The Pearl of Saint-Sulpice

In the Church of Saint-Sulpice, Paris, there is a holy water font. It was made of a shell of the giant clam, Tridacna gigas. I often wondered where it came from because these clams are only found far away from Europe. I found it intriguing that the shell already arrived in France in the early sixteenth century as a gift from the Venetian Republic to King Francis I. Where did it come from? What story could such a shell tell? What thoughts did the sculptor, Jean-Baptiste Pigalle have when he carved the beautiful column upon which the shell rests? What is its religious significance? Only a few pearls from giant clams are believed to exist, and their origins are shrouded in mystery. Is there a pearl somewhere belonging to this clam? It will have to be the Pearl of Saint-Sulpice, alias the Pearl of Allah. The pearl took me on an unexpected adventure to the French Revolution and before, to a1964 scientific meeting where the descendants of the secret league of the Scarlet Pimpernel unites and onwards to the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in1974 where I faced the prowess and strength of the guardians of Aphrodite in the Troodos Mountains. Join me if you dare.

The Night Staffer

Wyatt starts work as a night staffer at the local Boy’s Home. He hopes it may be a stepping stone to a career as a social worker.

Fifteen-year-old petty offender Jai is taken to the Home after he is caught for a burglary that goes horribly wrong. Wyatt, who processes his admission, is the first staff member Jai meets.

Wyatt is an accomplished musician and most nights, once the boys are in bed, he sits in the night staff office and plays the guitar. It can be heard from the dormitories and helps to keep the boys settled. Jai also plays the guitar and he is intrigued when he hears his favourite tune Shuffle Rag. He sees an opportunity to learn it.

The two eventually form a bond around their shared love of music.

The Boys Home is a dynamic, volatile, and challenging environment. Both Jai and Wyatt need to find their place and learn how to survive.

As time passes, they experience a series of events that will significantly shape their futures.

The Monkshead Conspiracy

In 1864, a band of monks from an obscure religious branch move into Chadkirk near Manchester, England, and within weeks, children start to go missing.

In 2009, a minor earthquake near Manchester exposes a huge wooden beam with a sinister and intriguing inscription on it and at the same time, a series of unusual and unsettling incidents begin to occur in a wood nearby.

Historic researcher Naomi Wilkes is called in to investigate and she has no idea of the horror she will uncover.

The Measure

One early winter’s morning, a teenage boy is found lying outside the gates of a monastery. The monks take him in, and eventually, in terrible distress, he tells them that he has killed his father. This story follows the life of the boy’s father and the discovery the boy makes about his father’s past.

The Life and Loves of Saint Columba

‘Years ago, I was captivated by a magical day spent on Iona and dreamed of writing a book on St Columba, an inspirational man far ahead of his time, who challenged the institutions of church and state, and created a monastery that became a beacon of spiritual and artistic light during the dark ages.’  Tim Hetherington
In this bold take on the life of Saint Columba – the founder of the religious community on the Scottish island of Iona and one of Ireland’s three patron saints – Tim Hetherington eschews the pieties of a conventional hagiography in favour of a more down-to-earth view of the saint and the religious, social and political world of Ireland and Scotland in the sixth century AD. Originally named Crimthann – the fox – and a member of the powerful Ui Neill Clan, Columba’s remarkable gifts of intellect and character were quickly noted and nourished by the leading clerics of the day. But his impetuous nature and family loyalties led him to involvement in political intrigues and conflicts.
Denounced by Church leaders, Columba left Ireland with twelve monks and founded the monastery on Iona. Over the years he established the Christian Church throughout Dalriada, the Irish kingdom in Western Scotland, and then in the rest of Scotland ruled by King Bridei of the Picts. Columba aligned himself closely, perhaps too closely, with the Dalriadan royal family. But the sheer force of his personality and his dedication to spreading Christianity by written works as well as by word of mouth ensured his special place in history.
Masterfully blending extensive research and novelistic imagination, The Life and Loves of Saint Columba is full of fascinating insights into the nature of faith and spirituality. This is a must-read for anyone interested in Christianity or Irish history.

The Lamb Of God

England, the 1460s: the conflict known as the Wars of the Roses, pitting Lancastrian against Yorkist, is at its height. After his terrible experiences at the Battle of Towton and the siege of  Bamburgh Castle, Philip Neville is tasked with finding and escorting the recently deposed Henry VI – a man so pious and kind-hearted that many call him ‘the lamb of God’ – to London. During the period of relative peace that follows, Philip, previously disappointed in love, is at last persuaded to take a wife and make his way at court but finds it difficult to rein in his belligerent and insubordinate nature.
Despite his burning hatred for the ambitious nobles who have profited from the war, Philip remains steadfastly loyal to the new king, Edward IV. However, that loyalty is tested as never before when the alliance between the two most powerful men in the country – King Edward and Richard Neville, known as ‘Warwick the Kingmaker’  – begins to fray…
The Lamb of God is the second book in Philip Photiou’s War of the Roses trilogy. The first, The Wrath of Kings, was praised by best-selling author Philippa Gregory for its ‘intense realism and wealth of period detail’: qualities that The Lamb of God displays on every page.

The King's Fixer

Thomas Crookes, a depraved 15th century priest driven by an insatiable pursuit of power, resorts to murder and blackmail to rise within the medieval Church, itself rife with corruption maintaining its hold over the people by expounding the threat of hell-fire whilst tolerating iniquity and immorality in its own ranks.

Thomas, full of ambition, ingratiates himself with King Edward IV becoming his close confidant and fixer, thus thrusting him into machination and intrigue at the very heart of the kingdom.

This is medieval society in the raw with its bawdiness, brutality and violence brought to life in colourful detail. The bloody battles of Towton and Tewkesbury, the hunting, feasting, whore-houses, public executions, superstition and bustling markets all combine to make a gritty gripping story in an extremely evocative 15th century setting. 

The Journey – Prologue to Hell

The Journey – Prologue to Hell is indeed what the book’s title tells all its readers. It gives exactly the train passengers’ experience to those who’d been gathered up from their homes to be transported on it. To what, those passengers had wondered. Given false knowledge of a wonderful life they were being taken to by Nazis who’d dragged them out onto the road into waiting lorries then onto a train, they soon found that was false. They discovered the train journey didn’t lie, though; it showed its passengers the truth long before it ended.

The Impaler Prince

In fifteenth-century Eastern Europe, Vlad III of Wallachia conducted a reign of terror. He had citizens impaled by the thousands. People were butchered on his merest whim. In his realm, and beyond it, men and women lived in dread of the Impaler Prince. And this Prince revelled in the horror he inspired.

He was a sadist, seen by some as a being of unequalled depravity, even as the Devil’s own spawn. But Vlad was also a man who had the qualities of a great leader: strength, courage, intelligence and commitment to an ideal. He was a crusader against the infidel who considered himself a true warrior of Christ.

Here, his story is told by four men whose lives overlapped with his; men who were influenced by him to the point of obsession. But it is also told by Vlad himself. The inner thoughts of the butcher of Wallachia are exposed. And there is much more to this sinister figure than many would have imagined. 

The Golden Threads

Nellie was brought up by her grandparents and lived in the East End of London. At the age of 19, she was able to start the job she had wanted, in a large J. Lyons & Co. Corner House tea room in London, where she became a ‘Nippy’, as the waitresses were called, where she also met her lifelong friend Connie.

Soon after she also met the love of her life, Tommy Brown, but her idyllic life was soon to change with the outbreak of WW2. The comfortable and safe routine of life was soon turned on its head.

The Folks from Fowlers Bay

History is not always the exact truth but a narrative flavoured by the writer’s passion and background and the time when she or he lived. It is particularly true for southern Australia's history because it was put on paper by the colonialists. It is as if the history of Australia started then, and nothing happened before. Many past stories representing the history of aboriginal Australia are lost because its people died rapidly of infectious diseases, malnutrition and wars. Even these stories may not be the exact truth because they were told and re-told many times. But somewhere within the tales and the stories, there is a truth, and I have tried to find it. Behind the glamorous reports of Matthew Flinders and Nicolas Baudin’s maritime exploits, one can find their humanity, aspirations and failures. The history of the people that lived along the South Australian coast from the Murray River, the Encounter Bay (Ramong to the Ramindjeri people), Kangaroo Island to Port Lincoln (Kallinyalla, the Place of Sweet Water, to the Barngarla people), and along the entire west coast of the Eyre Peninsula, is at best scanty. But there are stories—interesting stories—of whalers, escaped convicts and their lives among the aboriginal people. Here, I meld these stories together in a tale of love, adventure and imagination.

The Fallen

My name is Sath… My name is Sathariel, actually. I am one of those who people call ha-Satan. Yes, it means “adversary” in Aramaic and yes, it is “adversary of God”. But for some reason, everyone has forgotten that those who you nicknamed like this, were first and foremost the defenders of people, who stand by you before a Heavenly court. It was providence we didn’t choose. It was decided instead for us.

You, people, have given us many names, but none of them was correct, and you people, have given us functions completely unfamiliar to us. We were deities to you at first, then we became the outcasts. And we were Iyrin, the Watchers, who guard and protect you. And who decides if we’ve done our jobs well?

It would be foolish to make excuses now. Who am I to do this?

My name is Sathariel and it means “the one who is on the other side of God”. But I’m just an archivist who writes time. Every moment of time, from the beginning of time.

Who am I? I’m just one of the Brethren, one among two hundred of “the fallen”. But now... now I want to tell you our real story.