From Thrillers to Fantasy
The Physician’s Gun
(Adventure – inspired by actual events): Young Henry Appleton, starting a new life in a New Zealand goldrush town, is drawn into a web of evil and temptation and must fight to save his soul. The infamous highwayman Richard Burgess insists he is Henry’s birth father, and offers Henry a place in his murderous gang. (Download a sample chapter from the FREE STUFF page!)
Henry Appleton Boy Hero and the Burgess Gang
(Adventure for middle-grade readers): Bank robbers, classroom bullies, highwaymen, and a rampaging bull. The challenges Henry Appleton faces, as he struggles to stand up for what he believes in, make this a classic ‘cowboy’ yarn.
The American dime novelist Johnny Slick, who met Henry Appleton and also attended Richard Burgess’s hanging, writes his own version of Henry’s adventures from an early age up to the trial and hanging. They are ‘mostly true’ but embellished for his young readers.
The Girl and the Guardian
(Family adventure): Headstrong Shelley Arkle (15) is drawn into the mythical land of Aeden. Waiting for her is a grim Guardian knight Lord Korman the Outcast, and together they set out to find the Arcra Nama, the lost Heartstone, and restore it to the Tree of Life. They are hunted not just by the Thornmen, but also Shelley’s own devious brother. One of her few allies is Quickblade, the leader of the Boy Raiders. This is a journey of wonder, love and transformation in the midst of terror, through the enchanted labyrinth of Aeden. (Written by Peter Harris, original story by John Harris.)
The Nautilus Project
(Thriller): Rebellious young computer games addict Arthur Pike is summoned by his mega-rich grandfather to help develop a revolutionary computer. Arthur drawn into the heady world of cutting-edge software which promises to change the world. It gets even better when he meets Tess, daughter of a mysterious Maori survivalist. But then he stumbles on a shocking secret. The computer is actually a living sea creature, a Giant Nautilus, imprisoned in a subterranean chamber. An international terrorist organisation, INC, has heard about the Nautilus Project too, and is on its way to steal it. Arthur resolves to defy both INC and his grandfather and, with Tess’s help, to set the Nautilus free. (Written by Peter Harris, story by John Harris.)
