Recommended Reads
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Web of Lies
The awakening of a young child’s distrust in her beloved father and the turmoil of a wife betrayed. This story of suspicion, intrigue and deception takes place in a quiet suburb of North London in 1948, when the world still seemed young, even with a second world war just behind them.
Max behaves as a single man without thought of the effects of his actions on his wife, Eleanor, or his daughter, Frances. Always a man of action, from his army service in bomb disposal in India through to raids in France during the war, Max’s actions now take place in liaisons with other women. His life is woven through the shadier parts of London, where deals are done and silence is preferred.
£12.99 -
Call Me Spud
In Call Me Spud, Stephen Rowley examines the influence of the violence of the Northern Ireland Troubles and its inevitable repercussions on the human psyche. The novel traces the dramatic consequences of the common brutality which was witnessed during the province’s bloodiest years, and more specifically, the exceptional savagery of West Belfast’s infamous gang of serial killers. This work of fiction follows the daily routine of a police constable engaged in the arduous task of pursuing and eventually capturing the killers.
The impact of their violence results in both individual and collective trauma as the novel moves beyond the immediate geographical boundaries of Northern Ireland to the south of England. The shift in location points to the universality of violence and its aftermath.
£9.99 -
A Tasmanian Odyssey
If readers with an interest in the medical and social sciences are prepared to clear the mind of 21st-century advancement, they are welcomed deep into the fictional adult and child minds of the period 1914-1947, existing without it!
Adults survive economic depression and the First and Second World Wars with spirited humour and tolerance—if at times sparse—as a buffer to social and religious prejudice. Their children’s world view of ‘seen not heard, spare the rod and spoil the child’ is met with curiosity and vivid imaginings reserved only for child minds.
The setting: suburbs of the city of Hobart, capital of Tasmania (once Van Diemen’s Land, the 19th-century British colonial settlement of choice for recalcitrant British criminals, adult and child alike, during the transportation period ending in 1858).
The written art: narrative style is predominantly sub-plots and flashback techniques, now mirrored in 21st-century filmmakers’ images and captions in the creation of film narratives. Reader perseverance with this written art style may well be worth the journey!
£11.99 -
The Girl Julie
Julie Hawkins’ father obtained a job in Angola, and his wife insisted she and their daughter, Julie, go with him. So too did the fates, with Julie being their target.
Her father was killed in the raid on their house by a rebellion gang who had hoped to detain them as hostages but regarded Julie and her mother as still valuable. Over the months their group was attacked by other rebel groups and Julie and her mother had new masters several times, with Julie’s first aid knowledge being of use to them. Julia’s mother died, leaving her on her own. While trying to move to a safer area, the group was trapped by the Zaire troops.
Fearing an international incident, the Zaire government placed her on a British cargo ship to return her home and she was put under the ship’s steward’s care, Sam Robinson. Slowly he began to find out what she had been through and her real fear was only revealed when they reached Southampton. She had killed one of the rebels to save her mother and thought she would be hanged for murder.
He tried to convince her she was safe, but she was stabbed in Sam’s house and nearly died. When she comes out of hospital, they move to a small Suffolk village where Sam spent holidays with his grandfather.
It seems the fates had given up on Julie and turned their attention to Sam…
£10.99 -
Getting There
In the aftermath of COVID, a man who has lost everything takes to the road. An environmental protestor resists relocation. A grandmother shares the secrets of plants, and a loyalty card customer takes a stand. There is satire on the weight loss industry, retirement villages and a celebrity chef with a passion.
£6.99 -
Sky Town No. 1
This adventure takes place in a Sky Town, 260 years into the future. Most people live in sky towns, and robots do all the heavy and boring work. A threat against people in Sky Town no. 1 is discovered, and Dennis and his family, especially his daughter, Sunny, and her little robot, become involved in this adventure. They are not only fighting against the threat from outside but also against a rigid system that maintains order in town. Let’s travel together to another time and another place, and let the adventure begin.
£7.99 -
Torpedo Run
World War II has ended, but governments in Western capitals remain on high alert, acutely aware of the threats posed by Soviet ambitions. The anxiety surrounding alleged secret plans from Moscow is palpable, as Communist influence surges into Central Europe.
At the same time, Soviet secret agents have infiltrated the UK, focused on military advancements and seeking to acquire the latest Western innovations in the arms race. Their mission is clear: to ensure their superiors are fully informed about Britain’s successful defensive military developments and to obtain the results of the nation’s latest scientific experiments in advanced underwater weaponry. One such team has breached the perimeter of one of Britain’s most sensitive underwater facilities at Bay Island, located off the remote tip of North Wales.
Amid this chaos are lovers Evan Bart and Megan, a Welsh Nationalist activist and the daughter of Bay Island Police Detective Inspector Jimmy McCord.
In response to this infiltration, British intelligence acts swiftly, dispatching an espionage team led by Terry Finnigan and his colleagues Mike and Rod to identify and neutralise the threat. As the enemy spies face significant obstacles in achieving their goals, the Soviets escalate the situation by deploying a submarine to acquire crucial top-secret blueprints.
This sets the stage for a thrilling and deadly confrontation.
£13.99 -
Let's Look After the Worth of the World
‘Let’s Look After the Worth of the World’ is a brilliantly written book about politics and economics, arguing from a left-wing perspective that modern life is unsustainable. This book is a wake-up call—a wake-up call for absolutely everybody in the whole world. We live in a world where most of the wealth is controlled by a few people, where we are all renting our existences from forces that control everything, and where they tell us to own nothing and be happy. Is this right? Add to this the negative effects of colour television and the media, and we have a world where it seems we are accelerating ever faster towards a cliff edge.
In this book Majid Salim ‘sounds the alarm’; he argues, with technical skill and heartfelt language, that something must change. It needs to be read by every decision-maker in every country. It is an inspiration for change, a justification for thinking differently. Everyone who reads it will start demanding action from their leaders and sympathising with the radical leftists who say our planet needs root and branch reform. ‘Let’s Look After the Worth of the World’ will change you — it taps into the widely felt, but almost totally unrepresented, feelings the public have about radical Left solutions.
£6.99 -
Parvon Zin’s Universe: Silvenex Chronicles
The Silvenex are descended from an old insectoid species called the Inchine. The gentle Inchine once numbered in the trillions, inhabiting a vast area in one of the arms of the spiral galaxy known to them as the Great Glowing Web. The peace-loving Inchine sent out messages of love to anyone out there in the void. They are answered by a reptilian species who are out scouting for a food source to feed their planet struck down by famine. The reptiles are insectivores. What initially is seen by the Inchine as a fantastic bit of luck – finally discovering they are not alone in the universe – turns to horror as the militaristically stronger reptiles slaughter the Inchine for food. Only a very small segment of the Inchine escape. This is the story of those escapee Inchine. As time passes and memories devolve into story, the Inchine call themselves Silvenex…. Which translates to Survivors. As with all other species in the Spiral Arm Galaxy, the Silvenex are shapeshifters and are immortal. They have a weakness, though. They are virtually addicted to hard radiation.
There are three clans on a planet called Silven, which translates to “survivors’ haven”. They are black, blue, and red in colour, and that’s what they call each other. Survival has been brutal. There is no love between the competing survivors.
This tome covers the rise of each of them. From their humble beginnings to their present-day finery.
£14.99 -
Cinch up the Case
Murdock North, private investigator, is brilliant at his job, suave, good-looking and adored by women.
Hannah Willard isn’t one of those, or so she keeps telling herself. It hasn’t, however, stopped him from doing to her what no other man has and turning her world upside down.
She can only hope he’ll stay away, but the problem is, where there’s criminal activity, cold case or otherwise, who do they call?
Just one murder investigation starts the ball rolling, but nothing prepares her for the evil and danger that jeopardises her life, and it seems the only person who can help is Murdock. Can she trust his expertise, and will it save her?
£13.99 -
When the Ancients Return
For centuries, humanity has stared at the pyramids and other ancient ruins and wondered: Who built them? Ancient myths speak of gods descending from the heavens, wielding power beyond imagination. Science dismisses it as legend until the sky opens once more.
When a colossal ship appears above Earth, the world's forgotten questions demand answers. Were the ancients truly gone…? Or had they simply been waiting for the right time to return?
In a clash of myth, science, and faith, humankind will discover the shocking truth about its creators and face a reckoning.
£11.99 -
Parvon Zin's Universe: Poltox
Poltox… The very mention of the name conjures up fear in most species. This warrior society has a deserved reputation. The Belatan Banking Guild use Andrend Poltox exclusively in their Debt Recovery Branch. The Anunnaki use them as security guards. Poltox mercenary units are used by the Boldonian Trading Guilds during and after hostile takeover conflicts. The galaxy as a whole sees them as mindless savage thugs.
The Poltox don’t correct that assumption. They are happy to let anyone think what they like. In reality the Poltox have a wide and varied culture. Not all can be warriors. The non-warrior castes keep the society running, providing weapons, engineering, agriculture, scientific research, and medical expertise. Every Poltox believes totally in the afterlife, a place called Loplen. A great feasting hall where worthy warriors are taken up by the fabled winged Jenpen. Beautiful female warriors to dine at Crangg’s table. Feasting and fighting throughout eternity. The non-warrior Poltox clans have their own feasting halls where they live out eternity conducting whatever wondrous things they did before.
Disaster struck the Poltox in the form of a planet-wide famine. An ultra-fast-growing small carnivore called Limies was found on a nearby planet. They are harvested by the hundreds of thousands. These little creatures at first seemed like a blessing. Then they started attacking the Poltox in such numbers that no matter how good the warrior was, they were overwhelmed and eaten. Eighty percent of the Poltox population were killed. Only two clans remained. The Nool and the Andrend.
The two clans were so close they had thought of forming one powerful unit. The Andrend had volunteered to be enhanced, strength- and reflexes-wise, to help deal with the tiny terrors. The drugs affect the Andrend’s minds. Making them aggressive and arrogantly dismissive of their now, in their mind, ‘lesser cousins’. Brutalised after their blood-filled grim two-year battle with the Limies, they cannot relate to the Nool. Fights start. The enhanced Andrend kills without remorse. They start to treat the weaker Nool like slaves. Hatred builds and becomes entrenched.
War breaks out between the two clans. The only way it will end is with the total eradication of the loser. Their mindset can see no other way. It will take an outsider’s view to find a solution.
£8.99
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