Vapours Trails and Other Stories

Travelling home from Danegal early one evening, my wife, Anne, remarked how beautiful the plane’s vapour trails looked stretching across the azure blue sky. Suddenly a picture of a book cover and the title Vapour Trails in the Sky filled my mind. “Grandad”, suggested Erin, my granddaughter, as we discussed my new book, “why not write a book of short stories, you could call it—Vapour Trails and other short stories.” Thus began this series with the titles, Vapour Trails, The Jersey Girl, the Horses Heads, The Wind Bloweth, The Sand, Sea Adventure, The Mist, The Daring Young Man. And for the young readers, Murphy and Mama Goose.

Until We Meet Again

This is an African story of a young black caretaker and the white twin boys in his care and the circumstances and courage that took them to hell and back.

Unlike many other books covering the South African Angolan Bush War, the novel Until We Meet Again is the story of April and the twin boys Mark and Andy. The novel will take them on an adventure of survival and courage that will test their love and camaraderie for one another during a time when the divide between black and white in South Africa was controlled by dark forces.

The novel is about the everyday lives of the two South African families during the 1960s and 70s when the country was under attack from the Pan African Congress’s Poqo army. April would soon find him in a struggle between his own prospects for a better life for himself and his family, but cannot relinquish his responsibilities to care for the two siblings, which left him with difficult decisions to make which would test his courage to its limits.

April became a seasoned freedom fighter and one of the most wanted terrorists in South Africa, while the twins innocently landed themselves in an adventure that had turned into a life-threatening situation that they never dreamed of before. The story will take the reader from the tranquil mountains and rivers of the Eastern Cape to the war-torn Angolan desert where one of the most controversial cold war armed conflicts fuelled by the Americans and Russians would play off and end in a stalemate.

Uncertain Ground

Business partners Ron and Neil invest in an attractive East African location following their reluctant forced exit from Zimbabwe during the new land reforms and policies that took hold in the country in 2003.

Years later, both men find themselves, their clients and their acquaintances drawn into an unavoidable set of circumstances involving national law enforcement, an international investigation agency and high-level criminal activity.

Strong bonding relationships and humour, along with lust, killing and survival come together in this gritty and gripping novel set in the city and in the heart of the largest game reserve in Africa.

Umbadinga

When an end-of-term field trip goes horribly wrong and not all the students return, the teacher loses the plot. One student hatches a plan and together with the school bus driver, they attempt their own rescue mission.

The lost children enter a new world through a subterranean portal and things take a twist when the group get split up.

Umbadinga is full of mystery and intrigue. Their pursuit for self-preservation leads them into encounters with weird and wonderful creatures, but not all of them are friendly.

Become part of the adventure in Umbadinga, be a fly on the wall during the battle and mind-boggling escapes. But the big problem is, can they get back home again? That’s for you to find out!

Trail Dust

California. 1958.

Spring is in the air, which can mean only one thing - the circus season is coming.

But for Kal Klondike, the tough and enigmatic owner of Klondike's Circus, it will be a season unlike any other.

With money troubles and an ambitious new schedule to worry about, Klondike's world is turned upside down by a string of unexpected arrivals within his troupe.

A glamorous new public relations guru, a dour financial expert, a super-talented young performer, a crazed saboteur and a mysterious figure from his past are all along for the ride as the circus train sets off for the new season.

Disaster, triumph and a series of spectacular thrills are on the way as the battle to be America's number one circus begins.

To Heaven or to Hell

In a time in the not-too-distant future, where mankind had all-but-used-up the earth’s fuels and commodities and people’s living standards had plummeted back to more than a century ago, comes a story of one man’s fight for survival.

Danny Pruitt was an ordinary family man trying to eke out a living in the harshest of times but when a visit from overzealous police turned deadly, Danny’s life was turned upside down. With no choice but to escape corrupt authorities, he flees to the nearby mountains and soon finds an unlikely haven in the forest.

With a bounty on his head and trying to elude his relentless pursuers, he embarks on a journey of love, mateship, betrayal, tragedy, murder, infidelity and revenge whilst fighting his inner torment and whatever nature’s fury can throw at him. Will he fulfil his quest to reunite with his cherished wife and two young sons and find freedom at his northern tropical property named Heaven, or will the deeds of his committed sins condemn him to Hell?

The Wolf

“Even though I detest you, human, your functions are familiar to me, your thoughts and words are understandable, your odour is bearable and, most of all, for now…you are all that I have.”

Hunter was in debt to the wolf and he was not going to let her die without a fight. He already knew how to fight when he had joined the army…but then – America trained him.

The Third Tunnel

Why would Alby even think about peeing in Reenie’s uncle’s best Sunday suit? OK, he’d lost all his clothes and his house, but did he have to lose his flamin’ dignity too?

However, not only did the lovely Reenie have an eye for putting together a sharp whistle, she was after all the local Plod’s wife, but she’d found that lately, she’d also had a roving eye and Ralph the Spiv had fallen deep between the sight lines. The trouble was, that was right where he wanted to be! That is until it all goes off deep inside The Third Tunnel.

The Student

Loosely based on the author’s experiences in Cairo, immediately following the 1967 war, this engaging story follows a group of American students sent to Egypt to learn Arabic. During the course of their stay, the students experience conflict between their, often romanticized, images and the reality of life in Cairo as they learn to survive during the last days of the Nasser regime and the end of Egypt’s golden age. This book provides an alternative view of Egypt and the Middle East as its protagonist, an imaginary James Bond, studies, shops, haggles and defends his self-identity in a foreign culture.

The Stretch

Based on a true story

Each time Rockin tries to book a limo to take him and his friends on a drunken trip to London, they are refused, until one firm informs them that the only way that they would be able to book a limo for six lads was if they were going to a wedding.

They have their answer! By the next day, the limo is booked and the morning suits are hired, even down to the buttonholes.

As the limo passes Birmingham, Marco comes up with an idea and two minutes later he is on the phone to the newspapers. “Yeah, that’s right, the groom's found out that his bride-to-be has slept with one of the ushers. He’s phoned her and she has admitted it!”

Rockin is nominated to be the groom but in real life is dating a beautiful blonde Catholic school teacher. He sits in the plush surroundings of the Savoy hotel dreading the phone call he was going to have to make, asking her if he could be a fake groom and appear in the Sunday Sport newspaper.

Two scruffy-looking men walk into the bar; one has a camera slung over his shoulder. The time has come: Rockin has to make the call.

The Stowaway

A small, frightened boy is washed ashore on a Devon beach. He is a long way from home.Hattie’s life on the farm is hectic. Running a riding school, caring for all the animals and trying to find time for her family is more than enough to cope with. She knows she should not take on any more responsibility. The shipwreck on a stormy night brings these two lives together.Hattie couldn’t save her own little boy, but she is determined to save the stowaway.

The Stories of Cantoon – End Game

The Planet of Cantoon was changed by decades of war, but years after the wars, the world still spins on. Vandeaga and his group stand strong against vicious bandits and twisted beasts. A new evil like they had never seen before emerged from the west. In its wake, these creatures leave nothing but carnage. Will our trio overcome this countless menace or will it consume them too?