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TWENTY ONE TODAY
Carol Hathorne

'I never thought I`d get the key to me own front door!' Pam Bailey confessed. Proudly, she showed her two friends into the living room of her brand new high rise flat. It was one of several blocks which identified the state of the art council estate and was unlike any development ever seen before in the industrial Black Country town of Tipton.

So starts TWENTY ONE TODAY to continue the stories of Pam Bailey, Jenny Day, and  Marie Townsend, the characters Carol Hathorne introduced in her endearing novel ONLY SIXTEEN.

Set once more against the backdrop of the industrial west midlands, TWENTY ONE TODAY charts the  lives of the three friends through expanding horizons, work relationships, and love, to full independence signified by their own keys to their own doors!

Another gem from the pen of Carol Hathorne

Royal 8vo paperback, 108 pages, £6.50 (plus £1.00 p&p)
ISBN 978 1 904552 43 7 

BLACKPOOL OR BUST
Paul Evans

BLACKPOOL OR BUST

Coventry born author Paul Evans’ brilliant debut novel.

Curmudgeonly Charlie Wilson likes giving  Care Assistant Jack McDonald a hard time. But when Jack learns of Charlie’s diagnosis, it’s time to put old feelings aside.

A new promotion affords Jack the opportunity to realise Charlie’s remaining wish to visit the place of his betrothal so despite the odds, it’s BLACKPOOL OR BUST.

The amorous intentions of Mary in combination with the interests  of Laura add spice to the plot  as Jack helps Charlie reach his goal.

At turns comic, tragic, and steamy, you won’t be able to put this one down.

Royal 8vo paperback, 192 pages, £9.00 (plus £1.30 p&p)
ISBN 978 1 904552 36 9

TAKEN OVER
John Summerton

One day, Alistair Carne will win a bet…

One day, he does…

And that’s the day he has bet he can spend the night in a mental health institution  and succeeded.  Getting in?  Easy peasy!  So getting back out again the next day to collect his winnings will surely be simplicity itself…

But this is the 21st Century Britain where simplicity itself is off the menu...

Follow Alistair Carne’s fortunes as he seeks to escape the Kafkaesque nightmare of his own making in John Summerton’s hilarious debut novel.

At turns moving and poignant, but brilliantly funny throughout, a story unfolds in which the lunatics really have TAKEN OVER the asylum.

Royal 8vo paperback, 200 pages, £9.00 (plus £1.30 p&p)
ISBN 978 1 904552 29 1

FAERIE DUST
Louise Mary Stokes

Stephen is at home looking after the kids while Sally is away on a residential course...

Louise Mary Stokes’ first full length novel, FAERIE DUST, charts the life of Sally as it unfolds when she does not return home to resume her roles of loving mother and dutiful wife.

Guided by her faeries, to whom she is known as Lilac Rainbow, she struggles to be herself rather than the person others would have her be.

FAERIE DUST is a powerful novel of self discovery which explores the pressure to comply and the spirit of individuality, and culminates dramatically as the two clash and only one can prevail...

Royal 8vo paperback, 176 pages, £8.00 (plus £1.30 p&p)
ISBN 978 1 904552 30 7

THE KINGSTOWN AGENDA
S.G. Grey

An impending, emotive Referendum on the contentious question of whether or not to abolish Sterling and replace it with the Single European Currency - The Euro - for the voters of the United Kingdom; is the highly charged background against which is set a narrative of suspicion, hostility, deep division, intrigue, treachery, anger, violence and murder; that opens with a phone call to a Security Service safe-house in central London - and a current password then correctly given - information concerning a death imparted - a series of orders issued; all from a surprising source...

...And Alex Smith's tour as the Senior Duty Officer on the graveyard shift at the safe-house, is about to be extended into some challenging, murky and very dangerous territory indeed...

Royal 8vo paperback, 248 pages, £10.00 (plus £1.50 p&p)
ISBN 978 1 904552 28 4

ONLY SIXTEEN
Carol Hathorne

At Only Sixteen she was too young to… 

...do a lot of things in the adult world she was about to enter.

But at Only Sixteen she was old enough to start going out to work

Old enough to command the attention  of older men

And ultimately, old enough to know.

Set against a backdrop of the emerging rock and roll youth scene in the Black Country of the early 1960s, Only Sixteen charts the stories of Pam Sheldon, Marie Townsend and Jenny Day as they leave school behind for the big exciting world of  work and relationships.

At turns, hilarious, touching and poignant…

Another brilliant novel from Carol Hathorne.

Royal 8vo paperback, 124 pages, £7.00 (plus £1.00 p&p)
ISBN 978 1 904552 31 4

BRIERLEY HILLS COP
Greg Stokes

BRIERLEY HILLS COP

Set in the Black Country Republic, independent of England, Riffy H McDonald, most celebrated cop of the BCPD, is back in the second part of the Pantechnicon  Trilogy.

Fresh from the plaudits of the Caprioni case  told in the first novel A PACK OF SAFTNESS, Riffy H is mysteriously transferred from Homicide to Vice, and then suspended…

In seeing off the New York mob, the Black Country had become the fashionable place to be among the Hollywood elite. They move en masse from Beverley Hills to Brierley Hill where the locals add an S to the name to make them feel at home.  American businessmen are even building a new theme park out near the Black Country International Airport.  But what are they really up to…

Riffy H is on the case.  

But will he find out in time…

Royal 8vo paperback, 108 pages, £7.00 (plus £1.00 p&p)
ISBN 978 1 904552 33 8

A PACK OF SAFTNESS
Greg Stokes



Gil had been standing on Fifth avenue unable to move for people.
"There's more than five bloody families here, kid," he'd told Gerry.

A Pack Of Saftness is a spoof detective novel set in a fictitious Black Country republic, independent of England, known affectionately as the BC.  A Pack of Saftness introduces Inspector H McDonald - Riffy H - head of homicide of the BCPD.
The caper follows Riffy H as he pursues a serial killer who is wasting members of the local ecological group Green Henry like it is going out of fashion and the fact the local crime syndicate are involved in a cultural exchange with the New York mafia only clouds the issue.
A Pack Of Saftness, being part one of The Pantechnicon, is... a right ruddy pack of saftness.

Royal 8vo paperback, 92 pages, £6.00 (plus £1.00 p&p)
ISBN 978 1 904552 34 5

THE HAIRY MOUSE
Clarice Hackett

"Are you longing  for your roots Doris?" Harriet asked.
 "I'm not surprised, the Black Country isn't a very 
 pleasant place to live in."

"'Etty', it said urgently. 'Etty it's me, Emily, your mother.
 Speak to me Etty or the contact will be lost.'"

 From The Hairy Mouse

A second novel from Clarice Hackett set at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries telling of two entrepreneurs who join forces to open a new coal mine. They want to keep it in the family so a marriage is planned between their offspring. But a complex web of deceit emerges involving questions of spiritualism, inheritance and love. In short another brilliant piece of writing from Clarice Hackett describing in vivid fashion a bye gone Black Country.
For full synopsis click here

A5 comb bound book; 168 pages; £6.00 (plus £1.20 p&p)
ISBN 1 904552 05 6

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THE SPORTSMAN
Clarice Hackett

                        

"Well if you want my opinion George you could have done a lot worse than Rose."
 
 Ma Harris in The Sportsman

Based on the life of George Harris who became a local sports legend. Through playing for VILLA, ALBION and COVENTRY he achieved the working man's dream of owning his own pub which he renamed THE SPORTSMAN. The novel tells the tale behind the headlines.
Clarice Hackett's writing brings to life the early years of the 20th century; the coal and steel; the heat and the noise; the poverty and deprivation… and above all the passion for sport which drove men like George Harris.
But George was driven by other passions too.  The prospect of a marriage into respectability paves the way for a secure future….  Will things go George's way, or will they go the way of Rosannah, barmaid at George's local.
The Sportsman is a story of love unrequited which displays a passion for life set against the grim backcloth of the Black Country at the turn of the last century.
"I'm regularly asked to recommend reading which would give a quick dose of life as it was… This novel fills that request better than anything else that comes to mind." Stan Hill, The Blackcountryman

"This story has everything, it should be made into a film or TV programme…" WABC Radio

A5 paperback; 112 pages; £4.50 (plus £1.00 p&p)
ISBN 0 9520317 2 8
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TRIED BY PREJUDICE
Greg Stokes

     

 "He just lay there motionless, blood oozing from his head. I thought he was  dead."

 Ken Simmons in Tried by Prejudice

A Midlands community watch in horror as children are picked off one by one by an unknown killer while in a Gulf state the ex-pat community look on approvingly as the locals administer justice.....  then rough justice strikes someone they know while at home the people have their culprit..... Or do they?
Tried By Prejudice is a powerful drama set in the Arabian Gulf and English west midlands. It is a tale of murder, revenge, justice, and a torrid love affair between people who just won't go with the flow, people who won't look on while others are Tried By Prejudice.

For full synopsis click here

A5 paperback; 112 pages; £4.99 (plus £1.00 p&p)
ISBN 0 9529317 4 4
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