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....

Hippocrocohog

In the new book from Adam Nuth, Hippocrocohog, readers of all ages from 0 to 90 are introduced to the Hippocrocohog.

Poppy and Lilly love to visit their grandparents. And their grandparents love to take Poppy and Lilly to visit their best loved lake.

They love to look at the lake, to see the beautiful surroundings and the wildlife and to feed all the birds who live there.

But the lake is home to a secret. A secret that is so important that Maria, who is Queen of the Swans, must guard against it.

There's an island at the very middle of the lake. And on that island lives the Hippocrocohog. It's nasty tempered, it has hard skin and is the owner of 100 slave rats!

His aim is to entrap anyone he can grab hold of! Can Mariah,Queen of the Swans, Grey the Squirrel and the grandparents of Poppy and Lilly keep them safe?

But is the Hippocrocohog all bad? And what happens after granddad and grandmother confront him?

This is a fantastical story told in wonderful rhyming couplets illustrated with some very colourful and splendid drawings provided bu Alice Samways.

It's published by Matador at £8.99 and will make a super Christmas gift which young children and adults will all enjoy reading together.

Step Into Darkness

In Step Into Darkness, a thriller from David Fletcher, we meet Dan. Dan is a troubled man, his life now has absolutely zero meaning. It's now a burden to him. No love, nothing but dire thoughts.

However, by chance he encounters a situation that means that he might be able to redeem his life, to once again find meaning and purpose.

With the assistance of a group of people  he finds himself embarking on a journey into Africa, the Africa that, to this day, remains largely unexplored and unknown to all but a few intrepid people.

Will Dan be able to leave his own darkness behind and to find new light and new life?

His mettle will be tested, his resolve, stamina and endurance put to the test.

But Dan had one last trick that meant his life would, after all, have much more meaning than it used to.

There's enough twists and turns in this novel to satisfy even the most dedicated thriller fan and you'll be thanked when you give this book as a Christmas present to the thriller fan in your life.

It's published by Matador at £9.99.