The winter of 1963 was the coldest winter of the century in the UK, at a time when post-war austerity and social class divisions made for a miserable life for many people. These were the days of back boilers, bubble and squeak, paraffin oil stoves, gas works, steam trains, and starting handles. The 1960s technological and social revolution hadn’t happened yet.

Ronnie and Jenny Delaney live in the south coast town of Poole, close by the gas works. They get by - Jenny works in the local pottery and Ronnie runs a paraffin delivery round, helping to keep his grateful customers warm. But then something unexpected turns up on the paraffin round: an eyeball. It doesn't take Ronnie long to work out that it's got something to do with his past as a small-time crook, back in the East End of London. Someone's messing him about. He can handle it. Or so he thinks.

But things start to get...[more]

For his second Podiobook, Bill Schmalfeldt goes from the sublime to the ridiculous. His follow-up to the non-fiction "No Doorway Wide Enough" is this fanciful, hilarious narrative, voiced by disgraced, former alcoholic truck driver Billy Big Rig (who can never reveal his real name because everyone wants to kill him) who -- if he is to be believed -- infiltrated a terror cell, went to Afghanistan, and single-handedly saved America from another terror attack in the days after 9/11. Along the way, he shares his philosophy about life, love, truckstop meals and waitresses, men's room protocol, how he killed the REAL Saddam Hussein, and his many, many marriages. This will probably be the most politically-incorrect book you will read or hear all year. Definitely not for the kiddies, mostly for language, violence, and brief nudity. If you download this book and are offended, it's YOUR fault, not the author's! You've...[more]

If you liked Clear Heart, I think you'll like this one too. It’s got great characters, it’s down-to-earth, it’s fun. And better yet, this one's friendly to children. Boone Barnaby is about three boys testing the limits of life in their scrappy little town. It’s about collecting garbage, climbing trees, catching a criminal, and talking to dragonflies.

Boone Barnaby lives in a small town full of large characters: San Puerco, California. There’s Boone’s father, who loves Studebakers and doo-wop, and who has a habit of walking around the dark streets of town late at night carrying a can of gasoline. There’s Boone’s friend Danny, who has...[more]

Dreibrand Veta has killed for his country. At the frontlines of imperial expansion, he seeks to rebuild the fortune of his noble family. In his daring travels he encounters the rys, a race far more powerful than the human empire that bred him. Dreibrand cannot defy the rys Queen Onja nor defend his companion, Miranda, and her children from the wicked tyrant Queen.

Desperate for help, Dreibrand and Miranda join Shan, a rys with emerging powers who plans to challenge Onja. In Shan’s pursuit of the rys throne, he exerts his magical powers, gathers his allies, and incites rebellion among Onja’s human subjects.

Great wealth and power will reward the kings, warriors, and spies that align themselves with the rys pretender, but defeat could mean worse than death. Onja can imprison souls and her genocidal rage is legendary. Everything is at risk for Shan’s union of renegades.

...[more]

The Terrible Business of Salmon & Dusk collection, book 2

DETECTIVES. THIEVES. TIME-TRAVELLERS. (REASONABLE RATES.)

'Somewhere in this city, there's a hole in history, in reality itself, and it's getting bigger. I'm the only detective in town who keeps an eye on what crawls through.'

Kilbey Salmon has charm, a quick gob and an instinct for self-preservation. Nero Dusk has a lot of patience, a grumpy demeanour and a way with his fists. Theo Cartwright is an Australian journalist who often wonders why she spends time with either of them.

In their time-travelling London cab, they scrape together a living finding things that never existed and solving crimes that never happened for people desperate enough to seek their help. Mostly,...[more]

Peter Everett is a man stained with grief, his life becomes a struggle of decisions as he watches the lives of the people around him dissolve and burn.

Mags Donne is a damaged, bruised young girl, reaching out into the darkness, trying to take control of her life.

Their Scars are what begin to unite them, with the people that surround them.

The Scars is a novel of difficulty, hatred, love, intrigue, kidnap, wrongdoing, abuse, laughter and beauty.

"The Best Laid Plans" is a satirical novel of Canadian politics written by Terry Fallis. It recounts the unlikely and amusing alliance between a 30-something burnt out, jaded political staffer, and an older, cantankerous, engineering professor. Driven by a federal election and the life of the resulting minority conservative government, the novel moves between the small town of Cumberland, Ontario on the shores of the Ottawa River, and the nation's capital. While the characters and their exploits are often comical, serious ideas on politics and democracy underlie the fun. For more information on the novel and author, visit www.terryfallis.com.

A second helping of podcast fiction from 'One Among the Sleepless' author, Mike Bennett. 'Hall of Mirrors' is a short story collection featuring tales of horror, the grotesque and people in... 'unusual' circumstances.

Delivered in a style that pays homage to Night Gallery, Alfred Hitchcock Presents and the old British horror anthology movies of the 1960s, this is a collection of modern gothic tales with a nail of dark humour hammered through its heart. So roll up, ladies and gentlemen, and enter the Hall of Mirrors – if you dare.

"This is the way horror audio should be done: Mike Bennett's podcast storytelling is an exceptionally generous free treat for the ears and the mind. Listen to the Hall of Mirrors, and you'll feel his dark and twisted imaginations fingering their way into your ear canals, his remarkable voice prying into your brain in the most creepiest and unforgettable of...[more]