General Fiction

In London’s East End, Perry Shoebottom, an ageing man working in Fish Island’s cooperage, finds himself stuck in a dreary way of life. Trapped in a loveless marriage to a jealous woman and father to a good-for-nothing son, Perry is dissatisfied. Everything is as it always has been, until one day at work, when he befriends a comely young woman named Valerie working in the cooperage’s canteen. When they discover Valerie is pregnant, Perry vows to help her raise her child. In order to ensure his wife, Edna, approves of the arrangement, they employ the help of his son, Callan, to act as the real father. While Perry, Valerie and Callan are living a lie to shield Edna from the truth, Perry has secrets of his own. An annual commitment in trips to the continent and a troubling source of income keep Perry comfortable, offering an escape from his unstimulating life on Fish Island. But secrets can’t stay hidden forever. Who is Perry Shoebottom? How far will he go to secure his own happiness, and where do his loyalties lie? Author James Leslie Payne lives in London Ontario Canada with his sweetheart Susan and a white retriever named Beau. After spending over forty years in the radio and television industry he took to telling stories. He has written The Clock, FEAR and now this, his third story, Shoebottom’s Deceit.

I rediscovered the pleasure of isolation. I was no longer forcibly confined, rather, I had the freedom to be on my own. Over the past year every moment had been spent with others, on call and in fear, unable to make any decision about my life. Each day I felt the power of my new freedom: there was a time that I hated it, but now it was a choice, and being on my own was liberating. Set in the early twenty-first century, Two Women – Two Lives is a disturbing narrative that details the lives of two very different women. Kate, an orphan from North Yorkshire, who with spirit and determination rises above her abused and dysfunctional childhood until inevitably circumstances change her direction yet again. Elena, from a small village in Ukraine: pretty, young and naive searching for a better life for herself and her ailing sister Margo but is seduced into a world of loneliness, pain and exploitation. They never meet. All they share is an exceptional spirit and the same birthday. That is until fate takes a hand.

Just days after Carl Palmer introduces his new girlfriend to his cousin Terry at a family get-together, he reveals explosive information he has discovered about the pandemic and the vaccines. He then disappears into thin air. This forces Terry to delve into the world of ‘conspiracy theories’ and uncover the truth behind his cousin’s disappearance whilst undergoing a soul-searching journey of his own.

Based on extensive research, Fangs of Deception is a gripping psychological thriller that will make you question everything you have ever been told, whether by your government or by the mainstream media.

‘A chilling portrait of the globalists’ nefarious plan for humanity and the code of conduct that guides their every move.’

For Tricia, an unexpected romance and the delights of an ultra-luxurious cruise ship are suddenly subsumed into a saga of abduction, enslavement and torture. Initially, wonderful descriptions of the food, facilities and friendships which develop onboard induce an impression that this is a tale of exquisite escapism. An amorous relationship with the ship’s gym instructor culminates in a romantic ride in a horse-drawn carriage in the snow in Central Park, New York. This is just one of many exotic locations featured including Florida, Acapulco and California. The author is extremely adept at erotic and sexually-graphic prose but is also skilful at sudden and shocking surprises. These transform a tale of sumptuous normality into one of terrifying torment. Tricia’s refusal to join the harem of the son of an African potentate results in a string of appalling attempts at abduction. Eventually kidnapped, the heroin wakes to find herself in a cage on a Caribbean island. Trisha is a very intelligent and indomitable woman and when she refuses to cooperate in her enslavement she is beaten repeatedly with an electronic whip and punished with other fiendish torture devices. Will the damsel in distress ever be rescued by her Prince Charming?

When Dan and Grace Hearn sell their haulage business in Derbyshire and retire to Anglesey, North Wales, their lives seem complete.

Taking life easier and enjoying the beautiful island was a dream come true, especially for Grace who spent many happy childhood holidays there. Their world is shattered when Gabriel, one of their twin sons, inexplicably takes his own life on New Year’s Eve 2010.

He fails to arrive at the family party being held at their luxury farmhouse on the outskirts of Beaumaris. Trying to establish why their son took his life, Dan conducts his own investigations which lead him to believe that something sinister had occurred in Gabriel’s past, at the hands of a family friend.

Dan reconnects with his own estranged brother to enlist some help in his desperate search for the truth. Dan and his brother were born into a travelling family. Dan refused to embrace this heritage since he was left to fend for himself at the age of 15, in contrast to his brother, who built a business empire that totally encompassed his heritage and celebrated his Romani roots.

Jack Hearn is only too pleased to help his brother to prove his case theory, they reunite and Dan is drawn into Jack’s world. Jack is powerful and is willing to use anything at his disposal to deliver some closure to his grieving brother and his family. What secrets will be discovered and what will be Dan’s revenge? Will Grace ever know the truth?

Fact, fiction and ‘Fotographs’! Set amid the spectacular scenery of the Himalayas around the time of the Partition of India, Lotus of Kashmir combines historical facts with romantic fiction. Bob Saunders deftly weaves an exotic romance into his own personal diary of his time in National Service.

Superbly illustrated with a large collection of the author’s own black and white photographs of that time, the book also provides a brief history of the events surrounding the Partition of India and a fascinating travelogue of Northern India. The author’s diary entries capture life in National Service just after the Second World War, along with many entertaining anecdotes such as his encounter with a king cobra and a Christmas game of donkey polo.

All the dates and events relating to the Partition of India and to National Service are factual, but the romance is pure fiction.

The lotus is the official flower of Jammu and Kashmir, as well as being the national flower of India, having a sacred status in Indian culture. However, in this book, Lotus is a young girl living in Srinagar, the capital of Kashmir. In 1947, Lotus meets Bob, an RAF National Serviceman who is on leave for five days from his camp in the Punjab India Command. A romance develops, but Bob and Lotus lose touch with each other when Bob returns to camp.

Why has Bob not heard from Lotus? Will Kismet intervene? Will Bob and Lotus meet again?

Linda was a young girl who, because of her background in a small village in central Wales, seemed destined for a life of relative obscurity. She was however, blessed with three priceless attributes, breath-taking beauty, a strong work-ethic and a kind heart. The first of these enabled her to rise from her simple background to un-dreamed-of wealth and success. It was the third however, that ensured she used her fame and fortune to the benefit of all those whose lives she touched.

“If you had the ability to travel back in time to witness any one thing, what would it be?”

Guy Curtis has invented an extraordinary device. With it, he develops a plan to send his best friend, Ian Lambie, back to Whitechapel, in the heart of London’s East End. Back to November of the year 1888, to the time of Jack the Ripper.

The plan for Ian is simple; hide in the shadows at the scene of the Ripper’s last atrocity and discretely follow him as he leaves. See where he goes. Do nothing more than that.

From such basic data, his elusive identity can finally be established. What could possibly go wrong?…

Now, in the year 2023, the East End of London is suddenly seeing the worst murders in over 130 years and the police have no idea who is responsible. It’s almost as though a nightmare from a dark past has returned…

Paul Torce, Memoirs Vol. 1: Brexit Opportunities. “There are plenty of opportunities to be had from the Brexit, if you know how to spot them.” Take it from Paul Torce, American Patriot, and Senior Partner in the hugely successful global consulting phenomenon known, to a select and extremely wealthy few, as Morgan-Torce Associates, Paul sees opportunities everywhere. It’s the secret of his humungous success. The Brexit was obviously going to have opportunities coming out of its ears. All Paul had to do was to be in exactly the right place at precisely the opportune moment and spot them before anyone else did. This, the first volume of Paul’s riveting memoirs, traces some of his movements around London, Brussels, Washington DC and Moscow between June 2016 and September 2017, a period so filled with opportunities he could hardly keep pace with them. From the selection of the new Prime Minister through the negotiating quagmire of the Exit talks to the General Election of June 2017, Paul’s influence was both invisible and characteristically decisive. Of course, things don’t always go to plan, even if you’re Paul Torce. There’s his loyal but gaffe-prone business partner, Charles, to contend with; and there are the occasional moments when he feels the political sands shift beneath his feet, and fears he’s been hung out to dry. But on the whole, Paul has the Brexit opportunities market pretty well sewn up, subject to one piece of wisdom he acquired during those tumultuous months. The world is an increasingly volatile place, in which nothing can be taken for granted.

Cosmic Onion – A Love Story Across the Layers of the Universe

Elodie never believed in fate—until the universe started peeling back its layers. One moment, she’s living an ordinary life; the next, she meets Mr X, a man as enigmatic as the cosmos itself. Their connection is instant, electric—written in the stars, yet tangled in unseen forces.

Love, like the universe, is both infinite and chaotic. As Elodie’s mind spirals—entangled in the gravitational pull of passion, uncertainty, and cosmic synchronicities—she tee-ters on the edge of reason. Is she awakening to a love transcending time and space, or is she simply losing herself in the vast, unhinged cosmos of her own heart?

A tale of love, science, and spirience, Cosmic Onion peels back the layers of reality, re-vealing that love is not just found—it is remembered, rewritten, and reborn.

Behind the Scenes: Bodies for Sale is the second of a four-book fact-based suspense novel series which exposes the criminal exploitation of the people behind the façade of many of the tourist paradises in Southeast Asia. The books describe how the poor of Myanmar, Thailand and Laos do their best to survive, often growing opium, smuggling weapons and selling their daughters, sometimes before they are even born. The plight of these people is made more complicated because this criminality is often sanctioned by official organisations in existence to protect them, not to take advantage of them. Bodies for Sale continues the series, telling the story of one poor family from a small village in Laos, during a time of increasing drama in the aftermath of the Vietnam War: Grandfather Songchai and his efforts to take his transport of hidden arms for buyers in west Africa, through Thailand in the company of a driver unknown to him. Lu, his daughter-in-law, whose help for two Americans, Will and Frank in their quest to find the remains of US soldiers lost in the War has now led to terrible personal consequences for her. Prim, Lu’s daughter and her teenage friends Lek, Moa and another girl called Bee, who have now all become involved in the bars of the sex trade with no easy way out. The characters’ fates are interwoven in a colourful and harsh narrative that moves towards its resolution as relentlessly as the mighty Mekong River flows forth and the Indian Ocean cascades east with catastrophic impacts just after Christmas 2004. The series is inspired by real people and based on real life stories.

Elly Vandenberg is a Belgian interior designer with a huge international reputation. When Frances Smith sees the pictures of her country house in a magazine, she falls instantly in love and decides to travel, uninvited, to visit it. When Frances arrives, Elly and her friends are gathering for the weekend, to celebrate the opening of the local classical music festival at which Elly plans to reunite her friend Andrée with Andrée’s former lover, Max, a famous orchestral conductor. Frances is captivated by their glamorous world, and when Max mistakes her for “Madame Françoise,” a wealthy Englishwoman with a fabled collection of rubies, she adopts the rôle in order to become part of it. But the impersonation spirals out of her control and triggers a chain of events that lead to disaster. From the focal point of all their schemes and desires, Elly’s house becomes the symbol of ruined hopes, broken hearts and shattered lives.

Behind the Scenes: Crime and Suffering is the first of a four-book, fact-based-suspense novel series which exposes the criminal exploitation of the people behind the facade of many of the tourist paradises in Southeast Asia. The books describe how the poor in Myanmar, Thailand and Laos do their best to survive, often by growing opium, smuggling weapons and selling their daughters to brothels, sometimes before they are even born. The plight of these people is made more complicated because this criminality is often sanctioned by official organisations in existence to protect them, not to take advantage of them. Crime and Suffering begins the series focusing on one poor family from a small village in Laos during a time of increasing drama in the aftermath of the Vietnam War: Grandfather Songchai and his efforts to smuggle a transport of hidden arms to buyers in west Africa with the help of old friends and family members. Lu, his daughter-in-law, helps two Americans, Will and Frank, who seek the remains of US soldiers lost in the War which means fatal consequences. Prim, Lu’s daughter, and her antics with teenage friends Lek and Moa who end up on a frightening path heading towards the bars of the sex trade. The characters’ fates are interweaved in a colourful and harsh narrative that moves toward its resolution as relentlessly as the mighty Mekong River flows forth. The series is inspired by real people and based on real life stories.

City boys Daniel and Charles have worked for years in the financial sector selling stocks, shares and other assets. As their lifestyles and personal expenses expand, they decide to start their own trading business.

They believe they know how to realise their fortune in simple, if not always legitimate, ways. Involving their wives, everyone’s behaviour begins to shift; things go from trust to dishonesty; their focus switches from financial independence to avoiding getting caught; and their methods transfer from use of their previously acquired knowledge to an ever-deepening involvement with international criminal organisations and their illegal practices.

Soon, Daniel and Charles are facing insurmountable and unsavoury challenges both at work and in their family lives, all beyond their wildest expectations. The further their activities extend internationally, the deeper they find their difficulties developing at home.

Scammers is a story of descent into deception, dishonesty, greed and criminality that will scare anyone who thinks that realising the perfect dream is simply a case of building on seemingly good relationships, combined with maximising financial opportunities by simply bending and breaking a few simple rules.

Forty-year-old firefighter Tommy Ferguson is an expert at fighting fires on the outskirts of Manchester. But this book is not primarily about the flaming embers of fires, but the burning embers of anguish caused by unbridled passion, infatuation and marital infidelity. The author skilfully describes how Tommy’s anguish builds up daily over six months. Increasingly obsessed with checking the movements and phone calls of his wife, Louise, Tommy unveils evidence of assignations between her and an older man. Tommy becomes convinced that his in-laws are conniving to turn their daughter in favour of the more distinguished Percy, who is a physiotherapist. Undoubtedly Tommy is a heavy-drinking, fiery-tempered, ‘one of the lads’. He is a product of Northern working-class culture which is portrayed in exquisite characterisation in the friends with whom Tommy goes to football matches. The ‘banter’ flows uncensored. But for Tommy, this was unimportant in comparison with his unwavering devotion to his wife and two children. Even during his visit to Moscow to witness Manchester United’s triumph in the Champions League Final, Tommy cannot overcome ‘the dark mist enveloping him’. Will Tommy succeed in convincing Louise that his increasingly unrequited love remains stronger than ever? Or will Tommy’s torment take a terrifying turn?

Bisi is a novel that succinctly highlights the lifestyle and experience of African people but with special focus on a unique African girl who is able to override the common challenges often experienced by girls in this setting. The book traces the life experience one such African girl, named Bisi, from birth until she is joyfully married. Right from childhood, Bisi battles with the challenges of tradition that forbids girls from schooling, the challenge of poverty, the challenge of sexual harassment, the challenge of death, the challenge of HIV/AIDS and the challenge of girls succeeding in science and engineering courses. Miraculously, Bisi surmounts them all and achieves great success. Yes, Bisi is truly a unique African girl. There are lots you will learn from her experience. Read on.

Jamilah remains traumatised by the terrorism and corruption that stole her adolescence and killed her parents. She’s strived to become a senior nurse and relocated to the city, seeking to raise her younger siblings in a secure environment. Her brother Ahmed has started university; sister Aminah is thriving at school and wants to be a doctor. Meanwhile, Boko Haram is expanding into the lawless borderlands around Lake Chad, abducting and enslaving adolescent girls, even using them as suicide bombers.

When they take Aminah and her classmates, Jamilah knows she can’t rely on the government or its underfunded security forces to get them back. A South African mercenary agrees to help. Is this her knight in shining armour? Or is his master, the Governor, playing politics with the lives of the lost girls? The only person Jamilah can truly rely on is herself. The law is broken, she won’t let these people break her.

Yet what chance does a young woman alone have against a well-protected Governor and an elusive terrorist? And isn’t a nurse supposed to save lives, not end them?