217 BC. Rome has been savaged, beaten and is in retreat. Yet, in that winter of winters, her garrisons cling on behind the walls of Placentia and Cremona, thanks to her sea-born supplies. If he could be freed, a hostage of Rome may yet hold the key to launching a fleet of pirates that could sweep Rome from the seas. For that hostage is none other than Corinna’s son Cleon, rival heir to the throne of Illyria, held in Brundisium, four hundred miles south of the Rubicon.
But Hannibal is set on a greater prize! Macedon is the great power in Greece, feared even by Rome. Its young king, Philip, is being compared with his illustrious ancestor, Alexander the Great. An alliance with Macedon would surely sound the death knell for Rome.
Given Hannibal’s blessing, Sphax, Idwal and Corinna face an epic journey against impossible odds. Navigating the length of the Padus, past legionary garrisons and hostile Gauls, they must then risk the perils of the storm-torn Adria in the depths of the winter. If the gods favour them and they reach the lands of the pirate queen, only then will their real trials begin.
The world’s first earth-orbit passenger plane, the sensational Celeste Three, takes off from its base in Arizona, also the only place where it is designed land. On a routine flight the craft disappears.
On board is Viktor Karenkov, billionaire oil magnate who has used his wealth to evade prosecution for a murder he committed years earlier. Gregory Topozian, the murdered man’s friend, has been waiting for a chance to bring Karenkov to justice. With dogged determination and considerable ingenuity, he conceives an audacious plan.
Getting the craft down in total secrecy is key. And someone has to pay the huge costs involved.
In this extract, Thomas and Wulfstan think they might have found two possible candidates for their team of warriors. They’re looking for women who’re tough, smart and determined, and these two look to be all of that…
It was in a manor almost exactly half way between Tamworth and Hengist’s that Wulfstan made his first discovery. Under his guidance, Thomas brought his group off the road down a track that led to an assart in the forest. A small cluster of huts and one modest hall sat near a stream that ran through the open space of farmland and pasture that was bounded by trees. The smell of wood smoke, ever present at any centre of human habitation in this world, hung lightly in the summer air, but here the sharper scent of burnt charcoal got stronger and stronger, the closer they got.
Coming around the corner of the barn into the main yard they saw a brazier, charcoal coals glowing red hot. A man with a grimly determined expression checked the heat of a long handled glowing poker, then plunged it back into the coals. Behind him stood the rest of the village, jabbering and chattering.
Next to the brazier was a strongly built “A” shaped wooden frame, with a young woman bound to it, face in, standing up with her hands tied to the top of the “A”. The new arrivals could see her equally determined face glaring at them through the framework.
It was a striking face. Elfin in structure, framed with straight mousey brown hair. Even more striking was a very similar face standing next to her.
‘Identical twins!’ thought Thomas.
‘Good day to you my friend, from Prince Wulfstan of Mercia.’ he said to the man at the brazier. ‘What is happening here?’
‘I know who you are Your Highness.’ said the man bowing low. ‘Welcome to my home.’
‘Thank you.’ said Thomas. ‘And what home entertainments are you performing here?’ indicating the bound girl.
‘She is a thief! Or her sister is.’ he said pointing to her unbound companion. ‘We can’t tell them apart, but we know one of them stole a whole roast goose last night! She was seen! But each blames the other.’
‘So how do you know you are punishing the right one?’ asked Thomas.
‘We don’t Your Highness. They are both slaves. They are jointly lying to avoid punishment, so we are going to make sure we can tell them apart in future. This one is going to be branded on her right shoulder.’
‘Won’t that affect her work?’
‘Only for a week Your Highness. And if she’s the one we think she is, she doesn’t do very good work anyway, so we won’t notice much difference.’
Thomas nodded. ‘And their work is?’
‘Weavers Your Highness. One does wonderful work, always laughing and smiling. The other, this one, does mediocre work, always being punished, always scowling.’
‘And how do you know they don’t swap roles all the time just to tease you?’ laughed Thomas.
The man smirked. ‘Well if they do that Your Highness, they are very good at keeping up the game! Anyway, this girl was the surly, rude one when questioned about the theft, so she’s the one getting marked. If they are swapping roles, the branding will tell us that too!’
He turned back to the brazier, took out the poker and checked the colour. ‘Not hot enough yet. Another couple of minutes I think.’
‘Or perhaps I can offer you an alternative solution.’ said Thomas. ‘I am looking for slaves to take part in my battle with Lord Grimketil in a year’s time, and these two might be suitable.’
The man raised his eyebrows. ‘You want to buy them Your Highness?’
‘Only if they want to come. They have to know what will be asked of them, what they are risking, and what will be the reward. I can pick only slaves, yet I will choose only volunteers. May I ask them?’
‘Of course Your Highness!’ replied the man, who recognised a good opportunity to get rid of a troublesome slave for good money when he saw it.
Thomas dismounted and went over to the frame, beckoning the other girl closer. Huddling together, there was much low voiced muttering. Thomas returned to the man, took out his money bag and counted out a more than fair value for the two girls. ‘Would that meet with your approval?’
The man beamed. ‘Yes Your Highness! It’s an honour doing business with you.’
Thomas laughed. ‘You mean it’s an honour getting more than you were expecting for them! In this matter I want you to feel you have been treated honourably, and that’s part of the price I pay. I want no complaints later on.’
‘There will be none from me Your Highness, I swear on my mother’s grave.’ said the man.
An old lady came up quietly behind him. ‘May I remind you Egbert, that I am not yet dead.’
Macy Shaw, a journalist, has become obsessed with Jelvias—another species living alongside the human—and is certain they aren’t the heinous assassins the media claim them to be. For research purposes, on a story she hopes to write, she travels to the famous ‘Jelvian Caves’ in Cornwall. She shouldn’t have entered the cave, but being impulsive is one of her faults and it is there she meets a man who isn’t human—a Jelvia. Her obsession turns to devotion very quickly. Is she being played?
She smiled into the dark. She felt his fingers touch her face, and her chin was tipped up, and his lips brushed her mouth.
‘The majority of the Jelvian community have no problem with humans. I can’t say that about humans liking Jelvias, however,’ he said. ‘We’ll just have to tread carefully, and yes, we’ll have to be a secret, to begin with. But let’s see how you feel when we’re out of this cave.’ He sounded guarded. ‘Your feelings may change the moment we’re in daylight.’
‘They won’t.’
‘They might.’ He turned back, and began to walk, his hand holding hers behind him. His stride matched hers.
‘Can you see?’ she asked.
‘I can,’ he said. ‘You weren’t far from the entrance. The bats nest here, so it’s easy to tell when you’re almost there.’
Macy looked up at the roof area, but couldn’t see anything. She could hear them from time to time though.
‘Does it bother you that I’m a reporter?’
‘No, but be careful of anyone who wants you to work alongside Jelvias. There have been, er, problems in the past where humans have placed other humans in danger for the advancement of knowledge on the Jelvian community. Keep an open mind on things this friend William may tell you about us.’
‘Do you know him?’
‘Never heard of him.’
‘He’s on your side.’
‘If you’re willing to tell me, I’d like to know what he wants you to do.’
She hesitated, and he squeezed her fingers again. He said, ‘You don’t have to tell me.’
‘I’ve just signed a data protection clause, that’s all. I’m unable to discuss the whys and hows, and I can only tell you that I’d like to interview Jelvias. Aldarn is in charge, I believe? I’d like to interview him first.’
Narcifer stopped to look at her. ‘At Springfield’s insistence or yours?’ he asked, the twin beams of light on her face.
‘Mine.’
‘Yet you told Aldarn that you wanted to interview me,’ he said, catching her out on her fib. He turned back, and they began walking again. It was still very dark, and walking was slow as she had to hold his coat to avoid tripping over the ends. ‘You’re too trusting of this William Springfield,’ he added.
‘I’m an excellent judge of character. I’m not too trusting!’
Macy felt Narcifer squeeze her hand. ‘Are we having our first argument?’
‘No, I’m just saying I’m not too trusting.’
‘Okay, I believe you. I just want you to be careful. Springfield shouldn’t have allowed you to come to these tunnels. You could have died, Macy.’
‘He didn’t know what I planned. He knows I’m in Cornwall and that’s all. Christ, I didn’t know I was going to follow a Jelvia into the caves, either!’
‘But if I hadn’t heard you scream…’ His fingers rubbed the base of her wrist. ‘I couldn’t get to you fast enough!’
‘Hey, the dark is lifting. I can see outlines now,’ she said. ‘And I’m sure I can hear the sea again.’
‘Yes, not long now. The opening is just around this corner,’ he said and pulled her in front of him. Then daylight swamped them, and the sound of the sea crashing against the shore reached Macy’s ears.
Macy tried to turn around to look at Narcifer, but his hands on her shoulders wouldn’t let her. His breath fanned her cheek as he said in her ear, ‘Once you see me, you’ll be afraid again.’
‘No, I won’t.’
‘You will. I’ll see fear and mistrust in your eyes, and I think that will break my heart.’
‘You’re just going to have to trust me.’ She reached up and took his hands away from her shoulders and then turned around to face him. He was as she remembered: tall, beautiful, completely black eyes—but there was no grin this time. He looked serious, and for the first time Macy noticed his uncertainty, but it endeared him to her. The sound of the ocean and its light spray added to the surreal moment Macy found herself in—staring into a black cave and straight into the eyes of a Jelvia. His expression was impassioned, and his fingers brushed the side of her cheek.
‘I’ve dreamed about you every night since we met,’ he said, ‘and I’ll always be your hero, Macy Shaw, whether you reciprocate my sentiments or not.’
The discovery of a woman close to death in a city basement sends Bucharest police officers Anton Iordan and Sorin Matache on a complex chase through the city as they seek to identify the victim. As they try to track down the would-be murderer, they find a macabre trail of missing women and they realise that this isn’t the first time the killer has struck. Iordan and Matache hit one dead end after another, until they decide they’ll have to take a chance that could prove deadly.
When investigator Sergiu Manta is handed the investigation into a series of bizarre murders, he can’t sure what he’s getting involved in as he has to work with regular detective Marius Stanescu, who has his own suspicions about the biker he has been told to work with, and wants to get to the truth. The twists and turns of their investigation takes them from the city of Bucharest to the mountains of rural Romania, and back.
Distorted Days If she could speak to them, she would say they have exploded her heart, released firecrackers through her senses. She wishes she could call the police, the ambulance, the fire brigade, to arrest and anaesthetise and waterboard the bastards. So what happens when your husband runs off with your best friend? When you discover the dead body of an old man halfway through your delivery round? When your house is burgled and you get beaten up? Doris, Andy and Colleen are about to find out. They’re also about to discover that you can find friendship and support in the oddest of places… Heart-rending, humorous and above all authentic, Distorted Days is an exquisitely written account of the ways in which life can knock you off our feet – and how you can pick yourself up again. If you’ve experienced the fickleness of fortune, this is a book that you’ll never forget. Purchase Links https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0244236143 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0244236143 http://www.lulu.com/shop/louise-worthington/distorted-days/paperback/product-24338530.html
Extract One- from chapter one. Doris’ husband John has left her for her best friend Lisa on Christmas Eve. Doris gets drunk in the bathroom. The extract includes a refrain used throughout the book (in italics) to convey Doris’ destructive habit of drinking heavily when life gets tough. This habit affects her judgement & leads to John leaving her. The title of the novel is derived from her impaired judgment caused by depression & drinking. (323 words)
Her voice has walked out and left her too; carried itself down the stairs to someplace else where it might be listened to. ‘Your fucking wife! That’s who it is, love.’ That’s what she should have said to John, but she’s never been good at thinking of a comeback on the spot. Besides, she has no courage to fight back, to admonish, because she is a damp firework.
If she could speak to them, she would say they have exploded her heart, released firecrackers through her senses. She wishes she could call the police, the ambulance, the fire brigade, to arrest and anaesthetise and waterboard the bastards.
If she screws up one eye, she can see the colour of the glass rolling pin on the bathroom tiles. It’s a noisy one because it was expensive, carefully chosen by Doormat with the aid of an assistant in Tesco called Freda who had a nasty twitch in one eye. Freda’s twitch got excited when Doris loaded her shopping trolley with twelve bottles of wine, four colours of each hue. She and John used to go on alcohol percentage and special offers but Freda opened her eyes to the aromas and blends and whatnot.
They make her drink. Guzzle until her stomach is a well, so full it begins to pour over the top and trickle down Utkinton Street, a red rivulet, an S shape all the way to the corner shop and back. They still make her drink, sip it if she has to, faces at the bottom of the glass. She keeps drinking, swaying, and they are still watching. Then it is dark, the colour of a drinker’s liver.
This hurt is like a lit cigarette dabbed across the ribs. A grenade in her chest. Cock John and Twat Lisa stir cocktails with the linchpin. She breathes air through a damp handkerchief. Delirious, she lies on the cold tiles; sleep wants to take her.
Author Bio
Louise is the author of ‘Distorted Days’ and ‘Rachel’s Garden of Rooms.’ ‘The Entrepreneur’ will be available later in 2020. ‘The Thief’, a short story published by Park Publications, is available to download Louise Worthington’s website.
Before writing full time, Louise worked mainly as an English teacher after getting a degree in Literature and later, studying business and psychology at Masters level.
Louise grew up in Cheshire and now resides in Shropshire.
“Louise’s characters, without exception, are skilfully wrought which make the reader genuinely care for them.”
Five different people. Five separate lives. Sixty minutes to bind them for ever.
Hassan, Jim, Shuna, Dan and Nadia come from very different worlds. If life were straightforward, their paths would never cross. But our lives are rarely that simple and, as the clock ticks away the minutes of a single hour on a July morning, fate draws all five together in a headlong rush towards disaster.
Who are the heroes and who are the villains?
Tony Salter’s latest novel leaves us guessing right up to the last page.
19 year
old Sean hasn’t seen his father since he was twelve. His mother has never
really explained why. An argument with her leads to his moving to the other
side of the country.
Martin,
his father, has his life thrown into turmoil when the son he hasn’t seen in
nearly eight years strolls back into his life immediately killing his dog and
hospitalising his step-daughter.
The one
thing they have in common is the friendship of a girl called Rhiannon.
Over the
course of one summer Sean experiences sexual awakenings from all angles,
discovers the fleeting nature of friendship and learns to cope with rejection.
Martin,
meanwhile, struggles to reconnect with Sean while trying to delicately turn
down the increasingly inappropriate advances of a girl he sees as a surrogate
daughter and keep a struggling marriage alive.
Gap Years is an exploration of what it means to be a man in the 21st Century seen from two very different perspectives – neatly hidden inside a funny story about bicycles, guitars and unrequited love.
Everything Is Better With Dragons 