12 Presents

It is December 2019, and preparations for Barbados Prime Minister Jeffrey Motby’s annual Christmas reception have been thrown into disarray when a close and dear friend of his dies in a vehicular accident. One week later, another long-term friend dies by drowning. Motby becomes concerned. Was this coincidence, or were his two friends’ deaths connected? He is unable to comprehend their untimely deaths and his friendship with them going back over 30 years as Mango Club members.

While not strictly a national security matter, Motby quietly asks the Barbados Intelligence Bureau (BIB) to investigate the deaths to see what, if anything, connects either or both deaths to him, his family, or his government. The apparent suicide of a third friend makes the investigation official. BIB operatives and Barbados police officers review the three deaths in different Caribbean countries. Other Mango Club members' lives are also threatened.

Can the Chaos Theory help? Are the killings being made due to anger, envy, jealousy, revenge, or elements of all four of these factors? The Barbados crisis has the potential to ripple across the Caribbean Sea and beyond. Long-held personal secrets are exposed and friendships fray. Only hard work, cooperation, trust, ingenuity, and some luck help in solving the 12 Presents puzzle.

A Case of Gravity

To Christian Simpkins, time was of the essence. His old friend, a rather eccentric rotund scientist had been abducted from his own facility in Cornwall, England.

Simpkins was on the trail, piecing together tiny snippets of information to steer him onward into the unknown. Others also desperately wanted this scientist, they wanted his knowledge and they wanted a particular little prototype that could seemingly defy gravity.

Slowly, too slowly, Simpkins begins to unravel the workings of those that took his friend and their murderous intentions. Highly skilled in their deadly arts, they turned their attention to this worrying thorn in their side. Simpkins’ survival plan was based on luck, circumstance and very little else except his strangely tuned mind, a strategy somewhat lost to the seasoned professionals on their deadly errand.

A fast-paced windmill of twists of thought and cryptic subterfuge.

A tale of intrigue, death, love and unerring friendship set in today’s world of unforgiving hard truths.

A Conspiracy of Serpents

The brutal murder of an Oxford undergraduate in the City of London. The trial of the prime suspect. The theft of a research paper from an Oxford laboratory. A deadly pandemic, and a desperate cover-up by the British establishment to suppress the truth.

A story of love, loss, hope and redemption, from the spires of Oxford to the streets of London, from the Kremlin in Moscow to the port of Shanghai, and beyond. 

And the story of the integrity of one jaded lawyer pitted against the ruthless forces of international politics which will stop at nothing to get its way – even murder.

A conspiracy, breath-taking in both its scope and ambition.

A Conspiracy of Serpents.

A Mindful Afflatus

Based on a true story of a very strange two-week eerie phenomenon that took place in an old flat in south London. Live my thoughts and feelings around the scary happenings as the uninvited guest gradually consumes my daily life.

A Story to Tell; A Secret to Keep

Family secrets are never a good thing – or are they?

A Story to Tell: A Secret to Keep is the compelling debut novel by Fiona Rich. This domestic noir is full of emotional depth, that slowly builds suspense leaving the reader hungry to delve deeper into the complex and challenging lives of Tim, Libby and Josh and learn more about the secrets that the family hold. It is a story full of intrigue and plot twists that will keep you guessing until the end.

Each of the main characters have faced something traumatic in their lives, they all have their own dark secret that impacts on them psychologically; a secret that could damage the relationships of those closest to them. But will the choices that each of them make to resolve their personal crisis and overcome their psychological traumas release them from their inner turmoil, or lock them in an endless conflict of guilt and deception?

Astrid Book II: Good people do bad things

Astrid has been through ten years of fighting, ten years of killing, and is exhausted. She doubts whether she now even has the strength to fight any more but is desperate to find a way to bring the conflict to an end.Her country is sophisticated and technologically advanced but is bordered to the north by a belligerent dictatorship that has made threats of war. She was an actress and had been filming on the day an unprovoked attack took place; she witnessed friends being killed, and on that day, she gave up her dreams and became a nurse. However, another incident a couple of years later changed her, and she joined the military and became an assassin. She now uses her acting skills to move through enemy territory becoming different characters to avoid detection, blending in and hiding in plain sight.Then an enemy general becomes aware of her and pursues her as she makes her way out. Will she survive?

Astrid Book III: The Early Missions

Astrid Peterman is fighting with regular forces and has already shown herself to be a skilled fighter, driven in her desire to push back the invaders and seek revenge. She proves herself and is taken on by Captain DeSalva to become an assassin. She must further prove herself as a young woman in a male-dominated world. She decides that she will have no red lines, and nothing will be off limits when she is on a mission.

Riedel enters the enemy country as a deep cover spy, easily able to pass himself off as a native, and whose sole mission is to find out what the wonder weapon is.

Brigit Malaya, the enemy officer also has to prove herself, not only by fighting against her enemies, but in fighting against the deep-rooted misogyny in her country that devalues women. She works her way up through the ranks by virtue of brutal combat and is hardened by it; her ambition overriding her humanity, and all the while she is unaware that she is being watched and admired by the country’s dictator.

At Night, the Lanterns Cry

As the relentless war draws to a close, Oulyia’s fate hangs in the balance. With one final chance to repel the Covenant and save their land from the invading hordes, Oulyia rallies its last remaining army. But what if they fail? The weight of uncertainty looms heavy as their ultimate destiny teeters on the brink.

Pesan understands the slim odds and the painful reality that he was denied the chance to join the fight, unlike his brother. Yet, regardless of the war’s outcome, he knows he cannot remain with a family that neglects him and life itself. As the war for Oulyia nears its conclusion, Pesan’s own journey is about to unfold, with its own trials and tribulations.

In the gripping narrative of At Night, the Lanterns Cry, the ceaseless escalation of conflict unveils the profound impact of rulers’ pursuits on nations and their people. Allegiances are tested, friendships strained, and ideologies challenged as the characters navigate a world pushed to its limits. Prepare for an enthralling tale where the stakes are high, and the consequences of personal ambitions reverberate through the lives of nations.

Audrey

‘Hello?’

‘I bet anything that you are pacing up and down right now, thinking of excuses to cancel on me tonight. Am I right?’ It’s Veronica. Audrey looks out the window as if expecting to see Veronica with a pair of binoculars.

‘No!’ Audrey is not at all surprised at how well Veronica knows her.

‘Great, pick you up in fifteen, babe. Mwah.’

Audrey Mills resides in New York City, The Parkway, a grand old building that has become home for Audrey, for almost four years. Known to be somewhat of a recluse, Audrey works at a small florist just a few blocks from where she lives, and except for a few close friends, she generally prefers to keep to herself, spending most of her spare time reading and playing her grandmother’s piano.

As Audrey stands there, mesmerised by the intricacy of the artwork, she is entirely unaware that a stealthy William has walked up behind her.

With his eyes fixated on her flawless profile, William allows several moments to pass before deciding to announce his presence.

Backchannel: rabt

Imagine a world where not just teenagers, but governments use secret social media channels to communicate – and to target. Meet Doug McKenzie, a charismatic Black Irish investigative reporter for the New York Daily, a man whose fearless journalism has attracted international enemies with the resources to neutralize him. In response to his incendiary reports, a clandestine ‘Backchannel’ is activated, manipulating the U.S. government itself to take him down.

But Doug isn’t alone. His fiery daughter Rachel, an emerging journalist in her own right, stands by his side, as do allies from the global stage. Journey with Doug from the power corridors of Washington, DC to the bustling streets of Osaka, Japan; from the political heart of Ankara, Turkey to the fraught border crossing of Bazargan, Iran.

Caught in a web of international intrigue is Doug’s tumultuous personal life – his marriage to Turkish-born Nukhet hangs by a thread, complicated by their one-year-old daughter Sirin, and the reemergence of his enigmatic lover, Dr. Laurie Reynolds.

Get ready to dive into a world of political suspense, international espionage, and intricate relationships. Welcome to Backchannel. Trust us, you won’t want to put it down.

Bag of Dolls

I hope those of you reading this book who require it will find courage through the strange and sometimes exciting world of Julia Darby, she will lead you to unexpected avenues.

Because of Ye Bleedin' Spanner

Although Sean once worked for the United Kingdom’s secret intelligence service, MI6, he now finds himself on death row, sentenced for what the judge at his trial described as ‘the most heinous of crimes.’

Abandoned by his colleagues, friends, and even his family, he reflects on the events of his life which took him from humble beginnings to a career that brought him into conflict with powerful people at the heart of government. Unexplained happenings, mysterious deaths, and individuals hellbent on thwarting at every turn his aim of keeping the democratic process alive made it difficult for him to trust anyone, even the girl he loved.

His mission to rid the world of a new and dangerous drug takes him to distant lands where he encounters the better sides of human nature, kindness and generosity.