The Mersey Estuary a Travel Guide

 The Mersey Estuary a Travel Guide is a wonderful new book from Kevin Sene.

When people think of the Mersey Estuary it often brings to mind The Mersey Tunnel, the ferry, the iconic Liverpool waterfront and the Liver Building.

But as Kevin shows his readers in his book there is so much more to the Mersey Estuary than that. All 30+ miles of it.

You will learn of places to visit in Cheshire, Widnes, Warrington, Liverpool, Birkenhead, Port Sunlight including the museum and the Lady Lever Art Galley.

There are many museums to visit including the International Slavery Museum, the Merseyside Maritime Museum, the National Waterways Museum, Birkenhead Priory and many more throughout the area.

There are nature reserves, plus places for birdwatching, working canals, country walks, National Trust properties and coastal resorts such as New Brighton. 

Plus shopping from Liverpool's famous shopping quarters to traditional markets. Also a bewildering range of places to dine at.

The reader will also find guided walks and cycle routes throughout the area in this wonderful book.

The book is well illustrated with photographs and maps.

From how to travel in the area to the amazing superlambanas, from Fiddler's Ferry to the iconic Liver Building, there's just about everything in this amazing book which will make a stunning and very welcome Christmas gift.

It's published by Matador at £19.99.

The Hanged Man

The Hanged Man is the latest historical novel from Andree Rushton.

The author takes their readers to Castignac which is a gorgeous farmhouse in South-West France. It's been turned into a holiday home for a group of British holidaymakers.

The idyllic situation was brought to an abrupt and tragic end with the totally unexpected death of Ian, one of the members of the group.

This has overwhelmed the once happy associations that the surviving members of the group fwlt for Castignac and they take the decision to sell the house.

But group member Tessa has an uneasy feeling that there is more to the situation that they know and she is determined to try to learn more to uncover any secrets that she somehow senses are hidden beneath the surface.

How is the present day linked with the past? What does the story of a previous inhabitant of the farmhouse have to do with the present day situation?

It appears that one person does have all the answers that Tessa is seeking. But he has secrets of his own. Can Tessa learn what she needs to learn about what happened at the farmhouse?

This is a very intelligently written novel which will be enjoyed by people who like reading good fiction. (Put it in their stocking this Christmas!)

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

Crooked

In Crooked we meet someone who believes that, at the age of 16, she is headed toward great things. As an extremely successful con artist.

Ashia "Ash" Cox looks to have it all, she's good at her chosen career as a career criminal con artist and things are going well for her, her crew and her family.

That is until Harry Holmes, something of a big wig in the world of professional criminals, comes in to touch with Ash and her family. And he ruthlessly destroys all that Ash holds dear.

But Ash is not going to take this lying down. She manages to form an alliance with another con artist by the name of Esther Crook. 

She's a legend amongst others of the fraternity, known for her ability to pull more than the wool over the eyes of unsuspecting marks.

Esther is more than willing to assist Ash because she has her own reasons to wish for harm to fall upon Harry Holmes and his cronies. 

Ultimately Esther puts together a new crew with Ash at the heart of it. However, as the con progresses they feel that they are in a pincer movement with the law on one side and other criminals on the other.

As their plan progresses toward its fruition they begin to have some misgivings and uneasy feelings. Who is masterminding the situation? Who is really pulling the con? Who can they trust?

It's a riveting, pulse-quickening story about some anti-heroes that you will come to admire and, perhaps, love.

It's written by published author and Creative Writing Degree owning Bronwen John and will make a great Christmas gift this year.

It's from Matador at £9.99.

Almost Human

 A new science fiction novel is always welcome, especially if one has a science fiction fan to buy a Christmas present for.

The new science fiction novel from author H. C. Denham, Almost Human, has been published (coincidentally) just in time for Christmas.

What would happen, what could happen, if scientists decide that they should start creating robots that are more than human? Robots that are fully rational (more so than humans) but which (who?) are smarter, better loooking and have empathy built in?

The Universal Robotics Corporation is working to use robots to green a desert area. 

UCR decides to it's time yo experiment with interactions between the robots and humans who are working on the greening project.

The male participants think that all is going well and have no problems. But an agronomist with the project, Stella Mayfield, is not so sure and she has misgivings about what is happening.

Seven years later  Stella has returned to the UK and she notices that these humanoid robots are apparently everywhere.

Her misgivings return to haunt her. What exactly were they up to? What were they capable of? Could they be trusted to interact with humans in ways that were always of benefit for the humans?

It's a well-written and very intelligent book that takes a deep look at what such a society might actually be like. Fans of Isaac Asimov's books featuring robots will really enjoy this book, too.  

It's published by Matador at £8.99.

Holiday Shorts

 

In Holiday Shorts author Garfield Collins presents his readers with a collection of stories that are very special because they are carefully crafted to provide the maximum amount of information and entertainment in the most compact amount of words possible, but without losing any of the zest of the plots and story ideas through the medium of what is called 'flash fiction.' Another term used is bite-sized fiction.

In 130 stories readers are introduced to the story of a girl and a pearl necklace (read more about the importance of this story in his preface to his book).

Learn what happened to Carol in Coffee Pacifica, what happened when Gerry met Shelley, how Felix was introduced to the concept of Serendipity by his walkabout uncle Jim.

Find out how an article in New Scientist caused a reversal in the smooth running of the space time continuum, but in a good way.

And learn about Rocco and how he established his Fiction Factory. And how his concepts came back to really give him a very factual boot up the rear.

It's described as being perfect for the busy reader, which is true. It's also perfect for the reader who loves good, entertaining and innovative fiction.

It's well over 330 pages of great fiction and will make the perfect Christmas present for the bookwork in your life.

It is published by Matador at £8.99.

Successful Key Account Management

Are you looking for an ideal and much-welcomed Christmas gift for the business to business (b2b) sales account person in your life? Or maybe you are in b2b sales and want a little bit of self-gifting this year?

Well, look no further, because David Hughes' book Successful Key Account Management is the book that you need.

David Hughes writes with all the knowledge and experience that four decades at the very top of being a Senior Key Account Manager in b2b sales, covering chemicals and plastics in industrial sales.

If you are a new accounts manager this book will be an absolutely outstanding primer for your career; and if you are somewhat of an old hand in the field you, too, will find much that is of value within the pages of this remarkable book.

It's a very well planned book and is nicely set out so that all the information that you will require is at your fingertips.

What will you learn? Why you need customers, best practices in Key Account Management, how to cope with and manage time, what exactly sales is, health and safety and why it is not just confined to people who work in dangerous factory environments but also covers sales professionals no matter where they are working. The author also raises the important but often misunderstood issue of mental health and stress.

There's one very important lesson that he states "Nothing we do at work is worth getting hurt for."

There's also a very workable and useful ten point plan, how appraisals should be handled and when they should occur, plus how to negotiate, talking about money and much, much more.

At £14.99 this book should be in the briefcase of every sales professional in the world.

It's published by Matador at £14.99.

No Way Home

In her novel No Way Home author and teacher M S James brings us a remarkable insight on what life was like in the Saudi Arabia of the 1980s.

Kate Thomas leaves the UK with her two children to join her husband who is living and working as an architect in Saudi Arabia.

She finds a job as a teacher in a private school that is intended for expatriate Muslims. To describe the school as "organised" to any degree would have been somewhat unfair as the school was anything but organised.

She finds that her attempts at teaching are somewhat stymied by lunatic administrators and a shortage of lesson materials. As a result she finds it necessary, if she is to actually do any teaching, to use her own imagination to teach her pupils.

There are also other issues for her to contend with, such as quickly learning how to cope with living in Saudi Arabia which, for all its controls, a far more potentially dangerous place than one might suppose.

An invitation to a Saudi wedding takes her by surprise and gives Kate a new insight into the life of the real people of Saudi Arabia.

However, things go disastrously wrong when Kate and her family venture out into the desert and a vicious sandstorm suddenly strikes and whips her tiny daughter away.

A frantic search is instigated. Will they find her, or has she been taken away from her family, buried in the desert sands, or has an even worse fate befallen her? Would they find her? And if so, when and where?

It's a complex and very moving story and is based in part on the experiences of M S James when she lived in Saudi Arabia.

It's published by Matador and costs £9.99. It's going to be in many Christmas stockings this year, I think.