Another little plug today for my paperback novel, The Gammadion. 'The envoy shivered. It was only a month till the solstice and, though no snow had fallen, the sharp mountain wind chilled his bones. It was true he had known colder winters, but the circumstances of this journey were exceptional. Fear played a part in …
1989
by Val McDermid A Review 'He unscrewed the jar and took out a capsule. They were dark green, he'd read, so they woudn't deteriorate in sunlight. From his pocket he took out a small vial of white powder ...... Then he replaced the vitamins with the white powder and reassembled the capsule ...... He didn't …
Adventure, Love and Legend
I hope readers will allow me today to give a boost to my most recently published historical novel. Entitled The Gammadion, it is a completely new and revised edition of an earlier book from 2002, and is a prequel to The Tiger and the Cauldron which I serialised here recently. The cover of the book …
Sisters at the Edge of the World
by Ailish Sinclair A Review 'Atunement. Living flesh, pulsing with the beat of life, touching stone that is also living and beating in another way. There is life within. And there is wisdom. And there is a throb of energy, gathered over time. And love. Yes, love.' The Roman historian Tacitus wrote of a great …
Dark Tides
by Philippa Gregory A Review 'He heard the clink of chains from the bones hanging at the gibbet .... and thought how hateful this place was. He hated Alys with a hot murderous fury, and for a moment, he even hated Alinor too. She had been his inferior in every way, his for the taking, …
The Tiger and the Cauldron – Epilogue
Baidu was executed by Ghazan’s order on the very day of the latter’s triumphant entry into Tabriz. He had been Il-khan for only six months. Ghazan was formally enthroned two weeks later. It was the beginning of November in the year 1295 by the Western calendar. That same winter, Marco Polo, his father and his …
The Tiger and the Cauldron[44]
Chapter 44 ‘She is gone,’ said Sabbah. He rubbed his tears away and bent forward to kiss the dead woman on her bloodless lips. Doquz touched his arm and turned away, moved by his grief but feeling none of her own. She had seen too many of her friends die to mourn a mother she …
The Tiger and the Cauldron[43]
Chapter 43 From the watchtower on the main gate of Tabriz Castle, Doquz looked out over the darkening city. Somewhere in the distance, the cry of a muezzin sounded, echoed across the rooftops, and faded away in the distance. It was followed by a second, then a third. It was the final call to prayer …
The Tiger and the Cauldron[42]
Chapter 42 Rashid was travelling again. Now that the war was almost over, he expected to feel relieved, however there were new daily frustrations to take the place of the old. Since crossing the Alburz into the plain of the Caspian in what Ghazan planned as a victory march, they had encountered the late summer …
The Tiger and the Cauldron(41)
Chapter 41 Sabbah slammed the door shut and turned the key savagely in the lock. He inspected his thumb on which the blood had begun to congeal. ‘You heard?’ he demanded of Sayyid and Mujir, neither of whom had moved from his position as guard. ‘We heard.’ ‘You will forget!’ Sabbah growled. ‘Swear it.’ ‘I …
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