Books
A collection of published literary works.
The Greenock Blitz, Then and Now
Immediately after the Greenock Blitz of May 1941, the Admiralty instructed one of their official photographers James Hall, to capture images of the devastation. The author of this book, has revisited many of those scenes and taken modern-day comparison photographs to display side-by-side in the body of this work. He also records the testimonies of known survivors whom he personally interviewed. Over the years, he has discovered many fascinating facts about this subject. For example, an overhead image of Greenock taken just after the war began, from a German spy plane. There's also an account by a German Luftwaffe pilot who took part in one of the Greenock night raids. There's a full account of Hitler's Deputy Fuhrer Rudolf Hess's flight over the Clyde on route to Eaglesham, where he hoped to meet the 14th Duke of Hamilton and broker a peace deal to end the war. Did you know that the Allies Combined Operations personnel met in Largs to compile plans for an invasion of Europe (D-Day)? It's all accounted for in this book. The work also includes a 6-piece interactive map that plots many of the bomb explosions in and around Greenock during the night raids of 6th & 7th May 1941. It even shows bomb shrapnel marks left on some of the town's buildings - and much more! Truly, you'll be hard pushed to eclipse this account of the Greenock Blitz anywhere in the world.
The Fidelity Saga
John McNab adores his son JJ and is besotted with his wife Bridget. Unfortunately, she is ruthlessly determined to better herself in life – with or without her family by her side. This would be no mean feat in 1930's Greenock, but her husband is hopeful that such aspirations will burn themselves out and they can finally get down to leading a normal family life. To acquire one of the new houses in the Strone, it becomes necessary for Bridget to broker a special arrangement with a few of her influential contacts on the local Council. This involves sharing their new abode with Nellie Vardy and her daughter Belle. She pretends to like them and endeavours to be accommadating with them whilst at the same time, working her Council chums to find them alternative accommodation, without replacements. Nellie and especially her daughter Belle, turn out to be worthy adversaries in this show business. Moreover, Belle becomes equally as besotted with young JJ as McNab is with his wife, and her efforts to woo him prove every bit as conniving as Bridget's. Meanwhile, as war looms, McNab is forced to confront his demons from the last war thus putting added pressure on the quintet to keep the peace at Lomond Road.
Valentino's Redress
Many are called, few are chosen but Oscar Fox is, a VALENTINO. With his broad range of mind, devilishly handsome looks, and respectably tethered ego, his success with women seems to know no bounds. And why not? He loves and respects them. Moreover, he has spent his adult life studying them and perfecting his powers of seduction with the dedication of a scholar. Few who had met him, would deny he had become a paragon of the mating game. Alas though, all that changes when he meets the delectable Sofia Gianbatista, his new boss in the Call Centre where they work. Unwittingly, yet systematically, she reduces him to a fumbling, dithering wreck with her grace, beauty, and professionalism. How he redresses himself in order to woo her, will surprise and delight you, even after he loses everything, courtesy of a jealous rival Jean Paul Brewster, who plots against him. To the very end, you will be wondering if Oscar will win the trust and respect, if not the love, of the beautiful, virtuous Sofia, who believes his kind can never change.
The Treasures of Drumory
The world is ready for Drumory, indeed the world needs Drumory; a marvellous, secret, utopian society, whose inhabitants' exploits are going to leave an indelible impression on your mind for the rest of your life. The story begins with the birth of a poor little boy named Susjee Booth, who had the misfortune of being born without a nose. Moreover, he was also of diminutive proportions. His appearance utterly appalled his parents who would have put him to death there and then had it not been for the presence of the local midwife, Diana Hardy. She could not have children of her own and so, when the Booths pleaded with her to keep their son's existence a secret for the time being, in a moment of weakness she agreed. What's more, she came to ignore her official responsibility for the boy's welfare and over the next 4 years, harboured a desire to persuade the evil Booths to let her adopt Susjee. Alas though, tragedy strikes and the Booths abandon Susjee to a nearby mystical county called Drumory. They never imagined he would survive in the wild but miraculously, he does, taking refuge in an abandoned rabbit burrow. In the years that follow, his encounters with the Drumorians prove near catastrophic. People die, and in large numbers. The details of their deaths are not for the faint-hearted and by the end of this swashbuckling tale, you will doubtless sigh and shake your head in wonder.