Liverpool Late Teens

In this third book, set during the years 1950-1953 within the seaport of Liverpool, the main protagonist is finishing his apprenticeship as a Ruler/Bookbinder at Benson’s printers.

The story picks up as he recovers from a cycling accident and reflects on the changes in his life.

He encounters and becomes engaged in a mix of situations: some humorous, when reconnecting with an old school friend; workmates’ alleged ghostly apparitions; an alarming basement fire with a mysterious outcome; and a furtive co-worker assignation ending in angst. He becomes emotionally aware, too, of the regrettable side of life in uncalled-for workplace stances; the city’s aggressive populace minority intent on criminal ugliness revealed in vicious, narrow-minded bitterness, violence, and descending tragedy.

Amidst all this, he begins to envision his future aspirations. As events unfold, he must make decisions that will shape his future while also considering the impact on his family.

What choices will he make?

The Cinnabar Dragon

At twelve, Li Hua is sold to a floating brothel, but destiny has other plans. Behind the walls of the Forbidden City, she evolves from concubine to spy. She navigates treachery, suppresses a rebellion, and engineers a bold escape with only a mastery of martial arts and a cinnabar dragon pendant imbued with the fatal poison known as GU.

In modern-day San Francisco, Lu Carter, an adopted Chinese American and a medical engineer, is introduced to the mysteries of her family’s past when she receives an ancient chronicle. During a trip to Shanghai, she uncovers her birth mother’s dark history—imprisonment and debts owed to the wrong people. Upon her return, Lu is terminated from her job and faces a corporate espionage lawsuit after her invention is leaked. But the past and present soon collide.

The Dublin Marilyn

The Dublin Marilyn transports readers back to 1960-80s Dublin through one girl’s coming-of-age amongst struggling inner city families. Capturing the era of booming post-war ‘Baby Boomers,’ this nostalgic tale highlights the tight-knit community binding battling neighbourhoods together.

Despite poverty and hardship, an unbreakable solidarity reigned - with helping hands extended whenever crises hit, and no pretensions of anyone being better than the next. Stitching tales steeped in humour and heart, the story unfolds in the lyrical lilt of working-class Dublin speech from a vanished time.

Whether reconnecting older readers to bygone memories or shocking younger minds with harsher lives, The Dublin Marilyn pays tribute to the humour and resilience of cities past. With evocative images complementing the rich narrative, immerse yourself in yesteryear’s vibrant streets – where community meant family and family meant everything.

Greasy Chip Butty

You are invited to make a journey of exploration through an exciting landscape of life and faith. Let the chemistry of urban life surprise and inspire you. Let it challenge your deepest sense of self knowledge and belief.Experience the best of humanity where you expect not to find it and share the pain that defiles the beauty of unique human beings. Join us as we explore pathways to wholeness and healing for people and communities and learn never to lose hope.We believe in the art of the possible, the value of instant improvisation, and that out of the mistakes we will make, we can produce something beautiful. Learn to go beyond horizons of our own making and discover more than we can ask or think.Take time to savour the art, which offers fresh insight into time-honoured stories of courage and faith in desperate situations; of joy and celebration; of compassion, perseverance, and dogged determination; deep contentment at the fulfilment of endeavour. Encounter the fragrance of generosity of spirit; and the love which embraces injustice and suffering, transforming them beyond all we can imagine.Join me on this journey that has no end but just gets better. As we walk together, we may discover pearls of great price, and not a little humour on the way.“Greasy Chip Butty is a textured, local authentic history in a very real and rapidly changing place. Those stories deserve to be studied and celebrated and the wisdom garnered from them needs to be widely shared.” – Steven Croft, Bishop of Oxford.“What a great read! A moving and wonderful example of doing narrative theology on the hoof … reflecting on change, risk taking and adventure.” – John Thomson, Bishop of Selby“I read Greasy Chip Butty with delight and new learning. A kaleidoscopic and impressionistic narrative which, through the lens of music and art, shows how God has been at work in one specific neighbourhood of Sheffield.” – Pete Wilcox, Bishop of Sheffield.

Mysterious Ways: The Death That He Died

The crucifixion of Jesus was not the simple event we imagine. All sorts of factors played a part including politics, religious rivalry and the need to destroy what we cannot understand. There are seeming inconsistencies in the Bible story such as what happened in the long period between when Judas left the Last Supper and when Jesus was arrested. Common sense would suggest that Caiaphas would send his guards out as soon as he knew where Jesus was, but he didn’t. Why not?Many people were involved ranging from the star players such as Pilate and Judas Iscariot to the bit players such as Simon of Cyrene. In this book each of these is given their chance to explain their role in their own words. They can say what they really thought of what was going on. The author finished writing his book with a far firmer conviction about the divinity of Jesus and how much his sacrifice cost him, than when he started.These stories have been used and appreciated by the author’s own church and by friends who knew what he was doing. They have been used as devotional readings for Holy Week, in schools, as dramatic readings in services, for Bible studies and to help students with their studies. They are also a good read and an effective way of introducing people to Jesus.

Vlad Dracula : The Impaler

1456, the night of Vlad’s coronation: a dastardly plot, a joint venture between the Ottoman Empire and Catholic Hungary to kill the Impaler’s beloved, sets off some of the worst atrocities in history, enshrining the name Dracula as a synonym for terror. He drank the blood of his victims, and filled the castles of the land with wretches destined for the stake: Scourge of the Saxons, champion of the peasants, national hero who saved his country from Islamic conquest, Vlad was all of these, and much, much more... His name has become a byword for cruelty, Vlad’s draconian policies the horror of Europe. But who was the man behind the legend? Written off by historians, the Dacians were thought to have vanished immediately after the Roman conquest of Dacia, but Vlad, Son of the Devil, would revive the ancient Gaulish pride, bringing hope to the oppressed Wallach remnants of Transylvania through a dastardly series of impalements: he would become known in Romanian as Vlad Țepeș, the Impaler! A man more terrifying than any vampire.

Napoleon General: Mountain Paths

In the aftermath of the Siege of Toulon, Napoleon emerges triumphant, driving the British from the Midi Region of Southern France. Yet, the shadow of war with Austria looms ominously. While battling external foes, Napoleon faces internal demons: the treacherous political landscape of Paris, the snare of Barras, and a corrupt Directory eager to undermine him.

Despite saving a government that once sought his demise, having him imprisoned during the chilling Jacobin purges post-Robespierre, Napoleon’s resilience shines. His decisive ‘Whiff of Grapeshot’ during the Vendemaire crisis not only earns him accolades and the command of the Army of Italy, holding back Austrians in the rugged terrains of Genoa and Piedmont but also the heart of Josephine de Beauharnais, his legendary love.

Napoleon General: Mountain Paths meticulously chronicles this turbulent era, offering readers an immersive journey into warfare's evolving artistry and Napoleon’s growing genius within it.

Trouble and Strife

Sometimes the smallest voices make the deepest impact.Josephine Hadley, a 1930s Canadian housewife, fills her days looking after her children, her indifferent husband and a stream of Depression-era visitors. Her contribution to her guests is a bowl of stew and an open heart. Her small world, however, is soon shattered by a tragic event which forces her to become the breadwinner. Can she run a business without sacrificing herself? And is it possible to act on a long-buried desire without remorse?Johanne Levesque’s first novel, Trouble and Strife, is a poignant and heartbreaking look at a woman’s life in a fast-changing time. With intimate details and a deft poetic touch, Levesque has captured the spirit of an age where war and economic hardship altered the workplace, home and women’s lives forever.

The Sword of Calais

1536. Henry VIII schemes to be rid of his wife to marry another. Anne Boleyn is found guilty of her sins and the king sends to Calais for Europe’s best sword executioner.Jean Rombaud will be paid 100 crowns, a huge sum which will help him establish the fencing school he has always desired. With Raoul, his nephew, they are also requested to escort a noble’s daughter, Roselyn back to London from Calais. A bond develops between Raoul and Roselyn on the journey but arriving home she is shocked to discover her marriage has been arranged to Nigel, who she hates.After Anne’s execution, there are celebrations for Henry’s betrothal. Roselyn persuades Raoul to join with her in merry-making. She drinks too much, Raoul takes her home but is accused of kidnapping her by Nigel, they fight and Nigel is badly wounded.Raoul is sentenced to death. Nigel’s father is an old foe of Jean. They once fought a duel over Nigel’s mother, now old wounds are opened and they challenge each other once more.Jean is given an ultimatum by Thomas Cromwell. If he wins the duel, he must become the executioner of his nephew.

The Magpie

It is December 1913 and Detective Constable Frank Bolam has a murder to solve. The victim is found drowned in the River Wear with a vicious knife wound to his lower back. There are no witnesses and no clues.A few months later another body is found with the same vicious knife wound, followed closely by a further two murders with the victims stabbed in a similar manner. This is a clever killer. No clues are found and Bolam cannot find a way to break the deadlock in his most perplexing case.Having risen from a lowly mining family, Bolam has strong moral values and becomes totally obsessed with the killer and the devastating sadness brought to the victims’ relatives. He vows to bring the murderer to justice, whatever the cost.These are turbulent times, with the country in the middle of an attritional war. In his quest to find the murderer, Bolam follows his hunch and enlists in the army, heading for the trenches to track down a cold-blooded killer in the middle of the most mechanised slaughter the world has known.

The Lady

This is a story set in a turbulent Cornwall at a time of hunger and crime, but out of desperation, there was also love, laughter and a bond, starting with a wilful girl and her adoring father, who left her far too early, leaving a legacy behind.In the care of trusted friends, she grew up happy and spirited, surrounded by her loving and yet vigilant guardians.Despite their vigilance, ‘the lady’ made a poor choice in a husband. They had two beautiful children just before he met an untimely end, which left more questions than answers and again, the lady is alone. A stranger enters her life. Is he a friend or foe?With love, murder, sadness and bravery, the little group get through the hard winter to face another spring.

The Green Gates Story

There are certainly many historical accounts of wars, military experiences, and cultural reactions to politics, but many of these works lack a personal and sentimental touch to what it really feels like to endure a battle. In The Green Gates Story, Bernard Fredericks presents a historically accurate, delightfully moving, and honest tale of a British boy who is evacuated from his Liverpool home in WWII. Told from the perspective of a child, Fredericks narrates his memories of an eight-year-old boy who is snatched from the city and transplanted to the country. He shares the triumphs and struggles of a child required to acquaint himself in a new setting and lifestyle. While he manages the heartache of missing his family and friends, the boy is also thrilled and challenged with new adventures as he acclimates to the pace of country-life. From the beginning of his evacuation to his return to home, the boy relates his feelings and doubts about so many events that crop up not only in wartime, but every child's time of coming of age.