Crushed

William Ferguson had willingly followed the footsteps of his father into the family business, accepting the challenge to continue to enhance the reputation and fortunes of the highly respected Ferguson Trading Company.  

The legacy was daunting – his father, Sir Charles Ferguson, a Victoria Cross winner for bravery during WW2, had returned to New Zealand after the war to, in a short time, become the Commonwealth’s pre-eminent businessman, confidant to successive prime ministers and governments and most importantly, a beloved husband and father. All of these accomplishments were achieved without blemish, incident or notoriety.

With such a stellar backdrop, what could possibly go so wrong that would crush William Ferguson’s life?

Daddy Won't You Please Come Home?

At 21, Sam Middlemas was haunted by a recurring dream: two little girls of distinct backgrounds beckoning him home. He tried to shake it off, but the dream persisted. It wasn’t until he saw his own daughter grow that he recognized her as one of the girls from his visions. Tragedy struck when his daughter’s life was cut short, turning his orderly world into chaos. Thrust into an unexpected journey spanning continents, Sam seeks answers. This gripping tale follows his quest to unravel the mystery of the dream, leading to a heart-stopping revelation.

Delany's Progress

Delany left the army after becoming seriously injured whilst on active duty in foreign parts. He was repatriated to England and when he was fully recovered, and because of his admiration for the positive actions of a police officer friend, he joined the Constabulary.

His new employers soon became aware that he would make an excellent officer and that he was particularly adept at deep undercover work.

This book covers some of his, at times death defying, adventures.

Dezzie and the Historian

A black teenager with a criminal record absconds from a council children's home, moves in with a failed academic old enough to be her grandfather, and discovers that dreams really can come true – up to a point.

Dream Is Another Word for Hope

“It seemed, at the time, back on the 29^th of July 1996, that the newspapers’ black, thick and bold headlines were screaming – you could almost hear the foul cries.

Talkback radio programmes didn’t discuss any other topic but that one and the TV networks – ALL TV networks – were working around the clock, sending their best reporters, trying to outdo each other: crews from around the globe – even from the USSR – assembled in Beijing, China’s capital, and in Seoul, the capital of South Korea. Switzerland was in shock – after all, the Schmidt family members were Swiss citizens and held Swiss passports…”

This is how Uri J Palti begins his amazing novel – a delicate love story well-spiced with ingenious and unbelievable spying.

From the first chapter to the last, you won’t be able to put Dream Is Another Word for Hope down, eager to find out how the story develops and how it ends…

Dumping Grounds

We all have a dark place in our subconscious that comes out only in dreams as nightmares. To write them down is to capture them and give insight to the trepidation we can instill in others. The darkness is a deep, inky black. It’s a place where our fears take root and grow. It’s a place where we are powerless and alone. It’s a place where we are lost and can’t find our way back. The darkness is a place where we are consumed by our fears and nightmares.

Eagle's Impact

Harry Long is sent to China in order to unravel the secrets of a Chinese military experiment that may have gone wrong. He goes undercover in a Chinese university in order to solve the mystery about the deaths of two Chinese students involved in the experiment. Harry cleverly uncovers different sinister plans and motives. But we also witness his dealings with different individuals. The association with Lily Wang, academic colleagues and British Intelligence all have an impact on him. This is especially the case with his relationship with Lily Wang and their discussions. We can experience the impacts and changes in Harry as he learns that Chinese culture offers him a different way of thinking. Things finally get complicated when he has to take some difficult loyalty decisions. The impact of his experiences in China and questions about moral principles leads him to take self-determining decisions.

“This captivating thriller offers a masterclass in understanding how an individual can be so mesmerised by a culture that they revise their worldview.”          

“Eagle’s Impact provides an action-packed book which takes place in China. The author shows a depth of knowledge of Chinese culture that will fascinate the reader.”

Earth to Earth

A story about the resilience of planet Earth to whatever humankind throws at it. A thriller with suspense and heroes; the good versus the bad; destruction versus rebuilding; religion alongside nature, but most of all the human spirit of survival with a touch of Gaia theory thrown in.

Epitaph for Brezhnev

Contained within the numerous items on display at the DDR Museum in Berlin is a brief though detailed account of a 1980 initiative on the part of the East German Politburo whereby the objective of this initiative was the seizure, by force, of West Berlin. Although the East German leader Erich Honecker and his colleagues in government were serious as regards to their incorporating West Berlin into East Germany, the Soviet Union, at that time, did not share the East German enthusiasm, due to the potential impact any invasion of West Berlin might have had on the Moscow Olympics and also because Brezhnev was conscious of Soviet presence in Afghanistan.However, two years later, with Leonid Brezhnev close to death, there are shenanigans afoot involving his would-be successors. One of the gambits is a plan by Yuri Andropov to resurrect the Erich Honecker initiative and deliver West Berlin for the Warsaw Pact. How would the West respond if this audacious Andropov power grab strategy was put into practice?

Facade

Holly Stringer is savvy, but will do anything to put food on the table for her young son. Divorced, she is in a desperate situation. Then the unthinkable happens, her dad has a stroke, forcing her to run his detective agency. She soon discovers this remains in the dark ages, surviving on past glories. In order to survive, she urgently needs to modernise the agency and requires a big case that pays big bucks. This duly arrives, but is she capable of solving this as the police warn her off, siting her inexperience? She discovers behind every smile lurks hidden secrets to be exposed and these facades need to be broken down. But every time she digs deeper, she is putting her own family in peril. Will her naivety in the situation win through as she unravels the truth and reveals the villains or will she succumb to the complexities that hamper her every step?

Family Matters

Kimberley Weatherby leads a privileged if rather boring existence with her well-to-do family on the Isle of Man. Her long-time boyfriend has left her. Then two men enter her life: a gorgeous newcomer to the island and a mysterious foreign stranger. Unfortunately, it was the one she doesn’t want that proposes marriage. Meantime she has to navigate some challenging personal relationships.

There are her best friends: Lisa, caring but overemotional and Julie, an ambitious single mother with an eye on the financial aspects of life. Then her immediate family presents multiple challenges. Her widowed stepmother, Irene, is demanding and bitter. Older brother Richard is exasperatingly dull, if diligent. And younger brother Bob is full of youthful exuberance and always getting into harmless scrapes – or are they?

Her romantic dilemma is quickly overshadowed by a dramatic and tragic event which exposes the secrets of everyone. Reeling from shock she must find the strength to resolve a dangerous situation and deal with repercussions that affect everyone around her.

Farewell Chapelon

When the cargo ship Chapelon is ordered to sail from her home port of Dunkirk just two days before Christmas, her crew is less than pleased. Not only were their hopes of celebrating with their loved ones wrecked, they also knew they were about to sail into rough and turbulent seas.

In a storm of unprecedented fury that is encountered off the north-east coast of England, the ship experiences an engine room explosion that leaves her disabled and at the mercy of the furious wind blowing her towards the shore. Efforts to find a tug to assist Chapelon prove to be fruitless and a life boat and helicopter that are dispatched to aid the distressed ship and rescue her crew themselves become overwhelmed in the atrocious conditions being experienced.

When Chapelon’s grounding becomes an obvious and imminent certainty, her crew’s very survival becomes reliant upon a local coastguard coming up with a last-ditch plan.