Edited at the end of April, this is the third instalment in this gripping hard science fiction series.
Following the 2030 discovery of quantum spolding (space folding), interstellar exploration becomes a possibility. NASA, together with private space exploration companies, begin work on the complex physics, technology, and hardware to turn it into reality.
After a test flight to Mars, more hazardous than anyone anticipated, the starship Spirit and its two Rimor shuttles set off for the dwarf red star, Trappist-1, almost forty light years from the solar system. Haven, the fifth Trappist planet, has continents and seas, icecaps, glaciers and mountains, but the ubiquitous plant life they find is, at first, dull and uninteresting.
However, it doesn’t take long for them to discover that Haven isn’t a place on which to find shelter. It does, in fact, have the most terrifying secret, only discovered during the last day of the expedition. As realisation dawns, Mark and his team end up in an existential struggle.
When they finally appear to have resolved their disastrous visit to the planet’s surface, they discover an even bigger surprise awaiting them in orbit. It promises so much. Could it be enough to revitalise the whole mission and turn failure into success?
Harmsworth’s Mark Noble Space Adventures, of which Trappist-1 is book three, contain no space battles, or fantasy environments, but follow real science as closely as possible. Having said that, in order to travel between the stars, there must some suspension of belief to allow for the development of quantum spolding, for which Tony requires your forgiveness. Who knows, though, whether it might foretell the future?
In this story, Tony blends hard science fiction with a large dollop of imagination, and a substantial pinch of horror to add flavour.
Edited in April 2020 this is a gripping psychological thriller.
Will a priest give up his promise to God in order to find the son he never knew he had?
Monsignor Kevin Devlin is on a fast track to the top of the Catholic Church until he learns that the son that he didn’t know he had fathered has disappeared.
The search for the boy tests his faith as it leads him into a world of strip and sex clubs, sex traffickers and paedophiles.
Along the way, he has to seek redemption from the brother he wronged.
The brothers must work together to prise the boy from the hands of the men who hold him, and Devlin must face the ultimate challenge to his future as a priest.
The Monsignor’s Son is a combination of a fast-paced and psychological thriller. If you like either of these sub-genres, then this book is for you.
Edited in April, this psychological thriller keeps you guessing.
Tim Collins is terrified of deep water. But he has no idea why.
Michael Firth, a former lighthouse keeper on Scotland’s west coast, barely remembers a disturbing, tantalising woman from his past. And now dementia is blurring more than just the edges of that memory.
Sara Palmer knows the reason for Tim’s phobia and remembers her brief, passionate time with the lighthouse keeper as if it were yesterday. With a new name, she forged ahead with her life, leaving Tim and Michael to pick up the pieces without her.
But thirty-five years on, all three of their lives are about to collide.
Thirty-five years ago, there was talk of attempted murder. Has Sara changed? And if she hasn’t, will anyone remember in time?
Domestic suspense meets dark psychological thriller.
Edited over the course of 2020, this delightful series is a perfect way to spend a relaxing afternoon, whether curled up in front of a cosy fire or soaking up the sun on holiday.
SHE IS AN INNOCENT. HE IS A HARDENED PLAYER.
Marianne’s brief time at Miss Wolfraston’s Seminary for Young Ladies is coming to an end, which is a relief for both of them. She has disconcertingly open manners and a liveliness that Miss Wolfraston deplores. When her aunt invites her to join her in Cheltenham for the summer, these traits inevitably lead her into a series of scrapes.
After being disappointed in love seven years ago, Lord Cranbourne has acquired the reputation of being dangerous, heartless, and selfish. Annoyed at his sister’s matchmaking attempts on his behalf, he accompanies his friend Sir Horace Bamber to Cheltenham. He expects to be heartily bored. Then he meets Marianne.
They both have lessons to learn; not least that no one is quite what they seem.
Edited last week, the latest novel by Michelle Vernal is the first in a new series and as with all her novels is difficult to put down.
She went looking for answers. She discovered a completely different era.
In 1963 three-year-old Sabrina is a foundling left on the streets of Liverpool. She’s taken in and raised by Evelyn Flooks the feisty proprietor of Brides of Bold Street. Now a young woman, Sabrina has followed in her Aunt Evie’s footsteps and creates dream wedding dresses for the brides-to-be who cross their threshold.
When Sabrina meets dark-eyed Adam she’s instantly smitten but after he shares a story about a mysterious woman proclaiming to be from another time, Sabrina begins to wonder whether her mother abandoned her after all.
In search of answers, she trawls the mysterious pocket of Bold Street where she was found and is shocked to be flung back in time to 1928.
Taking a position in the kitchen at a manor house on leafy Allerton Road, Sabrina befriends a housemaid with starry-eyed dreams. And when she agrees to assist her new acquaintance in winning the heart of their mistress’s son, she has no idea of the consequences they’ll both suffer…
And what happened to her mother?
The Autumn Posy is the heartfelt first book in the new Liverpool Brides historical women’s fiction series. If you like charming characters, delightful humour, and intriguing mysteries, then you’ll love Michelle Vernal’s captivating tale.
Another wonderful and humorous instalment in the Guesthouse on the Green series as Mammy and Moira travel Vietnam.
I love the series and can't wait for book four!
A quick but emotional read - reading about the cruelty to the dog was heartbreaking but this was a lovely tale of the love and healing that animals can bring to our lives.
I would have given five stars but for the missed typos - a few t...
I get the impression that this could be a nice story but I've had to give up after forcing myself to go as far as 15% of the way through. If this novel has ever been near a remotely professional editor then the author was conned.
Chapte...
Another very enjoyable story but with a few niggles, hence the four stars rather than five. Maybe it's because I was tired but the editing issues grated on me more than in the first story and, do people really generally believe that 'ear...
