be conceded.

As well as his marriage and his family life Frank writers about hid experiences in Malaya, of his working life during the Cold War era. He was involved with the Cabinet level contingency planning for the recovery of the United Kingdom should the British Isles have suffered from a Russian nuclear attack.

He also describes the problems of restoring 17th century properties, sheep rearing and exhibiting at the highest national levels. He also writes very movingly on the dreadful horrors of the 2001 foot and mouth epidemic.

He also incorporate some of the evidence that he has gathered based on years of research into his family tree, going as far back as the 17th century and revealing several major surprises.

The book is well illustrated with many photographs.

It's a book that belongs in the rich history of biographies because it tells it like it is and is well-written. I feel that this book will become a standard reference work for many years to come.

It's published by The Book Guild at £17.99 in hardback.

The Artemis File

In The Artemis File author Adam Loxley the action starts at once. But what action?

George Wiggins meets an excitable woman in his local, but all was not quite what it seemed.

A national newspaper publish a crossword, which totally blows a covert intelligence operation known only to the secret services. Or so they had thought.

A CIA officer who had defected and was thought to be dead proves himself to be very much alive by passing an envelope to an utter stranger, only recently recruited as a mule. In a nearby pub. Though, curiously, the envelope appears to be empty of any content.

What, exactly, the hell is going on? Secret service operatives in Langley, Virginia, Tel Aviv and London burst into frantic action as they decide that they need to put into practice an operation to make certain that the details of a secret conspiracy that they had though buried some two decades ago.

If the secret comes out, governments will fall, the balance of power in the world will change. Probably for ever.

The established order of things is severe threat. Who are they? What do they hope to archive? And who, or what, is Artemis?

It's a spy novel thriller in the best sense of the term and it's published by Matador at £9.99.

Another great book to take on your holidays.