(The home of fine writing)
Red Panda Press, the home of fine writing and publishers of the novels of: Len Cooke & R.M. McLeod
September. By Len Cooke. A tale of love, adultery, deceit, avarice and murder; set against the backdrops of the outstandingly beautiful English Lake District in the early 1950s, WWII, and the eerily supernatural.
The Time Travellers' Guide to Total Chaos or Harry Sandy and the Zandron. By Len Cooke. Take a beautiful and highly intelligent alien from a faraway planet who is seeking political asylum on Earth. A not so bright policeman from Scotland Yard ordered to look after her; a mobile, futuristic computer called Zandron, with the ability to enable time travel. Result – absolute, complete and total chaos! Caution, read this book only if you do not value your sanity.
The Witches of Lewthan Mountain. By R.M. McLeod. A classic children's fantasy novel. With a word length of just under 27,000, it is an ideal book for the reluctant reader as the hero of the novel, 11-year old Charlie Braithwaite, in the company of some very strange and wonderful friends, battles dragons, witches, and goblins in an attempt to rescue his cousin and retrieve a priceless, centuries old artefact from an evil witch queen. So, are you ready to enter the deadly dangerous Darklands and take the perilous journey with Charlie?
The Escape of Athelwan. By R..M. McLeod. The second in the series of Charlie Braihwaite adventures which sees the young Cumbrian hero time travel back to the England of 1940. Once there he has to try and stop a sorcerer who is desperately trying to re-write history by helping the evil Nazis win the Battle of Britain. No pressure then?
The Time Flyers. By R.M. McLeod. Two young boys have great fun and high adventure when they have to rescue the clever inventor/ grandfather of one of them, and the British prime minister, from the clutches of some pretty nasty kidnappers. A fast-moving story of time travel, secret passages, murderous Roman soldiers, a long extinct sabre tooth tiger and a lost caveman from the ice age. All inter-mixed, as you will no doubt have already guessed with one of R.M. McLeod's novels, with some terrifically funny comic scenes.
Drop Zone. By R.M. McLeod. When the Carrington family children take a holiday in the English Lake District they have no idea that they will be helping the police take on an extremely unpleasant gang of ruthless, international drug smugglers. However, in this nail-biting, action-packed thriller, the children soon begin to wonder whether they have taken on more than they bargained for.
A Witch with Attitude!
One of the dark and evil foes Charlie has to confront inThe Escape of Athelwan. (Drawn by the brilliant Cumbrian artist and book illustrator – James Askew.)
The world famous schoolboy – Charlie Braithwaite, as he asks. 'Are you ready to take the journey with R.M. McLeod and me?'
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The Ghosts of Badger Wood. By R.M. McLeod. The Carrington children are back holidaying in their beloved Lake District again. This time they find an injured badger cub and, together with a retired vet, nurse him back to health. That is the good news; the bad news is that on the day Brock (the name of the badger) is to be released into Badger Wood, wicked badger baiters, who love nothing better than to set their dogs on the animals, for sport and fun, are going to dig out the local sett and use the hapless occupants in their gruesome pastime.
On hearing of this pending outrage, and desperately anxious for the safety of Brock, his family and all his friends, the Carrington children try to alert every adult they can find but few really want to listen and those who do assure the children the badgers will be all right. Why? Because the Ghosts of Badger Wood will save them – well they will – won't they?
The Capture of Athelwan
(James Askew)
A policeman's lot is not always a happy one!
(James Askew)
The Illusionists. by Len Cooke. For Detective Superintendent Harry (H) Harrington, life is being very unkind. Firstly, his wife is brutally murdered, then, after he nearly dies himself, and his assistant does, he is swept along on a grim journey of government intrigue, duplicity, and political assassination as he tries to uncover the truth, find the identity of his wife’s killer and save his rubbished reputation from the gutter.
The Illusionists is set against the backdrop of the late teens of the twenty-first century. Already much weakened by economic and moral meltdown, Britain is facing an ongoing and ever increasing terrorist threat to her national security. A threat seen by some of those in power to be so existentially serious that the ‘Special Relationship’, with the United States of America, is regarded as even more sacrosanct than ever; a holy of holies that must be nurtured and maintained above virtually all other international considerations. Britain is also a country, as she secretly throws away centuries of reason and humanitarian reform of the criminal justice system, steadily and incrementally moving towards a totalitarian future, a future where nothing is quite as it should be, or indeed, as it seems.
However, above all things, The Illusionists is about how, in an ever more morally dystopian world, a thoroughly decent human being can, metaphorically, sell his soul to the 'Dark Side' and the truly disastrous personal consequences such an unwise transaction can, and often does, bring to its forever unfulfilled, and truly hapless, owner. (You can read 30% of this novel free at Smashwords.)
The Theft of the Crown of Bodran By R.M. Mcleod. Reading age – 8-12 years. Estimated word count – 35,000. Charlie is in class, listening to a boring geography lesson when his old friend, Argetlám the wizard, suddenly appears before him. Invisible to both Charlie’s teacher and the rest of the class, the wizard quickly tells his young friend that the much coveted and prized crown of the elfin King Bodran has been stolen. He also tells him that he would like Charlie’s help in finding the thief and recovering the king’s stolen property.
Thus begins yet another adventure for our young hero. This time, as with The Witches of Lewthan Mountain, Charlie has to venture deep into the Cumbrian Darklands, a strange and dangerous dimension dominated by hostile witches, giants, goblins and other dark forces of evil. His journey takes him via the Cumbrian lake known to humans as Wastwater, but better known to the wizard as the Mere of Ffion; home to Queen Ffion, sovereign lady of the water nymphs who dwell there. Whilst at the lake, Ffion presents Charlie with a sword that has strange magical and healing properties and once owned by the young Sir Galahad of Holy Grail fame. It is from there that they cross into the awesomely dangerous dimension of the Darklands where they immediately stumble across elves and goblins fully engaged in a battle to the death and it is then that Charlie’s third, great adventure, really does begin.
Following on from The Theft of the Crown of Bodran, this sequel deals with the attempted revenge of the awesomely unpleasant giant – Botan, who was so cleverly duped by Charlie and his friends when they retrieved King Bodran's stolen crown.
After finding himself in a great deal of trouble with a supply teacher, due to a case of mistaken identity, Charlie soon finds himself the centre of attention of the furious giant’s spies. Charged with locating his home in the Overland, the place where humankind live, the spies eventually run Charlie to earth and report back to their master. Delighted that he has at last discovered the home of one of his greatest enemies, Botan decides to invade the Overland and capture Charlie, or one of his cousins, for ransom. Eventually, with Botan on the rampage in the Darklands and his dwarf army and coven of witches mobilised for war, Charlie and his friends have to join battle with him to save the world. No pressure then!
The Revenge of Botan the Bone Crusher!
See the author read from this novel at Smashwords
See the author read from this novel at Smashwords
A compendium of five short tales of the bizarre and unusual including: 'The Guardian Angel', 'Jennifer', 'The Fixer', 'The Time Traveller's Folly' and 'The Friends'. Featuring the devil, alien invaders the folly of using time travel to alter history and find a wife and the things that can come for you when you die!
Has anyone ever offered you a deal that sounds too good to be true? Have a read of 'The Fixer.' Wondered what happens when you die? Try 'The Guardian Angel'. Ever wished that someone had not been born? Be careful what you wish for and, before you do, read 'The Time Traveller's Folly'. Recently fallen in love with a beautiful woman? Get to know her family as well as you can and have a look at 'Jennifer' before you commit yourself. Finally, whatever you do, be careful of falling in love with your long-dead great, great aunt; reading 'The Friends' will explain why.