A Legacy from Mary a Thriller by Eddie Gubbins

My thriller A Legacy from Mary is available from Amazon as a paperback and for downloading as an ebook on Kindle. It is also available from Smashwords for downloading to all e-readers.

This a novel about loyalty to friends and family even though that loyalty takes one out of familiar  situations and into the unknown. 

Ken Flood was an academic and events in the wider world did not effect his life. Then his friends Joshua and Mary were killed. The only connection was a country called Mengambi, Joshua was a Mengambian and Maria untook short courses in the country. Suddenly Ken was caught up in the game of power excersised in Mengambi when he agreed to take Mary’s place teaching on the short courses in Mengambi. What he wanted to find out was if there was more to his friends deaths than reported. Can he survive the pressure from his employer in Mengambi and the request by his brother to gather information?

Galway Bay

I wrote this poem after a visit to Ireland.

Galway Bay

We sing

Watch the sun go down on Galway Bay

But the rain poured down

The clouds raced across the sky

Waves beat on the shore.

A Rainbow arches over the water

We race to find the end

But the rain poured down. 

Never reached the end of the rainbow

Or found the crock ,of gold

And the rain poured down

Huddled in the car

Watching the fishing boats

Red Blue green

Appear out of the grey mist

Fighting the white foam

To return to harbour

And the rain poured down.

We never saw the sun

Go down on Galway bay.

An Ordinary Life

An Ordinary Life by Edmund J Gubbins

Money laundering is illegal. Even Tom Houseman knows that. He, as an academic, makes a distinction between helping somebody to set up legitimate business and the source of the money.

The novel follows the life of Tom Houseman. From his early childhood on the edge of a hard council estate to eminent Professor with a worldwide reputation and great wealth. The story explores the manner in which most people regard themselves as honest and law abiding although there are times and circumstances when they ignore the rules of behaviour or of some moral code. These people justify their actions by ignoring their conscience or making excuses for their behaviour. In extreme cases they give the impression that morality is not an issue in their case.

Tom Houseman has a boyhood friend called Derek from the council estate and, though their paths diverge after junior school, he stays loyal to his friend. Derek becomes the right hand man of the criminal Mr. Big and introduces Edward. During his life, Edward accepts opportunities presented by his friends and his brother. These enhance both his standing in society and his wealth. All the time, he ignores and denies the moral and legal implications of taking advantage of these offers. As time passes, he has to accept the implications of his choices.

Will he finally have to face these hard decisions or will he sail serenely on living, to him, this ordinary life?

This can be purchased for downloading at www.amazon.com, www.amazon.co.uk and www.smashwords.com. 

As a paperback from Amazon.

Tales from the Sea

Tales of the Sea is a semi-autobiographical novel based on my life at sea between 1957 and 1969.

In its pages the reader will meet the characters with whom I sailed and their antics. They will experience nights ashore and visit through my eyes exotic places. Read about the different ships, old and new as they plough across the oceans carrying the products of the world Throughout there is the sea and its dangers. The sea can be angry or benevolent.

The essence of the novel can be summed up in a poem:

The Call

The sea is calling, always calling

Even when the sailor has long left voyaging behind.

The sea calls, ever calls,

Over the noise of this sometimes dreadful life.

To sail away , to leave this life behind,

But to where?

That is what adds to the thrill.

Let the voyage be long or short,

Let the oceans be calm or fierce,

In the urge to sail away,

Lies man's eternal quest

For something new.

Why oh why does man always strive after the new

When accepting the present would save a lot of heart ache.

It has long been a mystery to me but,

More than in any other profession,

The sea  offers a greater chance to satisfy this need.

The sailor never arrives

Because each new port is a stepping stone to the next

And on to the next

Until the nomadic lifestyle grows too much.

It maybe that the sailor observes other people

Settling into a pattern of life which brings rewards

Such things as family and home,

Anchored to other views of living

Rather than constantly on the move.

So the sailor leaves the sea

And puts down roots.

Or does he?

The sound of a seagull screaming ,

The wind moaning around the roof of his house 

The sound of waves lapping on the shore

Will awaken in the hidden recesses of his mind

The longing to feel the excitement once more

As the ship goes silent,

Ready to leave for the sea.

It can be purchased through Amazon, smashwords and createspace.

Princess Daphne

My latest fantasy novel PRINCESS DAPHNE has just been published at www.createspace.com
It is the forth in the Rombuli Saga series.

' It has been six years since the war between the elves of the Golden City and the invading Black Elves from Nelwee who came through a time and place rift from another planet. After the defeat of the Black Elves on the Sacred Mountain, Edward Eastland had found a way to send them back through the rift. 
Since then Edward has been missing the tension and fear that had been part of his every day life during the war. At times now he could almost feel the tingle when he entered an alien space. At times he missed the fast beating heart while creeping through enemy territory. Then there had been the pulling in of his power to help his friends or himself when they had encountered danger. All this had been missing over the six years.
He had settled down as the appointed Governor of Rombuli and Sandaria. Times were peaceful. His daughter and son were growing up. Kitty, his wife thanked her God every night that her family were together and safe.
One day with no warning the dragon Umbrossa lands in meadow behind his home with a message from the elves of the Golden City. An alien creature has been captured wandering the streets of the Golden City. It does not speak their language but can speak his name. A search deep in his memory could not bring forth any knowledge of an alien creature that might know his name. Curiosity started to infuse his thinking. If he answers the call of the elves, will this draw him back into the world he thought he had left for ever?'

This novel follows from:
THE TEACHER OF THE ROMBULI
THE RETURN OF THE EXILES
THE PRISONER OF PARISON.

All can be purchased as paperbacks from www.createspace.com or www.amazon.com or www.amazon.co.uk
As an ebook from www.smashwords.com, www.amazon.com, www.amazon.co.uk for downloading to kindle, ibooks and other ebook electronic readers.

A Legacy from Mary

My second thriller follows on from the first Brotherly Love.

A Legacy from Mary

Ken Flood was an academic and events in the wider world did not effect his life. Then his friends Joshua and Mary were killed. The only connection was a country called Mengambi, Joshua was a Mengambian and Maria untook short courses in the country. Suddenly Ken was caught up in the game of power excersised in Mengambi when he agreed to take Mary’s place teaching on the short courses in Mengambi. What he wanted to find out was if there was more to his friends deaths than reported. Can he survive the pressure from his employer in Mengambi and the request by his brother to gather information.

This can be downloaded from amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, ibooks and other ebook readers.

As a paperback from amazon.com, amazon.co.uk and www.createspace.com.

Brotherly Love

My first thriller novel!
Can be downloaded as an ebook from kindle, ibooks and other sites for ereaders.
As a paperback from www.createspace.com, www.amazon.com or www.amazon.co.uk

This is a story about fear, of somebody out of his depth in a world made strange to him by events he cannot fully comprehend.
It is a novel about Ken Flood being pulled by family loyalties along paths of experience which would be best left unexplored.
Ken Flood lives a quiet life with his wife, Doreen, and two daughters in Plymouth, working as a lecturer in the University. He minds his own business and is relatively happy with life. Until, that is, his brother Norman arrives unexpectedly one day asking for help. Norman works for the government or so Ken assumes.  What his brother asks appears to Ken to verge on an attempt pull him into the murky waters on the edges of crime. Ken has to decide quickly whether to help his brother out of brotherly love or let his brother face his unknown pursuers alone.
Reluctantly Ken agrees to help and soon finds himself outside the law, being chased by people he does not know, trying to deliver a mysterious package, given to him by his brother, to a man he has never met in London.  Along the way there are chance encounters with people who through friendship are willing to help.
Will Ken manage to stay ahead of his pursuers? Can he keep those who help him safe from intimidation? Will he find out who are his friends and who are his enemies? Is his brother using him to hide his own criminal activities?