Beyond Sight

Jonny Sears, a young boy seeking refuge from his parents’ troubles, embarks on a summer adventure that takes a terrifying turn when he finds himself trapped in the depths of hell, encountering both benevolent and malevolent characters as he navigates the treacherous landscape, testing his resilience and determination in a gripping tale of a perilous odyssey that will leave readers breathless, wondering if Jonny will ever find his way back to the world he once knew.

The Silver Necklace

“A fascinating glimpse into complex characters on both right and wrong sides of the law, by author and retired judge Jack Billings, who undoubtedly has seen both up-close.”

                Randi Bjornstad, career journalist, founder, Eugene Scene, e-magazine

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Police always encounter people they never forget. For Megan O’Brian, one was Chad Mitchell, a scared, mistreated little boy she encountered while working as a juvenile corrections officer. She always wondered what happened to him. Then they met again.

By then a sheriff’s detective, O’Brian was lead investigator for the disappearance of talented Cassie Edwards, who failed to return home from her regular bus trip to and from a piano lesson after her 15th birthday party. She wore as always her favorite gift, a beautiful and unusual necklace, given to her by her grandmother.

The trail goes frustratingly cold as O’Brian and fellow investigators, Cal Underwood and Herman Jackson, search in vain for clues to her whereabouts and her fate, until a deer poacher finds Cassie’s body in a remote area.

But finding her killer eludes them, until O’Brian has a sudden, middle-of-the-night realization: a photograph Jackson had taken of recovered stolen property in another case. One of those photos shows an unusual necklace, identical to the one Cassie wore in a picture from her birthday party.

Did Cassie’s killer take the necklace as a trophy? How did it get into a trove of stolen property? Did the killer try to get rid of it? Or was it stolen from the killer? And who were they looking for?

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         “Well-developed characters, engaging story, professional police work. A good read.”

                                Kurt Wuest, Lane County Sheriff’s Detective (ret.)

“Untreated autism, methamphetamine addiction, interstate fencing of stolen property propel this story of murder and apprehension to a conclusion.”

                                Chuck Tilby, Captain, Eugene Police Department (ret.)

“Billings’ writing evokes Michael Connelly. A bus system’s operation is cleverly woven into the plot.”

                Mark Pangborn, General Manager, Lane Transit District (ret.)

The Istanbul Gambit

Severely traumatised, Dr. Hafez Yilmaz has left war-torn Eritrea to work at a charity-run clinic for refugees in Sicily. He is just about holding his demons at bay when a child is brought in, her life hanging by a thread. She has been trafficked and left to die in a ditch.

Convinced that the local police are not doing enough to trace the traffickers, Hafez sets out to investigate. His life in grave danger, he ends up hiding in Scotland where he befriends a local girl, Yasmin Cilic, and encounters her brother, Orhan, a sinister figure with links to organised crime.

At Orhan’s nightclub, Hafez overhears a conversation about children being trafficked into Scotland, and once again decides to investigate on his own – a decision that will have terrifying consequences for himself, and for Yasmin who will be abducted by her brother and held captive at a derelict warehouse on the outskirts of Istanbul. She witnesses a gun battle between Turkish police and her captors, leaving five people, including a police officer, dead. She escapes but is left to struggle for survival in the backstreets of Istanbul, alone, destitute and in great danger.

Once again, Commander Kadir Demercol and former Superintendent John Arbuthnot confront the dangerous task of resolving a case of murder and trafficking stretching Scotland to Istanbul. A case that will put their quick-thinking, courageous wives at risk.

The Fens

The Fens is a gripping modern crime novel which opens with the discovery of a body lying dead on top of a grave in a local churchyard. Mysteriously, it has been laid out in decorous and reverential fashion, completely at odds with the fact that the victim has been murdered!

Detective Inspector John Naylor is put in charge of the murder of local councillor and MP Malcolm Fenton. He chooses newly qualified Police Constable Cassandra Money to help him untangle the MP’s complex private life and business interests. It seems that everyone they meet had a good reason to want to get rid of Malcolm Fenton.

The investigation takes a turn when one of Fenton’s colleagues complains about Inspector Naylor’s attitude and a commissioner from Scotland Yard arrives at the rural police station to take over. Is Inspector Naylor simply annoyed because he has lost control over the investigation, or is he more involved in the case than he is letting on?

Constable Cassandra Money is torn between her loyalty to the inspector and her growing suspicion that he is keeping secrets. Can she solve the murder and save the inspector’s reputation?

The Green Spiral Continues

In this fast-moving sequel to The Green Spiral, confronting the runaway destruction of Planet Earth by some dangerous humans shows that there is a very fine line between fantasy and reality.

The central characters provide a glimmer of hope for those who are fighting to save Nature, or is it too late?

Nature herself begins to show her true colours, as she decides it is time to teach those who aim to destroy, a lesson.

Things That Go Bump in the Night

ONE CITY. TWO KILLERS
A serial killer and a supernatural killer terrorise a city. One kills willingly preying on adulterers and the other unknowingly with no memory of being a monster. The city knows about the serial murders committed by the Sin Killer, but unaware of the shape-shifter whose murders are blamed on the Sin Killer. The captain of police is related to one of the killers.

Four Decades of Lies, Deceit, Corruption and Murder

Susan Aitken returns home looking forward to the Easter weekend to find her husband, Sir Gerald Aitken, with a bullet in his head. What appears to be a suicide is much more sinister. Four teenage friends, all now mature women, become reunited at his funeral. Thirty years have passed and none of them realise that their lives have been intertwined.The months following the funeral open up a catalogue of lies and as Susan struggles to cope with the consequences, police investigate further and find links to blackmail, homosexuality and child abuse amongst all of them. The family and trusted friends are in total disbelief, but one of them is Gerald's killer. How do these happenings, spanning over four decades, lead to a massive police cover-up and who is behind it all?

The Bag

Shaun, 54, leads a perfectly normal life, thank you very much. Sure, it is a life that has been boring recently, and mired in depression after the collapse of his second marriage, but he is coping with getting through life on a day-to-day basis.But one day, while walking his dog, Shaun comes across a mysterious bag, filled with money and diamonds, and most worryingly - a dead body nearby. In the spur of the moment, Shaun makes the decision to take the bag home.Suddenly, Shaun has a new lease on life, as he works to avoid both the police and the criminals looking for the bag so that he can hold on to this fortune that could change his life for the better.When he meets a lovely woman, while spending some of his ill-gotten gains, he feels that everything is finally coming together for him.But the Bag is not finished with him yet...

Guess Who? Murder in a Village

In the stillness of a quiet village night, a murder shatters the peace. A newly appointed detective, along with his determined partner, Officer Smith, is sent to unravel the mystery. As they delve deeper, they uncover secrets that suggest there’s far more to this village than meets the eye.

With a dead body, five witnesses, a cunning murderer on the loose, and a myriad of questions, the detective team faces a daunting task. Will they catch the killer before time runs out? Get ready for a thrilling game of Guess Who!

Neighbourhood Watch

Neighbourhood Watch is based on family dynamics and lifelong repercussions of decisions and actions made in youthful haste. Self-preservation and maintaining a good public image are strong motives throughout the book. Such incentives can lead even the most upstanding people to deception and reveal a darker side, if only to themselves.

Although the main characters differ greatly, they are all linked by events from the past. Neighbourhood Watch explores the danger of putting misplaced trust into institutions or their representatives, for this trust can be manipulated and used to the advantage of those it is placed in. Within the story, there is a heavy focus on the humanity of people and how they deal with a set of circumstances they may have no control over. There is an underlying current that is deconstructed – that a confident woman is seen as almost arrogant and untrustworthy, and is not to be given the benefit of the doubt.

Running for His Lives

Dennis ‘Dutch French’ was determined to rid himself of the nightmare memories of his childhood; orphaned as an infant when his father was killed in action, his mother’s subsequent suicide had a profound effect. Constant bullying and humiliation, combined with a disadvantaged lifestyle throughout his early years, caused his behaviour to deteriorate and cause concern. However, all was to change when, following in his father’s footsteps, he joined the Army, immediately enhancing his life. Due to an unusual but fortunate assignment, he meets and marries Melanie. During years of happy marriage and a long, distinguished military career, a number of near-death experiences fuel an inward belief regarding the myth of nine lives. His sought-after peace is subsequently shattered when his wife is viciously assaulted and raped, triggering a series of fatal events, changing their lives forever.

The Heroes

Spring 1968

Formerly inseparable, five boys, known affectionately as ‘The Heroes’, all of them eight years of age, school together, play together and explore together. One day in the spring term, one of them dies suddenly, in the arms of his teacher and their headmaster goes missing without a trace.

May 2019

Fifty years later, local private investigators, Robert Fox and Rosemary Bennett are engaged by the dead boy’s sister to find out if the headmaster is still alive, because he may hold the key as to why her brother, Derek, died.

Everyone says that he died of natural causes, but the boy’s sister believes it is something more sinister.

The two private investigators seek out the four remaining boys and their teacher, to help them in their quest for the truth about what happened to her brother and of the headmaster’s disappearance.

But they are not the only ones seeking them out.

The boys each have held a chilling secret, and someone wants to keep it that way, no matter what it takes.

Will Fox and Bennet find out what the boys know before someone else does?