Allison & Busby New Titles

The menu is self-explanatory - try it and see for yourselves. The magazine is arranged into three main sections, REVIEWS, FEATURE ARTICLES and STORIES, and NEW & COMING SOON TITLES. The latter section is a little like a bookshop where you can browse what's new for this month, but it is arranged by Publisher, as this is the easiest way for me to do it. Let me knowwhat you think...

If you were lucky, and you're a dad, you might have received a copy of this fantastic book on Father's Day! Neil Oliver, the historian from the smash BBC series COAST, retells the stories that inspired us to be better men during the last century. He laments... more

Amanda Greenslade is a fantasy writer, like me (except she's young enough to be my granddaughter, and therefore has time on her side!). Her ASTOR CHRONICLES look fantastic, and I hope it won't be long before she finds a publisher. In the meantime, there's an interview with Amanda in this issue, together with information on TALON, the first book in the series.

KELLEY ARMSTRONG's latest book, THE SUMMONING, is so good I had to give it joint book of the month in the fantasy section; Kelley never lets you down, and this is a terrific read, chilling and entertaining at the same time - don't miss it!

And don't forget to let me know what you think of this issue of BOOKS MONTHLY ~ you can e-mail me at editor@booksmonthly.co.uk

Last weekend the fourth INDIANA JONES movie smashed box office records with takings estimated to be in excess of Ł148m - there are lots more great new Indy books reviewed in this issue, see the Feature Articles and Stories menu above

All of the titles listed or reviewed in Books Monthly are available from the store. Click on the Amazon logo to check availability as many are not yet published.

PENELOPE EVANS: SAVING GRACE ~ Reeling from her husband's betrayal and struggling to rebuild her marriage, Grace daydreams about a life in which everything has returned to normal. But even through her thin veil of optimism she can see that her life is unravelling before her eyes. Soon, however, she finds that a fantasy is being woven around her. A book enters her life, one unlike any she has ever read. And she meets Richard, the man who wrote it, a man unlike any she has ever known. One shows her all that is truly important in her life. The other threatens to take it away. And once the line between fiction and truth has blurred, Grace discovers that Richard's imagination is unwilling to ever let her go.

STUART PAWSON: GRIEF ENCOUNTERS ~ Magdalena is a woman from DI Charlie Priest's past, who comes very much to the forefront of his present when her lifeless, broken and battered body is found. The one identifying feature is the tattoo on her buttock; Property of the Pope. But who is this Pope and did he want to make Magdalena his possession even in death? And what about the recent spate of incidents that have left several influential members of the community with tarnished reputations and, in one case, dead? Were they just heading for a fall, or is there a vendetta, a nasty game, afoot? Whatever is going on, Charlie is right in the middle of it as usual.

KEN McCLURE: THE LAZARUS STRAIN ~ When a top research institute is broken into and vandalized, the police believe that it is animal rights activists taking things a step too far. That is until they discover one of the institute's eminent scientists, Tim Devon, brutally murdered. Dr Steven Dunbar, working for the Sci-Med Inspectorate, an elite government agency, is sent to investigate. A few of the dead scientists' research animals have also gone missing and top level authorities are strangely obsessed with hunting down and killing the purportedly harmless animals. Was the attack on Devon and the institute really the work of extremist activists or is something far more sinister going on? Encountering excessive security measures enforced by unknown authorities, Dunbar realises that those who might hold the keys to the mystery are not prepared to help him, and those who have unleashed it will stop at nothing to fulfil their apocalyptic ambitions. Alone in a race against unspeakable tragedy, the ex-Special Forces medic must imagine the unthinkable - and all he knows is that, when the storm breaks, it'll already be too late...

REBECCA TOPE: BLOOD IN THE COTSWOLDS ~ Thea Osborne and her faithful spaniel, Hepzie, have taken on another house-sitting assignment, this time in the very quiet village of Temple Guiting. Detective Superintendent Phil Hollis is looking forward to visiting for a night or two and celebrating the couple's one year anniversary, but a slipped disk in Phil's back soon puts an end to their romantic weekend. As it turns out, having a policeman on the scene is not entirely unnecessary in the little village.A few days into their stay, a pile of human bones are discovered in the base of an uprooted tree. There is no concrete evidence as to who the bones belonged to though the locals all have their theories and rumours abound. Thea and Phil find there is a strong connection to the Knights Templar in the village with most locals claiming to be descendants of some or other lineage. Temple Guiting turns out to have more than its fair share of secrets and Thea and Phil find their relationship tested to the limits as they try to prevent another murder investigation from threatening the quiet solitude they hold so dear. Completely unputdownable, "Blood in the Cotswolds" is the fifth in Rebecca Tope's immensely popular series.

RUPERT HOLMES: THE MUSICIAN'S DAUGHTER ~ 1940, San Francisco: Ray Sherwood has arrived in town on tour with the Jack Donovan Orchestra and plenty of bad memories. But in meeting two women on the same day Ray is shaken out of his stupor. One of the women, Gail, wants his help in orchestrating her avant-garde composition Swing Around the Sun, the other will plunge to her death just moments after speaking to him. As there is more to Gail's motivations than meets the eye, Ray is pulled along a trail of music, murder and espionage against the backdrop of America preparing for war. This was a well-deserved book of the month last year, previously published under the title SWING - it's brilliant!

CLARE CURZON: OFF TRACK ~ When Arthur Research biologist, Piers Egerton, has been working on a top-secret project for a number of years and has finally realized it is something he wants no part of. But the people he works for think he knows too much and he realizes his life is in danger. Lee Barber is a perfectly competent train driver, whose career is seemingly ruined through one simple error. Frustrated and desperate, the two strangers are thrown into each other's paths at a pivotal moment. Bound by the strange occurrence which has brought them together, Egerton and Barber must forge a tentative friendship if either of them is to get through this ordeal alive.As Thames Valley Serious Crimes Squad, headed by Mike Yeadings, investigates the disappearance of one of the men, grim secrets of national importance emerge. Involvement spreads beyond the men's families to a mysterious immigrant couple with a tragic past. And suspicion falls on DS Zyczynski's journalist lover as he is drawn in to counter the threat to a young child's life.

Mike Ripley: Angels Unaware ~ Private detective Fitzroy Maclean Angel is not your ordinary private detective. The world he inhabits is strange and it is about to get stranger. A new born baby means no more cases, no more fingerprinting and no more espionage and, with the arrival of his aging, hippy mother, he has swapped bloodstains for paint stains. Domesticity, or the lack of it, has replaced his high-paced, crime-solving lifestyle. That is, of course, apart from the AWOL screenwriter whose mother's funeral he must attend.

Books Monthly (formerly Gateway Monthly) is published by Paul Edmund Norman on the first day of each month. You can contact me via e-mail at: editor@booksmonthly.co.uk . If you'd like to get a story published in Books Monthly just e-mail it to me and I'll consider it - no payment though, I'm afraid!