Black Blood

In Jane Eddie's Black Blood we meet Danni. She was a trainee corporate lawyer. All seemed great, until she was forced to flee the worlds she knew in London to escape from an abusive and controlling partner.

She finds herself living and working in Aberdeen, working in the oil industry. All seems good, but in the uncertain world of post-Brexit Europe, things start to devolve and not in a good way.

A number of the oil outfits have felt compelled to sell out to the Russians. But then a top oil industry CEO is found dead.

Is this death somehow linked to a number of apparently mysterious deaths on the offshore oil wells?

Who are the terrorists who are attacking the platforms? Who is behind them? Who is giving the orders?

And what if Danni starts to become suspicious that there might be something far, far worse than an abusive and controlling spouse, an abusive and controlling employer?

There's a complex web of deceit, corruption and evil surrounding Danni. What can she do? What can she do?

Danni is minded, of course, to do the right thing. But what if doing the right thing could result in her losing her life?

But what, exactly, was really happening? Who could she trust?

This is a remarkable, exciting novel and I believe that Jane Eddie is a name to look out for.

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

Ned and the Chocolate Cheats

In Ned and the Chocolate Cheats Mark Jarvis introduces his young readers to a world were animals can communicate by talking and where there are plenty of adventures to be had.

Meet Ned, an ebullient Jack Russell. His friend who lives next door is a cat called Gizzmo, who knows all about technological stuff.

Ned is told by Gizzmo about a robbery that has occurred at the local shop. Ned gets his human to take him there, for a walk, obviously, to investigate the events for himself.

Jeff, his human, and Ned decide to try to help solve the mystery, but they soon learn more than they bargained for. They become enmeshed with the worlds of organised crime and MI5!

But what, exactly, is going on? Ned and Jeff zip all over the country and even overseas, to try to make sense of events and to thwart the evil plans of their enemies.

What has chocolate got to do with the situation? And exactly how evil are their opponents? Would they be willing to kill Jeff and Ned?

And if so, can they escape them?

And what did the mobility scooter of Mrs Perkins have to do with it all? And what, exactly, are the chocolate cheats up to?

It's an exciting and very funny novel aimed at children 9 to 11 and their adults, as it's an ideal book to share.

It's published by Matador at £7.99.

Homeward Bound

Homeward Bound is a debut novel from filmwriter Richard Smith.

It's all about rock 'n' roll music, the life choices that we all make and the dream we have.

Meet George, our protagonist. George is 79 and has recently become a widower. Back in the day, the heady 1960s, George had nearly, but not quite, managed to find success as a rock star.

And George is not a happy person. His house is now providing refuge to Tara, his teenager of a granddaughter. Wearied by the constant sniping and arguing between her parents, she left home to live with George.

However, there's the additional problem of Toby, George's son-in-law. He wants to see George stashed away in a care home. 

However, although they all think they know all there is to know about George, they don't. Because George has some pretty interesting secrets.

For example, they don't really know why George's musical career didn't take off. And only George knows how much this sense of failure still gnaws at his guts all these decades later.

Age is no obstacle to ambition and George dearly wants to take one more chance at actually making it as a star.

Unexpectedly the chance to redeem his long moribund musical career comes along, but at the price of the involvement of a long vanished distant relative, who has reappeared in his life. 

And what about Tara? She has ambitions of a musical career of her own. However, the clashes between different generations have caught her unawares and how will she cope with her granddad's dreams and memories and his collection of old vinyl records?

At first the start of their relationship (as people sharing a house) gets off to a less than stellar beginning, but they start to gel together and Tara is soon to face the exact same dilemma that George had to face 50-odd years ago.

What can Tara do? Who can she turn to? Her parents? George? Who? And who, exactly, can she really trust?

It's a vivid and very readable book and will have cross-generational appeal. Although it's a feelgood novel, it does not shy away from the unpleasant aspects of life and is all the more readable for that.

It's published by Matador at £10.99.

That's Christmas: Blood on His Hands A New DI Carmichael thriller!

That's Christmas: Blood on His Hands A New DI Carmichael thriller!: Detective fiction fans will be well blessed this Christmas, because you'll be able to buy them the latest DI Carmichael thriller from ...

A Bunch of Wild Roses

A Bunch of Wild Roses is a new novel from the pen of Edward Forde Hickey.

It is set in the fictional surroundings of Rookery Rally, in northern Tipperary, Ireland.

It pays homage to the rural communities of Ireland, where although poverty was a reality for many of the inhabitants, the people were, in general, fairly contented with their lot in life. They made the best of what they had.

The story opens not long after the dreadful famine that swept Ireland, and we witness the arrival of Dandy, a man of Galway, as he arrives in the community of Rookery Rally.

We follow him and the other residents of the area, look at their colourful lives, how they work and live together during a time that, to modern day eyes, seems strange, almost alien, as one might say.

The stories cover a period of time from the 1860s right through until 1930. Although it spans 70 odd years, the times they lived through did not change all that much in the rural community of northern Tipperary. Changes came. Of course they did. But not at any great rapidity.

Readers will follow the life and times of the Spallidagh family and the people that they know and who they lived and worked with.

The book is written in such a fashion that it is episodic and almost diary like in its construction and style.

It's almost as if we, the readers, enter into a dreamlike world in which we take a peek back at times that might have been. Although the book is presented as a work of fiction, it's clearly more than that as it contains many great truths and reflects the early life of the author as he lived in a community very much like Rookery Rally, in Dolla, northern Tipperary.

The book is published by Matador at £9.99.

I think RTE should take an option on turning this into a television series.

The Telephone Call

The Telephone Call is a new DCI Appleman thriller from Michael Pakenham.

All seems perfectly well and ordinary in the life of Rosemary Sherwood. Until she overhears a very troubling phone conversation between her husband and someone else. As a result of what transpired, her life is altered, irrevocably, for good.

Harry Sherwood threatens to kill their son if she mentions anything about what she overheard. As a result of this threat she flees to France, scared for her life.

Twelve years on and she is conflicted. On the one hand, she wants to remain safe, but on the other hand she feels a need to establish a re-connection with her son who she has been estranged from.

But surely now she should be safe from the threat her husband had made? But the truth is the situation, made worse by years of deception, lies and intrigue, is now even more desperate. As Harry and his cohorts will do anything to make sure their secrets are not exposed. And as they have already committed murders, it's probable that Rosemary's life is still at risk.

But they hadn't counted on the intervention of private detective Daniel Appleman, who is a former DCI.

But can ex-DCI Appleman trace the group of men before they can continue to cause mayhem and bring more harm to Rosemary and her family?

This is a wonderful thriller from a master of the craft and it's due for publication by The Book Guild on 28th January.

That's Christmas: Happy New Year to all our readers

That's Christmas: Happy New Year to all our readers: Happy New Year to our readers and to everyone who has helped us to help keep That's Christmas bringing news and stories to the world....