Published Bestsellers

Book Title: Short Stories - Volume Two Genre: Fiction: Short Stories / Thriller / Anthology Author: Neal James Be prepared to laugh, cry, shrink with fear as you listen for those bumps in the night, and fly away into outer space as you travel through the wormholes of your own mind. This collection of twenty-six stories is the second rollercoaster ride which Neal invites to you take with him. ‘Short Stories Volume Two’ will fill that coffee break or evening by the fire. There’s romance, crime, horror, science fiction, and just a hint of the paranormal among the twenty-six tales which he has spun for you. …Find out more…visit book web page www.pneumasprings.co.uk/ShortStories-VolumeTwo.htm “Short and snappy stories swathed in sheets of spun-out satisfaction” …publishedbestsellers.com Ebook | Kobo | Google Play | Amazon Kindle | Apple iBook | Nook

Be prepared to laugh, cry, shrink with fear as you listen for those bumps in the night, and fly away into outer space as you travel through the wormholes of your own mind. This collection of twenty-six stories is the second rollercoaster ride which Neal invites you to take with him.  ‘Short Stories Volume Two’ will fill that coffee break or evening by the fire. There’s romance, crime, horror, science fiction, and just a hint of the paranormal among the twenty-six tales which he has spun for you.  …Find out more… visit book page About the author: Neal James has been writing since 2008 when his first novel. ‘A Ticket to Tewkesbury’, was released. Since that time eight more books have followed, and ‘Short Stories Volume Two’ is his tenth work to be published in as many years.  He has appeared in both the national and local press, and has also been a regular at branches of Waterstones and local reading groups and libraries in his home counties of Derbyshire and Nottingham

Full Marks   ...someone in high places has a score to settle By  Neal James ‘Full Marks’ tracks the fortunes of one of the Metropolitan Police’s finest officers as he tries to clear his name. A raft of accusations, laid before the IPPC, threatens to undermine his career. Powerful forces, ranged on either side of the investigation, are set to determine the course of DCI Dennis Marks’ professional and personal life. A month was all the DCI had to prove his innocence of a range of charges dating back to his days as a detective sergeant. A career spent putting away the dregs of London’s criminal world was hanging in the balance… Author Neal James began writing in 2007 when a series of short stories found favour on a number of international writing sites. Since then, he has released three novels and an anthology of short stories. ‘Full Marks’, his fifth book in as many years, is a crime novel and a product of a vivid imagination set against a backdrop of exposés dating back to

From its opening setting of the innocence of university life to the closing satisfaction of cold, hard business dealing, ‘Making It’ takes you on one man’s journey through the turbulent, unpredictable and ruthless business world of the ‘Thatcher Revolution’. Laurie Walker’s trauma of almost failing his degree, and a subsequently volatile encounter with the gay scene in Barcelona, sets the scene for his education beyond anything that academia could have taught him. This is a journey through the social and economic upheaval of the 1980s and 1990s in a cutthroat business world where sharks lurk at every corner waiting for the unwary novice. Mark Edmondson’s portrayals of Chas Wray as the tycoon bully-boy and Laurie Walker as his unwitting victim are sharp, entrancing, and financially brutal. The dual plotlines, converging inexorably, are a hark-back to the days when deregulation was the byword of the Tory government of the time. This, however, is no textbook, despite Mr Edmondso

"Imagine, for a moment, Thomas Hardy writing crime, and you have a close approximation to Julius Falconer’s descriptive talents in ‘The Waif’. Ally that to a style reminiscent of Edgar Wallace in ‘The Four Just Men’, and you have all of the necessary ingredients for a fascinating detective story. Now throw in, for good measure, ‘Bradshaw’s Guide’, and you are off on a journey filled with wonderful scenery as we traverse Europe in search of a miscreant so cunning, that DI Moat seems foiled at each and every turn. ‘The Waif’ sets Moat and his assistant, DS Stockwell, a seemingly unsolvable mystery going back three centuries, and culminating in what appears, on the face of it, to be a simple case of murder. Falconer’s depth of knowledge of the environs, not just of Yorkshire, but also of several European locales, reveals a commitment to a level of research essential for a good detective thriller. Moat’s almost ‘Poirot’ characterization, and his invitations to ‘you dear reader’

Day of the Phoenix By Neal James Steve Marshall was ready. This time there would be no mistakes – no-one to derail the plan, and no-one to step outside his ideas for the perfect Britain. Anyone standing in the way of progress would be brutally mown down. Infiltrating the British Democratic Party was the ultimate solution to the establishment of a Fascist state – a state controlled by him and him alone. Marshall had toiled hard and long at the plan since the debacle of 1992. The Organisation had come within a whisker of success, and but for some strokes of outrageous fortune, MI5 and its head, the imperious George Watkinson, would have been all but consigned to history. This time it would be different. Neal James takes this sequel to ‘A Ticket to Tewkesbury’ into a frighteningly possible future… Find out more

A psychological thriller revolving around a UK serial killer and the efforts to catch him. The novel is well written and quick to read--I read it in three days--yet a very complex story none-the-less that jumps back and forth between two storylines: one in 2002, after police receive a letter from the serial killer who has stopped for a decade and is giving them four weeks to find him before he resumes; the other is back during the 15 year killing spree in the 70's. The author well handles the difficult task of multiple/intertwined plots in the book. The format of the novel worked well. Short chapters, each covering a single day, moving back and forth between the two timelines and at times, skipping as much as five years in the older one. This allowed for the story to remain well focused at all times on a primary overall plot and at no time does it veer away from the action. Also, it caused me to continually say "OK, one more chapter" and before I knew it, that w

Excerpt Emily Watson had never considered herself to be bad. She had, it was true, been involved in some dubious matters in her youth, but at the age of thirty-six that was now well behind her. “Morning, dear.” The cheery voice of Raymond, her partner, preceded him into the dining room like a warm summer breeze. She smiled over the top of her newspaper in reply and went back to her coffee while he prepared his breakfast. Raymond Martin was, on paper, a millionaire, and had made his money in the boom years of the Thatcher revolution in the 1980s. From relatively humble beginnings with a string of northern market stalls, he had expanded operations on the back of some shrewd wheeler-dealing. He bought his first high street shop in 1986, and by the end of that decade had a further six. “You’re in the news again.” She laid the daily paper across the table and tapped a section of the financial press. “Looks like the new trainee management initiative’s going down well.”

Threads of Deceit | Fiction: Crime Detective "1st book I have read by Neal James and it won't be the last. Great story, a little slow at the beginning but this did allow you to get to know the characters. The story starts of in a very down to earth textile company with realistic characters that I am sure we have all worked with. The plot develops into an intriguing mystery/suspense story with lots twists and developments that keeps you reading. A relatively short book that I couldn't put down and managed to complete in a day ( I am usually a slow reader). The twists build to an excellent ending that certainly didn't disappoint. I would highly recommend this, well worth a read." Jane Thomas Paperback | Waterstones | Amazon UK Ebook | Kobo | Hive | Google Play |  Amazon Kindle |  Apple iBook | Txtr

Excerpt Her name was Carly, Carly Richardson, and Ricky had never seen anyone so beautiful in his, as yet, short life. At five feet seven, with dark brown hair and a smile that could charm the birds out of the trees, she was everything that he imagined a woman could possibly be. Her eyes were like pools, and he would willingly have drowned in them. She was twenty-two to his twenty-three, and it had seemed as though they were destined for each other. She hailed from Springfield, a smallish town just outside of Nashville, and Ricky had used that as the ice-breaker, asking her how Homer and Marge were doing. It made her laugh although he imagined she’d heard it all before. Ricky Madison was a Chicago boy born and bred – he lived and died with the White Sox in summer and the Bears in winter. He loved his job at Mullins Motor Mechanic in Lincoln Park, and could strip down and rebuild the engine of most cars you’d care to name. He’d been there since high school and although the older guy

"If you love a good mystery, then what could be better than a 50 year old letter that leads the main character, Julie, on an adventure to find the person who was supposed to receive this love letter? The one thing that Julie discovered from the letter was that it had been written by a soldier returning home after the end of the World War II to a nurse in Cleethorpes. They had met at a rehabilitation hospital in Kent and fell head over heels in love. With her husband in tow, Julie travels to East Coast holiday resort of Cleethorpes. Here they discover much more than who should have received the letter. They discover dark secrets that hark back to the Third Reich. If their discoveries fall into the wrong hands, the very foundation of the British government could be destroyed." Neal James is the author of five books: 'A Ticket to Tewkesbury' , 'Short Stories - V1' , 'Two Little Dicky Birds' , ' Threads of Deceit ' & ' Full Marks 

"I enjoyed reading this novel so much because of the author's talent to create the perfect plot. I liked all the twists and different directions he was taking me. Definitely a page turner! I couldn't put it down. The author has the ability to write description that made me feel like I was part of the story. I could see everything the author wanted me to see, like in a movie. It's well written and the characters all perfectly described. It's definitely a book that I will read again. It was a good read and the end left me wanting more. I recommend this book to everyone! Two thumbs up!"   Neal James is the author of five books: 'A Ticket to Tewkesbury' , 'Short Stories - V1' , 'Two Little Dicky Birds' , ' Threads of Deceit ' & ' Full Marks '. Paperback | Waterstones | Amazon UK Ebook | Kobo |  Amazon Kindle | Apple iBook  | Txtr  

"I enjoyed reading this novel so much because of the author's talent to create the perfect plot. I liked all the twists and different directions he was taking me. Definitely a page turner! I couldn't put it down. The author has the ability to write description that made me feel like I was part of the story. I could see everything the author wanted me to see, like in a movie. It's well written and the characters all perfectly described. It's definitely a book that I will read again. It was a good read and the end left me wanting more. I recommend this book to everyone! Two thumbs up!"   Neal James is the author of five books: 'A Ticket to Tewkesbury' , 'Short Stories - V1' , 'Two Little Dicky Birds' , ' Threads of Deceit ' & ' Full Marks '. Paperback | Waterstones | Amazon UK Ebook | Kobo |  Amazon Kindle | Apple iBook  | Txtr  

The Derby Telegraph invites readers to submit short stories. Here is a piece by Neal James, titled 'Out of the Frying Pan' MARK knew that he was for the high jump as soon as he got the summons to head office from Burt Travers, the head of corporate HR. He had failed on a number of potentially lucrative contracts and the work required to seal each deal had been neither complicated nor time-consuming. Now it was time to face the music and, as he sat in the company's reception area of the 38th floor of the World Trade Center in New York, he started to worry about how he was going to explain things to his wife Selma. They had been married for 22 years and, although they had no children, his was the only source of income and they had a hefty mortgage to pay on their Philadelphia home. It was a riverfront property off St Columbus Boulevard and he had gambled on his commission to pay off the interest on the loan. He was snapped out of his reverie by a call over the reception

Excerpt “Mummy! Mummy look at this. Dad says I can’t possibly wear anything so hideous tonight. You said it would be alright didn’t you?” Melanie came racing down the stairs and into the lounge, her face red with indignation. Pauline looked slowly around the room and stood in complete silence as she came to terms with events of the past few moments. They had all reeled as the heavy glass object crashed into the far side of the mirror, and she had stepped forwards as the figure of Melanie disappeared backwards in the foggy air generated by the explosion of fragments into the Colmores’ lounge. She reached out automatically but the hand of Maria prevented any further movement and the entire scene vanished before her eyes. Now she was standing in the lounge of her own home all those years ago with her twelve year old daughter before her with arms folded and shoulders hunched in an all too familiar pose. Derek took great delight in winding Melanie up at the drop of a hat, and in this i

I’m a Derbyshire author, am 61 this year, and have been writing since 2006 when an idea for a family 33 years of earning a living in a professional capacity as an accountant provided the kind of discipline needed to complete novels ranging from 65,000 to 100,000 words. Putting myself through a professional qualification made me realise that there really is no such thing as a Free Lunch, and that the only person likely to take an interest in my career, apart from my wife Lynn, was me. This is the sort of reality which had stood me in good stead, and allowed me to reconcile to the fact that agencies simply are not interested in unknown, and therefore high risk, authors. I was extremely fortunate to find Pneuma Springs – a publisher prepared to take a risk without the fallback position of relying on an agent to screen the work.

By Neal James   The lure of writing, for me, came with the hair-raising prospect of actually getting something not simply published, but also in the display window of a major book store chain. I do believe that more of us have the ability to write than the supposed experts give us credit for. I once read part of an article by a well-known writer which contained what I thought was a piece of sheer arrogance. Paraphrasing, this person said that there is an assertion that there is a book within in all of us and that, in his/her opinion, that is precisely where it should remain. The unfairness of this piece of rhetoric stands alone in its starkness. I started in 2006 with a manuscript full of family life stretching over a period of 30 years or more. It was prompted by a major family event, and spawned a flow of short stories which were published on a succession of writing sites across the world. This is where a writer cuts his or her teeth. Places like that can be brutal in the

Excerpt Pauline stood transfixed. The mirror was just what she had been looking for and now, as if by some divine intervention there it was, ready, available and apparently ignored by everyone else. She turned the price ticket over in her fingers and let out an almost inaudible gasp of surprise - £75. The stallholder came over to her after serving another customer and asked if he could help. “No thank you, I was just looking. It is a nice mirror though.” “Belonged to my grandmother. She died recently and we’re clearing out her stuff. These car boot sales really are a Godsend.” Pauline nodded and smiled; vendors at sales would tell any story to offload unwanted belongings, and this one certainly seemed to fit the bill. Nevertheless she hurried off as calmly as possible to find her husband, Derek. The mirror was simply too good a bargain to miss and the move to their new home needed some finishing touches. She found him rummaging through a pile of books at a nearby stall and tug

Interview Excerpt Q. Does being an accountant influence your attention to detail or other matters in your fictions? A. It certainly imposes a discipline in terms of the structure of what I write. Each author will select the most suitable method of controlling a plot, and it has to be something with which they are comfortable. For me, as an accountant, it is the Spreadsheet. Spreadsheets are one of the mainstay tools of my profession, and are perfectly adaptable for the purposes of writing literary fiction. I can set out the structure of each novel in standard form and then bend and adapt it to match the needs of each book. Along with a plot layout in MS Word, I can then keep a tight control over characters, story lines, and logic. By this means, I can ensure that there are no loose ends… unless I make a conscious decision to leave them lying around for purposes of my own. The accountancy profession also provides me with a wealth of data for my writing. This was something that I

Neal James began writing in 2007 when a series of short stories found favour on a number of international writing sites. Since then, he has released three novels and an anthology of short stories. ‘Full Marks’, his fifth book in as many years, is a crime novel and a product of a vivid imagination set against a backdrop of exposés dating back to the mid-1970s. ‘Two Little Dicky Birds’, his 2010 release, was a finalist in the prestigious Peoples Book prize of 2012. He is a member of the Crime Writers’ Association, and regular contributor to local newspaper features. As an accountant for over three decades, he has drawn on his background to provide an insight into much of the substance required in the creation of his writing to date. He lives in Derbyshire with his wife and family.