From medieval adventures and Gothic mysteries to gripping accounts of military heroism — there’s something exciting here for everyone. Scroll down to discover this month’s titles from your favourite Sapere authors.
December’s Fiction Releases
Death at the Altar by Donna Gowland is the third book in the Mary Shelley Investigations. In this instalment, Mary puts her grief aside as she and Percy investigate the murder of a curate at a friend’s wedding.
The Tipping Point by D. R. Bailey is the first book in the Cooper’s Renegades Aviation Thrillers, action-packed aviation adventures set during the Second World War and featuring a team of fighter pilots. When war is declared on Japan by the U.S., American pilot Cooper Donahue soon finds himself in the thick of the action.
Mutiny at the Manor by Cara Clayton is a thrilling tale of romance and rebellion in medieval England. Will this troubled period in history bring ruin to all Elizabeth Amundeville holds dear?
The Rapids and the Abbey by Patrick Larsimont is the sixth book in the Jox McNabb Aviation Thrillers. In this instalment, fighter pilot Jox McNabb takes to the war-torn skies of Italy and the capture of Monte Cassino.
The Prisoner of Raven’s Gaze Hall by J. C. Briggs is a gripping Gothic novel set in Yorkshire. When Catherine Sisley arrives at Raven’s Gaze Hall to nurse an elderly lady, she soon realises that the house — and its occupants — are not all they seem.
The Footlights Murder by David Field is the twelfth crime thriller in the Esther and Jack Enright Mysteries. In this instalment, Jack and Esther take up amateur dramatics in an attempt to track down a murderer and clear Jack’s sister’s name.
December’s Fiction Backlist Releases
We are delighted to announce that the first three instalments in William H. Keith Jr’s adrenalin-fuelled SEALS: The Warrior Breed series are out now! Don’t miss these action-packed military adventures following the U.S. Navy’s elite commando demolition unit.
December’s Non-Fiction Releases
A Captain’s War by Herbert M. Schiller is the remarkable first-hand account of life as a young Confederate officer during the brutal years of the American Civil War.
Disaster at Kasserine by Charles Whiting is a dramatic account of the Allied disaster at Kasserine Pass, where inexperienced American troops clashed with Rommel’s battle-hardened Afrika Korps in North Africa.
Admiral Rodney by Donald Macintyre is a fascinating biography chronicling the life of one of England’s greatest sea commanders, famed for his decisive victory over the French at the Battle of the Saintes during the American War of Independence.
Men of Bomber Command by Chaz Bowyer tells the epic, untold story of the Allied bomber crews who helped turn the tide of World War Two.
Fighting for Defeat by Michael C. C. Adams provides a new perspective on the American Civil War and the reasons behind the Union Army’s early defeats, despite its superiority in manpower, wealth, and industry.
Happy New Year and Happy Reading! Team Sapere
Patrick Larsimont is the author of the Jox McNabb Aviation Thrillers, which follow a fighter pilot through World War Two, and The Brookwood Boys, a paranormal thriller with flashbacks to the lives of deceased soldiers.
In my paranormal military thriller, The Brookwood Boys, ‘Mouse’ Forsyth has watched over Brookwood Cemetery since his death in 1917. For a hundred lonely years, he’s been the caretaker of lost souls, greeting the good, the bad, the damaged, the mad and the sad. Then one day, he is seen and can communicate with the living for the first time. He and his band of fellow soldiers from World War One and World War Two work together to help find a missing living girl. But what was the inspiration for this story and the historical flashbacks about the lives and deaths of the soldiers who are buried here?
My setting is Brookwood Military Cemetery in Surrey, England, the largest in the UK, set within what was once the largest cemetery in Western Europe. Created in the Victorian era, it was destined to hold all of London’s relocated dead and cater for future bodies delivered directly from London Waterloo. It never achieved this goal but is the final resting place of over a quarter of a million souls.
My first interactions with Brookwood began during the COVID-19 lockdowns. It was a quiet place where I could walk and not encounter too many people. I’ve always been fascinated by cemeteries, particularly military ones, and the more I visited, the more I realised the countless rows represented characters in a story — their own, but also our collective one. I thought, in a place like this, there must be ghosts, stranded by trauma and suffering. What if they told their story and together resolved something that happened in the living world?
Those familiar with my stories will know I include real people in my fiction, and there are no shortage of fascinating stories to be told in Brookwood: secrets, scandals, tragedies and horror. Many have made it into the novel and here are a few which you may find interesting.
Hedwig ‘Hattie’ Raithel was a thirty-three-year-old American nurse who died of influenza in 1918, at a time when she could have been caring for patients in a war-weary world struck by Spanish flu. This frustration has kept her spirit here in my story, as a gentle, mother-like spirit to the others gathered here. The parallels between the deadly outbreak that led to the crowded graves at Brookwood back then, and the mass fatalities resulting from the current global pandemic were not lost on me.
Pilot Officer John B. Ramsay and Sergeant J. ‘Hugh’ M. Ellis couldn’t have been more different in life. Both were fighter pilots during the Battle of Britain, one a public schoolboy from Dorset, the other nicknamed the ‘Cockney Sparrow’ by his squadron mates. Both were just twenty-one, killed within two weeks of each other during the terrible summer of 1940. Both were lost without a trace. It wasn’t until 1983 that Hugh was found and given a full military funeral at Brookwood, followed by John in 1993. They now lie side by side.
In my story, they become brothers, ‘haunting’ another ghost who might have shot them down. Leutnant Kurt Sidowwas a Luftwaffeace, aged twenty-four, who is also buried at Brookwood with about fifty of his Kameraden. In my story, he is an antagonist, an unrepentant Nazi. But after interacting with John and Hugh, he finds some redemption.
The youngest soldier buried in Brookwood is Tommy Knowles. This is his gravestone on a snowy winter’s day. He too was killed by influenza on the very same day as nine other South African men in the same hospital ward, who never made it to the trenches to do their bit for King and Country. In my story, Tommy plays endless games of football with his friends amongst their gravestones.
There are many other true stories in The Brookwood Boys. What was the fate of the US soldiers killed during rehearsals for D-Day? Who were the US Army’s murderers, and where were they buried after being hanged? Where were the casualties from the Dieppe raid who made it back to Britain buried? Where are the graves of the victims who were killed when the V1 ‘Doodlebug’ landed on the Guards’ Chapel just days after D-Day? And what happened to the countless soldiers of many nations who fought by Britain’s side during the dark days of World War One and World War Two? All are or were at Brookwood. I hope you’ll come and visit.
Image credits:
Image of Hedwig ‘Hattie’ Raithel sourced from Wikimedia Commons (public domain).
All images of graves taken by Patrick Larsimont.
Congratulations to Patrick Larsimont, whose thrilling military adventure, The Wire and the Lines, is published today!
The Wire and the Lines is fifth instalment of the Jox McNabb Aviation Thrillers series: action-packed historical novels following a young RAF pilot during the Second World War.
Summer, 1943
When fighter pilot Jox McNabb crashes on the wrong side of the straits of Messina, he is captured by the Germans.
It seems that for Jox, the war might be over.
But Jox is never one to give up. Desperate to escape, he quickly familiarises himself with the camp and gets to know his fellow prisoners.
With punishment brutal for those that have attempted to flee previously, morale is low in the camp and there is little motivation to try and break the rules.
The war is still raging on the outside and Jox will do anything to get back to his No. 333 Squadron, the Black Pigs.
On the orders of a cruel Luftwaffe Colonel, Jox is embroiled in a scheme to use high profile POWs as human shields, covering shipments of precious artworks looted from Sicily and Italy.
Could this mission provide Jox with the means to escape? Can he blow the whistle on the stolen loot?
And can he get back in action and rejoin the war in the skies…?
Congratulations to Patrick Larsimont, whose paranormal military thriller, The Brookwood Boys, is out now!
Surrey, England, 2019
Tennessee soldier Maurice ‘Mouse’ Forsyth has been watching over Brookwood Cemetery ever since his untimely death in 1917. For over a hundred lonely years, he has become the caretaker of lost souls, welcoming the good as well as the evil, the damaged, the mad and the bad.
But now something strange is happening. For the first time, Mouse seems to be able to communicate with the living. The head gardener’s teenage son, Luke, has seen him.
Overwhelmed, Mouse tries to find a way to communicate with him. But before he can, Luke’s friend Matilda – a sad girl who has often been seen alone in the graveyard – goes missing.
Mouse wants to help Luke, but he has never interfered with the world of the living before.
Leaning on the other spirits in the military cemetery, whose sad past lives are gradually revealed, Mouse is determined to find Matilda.
But the outcome may not be what he was hoping for…
Will Mouse find a way to speak to Luke? Can he help discover what happened to Matilda?
And will the Brookwood ghosts finally find peace?
In this behind-the-scenes blog series, Sapere Books authors offer an intriguing insight into how, where and why they write.
Today, we are delighted to spotlight Patrick Larsimont, author of the Jox McNabb Aviation Thrillers.
Patrick’s winter writing area
My writing has two modes, much like the clock, British Summer Time and Greenwich Mean Time. Living by the sea in Dorset, the weather rather sets the mood and often my productivity.
In the winter, when it’s darker, I get up early and write directly onto my computer. Earlier this year, I acquired two largish monitors, which I have side by side on a stand, below which I have my MacBook Pro. My desk is invariably covered in paper, notebooks and little bibelots that keep me interested, amused and inspired.
When I glance at the nearby window ledge, I see a toy metal Spitfire in desert camo with a spinning propellor, and a pair of painted tin soldiers (not by me), one a bagpiper in full regalia, the other a 1940s RAF pilot, inscribed on the bottom as ‘Hurricane Ace, Battle of Britain.’ Finally, there’s my grandfather’s little silver boar, a memento of his own service during the war. It bears the motto, ‘Résiste et Mords,’ which got him through many battles and the camps. He’s gone now, but just seeing that pig always rids me of any writer’s block, knowing full well that I’ve had it much easier than him.
In winter mode, I stare at a radiator and the world comes to me through my monitors, making me feel like some sort of chaotic air traffic controller. Heaven help the pilots in my care, although old Jox McNabb is holding his own. I generally aim for twelve hundred words a day and have a weekly target of at least five thousand. It’s a cadence I can manage and feeds my nature as an impatient man.
Patrick’s summer writing area
In the summertime, the process becomes two-staged. I write first in my notebook, in terrible doctor-style handwriting, sometimes so awful I can’t even decipher my own hieroglyphics. I can write anywhere — on the beach, at a coffeeshop (rarely) or in our garden (most often), and train journeys are good too. I don’t get too comfortable and like to just write, setting myself the target of twelve notebook pages per session. I then type up, embellish and edit whenever I fancy. Generally, I do about four drafts, plotting out a rough chapter breakdown at first, with two or three sentences for each. Invariably, that synopsis changes, with chapters budding off like yeast.
For inspiration, I depend on the internet and my constantly growing pile of to-be-read books, but often I just make stuff up. A lifetime of blagging it helps. When working on the laptop and monitors, the lure of ‘rabbit holes’ is great, and I can disappear for hours, but when grinding through with the notebook, I try to avoid that, although I do usually have my smartphone in my pocket.
If I did have a writing approach, it would probably be something like Nike’s ‘Just Do It’ (that’s the old adman in me), but ‘Résiste et Mords’ would probably do too.
Congratulations to Patrick Larsimont, whose thrilling wartime adventure, The Vulcan and the Straits, is out now!
The Vulcan and the Straits is the fourth book in the Jox McNabb Aviation Thrillers series: action-packed, authentic historical adventures following a young RAF pilot during the Second World War.
Autumn, 1942
Fighter pilot, Jox McNabb has survived the desert and the second battle of El Alamein, but now No. 111 Squadron is heading into a fresh new storm.
They embark on Operation Torch, the invasion of Vichy North Africa, but adverse weather conditions make flying almost impossible.
And their Commanding Officer, Tony Bartley is losing control as he becomes more and more dependent on alcohol.
After a rocky few months, and a final disastrous mission, it is decided that Jox should step up to Squadron Leader.
But as the North African campaign worsens and Bartley becomes increasingly erratic, Jox finds himself fighting an uphill battle.
Is Jox up for the challenge of command? Can he lead his men to victory?
Or are circumstances too stacked against him…?
Congratulations to Patrick Larsimont, whose gripping aviation adventure, The Maple and the Blue, is published today!
The Maple and the Blue is the third book in the Jox McNabb Aviation Thrillers series: action-packed, authentic historical adventures following a young RAF pilot during the Second World War.
Spring, 1942
The Allies and Fighter Command have gone on the offensive. The French town of Dieppe is selected for the first major assault on the European continent.
But Jox McNabb and No.111 Squadron start to feel like they are being lured into a trap.
And their new leader is acting unpredictably, making them worried that he can’t be trusted.
As the largest air armada since the Battle of Britain prepares for the operation, Jox suspects their squadron leader is using the men for his own vanity and ambition.
And if the Dieppe raid goes wrong could it prove to be a devastating sacrifice.
Can Jox lead his men to victory? Will the ambitious operation be a success? Or will the squadron face disaster…?
Patrick Larsimont is the author of The Maple and the Blue, the third instalment of Jox McNabb Aviation Thrillers series: action-packed historical adventures following a young RAF pilot during the Second World War.
The Maple and the Blue sees Jox McNabb and his comrades of No. 111 Squadron, the Treble Ones, prepare and train for Operation Jubilee, the raid on the French seaside town of Dieppe in Normandy. It would be the first major Allied assault on the European continent, spearheaded by Canadian ground forces, but it also promised to be the largest air battle since the Battle of Britain.
When writing Jox’s adventures, I like to include some of the real characters, locations and events that I uncover during the course of my research into the period. I hope by doing so I provide a convincing evocation of the time, but also share the stories of people, locations and events on the very edge of living memory.
Here are three examples from my next book:
During the training phase before Operation Jubilee, Jox and his commanding officer are invited to a party near Biggin Hill at a large villa called The Red House. This was the home of Moira and Sheila Macneal, six-foot twin sisters known as the Belles of Biggin Hill. Wealthy socialites whose father was known as the Black Knight, they hosted celebrated parties for ‘The Few’ during the Battle of Britain and afterwards. Suffice to say, Jox attracts the interest of one of them and he finds her to be as formidable an adversary as any he’s met up in the skies.
During this time, Jox also drops in for a drink at the celebrated Battle of Britain pub, the White Hart in Brasted. On the wall in the bar is the famous blackboard covered with the signatures of many legendary aces including Sailor Malan, Al Deere, Colin Gray, Johnny Kent and Johnnie Johnson.
Image courtesy of Dougal Fisken
Later on in the story, Jox and his Norwegian comrade (spoiler alert), Axel Fisken, find themselves stranded on the ground near the Dieppe Pourville Golf Club, one of the oldest golf courses in France. Somehow, they manage to find an escape vehicle, which turns out to be a beautiful 1929 Bentley Speed Six tourer, like the one which won the Le Mans twenty-four hours in 1930. As it happens, my own good friend, Dougal Fisken’s family own this one pictured, and so provide the inspiration for the tale.
This and many other personalities, factoids and anecdotes litter my stories, and I hope you enjoy discovering them as much as I enjoy finding a place for them in Jox McNabb’s tale. Jox’s war is just getting started, so I hope you’ll join me for his forthcoming adventures.
We are thrilled to announce that the first three books in Patrick Larsimont’s page-turning wartime adventure series, the Jox McNabb Aviation Thrillers, will be released as audiobooks by Tantor Media.
The series follows the progress of Jox McNabb, a young RAF officer, as he fights his way through the fiery skies of the Second World War.
In Patrick’s words:
“I’m delighted that Tantor Media has agreed to publish the first three novels in my Jox McNabb series. It is testament to my growing number of readers, who have already demonstrated remarkable loyalty to Jox and his comrades, and to the skill and support of Sapere Books and its family of authors.
“Going from being a debut writer, who started scribbling during lockdown, to having a five-book deal with Sapere and a three-book audio deal with Tantor is very gratifying. Much of that is down to Sapere recognising that I might have some talent, for which I’m very grateful.
“I’m very intrigued to discover who will be cast as the narrator of Jox McNabb’s stories. He is loosely based on a dear old friend, a softly spoken Scotsman, so I’m hoping we can do justice to that and the many other accents in my books. I can’t wait.”
Congratulations to Patrick Larsimont, whose thrilling World War II adventure, The Raiders and the Cross, is out now!
The Raiders and the Cross is the second book in the Jox McNabb Aviation Thrillers series: action-packed, authentic historical adventures following a young RAF pilot during the Second World War.
Winter, 1940
Enemy raiders are bombing Britain’s cities relentlessly. Casualties are high and morale is at an all-time low.
Jox McNabb and the rest of No.111 Squadron train to become night fighters to take on the raiders inflicting such carnage on Britain’s cities.
But then tragedy strikes and Jox is devastated by the loss of those close to him.
Scarred physically and emotionally, he recovers slowly. Seeking a fresh start, he volunteers to serve in the turbulent skies of besieged Malta.
But this new location quickly becomes just as dangerous as the last.
Can Jox forget the tragedy that haunts him? Will he survive the murderous assault of the Luftwaffe?
And can a desperate Malta withstand the relentless onslaught?
Congratulations to Patrick Larsimont, whose thrilling wartime adventure, The Lightning and the Few, is published today!
The Lightning and the Few is the first book in the Jox McNabb Aviation Thrillers series: action-packed, authentic historical adventures following a RAF pilot during the second world war.
Scotland, 1939
When Jox McNabb is expelled from school he is forced to look to his future.
Inspired by the sight of a Hurricane flying over him, he becomes determined to join the RAF.
And after basic training, Jox is posted to RAF Montrose with the growing group of other recruits he has met along the way.
Battling the bleak Scottish elements and finding themselves immediately thrown in at the deep end, the lads struggle to keep up with the training.
Many are deemed unfit for service, and after tragedy strikes, Jox questions if he’s got what it takes.
Can Jox earn his wings to face Blitzkrieg and defend his country in its hour of need? Does he have the courage and skill to become one of The Few? Will he beat the odds to survive his first battle?
