Agincourt 1415

Agincourt 1415 is a novel that tells the story of the famed battle of Agincourt.

It tells it in the format of a graphic novel.

The author is Will Gill and the artist is Graeme Howard.

The historical consultant is Anne Curry.

The book tells, in accurate detail, the true story of Agincourt, of how a simple mistake by the leaders of the French forces put the French at a distinct disadvantage even before the battle had begun.

How the deadly and accurate bow work of the English and Welsh archers decimated the flower of the French Knightly classes in their dozens.

It a;sp tells how treachery against the chivalric values of the Medieval times tainted, for some people, the victory of King Henry V over his French rival.

Will Gill was already knowledgeable about  the battle of Agincourt, but Will and Graeme undertook meticulous research under the expert guidance of Professor Anne Curry, who is the world's leading expert on the battle of Agincourt which makes this book highly accurate.

Professor Curry has written the introduction to the book.

It costs £9.99 and will be available well before Christmas, as it is due to be published by Troubador on 25 October.

This book is a "must buy" present and, in my opinion, at least three copies should be in every school and college library.

It will be available via the That's Books and Entertainment bookshop which is on the righthand side of the site.

An Eye for a Tooth and a Limb for an Eye

An Eye for a Tooth and a Limb for an Eye is the latest crime novel by Eleanor Berry.

It is a taut psychological thriller that explores what happens when someone, apparently a perfectly ordinary, normal someone, is suddenly pushed beyond their limits.

Rhoda Buckleshott is a bright and fashionable young English teacher at a private school based in London's West End.

The unloveable and vile headmistress, Mrs Beddington, has, for reasons of reverse snobbery and innate nastiness, has decided to sack Rhoda without any warning.

Rhoda decides that she will have her revenge on Miss Beddington and so she launches a campaign of revenge on Mrs Beddington, swearing to destroy her.

It begins in a fairly minor way, but it progresses and the acts of revenge against Mrs Beddington become harsher, more cruel and more outrageously outlandish with every step.

Rhoda's need for revenge against Mrs Beddington becomes an  all consuming mania. Things begin to spiral out of control, and as a result of the impact of her growing reign of terror, fault lines begin to develop in the psyche of Rhoda.

Is she going mad?

When will the revenge cease? Or will it?

This book is a godsends for those who enjoy books that are seriously written, yet with the black humour of the author shining through on just about every page.

An entertaining book by a well-established author it costs £9.99 and is available from www.bookguild.co.uk.

It si available from the That's Books and Entertainment bookshop on the righthand side of this site.

Saint George: Rusty Knight and Monster Tamer

Saint George: Rusty Knight and Monster Tamer is a new book for children by John Powell.

It's a tough life. Well, it is if you live in a world that is beset by a wide variety of various monsters who are all intent on harrasing the populous and frightening the livestock of the farms.

So, in order to deal with these monsters, you would need a hero, yes?

You need someone who could be made Patron Saint and Minister for the Environment. So, step forward, George.

Unfortunately, George is vertically challenged, poor and the owner of some rusting armour.

However, there is one ting that is very much in George's favour. Whist touring the tyrol one year he discovered a cake which is unlike any other cake in the world. For the recipe to which this cake is made tames monsters.

For the first time in his previously less-than-appealing life, George us wanted and welcomed by everyone, to the extent that he is declared a government minister by King Freddie and his Prime Minister, Merlin

Even though George becomes famous throughout the land, he is still pretty poorly off in financial terms.

But he does succeed in repelling a Scottish invasion, improving relations with France, launching the world's first trades union and becoming involved in the game of cricket.

Although this book is aimed at children 7 and up, the biting social satire and acidic with will please adults of all ages, too!

It is published by www.bookguild.co.uk at £9.;99 and will be an excellent Christmas gift.

It is available from the That's Books and Entertainment bookshop to the right of this site.

The Corruption of Chastity

The Corruption of Chastity is a novel by Frank Westworth and is the second of his Killing Sisters series of novels.

This is an extraordinary novel. Murder and treachery in the desert, a handsome stranger, who might be more than he seems, hooks up with a woman who is definitely more than she seems.

But the question is, what on earthy could happen when a betrayed and ultra hard female contract killer meets up with the one and only J J Stoner, underworld investigator?

This novel is Frank Wentworth at his hardest hitting and best.

It cost £10.99 from www.bookguild.co.uk.

Fans of thriller fiction will welcome this in their Christmas stocking and it's available via the That's Books and Entertainment bookshop, to the right of the site.

Marriage, a journey and a Dog

Marriage, a journey and a Dog is a highly entertaining romantic novel by Hampshire author Bremda H. Sedgwick.

Gerry, the husband to Natalie, loves all things sporty.

Gerry is on a cycling tour of France when he meets with an unfortunate, but non-fatal, accident.

Being the good wife that she is, Natalie leaves her ordinary home in the sleepy market town in southern England to collect her wounded husband.

However, all does not go well. In her elderly Fiat, and with Spike (her canine companion)  she heads for France. But once she crosses the English Channel, she realises that she is stumped by her inability to read maps and she becomes, hopelessly, lost.

She finds herself in Paris and, somehow, her inner self is re-awakened. She finds herself looking at the Venus de Milo statue and she wonders if the Goddess of love might be able to assist her by resolving the conflicts that are causing problems within her marriage?

She traverses France, seeing the artistic and cultural wonders of Loire. Cognac, Lourdes and a trans-Pyrenean journey that eventually finds her leaving France and ending up in Barcelona in Spain.

She meets a variety of men, including lorry drivers, buskers, bullfighters and even a glider pilot.

When she meets with Alex on a boat on the river Charente, there's a possibility of an illicit love affair .
She returns home to redundancy from her nothing job, a marriage that is adrift in a sea of difficulties and yet... her journey of self-discovery has not gone unnoticed. Her return is heralded by the media and Natalie realises that nothing need remain the same. She is offered a commission as a journalist to write travel articles about the joys of lone travel.

As her world seems to be falling apart at her 40th birthday party, it becomes clear to Natalie that she now has the opportunity to strike out on a new life path both in terms of her career and also her new found love.

This book is published by Matador at £7.99 and will make an ideal Christmas gift for the lover of romantic novels.

It is available through the That's Books and Entertainment bookshop which is to the right of the site.  

That's Christmas: New Christmas musical in book and CD form

That's Christmas: New Christmas musical in book and CD form: Barry the Penguin's Black and White Christmas is a brand new and fun musical written by Lesley Ross and John-Victor.It is adapted by R...

The London Sniper

The novel The London Sniper by Daniel Pascoe is a novel that relates how evil can contaminate all that it touches.

The Chgwell family, lead by family patriarch Arthur, is looking not for closure over the heartless decapitation murder of one of their family members by terrorists. At the London Olympics.

No. The Chigwell family is looking for a bloody revenge that will live on in the memory of those who hurt their family for a very long time indeed.

Their  chosen tool for this bloody revenge is former Army sniper Jarvis Collingwood. Having seen the death of his own brother in Iraq, Collingwood is, to put it mildly, perhaps not quite as stable as he might be. And is almost certainly far more dangerous than is realised even by those closest to him, including his wife.

Pitched against the plot is Leon Deshpande. He is a security consultant and an investigator. But can he take on the skills of someone who is, in their own way, as highly trained and just as determined as he is? Someone who is, in point of fact, equally matched to him?

What if someone is playing their own, equally deadly game? What if they are using the desire for revenge by the Chigwell family as a cover for their own thirst for revenge?

It is a story of madness, of  bloody retribution, of trust that is betrayed and broken and of lives lost in the name of revenge.

It is an exciting, pacy novel which, at £10.99, will, we predict, be in many a-Christmas stocking this December 25.

It is published by bookguild.co.uk and is available via the That's Books and Entertainment bookshop, which is to the right of the site.

The Reich Device

The Reich Device is set in Germany in the early 1930s, when the Nazi Party was beginning to put together the monstrous operation that was to become the Third Reich.

It is late spring or early summer in 1933 and Professor Gustav Mayer, a German man of science and a genius well before his time has made a startling and somewhat unsettling discovery.

He has developed an utterly new technology that is at least a full century ahead of current scientific thoughts or abilities.

But how safe could his secret be in the world of the 1930s, when secret preparations were being made to thrust Europe and, ultimately, the world, into a new war, even more deadly than the Great War?

Professor Mayer becomes a haunted and a hunted man, tracked by the ruthless assassins of the recently created SS, which had already amassed to itself a dirty and foul reputation for deeds of great evil.

A worldwide chain of events is set into motion, with acts of espionage on a global scale being engendered, tracking across the world from the heart of Nazi Germany to the USA, the Middle East, the UK and South Africa. But why South Africa, in particular?

But is all what it seems? Who is spying on whom? And to what real end?

Are shadowy forces at work? If there are, what are their links to the gigantic corporations that are already towering like a corporate colossus over an unknowing and relatively innocent land of America?

Eventually Mayer falls into the clutches of the evil Commandment Kessler. Driven to madness by his torture, Professor Mayer lets slip a vital part of his secret, but his interrogators fail to grasp the import of what he has revealed to them.

Professor Mayer is moved to the Peenemunde V1 rocket facility. But why? For what reason?

Is there more happening at Peenemunde than is apparent? Is there another, even more deadly, weapon under construction there that could change the whole course of the human race?

Who can stop them? Who will stop them?

The book is written by Richard D. Handy, who is an expert on the hazards of nanotechnology and his expertise shines through in this pulse quickening thriller.

It is published by Matador and costs a remarkably reasonable £8.99 and will be a welcome Christmas gift for those who like World War 2 based thrillers.

It is available via the That's Books and Entertainment bookshop, which is to the right of this site.

Buckingham

John Schroeder's Buckingham is a book about a cat who, perhaps not surprisingly, is called Buckingham.

Buckingham is no ordinary cat.

He managed to, somehow, insinuate his way into the life of Angela Tillsworthy.

He was a cat that was large in both physical size, psychic presence and also in good looks.

But, as has been pointed out, Buckingham was no ordinary cat.

Soon, Angela began to notice that there was something about this cat called Buckingham. Something really very different Something unique.

Buckingham, it transpired, was a magical cat, of sorts. A cat who had healing, therapeutic powers and influences.

Eventually, other people began to notice the strange powers that Buckingham possessed, and as they watched, fascinated, Buckingham managed to affect the lives of a great many people and all for good.

Eventually, Angela launches a very special business with Buckingham. And that's when the fun really starts!

The book is about cats, love and the human and feline conditions.

It is also illustrated with some remarkably good line drawings and at £10.99 is an ideal book for the cat lover in your life or anyone else who likes heartwarming story!

It is published by Matador and is available from the That's Books and Entertainment bookshop on the right of this site.

That's Christmas: Ben and the Spider Gate

That's Christmas: Ben and the Spider Gate: Ben and the Spider Gate is a fantastic hardback book by Angela Fish. It tells the story of how Ben, an ordinary little boy, discovers an...

Vermilion Skies

Vermilion Skies is an unusual and moving love story by Wendela Lumley.

It is described as "A love story that will stay with you forever."

It tells the story of the life of Milana, a young Chilean girl who is the resident of a mean shantytown.

But Milana is no ordinary shantytown dweller. Although she is struggling with the impact of the abuse from her vile stepfather, she is a girl of indomitable willpower and strength of character and wants to make something of her life.

Although she could give herself to the local drug dealers who taunt her as they lust after her body, she decides to keep away from them and instead she reads books that she finds in charity bags. She reads these books and uses them to fuel her powerful imagination.

Her precarious life was ripped to shreds by a terrible tragedy, but a stranger by the name of Santiago comes into her life when he discovers her working on the banks of the river.

He makes her a stunning offer. A perfect way of escaping from her life.

But is the aristocratic and handsome Santiago all he appears to be? Or do some dark secrets lurk in his past?

He is an artist teetering on the edge of great fame and fortune and together their secret love spurs them on to travel across continents all over the world, challenging the status quo and the time-honoured conventions of the world.

But will the past catch up with them. destroying the cosy world they have carved out for themselves against all the odds?

Or will they be able to continue as the loving couple that they are?

It is published by Matador at £7.99 and is available via the Amazon-powered That's Books Bookshop, to the right of the site.

Kinch

Kinch, a novel by Laurie Evan Owen, tells the story of Kinch, who is 14, and his compatriots, Pigeon and Brownie and how they cope and, to some extent, strive and thrive, in a place which could be now, or at some point in the future, it could be taking place here or anywhere else, for that matter.

The whole of society is corrupted to gargantuan depths.

Kinch is looking to find a way to avenge the death of his father who had been an anarchist, Pigeon, well Pigeon is naife, though of a literary bent and as from Brownie, Brownie is an old-styled itinerante actor, who is also a frustrated poet. And to complicate matters a little, Brownie is also a paid informer for the "religio-political hierarchy."

The story of Kinch and his companions takes place in and around the cathedral city of Axton, during one tumultuous and white knuckle week of a ride.

And for the price of £9.99 this is a fantasy/allegorical tale that you really don't want to miss.

It's published by Matador and is available from the That's Books and Entertainment  bookshop, powered by Amazon and to the right hand side of this site.

The Father's House

The Father's House is the debut novel by former barrister and Cardiff-based author Larche Davies.

It tells the story of Lucy, who, at 14, has been born into and raised in a secretive and sinister religious cult.

The aim of the cult, which is controlled and led by a shadowy figure who insists on being referred to as the Magnifico, is to take over the world.

Families do not exist in the cult, children are raised in communes by men who are dubbed "father."

For some reason Lucy and another child, a boy called Paul, are raised not in one of the communes but in a house that is split into flats, under the control of a strict "aunt" called Sarah, who is no relation to either child. They live in the ground floor flat with Sarah, whilst the Father lives upstairs. There is a mystery tenant who occupies the second floor of the house, which is owned by the Father.

All Lucy knows are the prayer meetings of the sect and her attendance of the special school operated by the Magnifico with the aim of training them to become able to insinuate themselves into the outside world and to infiltrate important and influential positions within society.

Either that or they are doomed to work endlessly as skivvies for the sect, or to be nothing boot breeders to create babies for the Holy Cause of the Magnifico.

But Something happens to Lucy. She is subjected to cruel humiliation during one school assembly, and this one, thoughtless act of cruel folly begins the destruction of her faith and trust in the religion she has been raised in and as her faith begins to collapse, through two of her school friends, she learns some of the secrets of the sect.

She then resolves to leave the sect before her 16th birthday, when she will be married off to one of the sect fathers in the name of the Magnifico, or disposed of as being "unsuitable to further the Holy Cause."

But how can Lucy escape? Who can she trust? Who should she trust?

But fate intervenes one day when enemies of the Father invade his house and she has no option other than to flee for her life.

But still the sect would not let her and Paul be. It still attempted to control or to destroy what it could not control.

This is a very compelling psychological thriller that gives an accurate look into how a cult works, how it controls people even above and beyond whatever real power it might possess.

It is published by Mastador at £9.99.

It is to be hoped that this will be the first of many more novels by Larche Davies.

It is, of course, available via the That's Books and Entertainment bookshop, powered by Amazon., on the right hand side of this site.

The Powder Man

Paul Youden's The Powder Man tells the story of dedicated young journalist, Peter Kingston.

A good journalist always follows his nose and follows the news story, take him, or her, where it might.

However, an older and wiser journalist might swiftly walk right on by.

But Peter is young, ambitious and eager to make his mark in the world of journalism, wanting to move on from covering mundane stories for his regional weekly newspaper. who wants to cover driving offences, council minutes, petty crimes and village fates when there is a whole world of real news stories out there?

A fellow journalist has an unfortunate and devastating encounter with the shadowy Powder Man, an international and highly dangerous drug baron.

/this turns out to be a blessing for Peter as he gains the opportunity to travel throughout Europe with his gorgeous photographer girlfriend Sue and for them to be paid for the travel privilege, too.

They travel through the Alpine loveliness of  wintertime in Austria and Switzerland and are enjoying themselves immensely.

But all is not what it seems. Because unbeknown to Peter and Sue their lives are in mortal danger as they are being tracked and followed by the Powder Man. And he is getting closer and closer to them.

They realise that they have fallen into the rabbit hole and emerged, shocked and terrified, into an alien world of international corruption, global organised crime, kidnapping, mistaken identities and for the potential of a ruthless and bloody death.

Will Peter and Sue escape the clutches of the Powder Man? For a very reasonable £8.99 you can find out in this thrilling book which is published by The Book Guild.

The book is available via the That's Books and Entertainment bookshop to the right hand side of the site.

The Stealers

What could be easier? Just steal another car, in this case, a funky red 1966 classic Ford Mustang.

I mean, what could possibly go wrong?

In this particular occasion the gang rather stupidly targeted the 1966 red Ford Mustang owned by Jack Crane. You might remember Jack Crane from the other two novels by Charles Hall, Bad Faces and Sea Fort.

Oh. That Jack Crane? Jack Crane the highly trained and utterly truthless recently retired SAS officer?

The gang of car thieves had stolen his beloved car and he was going to get it back. One way, or another.

But the gang of car thieves were more than just a gang of car thieves, they were far, far worse than that. And they had made the -often fatal- mistake of making themselves noticeable to a man who was even more capable of causing mayhem, destruction and death than they could dream of.

The dangerous man hunt traverses Europe from Eastern England to France and beyond as he begins to understand the true nature of the vile gang that stole his car.

They appeared to be implicated in child abduction too and as the body count begins to rise Crane realised that if he wanted to reclaim his car, escape with his life and crush his new-found enemies, he'd have to remember all of his SAS training to make sure that he got his car and escaped with his life.

This is a genuinely fast-paced crime thriller of a novel with many twists and turns in its 369 action-packed pages.

It is published by Matador at a rather modest £9.99 and is available from he That's Books and Entertainment bookshop powered by Amazon to the right of the site.

According to the Daily Mail

According to the Daily Mail is a satirical novel by advertising agency executive Laurence Simpson.

The protagonist of the novel, Jonathon, is outraged by what he sees as the excesses of the tabloid press.

He decides that all the evils of society can be attributed to the fact that "impressionable" members of the public are being lied to and deluded by the tabloid press.

Jonathon decides that the only possible course of action in to employ a group of mercenaries in the form of disaffected ex-military types to blow up their printing presses, whilst he employs a hacker to take down their websites.

Suspicion falls upon Jonathon, but he has an alibi, so seems to be safe from the long arm of the law. For now.

The successes emboldens our hero who employs someone else to pirate TV programmes with messages demanding to want to know why people are watching the programme concerned.

He finds a new and somewhat naughty girlfriend and  galivants about the place having adventures with her and his two children.

But the redoubtable Inspector Foot is on his trail and is determined to bring him to justice.

Will Inspector Foot succeed?  Or will Jonathon get away with it and pull off one last outrageous coup?

The book is slated for publication in January 2016 at a cost of £10.95.

Out of Bounds by Bruce Hugman

Out of Bounds by Bruce Hugman is an exceptionally well-written autobiography by the noted published author.

It is the story of how Bruce Hugman grew up as a child who was kept within strictly enforced parameters that were designed to create a young man who would perfectly conform to what post-war society and his family would expect of him.

But that wasn't what Bruce wanted to be about at all!

He wanted to explore his own nature, to seek out variety and adventure and to find out his own destiny in terms of himself as a human and in terms of his sexual identity.

He did very well at both Solihull School and at Oxford and began to learn what life was really about during his time working with so-called delinquent teenagers at a residential school in Scotland.

He finds himself conforming during his first "real" job, though a decision to retrain and a new career as a probation officer in Sheffield helps him learn more about life and himself, through his associations with his clients, described as "drug-takers and prostitutes."

Eventually he moves south and find a variety of different jobs working in the kitchens of a well-appointed restaurant and later a six month stint as a farm labourer until he finds gainful employment more in line with his previous experience and his formal qualifications.

He describes himself as "gifted, sociable and restless."

The fact that at a time of considerable opposition and often open hostility to people who were gay, makes the three decade struggle for Bruce Hugman to come to terms with his sexuality all the more moving and poignant.

The book takes the read through until the 1970s.

It is a thoughtful book and is profusely illustrated throughout with a variety of photographs.

It is published by the author at £14.99 and good value as it covers over 430 pages.

The stunning cover art is by Paradorn Warrapinyaporn.

The ISBN is 9781 782 804 352 .

It is, of course, available through the That's Books and Entertainment online shop, situated to the right hand site of the site.

Sewing the Shadows Together by Alison Baillie

Sewing the Shadows Together by Alison Baillie is a murder mystery set in a seaside town in Scotland

It is over three decades after the death of 13-year-old Shona McIver.

But, of course, nobody who knew Shona, her family and friends, have ever really got beyond what happened to her. How her life was cruelly taken from her and how cruelly she was taken from them.

But life, after a fashion, must proceed.

Eventually, her brother Tom and Shona's best friend Sarah meet, once again, at a school reunion and naturally, the dreadful fate of Shona is at the forefront of both of their minds.

They had believed that justice had been served all those long years ago, but this comfort blanket id savagely ripped away from them when it is made known that modern advances in DNA science proves that the wrong man was convicted of Shona's murder.

As a result of this devastating, but highly important revelation, the lives of both Tom and Shona are thrown into disarray and uncertainty.

They both feel a need for justice to be served for Shona and they decide to seek out the real killer.

But the search to identify the real killer makes suspicions fall on their nearest and dearest. In his search for the truth, Tom begins to discover some dark an unpleasant secrets.

The perfect life of Sarah begins to develop some rather deep fault lines.

The two seekers after the truth of what really happened to Shona all those years ago find themselves enmeshed in a spider's web of intrigue, deception, love and death.

And the truth. But what if the truth is too horrible for at least one of them to learn?

Could they cope with this truth?

This is an exceptionally well told story and is published on 28th August by Matador and costs £8.99.

It is available from the That's Books and Entertainment bookshop, which is to the right of the site.

Hidden Hamlets, Dancing Trees

Hidden Hamlets, Dancing Trees, written by Terrence F. Jones, tells the story of what life was like in the time of the Celts, when the might of the Imperial Roman armies had decided to annex the lands of the Celts on the British Isles in the name of the Roman Empire.

We read how Josin and Egan, the only survivors of a brutal and vicious attack by an attacking force of Roman soldiers on their village, decide to leave the shattered and destroyed remains of their once prosperous village.

Their purpose? To join up with other Celts and to work toward wreaking their vengeance upon the Roman invaders who has slain their kith and kin and who continued to take over Celtic Britain, their homeland.

Egan becomes renowned as an inspired fighter. He becomes known as a master strategist and an expert in deadly guerrilla tactics which he employs to deadly effect upon  the Roman army.

His fame as a military strategist becomes known to Boudicca, the Queen of the Iceni tribe and she is able to employ this master of military strategy in her fight against the Roman hoards.

And thus begins a new phase in the anti-Roman resistance and how they attempt to rid their land of the might of Imperial Rome.

There is one quibble with the publisher's description of the book. It refers to the Celts as a "rural, hunter-gatherer society." This is wrong. The Celts were an advanced agricultural society. However, this should not be seen in any way to detract from the novel which is very well researched, indeed. (http://resourcesforhistory.com/Celtic_Farming_in_Britain.htm)

The book is published by The Book Guild in paperback at £9.99 and is available from The That's Books and Entertainments bookshop to be found to the righthand side of this site.

Sea Music

Author Briege Brannigan brings a tale of tragedy, heartbreak and of dark family secrets kept for far, far too long.

Artist Jess Cooper's life has, suddenly, been beset by a series of rapid and tragic events that have shaken her to the core.

As a result she leaves for Northumberland in an attempt to recuperate and reassess her life.

She glances through the window of a local estate agent and espies a home called "Sea Music" that overlooks the North Sea, standing majestically on a high cliff.

The name enchants her and she is, apparently inexplicably, drawn toward the house.

When she arrives at the house to view it, there is something that is worrying away at her mind. She feels a certain deja vu, but how can this be? And what is it?

That evening she is visited by an apparition, the face of a woman. A woman she knows is called Lydia.

But who is Lydia? And what connection could she have with Jess?

Jess has always known that, besides her parents, she has no living relatives. But what if this was never the truth? What has been withheld from her, and why?

Shocked to the depth of her very being, Jess learns that Lydia is no phantom of her imagination. Lydia was a living, breathing person who had been her aunt, until she died in a mysterious fall at her home, Sea Music.

She also learns that Lydia had given birth to a baby boy, who had been abducted several years before her death. And that he abductor of the child had ever been apprehended or brought to justice.

Puzzled by why her parents had kept the story of existence of Lydia, her abducted infant and of her untimely death, Jess sets out to discover the truth about what had occurred.

This is a compelling book that rips appart years of lies and secrets that some thought were gone forever. But surely people should know that the truth will always surface?

It is published by Matador at £8.99 and is available via the That's Books and Entertainment bookshop, which can be found on the righthand side of this website.

Musket Dreams

Musket Dreams is a hardback book published by the Book Guild, written by John Scurr.

It features a truly romantic figure, the swashbuckling, buccaneering piratical Nathaniel Devarre.

However, Devarre does not want to be known to history as a 'mere' pirate! He would far rather that posterity learn to regard him as one of the foremost portrait painters of his epoch.

But, however, fate, cruel, capricious, fate, has other plans for our hero.

His quiet and relatively unassuming life as a portrait painter in the village of Highgate (not far from London!) is rudely thrown into utter disarray when the wife of a neighbour, Elizabeth Rawlins, reveals that her first one, true love, was one other than Sir Roger Trevanyon.

Devarre and Sir Roger have a history of sorts, as it was Sir Roger who put a bullet in Devarre's eye when they were fighting a duel over the hand of the captivating gorgeous Lady Corinne Malvor.

Unfortunately Elizabeth wants Devarre to assist her in becoming reunited with Sir Roger.

If that isn't enough trouble to beset Devarre, his former commanding officer and old friend Henry Morgan is back in England. He is attempting to gather support and backing from the King. Why? Because the Spanish government are quite cross with him (to put it mildly!) for sacking their prize colonial city, Panama.

And if that wasn't enough, grievances of an ancient nature, secret loves and political stratagems and schemes make for times of the kind of excitement that even a man as brave and a resourceful as Nathaniel Devarre can well do without!

It is a book that combines romance, lost loves, refound loves, swashbuckling excitement and political intrigue into an exceptionally well-told tale.

At £12.99 it is a welcome addition to the bookshelf of anyone with a love of well-written historical romance and adventure.

It is, of course, available from the That's Books and Entertainment, bookshop.

American Magna Carta

There are only four copies of the Magna Carta in  existence.

But what if a fifth, previously unknown, copy of the Magna Carta is found to exist?

American Magna Carta describes what happens when this copy is discovered.

An unholy alliance of crooked academics, investment bankers and elements within the American state intelligence apparatus conspire to take possession of this important document.

In their fiendish plan they ride roughshod over the laws of the land, leaving a trail of destruction as they battle to possess this 800-year-old document.

Standing in their way is a heroic team made up of Ricky Taleb, a Harvard law student, Alison Sinclair, an art history intern from London and Harry James a veteran of the Occupy Movement.

Although it is a compelling and punchy story, I have doubts about the basis of it. After all, the Magna Carta can be viewed by everyone with an Internet connection and the idea of a massive conspiracy between all sorts of disparate "establishment" figures opposed by a bunch of plucky kids and assorted "anti-establishment" types smacks of a sort of conspiracy theorists meet Scooby Doo episode. ("We'd have got that fifth Magna Carta if it hadn't been for those meddling kids!" kind of thing.)

However, that caveat aside, Robert Hamblett tells an exciting and compelling story and at £9.99 it's worth a punt.

It is published by Matador and is available through the That's Books and Entertainment bookshop.

Legacy of Van Diemen's Land

Written by Shelagh Mazey, Legacy of Van Diemen's Land tells the continuing story of the evil and scheming Nathan Meakins.

As he is being transported for his crimes to Australia, it seems that Meakins' past actions have caught up with him. Or have they?

Meakins is determined to return to his native Somerset to wreak his revenge on his adversary Joshua Dryer, a circumstance that fills everyone living in Alvington Manor with dread.

Meakins is so determined to have his revenge that he cares little or nothing for the damage he causes to innocent victims who become entrapped and embroiled in his nefarious and wicked stratagems and plots for revenge.

The tale is a continuation of  the stories of Meakins, Dryer and the contemporaries.

It is well researched -one could almost hear the creaking of the prison ship as it transports Meakins to his life in the prison colony- and it is an exciting and well-told tale steeped in the Somerset and Australia of the 19th century.

It is a tale of rogues, vagabonds, ladies and gentlemen of those exciting and distant times.

Does Meakins exact his revenge on Dryer?

Or does Lady Fate have a different and more fitting outcome for Nathan Meakins?

The book is available in paperback from Matador at £9.99 and is available via the That's Books and Entertainment bookshop which you can find to the right hand side of this website.

The Bunny Run. Your "must buy" summer read

If you buy only one book this year, it should be "The Bunny Run" by Tim Topps.

When I picked up this novel I was captivated from the first paragraph on the first page.

I was hooked so much so that I had to read the 166 page book in one sitting. Which is very rare for me.

The novel tells the story of how the protagonist Tim Topps suddenly realises that his marriage, in fact his whole life as he has lived it so far, is at an abrupt end.

For work purposes for many years, he has driven between his two offices in Oxford and Cambridge.

He makes the journey in his beloved car, a vintage Sunbeam Talbot.

The route he takes is familiar to him and he keeps himself entertained on his route by making observations, often wry and humorous, about the villages and towns that he passes through.

He also has some very strong opinions on placenames and their likely origins.

He draws us into his life by telling us little stories (vignettes)  from his own life which, as he travelled with his government official father and his mother, involved trips to many exciting and exotic locations, Remembrance Day in East Africa, then back to England for boarding school, romantic encounters with young ladies and the like. Sometimes in an aside to the reader he will point out that although there is a basis of truth in the particular story that it is not true.

Tim regales us with digressions as to why The Pooh books are, in reality, extremely witty books aimed at the adults who are reading them to the children, rather than being 'pure' children's books.

He tells us about his wife and her horrible family, including his violent and criminal brother-in-law.

Tim likes to correct people almost to the point of it being an obsession. He also has a faith or a conviction that the number seven has some deep significance for him.

Although the book might appear to be a random collection of highly entertaining and very diverting travelogue style musings on the towns and villages he is travelling through and the roads and bridges he is passing over, the book is far, far more than that.

There are several 'markers' throughout the book, plus several threads of bright material that cunningly disguise the real, true nature of the book which will shock, amaze and enthrall you at the same time, when you realise exactly where the journey was always going to end up.

It is published by paperback by Matador at £8.99. I can promise you that it will be the best £8.99 you will have spent in a long time.

The book is available from the bookshop at That's Books and Entertainment, to the righthand side of this review.

The Unforgiving Shore

The Unforgiving Shore is a novel by Gil Hogg.

It describes the lige of youthful Ellen Colbert who has cared as much as she can for her paralysed husband, so she takes the decision to move on and leaves him behind her.

She seeks work amongst the kitchen staff at Marchmont Mansion and eventually catches the eye of one of the Marchmont family itself, John Marchmont.

He whisks her off to Australia for a new and all together far more exciting life on the other side of the world.

For several idyllic months the two lovers enjoy their lives at the vast cattle station owned  by John's family. The cattle station is called Mirabilly,

But then John receives a letter from London. It describes that through several family deaths and a will that had been destroyed, John has suddenly become a very wealthy man indeed, as he is the inheritant of the vast bulk of the family fortune.

Immediately John leaves for London, leaving a distraught Ellen behind, jilted by the man she had hoped to spend the rest of her life with.

Four years later he returns to Mirabilly, he wants to pick up their relationship where he had abruptly left it, but as a now married woman, Ellen will not hear of it and tells him so in no uncertain terms.

She has her stockman husband, her son and her reputation to consider.

But then tragedy strikes and her husband is drowned in an accident.

Then the niggling doubts begin. Was her husband the father of her son, Paul? Or was John Marchmont his real father?

His mother denies it, but it eats at him. Could he be a Marchmont? The son of his mother's one time lover?

This is a compelling novel which touches on a variety of themes such as fidelity, love, the meaning of parenthood and of love and loss.

It is published by Matador at £10.99 and is available from the mazon-powered bookshop on this site.

The Gift-Knight's Quest

The Gift-Knight's Quest, by Dylan Madeley is a debut fantasy novel that bids you welcome and fair journeying through the magical and mystical lands of the world of Kensrik.

You will learn about the lives of a range of very special characters.

There's Chandra. Chandra is the ruler of Kensrik. She never asked fro the burden of rulership, but it was thrust upon her, nevertheless.

It is felt by many that she should not be the ruler, she is scorned as a sorceress by most people of Kensrik.

Her life is ruined, one could say, by the traumatic events that brought her to the position of ruler, but she must make use of the few remaining loyal friends an allies that she has at her side, because although she never asked to be ruler of Kensrik, this is her fate, and she must rule it to the best of her abilities, in order to keep the restless empire in one piece.

But she is also attempting to identify the conspirators who forced rulership upon her. And then she can deal with them. But is this risking her own life and the lives of her loyal followers?

And what of Derek? He is an aimless, feckless wanderer, the youngest member of a once proud and noble family, long fallen from the position that it once held. Tradition summons him to serve someone who is, also by tradition, his bitterest of enemies. He struggles with personal demons and begins to question his loyalty to the mission that he is sworn to uphold.

Then there is Duke Lenn, he found love, but this all consuming love cost him everything he held dear.

His legacy has shaped the present that Chandra and Derek are struggling to exist within. Now the choices and options that face them will shape the future of Kensrik for ever...

What will they do? How will they cope? Who are their real enemies?

It is hoped that this will be the first of many novels from Dylan Madeley, who is a real find for fans of fantasy novels.

This book should be in the Christmas stockings of all fans of fantasy fiction, for those thinking ahead to Christmas gifts.

This book is published by Matador at £11.99 for the paperback version and £3.99 for the ebook version.

 It is available for purchase from the That's Books and Entertainment bookshop, powered by Amazon. on the righthand side of the site.

A New Vision by Bola Ogunkoya

A New Vision by Bola Ogunkoya, is subtitled 'Observations, experiences and hopes for black people in the diaspora.'

It is based upon the author's own life, his own experiences and on his observations of the world about him.

It explores how the black community is viewed and represented in the society of today.

It asks questions that often seem to be unasked, let alone unanswered.

What of the history of those people who were torn from their homelands in Africa?

What about the abolishment of the evil slave trade?

Why are black teenagers represented as failing in our school system when, states Bola Ogunkoya, this is, actually, far removed from the truth?

Why is "black on black violence" still an occurrence today? (Why was it ever an occurrence?)

He also muses on why a country like the USA has produced a black president, a black attorney general and four star black generals, when the UK, a country less riven by the legacy of recent segregation, has not?

It is the intention of Bola Ogunkoya that his book should help people to once again dream and to take ownership of their destiny and to achieve great things in the way their forefathers did.

The book is published by Matador and costs £8.99 in paperback and £2.99 as an e-book.

 It is available for purchase from the That's Books and Entertainment bookshop, powered by Amazon. on the righthand side of the site.

It's Never Easy, These Days

It's Never Easy, These Days, is a book about the NHS from the point of view of Gareth Hollbrooke, a retired NHS hospital manager.

He reveals some home truths about life within the NHS.

Like how a hospital manager has to deal with fights over car park spaces between consultants? How he must cope with senior surgeons who are out for metaphorical blood?

How he must cope with hippy travellers who decide that the hospital car park is an ideal place for them to live their alternative lifestyle, whilst putting two fingers up to the staff and patients?

How to cope with a bossy medical secretary, how to spend one's days firefighting one crisis or another, or perhaps several, all at the same time, dealing with doctors who aren't from round these parts, learning what the various staff member are supposed to do and learning what they actually do. often above and beyond, as they say.

He also points out how control of a hospital can so very easily be lost, if the manager loses one thing. (You'll find out what this is, if you take the time to read this absorbing and truth telling book)

He also reveals what actually happens during hospital board meetings with unwarranted accusations of murder, grandstanding, shroud waving, position taking, point scoring and so on.

The period covered is from the 1970s right up to the last decade of the 20th century. It contains stories of horror, pathos, bewilderment and confusion interspersed with moments of real humour.

At £9.99 this book by Matador, will tell you are you ever wanted to know about NHS hospitals and their management.

A healthcare worker who read the book said: "This is a fairly accurate book, though obviously biased toward the viewpoint of a hospital administrator!"

It's available for purchase from the That's Books and Entertainment bookshop, powered by Amazon. on the righthand side of the site.

Petra Minx and Dead Man's Legacy

Petra Minx and Dead Man's Legacy is another novel in the Petra Minx series.

Petra Minx is a highly dedicated. motivated Sergeant in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police force.

She is thrilled that she is assigned to deal with something of an International case, involving a visit to Nassau to work with Betty Graceby a now retired poupar Canadian Las Vegas dancer and singer of some repute.

Betty has spent considerable time filing complaint after complaint against Ken, her vile and obnoxious grandson.

All of a sudden, the authorities have decided to take notice of her complaints against Ken. But why now, after ignoring Betty's complaints for such a long time?

An investigative journalist who has an eye, ear and nose for a good story and he feels that there is some sort of mystery behind a new arts centre, said to be funded by a benefactor who is ticking the "no publicity box." Why is he so secretive? What are his motives?

And how come, since her husband's death in an "accident" when the car was driven by Betty's son, has Betty's fortune tripled in size? What does Betty know about this? Anything? Or is she an innocent dupe in this and many other matters?

Withe the action of the story flitting from the Bahamas to Las Vegas and the Great Lakes, Petra becomes deeply attached to her fellow Canadian, Betty and her policing role is sublimated into a more personal role as she uncovers greed, treachery, hatred and unadulterated lust.

She realise that the legacy of Betty's late husband is a ponderous one with far reaching consequences that are lasting well beyond his death.

This novel by Marion Leigh is a must for the bookshelf of any mystery fan. Petra Minx is a welcome addition to the fictional female police officer hall of fame.

Petra Minx and Dead Man's Legacy costs £9.99 and is published by Matador and is available from the That's Books and Entertainment book shop, to the right of the site.

The Hounds of Falsterbo

The Hounds of Falsterbo is an utterly charming book for adults and their children

It is a wonderful book that is well illustrated, telling the story written and illustrated by Jules Nilsson of the dogs that live in Falsterbo, in Nasset, Southern Sweden.

It is illustrated in a bold, yet simplistic style, telling the story of the dogs that inhabit the area in joyous, rhyming couplets.

The three canine friends have wonderful doggy adventures at the seaside, amongst the beach huts and sand dunes and into the inviting sea, where the frolic and gambol in the waves.

The names of the dogs are Nalle, Buster and Teddy and the book is probably the best attempt to capture the exciting nature of little doggies out on a spree that I have seen in a long time.

It is an ideal book for reading to children before they go to bed, filling their dreams with the magical story of our three canine heroes and their life in and around their home the Kust Cafe.

It costs £5.99 and is published by Vind and Vag. A delux hardback version costs £15.99. These (and a e-book version) are all available at the Amazon-powered bookshop at That's Books and Entertainment, which is at the righthand side of the site.

You can learn more about The Hounds of Falsterbo at www.falsterbohounds.com.

Incidentally, the book was "highly commended" in the Junior Design Awards of 2014.

The Crazy Psychologist

This novel by Miller H. Caldwell features a psychologist who is working on the beautiful island of Rousay.

Doctor Angie Lawrence is the director of a new, purpose-built centre for assessing and treating damaged teenagers.

She employs interesting an unorthodox treatments. These include nude swims for some patients, sessions with an African Grey Parrot call Harry (Don't worry about Harry, he is on the staff!) and Arthur, a Bassett Hound, amongst others treatments for the patients who vary from sufferers from abuse, eating disorders, elective mutes, the overly aggressive and so on.

As part of her treatment regimen she also offers her patients some varying degrees of responsibilities, as a way of overcoming the traumas that drove them to be treated by Doctor Lawrence in the first place,

She is married to Sam, who is an artist of some renown. He is particularly gifted as a painter of seascapes and he believes that Orkney will be the perfect location for him to explore his art.

But Sam is concerned about his wife's unorthodox methods. Are these, somehow, related to the traumas that afflicted the young Angie?

Sam is torn between trying to understand the methods in her madness, or the madness in her methods.

He is trying to protect his wife from her own self and from the demons that are welling up from her own past.

But what can her do? How can he protect her from the authorities?

How can he help her to overcome the demons of her childhood before they overcome her?

This is an interesting and utterly compelling novel from author Miller H. Caldwell.

It is published by Matador at £8.99 on August 28.

Death by Dangerous. A novel by Olly Jarvis

Death by Dangerous is a new legal thriller novel by published author and criminal defence barrister Olly Jarvis.

Jarvis used his many years of experience as a criminal defence barrister to weave a riveting novel set in and around Manchester and Bradford.

Death by Dangerous tells the story of John Anderson. He is the darling of the North West courts, a highly respected and very able prosecution barrister. His career is in the ascendency, going from strength to strength.

Until it all comes crashing down, when, following a terrible road traffic accident, in which he is severely injured, his whole world comes tumbling down about him.

Although he makes a slow and painful recovery from his physical injuries, he realises that he has no memory of the crash.

Was it his fault? What of his female passenger? Who was she? Why was she even in his car? Did some catastrophic error of judgement on his part cause a child to die?

For the first time in his life he faces the criminal justice system that he has spent his entire professional life working in, from the other side of the witness box. Accused of causing death by dangerous driving.

He is fully aware that, as one of the most senior prosecution barristers in the North West, being jailed would bring him face-to-face with many criminals who he helped bring to justice through his long career.

But how can he find out what really took place during the accident?

Was it an accident? What, exactly had taken place?

The truth takes him into the sordid underbelly of Manchester, taking him deep within the criminal underworld.

His former loyal colleagues and so-called friends in the prosecution service have already found him guilty, so he finds no help there.

But help in his quest for truth and justice does come his way, but from a rather unlikely source. Which leads Anderson to examine himself and he starts to re-evaluate his life so far.

But Anderson finds out that sometimes lambs are sacrificed to propitiate various Gods.

Anderson needs to work out who are the lambs, who are the evil shepherds and which Gods they are attempting to appease. And he needs to work out who the good shepherd is before it is too late.

It's an exciting novel, gripping with more than a few twists and turns before the shocking finale.

This book is published in paperback by Matador at £7.99 on 28th July. It will be available via the That's Books and Entertainment Book Shop, the link is on the right hand side of this page.

Lime 43 is a new cocktail is born with Licor 43 and Pure Lime Juice!

Whilst feeling pretty hot the other evening I accidentally hit on the recipe for a new cocktail which I have decided to name the Lime 43.

You take 50ml of Licor 43 and a couple of liberal splashes of Pure Lime Juice (it's made by the clever folks who brought us Pure Lemon Juice), in a large wine glass or a whiskey tumbler.

Then add ice cubes if desired and then top up to the brim with chilled Cream Soda, then stir.

And enjoy.


The website contains other cocktail recipes and some information on this awesome drink.

http://www.licor43.com/

"Ontreto" an ideal holiday read

The latest novel by crime thriller writer Peter Crawley is an ideal holiday read, for those of you who like to take the latest crime thriller with you to while away the hours as you sit, cocktail in hand, slathered in factor 50 as you laze, happily, by the poolside of your resort.

The setting of the novel is an island in the Mediterranean Sea. The name of the island is Lipari.

The island is real and what occurs throughout the book is fiction. Or is it? For it appears that the real history of  Lipari is just as dramatic (if not on occasion, more so!) than that set out in this gripping and compelling novel!

Former Marine and protagonist Ric Ross arrives on the island of Lipari. He carries with him a letter of introduction to Valeria Vaccariello, who is an ageing star of the Italian big screen, the world of the cinema.

She lives alone in a house called The House of Strangers.

Besides being a cinema star she has another reputation closer to home. She is known as la strega, or the witch.

In the midst of this Ric is befriended by il velaccino, a sailmaker. For a sailmaker seems to know a great deal about everyone on Lipari and what they get up to.

But then a politician dies and it is determined to be a homicide.

Ric's desire to trace the history of his family in Lipari is subsumed by the need to prove that he is innocent of the slaying.

But Ric's life is also in danger. Why would someone want him dead? Who are they? Who can he trust?

The book is due to be published in paperback by Matador on June 28th at £9.99, or as an e-book for £3.99.

Mike Woodhams "Run With the Brave"

In this novel by Mike Woodhams, we see the very welcome return of his character Frank Ryder, the MI6 operative.

We see him attached to a group of American special forces personnel i an operation that could change the outcome of events in the Middle East for the foreseeable future.

The American spy networks in Tehran have been all but destroyed, having been fatally compromised, so the expert help of British Intelligence has been called upon to assist the Americans.

Ryder and his team suddenly find themselves involved in a major battle that involves Iran and Israel, which has imperilled the very existence of the state of Israel.

Ryder and his team join with Israeli special forces and a group of desperate Iranian insurgents to track down and destroy a top secret Iranian missile base which is poised to launch nuclear warheads into Israel.

But the operation runs into difficulties when it becomes apparent that they have a traitor within their group.

Who is the traitor? Can the traitor delay the operation for long enough for the missile strike to be made, thus obliterating Israel in a nuclear firestorm?

Or can the resourceful Frank Ryder save the day and, indeed, the world?

The book is an exciting read and is available at £8.99 from Matador.

The (Phantasmagorical) Astrarium Compendium

The (Phantasmagorical) Astrarium Compendium is a new fantasy adventure novel brought to us by our guide to a world beyond our ken, Mark Roland Langdale.

We meet Gulliver. Gulliver is the owner of a large antique emporium.

But for all his knowledge of the wonderful objects that his emporium has on sale, grandfather clocks, brass telescopes, globes, and even more globes and even still ore globes, Gulliver had never actually travelled outside the county of Devon.

So, what with all those globes, perhaps it was rather apposite that Gulliver fell into one of those very selfsame globes and finding himself in a location far removed from ordinary space-time, where time (as we know it) no longer has any existence. And when just about anything could happen and, generally speaking, does happen.

Gulliver's life is very soon flipped totally from the normal and into a world of abnormal.

A world where it is perfectly natural to come across giant bottles filled with equally giant ships, both on the land and at sea, where one gets to meet Old Father Time himself, Queen Elizabeth I and Sir Francis Drake (complete with his Golden Hind!) , Hans Christian Anderson and the like.

This is all very well, but Gulliver loves his emporium and he misses Devon. So, how can he possible get back home?

By tracking down the mysterious "The Last Bookshop in the World" which is his only possible chance of getting home.

Can he find the bookshop? And what if Gulliver changes his mind? What if he decides he wants to stay exactly where he is?

But what of Alice? And Beagle?

To find out how it all turns out, it will cost you a mere £11.99 and it is out now from Matador.

Visit www.markrolandlangdale.co.uk to see the author's other fantasy novels such as The Flat Earth Society and the Great Globe Conspiracy and Professor Doppelganger and the Fantastical Cloud Factory, amongst others.

Chickens Eat Pasta, Escape to Umbria

Sometimes, we do some pretty crazy and weird things. And they look all the more crazy and weird because we do them during an otherwise mundane, fairly ordinary kind of time.

The case of jornalist and author Clare Pedrick is a perfect example of this type of phenomena.

One rainy, Sunday morning, bearing in mind that she was just 26-years-old, Clare was reading a Sunday newspaper and she happened to espy an advert of a beautiful, but ruinous, home in the Italian area called Umbria.

So, as you do, or rather, as Clare did, the decision was taken to purchase the house.

Clare employs her book as a series of artist's canvases, each depicting a different but interlocking part of the story. The warmth and the vibrant colours of Italy, the obvious difference between British and Italian culture, but the just as real differences between the different regions of Italy.

She also describes the kaleidoscope of different characters who she met on her travels and in the village where she settled down.

She fell in love with the house, faults and all and she also fell in love with a local man, who she married and with whom she has three children.

Her husband and the children all now love the house. Which is no longer ruinous, but rather restored to its former splendid glory. 

Chickens Eat Pasta, Escape to Umbria, is published by Matador at the end of next month and at £9.99 will make an excellent present for someone you love, or even for yourself.

As with all books its available via the That's Books and Entertainment bookshop at the right hand side of the site. 

Many a Shadow by David Barter

Many a Shadow by David Barter is a biography of Bill.

Bill was a country boy, born on a farm only 40 some miles from London, it might as well have been 1,000 miles away, such was the gulf between the two places.

He received his education at the local village school, played all of the usual games that country boys played with their school mates, enjoyed the country pursuits that dated back to times immemorial, let school at 14 to be apprenticed.

Unfortunately for Bill his idyllic rural lifestyle came to an abrupt end when Europe went mad and began devouring itself during the madness that was World War 2.

Bill was yanked from the safe, comfortable countryside that he was familiar with and thrust into the hellstorm of World War 2.

We follow Bill as he fights his way across Europe having landed on the beeches of Normandy and, somehow, lived to tell the tale.

The horrors of the war were leavened, just a little bit, by a variety of factors such as finding oak barrels of calvados in the cellars of an abandoned  French farmhouse.

It also touches very movingly on the transition from armed forces to civilian at the end of the war, which was otherwise known as the demob and the adjustments that husbands, wives and children had to make after six years or so apart.

It is a moving, well-written account of Bill's life.

It is published by Matador at a very reasonable £8.99.

Be the Human Sunshine Future you Journey Journal

Be the Human Sunshine Future you Journey Journal, by Clare Bostock is a genuinely fascinating book.

It is not overly long, thankfully the author has resisted the urge that some writers fall victim to, to confuse wisdom and value with words, words and still more words!

The book is lusciously illustrated with highly appropriate and evocative artworks by artist Josephine Wall, with some of the best artwork in a published book that I have seen in a long while.  

The purpose of the book is to help ease you into the art of journalling. But this is no mere journalling! This is genuinely a training course, if you will, in learning the art and science  of journalling in order to employ it to help you tap into the healing powers that can be found within journalling,

In fact, Clare states in her introduction that the purpose of her book is to: "...help you tap into the healing power of journalling, to journey home to yourself, to accept your inner calling, reduce stress, and to honour the unique story in your own life and work."

She does, however, point out that journalling is not for those who "regularly avoid the whispered longings of their own heart, but for those who care to embrace the constant abundance and renewal from inner-self as well as from universal source energy."

The book describes the basic techniques of starting to journal,  the use of additional notebooks, and other items as part of your journalling process, like pictures, photographs, postcards, drawings and the like.

She outlines all of the tools that you will require to become a journaller like pens, pencils, crayons, erasers, felt tip pens, notebooks and so forth.

Clare also covers the use of techniques to heighten positive experiences and to soften negative experiences and the also use of mantras and affirmations.

At £10.99 this book published by Matador is an ideal addition for the toolkit of anyone who wants to help work on themselves on their journey through life.

 

Last Sardana by Roy Harwood

What is the Sardana? It is a group folk dance that dates back to Medieval times in Catalonia.

Last Sardana is the first of an epic six volume story of the family of Maria, a mother tragically widowed at an early age with her son Pedro to raise.

Maria does a good job brining up Pedro who, at the insistence of the village priest (at a boozy fiesta) becomes known as Peter because, intuited the priest, Pedro would. in the same fashion as the Disciple Saint peter, be destined to travel both far and wide.

Peter becomes an internationally renowned architect and property developer as far afield as the UK and Malaysia, but he never forgets his roots in Catalonia, nor does he forget his mother, Maria, who he still dotes on as only a good son of a widowed mother can.

This, the first book in the series, takes us through the early part of his career, right through to his participation to helping to stage the 1982 Barcelona  Olympics and his relationships with friends, colleagues and family members.

The book will be published on July 28 at £9.99 in paperback, by Matador.

Please look out for the subsequent books in this series, Last Sardana and Sardana Encor, both at £9.99.

Other books in the series will be published soon.

The Real World

What would happen to you if you were a disembodied being (called Hedstrong) from another realm when the host body that you occupied died in rather distasteful circumstances? Beaten to death before a large crowd of onlookers at a charity function who, because nobody liked the victim, managed to fail to witness the murderous attack that swiftly put an end to his life. Can't really get much more distasteful?

The spiritual being finds himself residing in a stately home, where he meets another of his kind, a female of his species.

Who, he discovers had found, by a chance encounter with a torch battery, that she can 'feed' on electricity.

Which means that they no longer have to rely on being hosted in the bodies of living humans.

But then village girl Phyllis manages to get herself involved with the manor house and its Lord of the Manor.

Phyllis can see the spiritual inhabitants of the house. There's Hedstrong, his new found love interest Antedote and all is well.

Or it was before the arrival of Upstart, who, because Antedote is a bit too domineering, manages to capture the affections of Hedstrong.

But what, exactly, is Upstart up to? Does he really want to drag Hedstrong into the midst of a potentially dangerous conspiracy to overthrow Jenius, who is the leader of the Spiritual World Council, with something of a reputation for being ruthless and dictatorial?

Eventually the property becomes part of the large number of stately homes under the protection of the National Trust. Though this one is different, it is also under the 'protection' of Phyllis, left in charge upon the death of the last Lord of the Manor.

Phyllis is not without certain psychic abilities and she manages to anger the inhabitants of the spirit realm by communicating with them.

There's the equivalent of an armed rebellion in the spirit realm and both realms of existence could see lives being snuffed out. But who is at risk? Who will live, who will die?

It's a highly intelligent fantasy novel by Roy Hewetson and is worth every penny of the £8.99 asking price for the paperback, or £2.99 for the e-book version.

It is published in paperback by Matador.

Thicker Than Soup

Thicker Than Soup is a novel by Katheryn Joyce.

It explores a whole range of emotions and challenges within the lives of its characters.

There is Sally Lancing, the daughter of an English mother and an immigrant from Pakistan, and John Sommers, a son of adoptive parents, who is greatly loved by them.

A surprise pregnancy, which brings about some questions as to the paternity of the child, throw the two into different, but separate lives.

Sally is destroyed by the loss of her job, her partner, even her home. So she decides to take her infant son to Pakistan so that they can meet with her father's family  members.

What she sees shocks her and challenges everything she thought she knew.

John, meanwhile has his own problems that he attempts, with some success, to hide.

But the situation that developed has raised old and previously buried concerns and problems within him and he takes the decision to embark on an equally fraught journey, a journey as long as that taken by Sally and her son, but long in emotional rather than physical terms.

And yet there were still ties that bind, including the tie of the boy, Sammy.

It's a moving story of multiple layers that shimmer and glimmer in the various lights that are shone upon them.

It is a book of love, of fidelity, of infidelity and pathos.

It is published by Matador at £8.99 and is, of course, available through the That's Books and Entertainment book shop which is powered by Amazon.

Will Smith, Alfonso Ribeiro and DJ Jazzy Jeff Perform The Carlton Dance ...

The Ghost

The Ghost is a new novel by Andrew Lowe.

It is a compelling story that relates how film critic Dorian Cook is a man who is haunted by a childhood prank which, although many years ago in the distant past, still has a dark resonance in his life as an adult.

The prank went wrong. Very badly wrong.

It happen in that long, hot summer of 1976, when the government had to appoint a minister for droughts, when people thought flares to be the height of fashion and when Dorian's childhood in his Northern industrial town was, in effect, ruined by the shocking event that took place.

As an adult in contemporary London, Dorian has a certain cache as a fairly influential film critic.

But now the past has reached out to him with bony fingers, bony fingers that seek out for revenge in the shape of an old acquaintance of Dorian's, who is back. With a sick vengeance on his mind.

Dorian finds himself acting the hero (albeit unwilling) when he must fight for what he believes in, to protect his own family from harm and to battle to stay alive.

The novel switches from his day-to-day work as a critic (EDITOR: All very realistic, I can assure you!) to what becomes a vitally important fight for everything he holds dear to him, including his own life.

It's gritty, it's primal and it's protagonist is a writer and a critic. I mean, what's not to like?

It's an exceptionally good read and Andrew Lowe has made the transition from writing fact to writing fiction with an ease and an aplomb that I can only envy.

It's due out on 28th June and is published by Matador at £9.99, and is available via The That's Books and Entertainment online book shop.

Epitaph for a Working Man

Epitaph for a Working Man is a highly important novel by Erhard von Buren.

It relates in a clear and vivid fashion the story of a man who is moving toward the last chapter of his life.

His health is not as good as it once was, yet he bravely and sincerely refuses to make any compromises.

He continues to work as a stonemason, he continues to visit his local bar to enjoy himself and decliners to stop smoking.

He is also a witty and careful observer of what is happening in his Swiss town, of who is doing what and why it is being done.

He is capable of being tough, yet can also show gentleness. He is both weak in some ways, yet strong in others.

The novel is seen from the point of view of his adult son, who writes a warts and all account of the last year of his father's life.

It is set in the 1980s in a small, provincial town in Switzerland and it is a moving, fascinating look at the life of an individual soul.

It is the fourth novel by Erhard von Buren, but the first of his novels to be translated into English, the translator being Helen Wallimann MA.

It is to be hoped that Helen Wallimann will translate the other works by Erhard von Buren.

It will be published on May 28th by Matador at £8.99, a Kindle edition will cost £2.99.

Both versions will be available via the That's Books and Entertainment book shop.

From Farms to Pharma

From Farms to Pharma is a highly interesting book about Pharma, the pharmaceutical industry, from the point of view of a sympathetic insider.

This is a highly useful book as it offers the reader a rare insight into this vitally important industry.

It is a rare book as, all too often, books with "Pharma" in the title are fairly hysterical tomes written from the perspective of people who have spent decades decrying every aspect of "Big Pharma."

From Farms to Pharma is written by industry insider Ron Stark.

Ron takes us on a very illuminating journey through a lifetime spent working in medical research. He spent a large proportion of his working life employed as an industrial troubleshooter.

The book is filled with the wit, good humour and humanity of Ron, who relates a number of stories, some amusing, some tragic, some fairly heroic as researchers battled to come up with solutions for diseases that afflict mankind.

The book is populated with a wide range of characters, some flawed, some saintly and some who, like most of humanity, are both flawed and saintly, sometimes in equal measure.

One of the most moving stories is that of the dreadful typhoid fever epidemic that struck the city of Aberdeen in May 1964.

It tells the story of how the epidemic started, how its source was traced and how the several hundred victims were treated.

It also covers a number of interesting cases where problems were caused by drugs and other cases where physicians had chosen to blame drugs for causing problems within their patient that, it transpired, really had other causes.

The book is published by Matador on 28th June and will cost £9.99. It is highly recommended to anyone who plans to working in the field of pharmaceuticals, is a doctor or a medical student or the general reader who wants to look at all sides of a situation.

City of Darkness

City of Darkness is a new novel from D P Wright.

It explores a dark, dangerous place in the distant future. A place where the three Ds are reportedly running riot. Demons, Discrimination and Drugs.

It is a science fiction novel set in the towering metropolis called Dis.

Ever day life for the beleaguered inhabitants is a constant battle for light, air to breathe and even a struggle to continue living.

D P Wright takes their readers for a walk on the wild side of Dis, where they see the frustrations and fears of the inhabitants as they cope as best they can with class struggles and addictive drugs as they attempt to escape the grim reality that is their life.

Sebastian Kessler is the novel's principal character.

Kessler is like everyone else. His body is in the grip of an all-consuming addiction. He is out of luck, of time almost out of hope when hope, potential hope of something different for his life, when he is approached by Bethany Turner who needs someone to investigate the mysterious death of her uncle.

When a death is genuinely mysterious, there's often people who have a reason, or three, to make certain that the death remains just that, a mystery.

Soon the tyrannical and venal rulers of Dis, The Council, are very interested in what Kessler is doing and he is finding them taking an unfortunate interest in him and his work.

But then, the inhabitants of Dis begin to vanish, and a new highly powerful drugs is becoming very popular.

Are these events linked to the death of Turner? If so, how?

Strange creatures seem to be emerging from deep within the city and Kessler turns to an acquaintance, Doc Galloway, to help him make sense out of what evil deeds are being perpetrated upon the citizens of Dis.

Who, or what, is at the root of the troubles? Can Kessler and Doc Galloway discover what is happening? Can it be halted? If so, how?

It is due to be published on May 28th at £9.99 paperback and should be available as an EBook, possibly 99p, but this is to be confirmed.

It is published by Matador.

The Summer With Ludmila

The Summer With Ludmilla is a bright and thoroughly modern take on several old themes.

It tells the story of the search for true love in our frenetic and frantic modern times.

In this début novel Pat Benson uses some of his own real life experiences in looking for true love as young and single man.

It tells the story of the romantic trials and tribulations of Ben Smith, a handsome and likeable young chap who, with his highly paid job in the City, is, something of an eligible catch. At least, that's the theory of it, because Ben seems to be struggling in his search for a young lady who would be The One.

He is confidant that moving from London to Oxford will make the difference, that the move will bring with it a range of new opportunities for love.

But somehow it never seems to work out how it should have done.

So he takes steps to make things work for him. Lonely Hearts adverts, speed dating, all to no avail. Because still, true love eludes him, with dates ending in a series of disasters and humiliating experiences of various and divers kinds.

But then, he meets Ludmila. She is a gorgeous au pair who is from Eastern Europe.

Is this it, then? Can Ludmila be Ben's Miss Right?

Does he find true love, after all his romantic disasters?

It is a moving and also somewhat humorous written novel and will be published by Matador on 28th June at £14.99.

It will, of course, be available via the That's Books and Entertainment online book shop, powered by Amazon.