Thirty Pieces of Silver

The Roman Empire and the world is about to change and over the next several hundred years, millions will die as a result.

In the Middle East a child has been born – a child who will grow into a man who will eventually change the way the world is run. He is a man destined to fulfil a prophecy. A man who will start a global revolution. A man who will shake the very foundations of society. A man whose philosophy will be misinterpreted and twisted to give power to what will become one of the richest organisations on Earth. A man whose name will be used to justify the most horrific deeds this world has ever known.

Caught between the rule of mighty Rome and the power of the High Priests, this man wants to free his people and bring them closer to God. This man will become a legend.

This man is called Jesus.

The Spirit of Badenoch

This book covers the environmental, historical and cultural changes to the land and inhabitants of a little valley in the Highlands of Scotland, Badenoch, stretching from pre-history to the cessation of World War 1. Bounded by the Monadhliath and Grampian ranges, with River Spey flowing through to the sea, the topography, environment and climate dictated the number of people the valley could support. Control over land and resources was fundamental in maintaining social relationships and the folk from Badenoch did it well. Australia and New Zealand provided an opportunity and a lifestyle that they could only dream of in far-off Badenoch. Land was the key. Some returned to Badenoch, having made their fortune, whilst others settled into their new homes; this book tells their stories and the story of the land they left behind.

The Price of Pearls

During the Napoleonic Wars, England sent many soldiers and spies to France. Many soldiers and sailors had been captured and imprisoned for years, incurring wounds and disablement, even in prison. They could only hope their wives, lovers and other members of the family were well. They just hoped that when families heard they had been captured, it did not cause any problems, but it often did cause broken hearts and aristocratic titles to go to distant relatives, who were not always wealthy enough to maintain properties that had been in the family for generations. Thieving and murder became common. Estates were sold. Many families did not know if their sons were alive or not. Should their daughter marry someone else as they thought her fiancé was possibly dead? It wasn’t until after Napoleon Bonaparte was captured and sent to Elba that life settled down but many hearts were already broken.

The Wolves of the Radfan

War is not a pleasant business. People die, cut to ribbons by bullets, limbs blown off by mines and roadside bombs. Not just the soldiers, but the non-combatants: young women, the elderly and children. 1963 to 1967 saw Britain fighting in a hostile and arid country, trying to stem the expansion of communism in the Middle East. On the ground, the ordinary soldiers, infantry, gunners, engineers and armoured regiments did what the British soldier always does – getting on with the job come hell or high water! Bomber’s story is written from real-life experience. Although Bomber, the main character, is fictitious, he is based on a combination of many soldiers. Many of the events took place as described but with the storyteller’s licence when melting them together. The Wolves of the Radfan, the largest tribe that straddled the then-border between North and South Yemen, started the war and the British soldiers put paid to the Wolves in 1964, but then came the push by the communists from North Yemen and it was then the contest started in all the brutality that war produces. Many acts of great courage have not been mentioned in the book, especially in the period from 1963 to the end of 1964, perhaps someone else will write about that. Fact and fiction, fiction or fact? This is a story of a normal British infantryman who faced combat and it was nothing like he had ever imagined.

The Wind in the Grass

Life in the village of Hammerwell, situated in a remote part of Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, would appear, on the surface, to be a peaceful rural existence. Set in the period between the two world wars, the order of things is still very much as it has been for hundreds of years. But for Arthur Lever, life suddenly takes a dramatic turn. Set against a background of rural life, seed time, harvest, ploughing and lambing, The Wind in the Grass has lust, romance, cruelty, violence and sudden death. But worst is yet to come for the inhabitants of Hammerwell, insulated from the outside world by the grandeur of The Plain, they are unaware that their lives are about to be devastatingly changed forever.

The Wild Boy of Van Dieman's Land

What do you think could be the worst thing that could happen to you if you were so hungry you stole a bun?

In Victorian England, any theft at all could see you hung or sent to the other side of the world to a penal colony where you would be taught a lesson you would never forget. Your wickedness must be punished.

Davy’s father dies and he and his family are destitute. In a moment of weakness, ten-year-old Davy steals a bun. Now his troubles really start. He is brutalized and bullied in the prison until his wild behaviour ensures that he is transported to the notorious Van Dieman’s Land. Once he is there, life just gets harder and he begins to earn his name of ‘The Wild Boy.’

Meanwhile, his sister, twelve-year-old Hannah has been left to find work and fend for the family. She takes work in service to the prison chaplain’s family where her ingenuity and courage ensure that she is on the same transportation ship as Davy. Can she save him from life as a convict in the harshest colony of all? Can she ever reunite their shattered family?

The Wartime Adventures of Harry Harris

The Wartime Adventures of Harry Harris follows a lieutenant in the Bartonshire Light Infantry, from the outbreak of World War II until it ends, and into peacetime.
He has many hair-raising adventures and emerges a hero, much admired by his soldiers and his girlfriend, Mildred.

The Tales of a Templar Knight

The youngest child of a Norman noble family, Oliver is fated for the monastic life until his life is turned upside down after a grotesque altercation at the abbey. He trains as a Templar Knight, travelling first to the Holy Land, then to Sicily and ending in Spain.

His quests across the Mediterranean Sea bring him to the courts of the most powerful men of his time, from the King of Jerusalem, to the Byzantine Emperor, and to the court of Roger II of Sicily.

He becomes a pawn in the hands of the rulers he has pledged his fidelity to, experiencing both the treacheries and the horrors of war, in all its ruthlessness, and the diplomacies extended to him, from people of all faiths.

His adventures begin when the mysterious words of a fortune teller tell him, ‘‘The lion will travel to the east but will settle to the west. You are destined for victories in many battles but none of them will bring you glory and only your enemies will recognize your true value... Remember that the cross and the crescent moon are both in your destiny and they will always cause you struggles. Three times you will fall in love but only one will bring you happiness and joy.”

Oliver has no idea these prophetic words will set him on the most fantastic journey of his life.

The Swordsmith

The Swordsmith is set in the darkest of the Dark Ages, during the early settlement of England by the Anglo Saxons. It is a time of danger and violence where a boy like Osgar
leaves childhood early and is thrust into the battle between Christian and Pagan, Angles and Britons. When his village is raided by Cadrod of Calchfynedd, Osgar sees his father killed and his mother and twin brother taken. His life takes on one purpose; to avenge his father and to rescue his family.
Osgar proves his worth in battle and at the anvil, becoming a blacksmith apprentice to his uncle. While his mother and brother live the pain and humiliation of slavery, he learns the craft of the swordsmith. Eventually, after skirmishes and minor battles, he joins Cuthwulf’s army to fight Cadrod, in a battle to determine the survival of the Anglo Saxons and the future of Britain.
There are five kings and a saint in this story. They all truly lived at this time. Osgar, his brother and mother meet all of them.

The Stoker Trilogy, Book II

Six feet two inches, blond-haired and blue-eyed – Charlie Stoker is the handsome, highly principled son of a dead father whom he revered and a deeply religious Catholic mother. In the dark economic atmosphere of 1931, Stephen Collick, his late father’s friend and his mother’s benefactor, offers twenty-year-old Charlie the opportunity to build a commercial career in London’s East End. Charlie, already committed by his inbred sense of duty to life in a loveless marriage, soon becomes popular and successful. His remarkable ability to win friends without ever becoming too personally involved enables him to establish a wide circle of admiring customers and colleagues. Charlie is always prepared to help solve their problems.

As a lifestyle, this works. That is, until he meets Sally Cutter in 1936. For the first time in his life, Charlie discovers true love. The world continues to become a darker place and the growing menace of Hitler’s Nazi Party in Europe is echoed by Moseley’s anti-Semitic Fascists marching through Cable Street. Charlie watches helplessly as Sally’s life spins out of control.

With the threat of war ever nearer, the upright Charlie carefully devises a scheme to secure Sally’s future. But he is surprised when Sally resets the scheme on her own terms.

The Southerly Curse (Before the Poet's Trap)

Adam Southerly, a young man who only realises the extent of his father's depravity after his parents are killed in a coaching accident, always knew his father was a tyrant, but did not realise the extent of his evil. With the help of his loyal manservant, Martin, Adam spends several years trying to right all the wrongs of his father, but the task becomes overwhelming. Adam is only a man and one man can only do so much. There are so many people waiting for him to fail, calling him the spawn of the Devil. He takes a wrong turn himself and finds he has reason to doubt his own sanity. Finally, he lets down the very people he wanted to protect but as he tells Martin, sometimes the people you least expect let you down.

The Small Hill

The Small Hill is a sacred place, a healing place, where the ancients buried their dead and holy men came to preach. In the reign of Henry I, a knight stood on the hill, a young warrior straight from the heat of battle and knew the hill and the surrounding land was to be his. A settlement grew and a Norman church with a solid square tower was built on the top.

Over the centuries many who owned the land and many who worked on the land were equally drawn to stand on the hill in front of the tower to look out into the distance. From the knight in the 12th century to Tom, an old retired tenant farmer in the 20th century, men stood on the hill looking out to the horizon, to dream of the future or remember the past, each one feeling the small hill’s spell.