Barking Mad
Page 20
The Final Straw
An only child, unloved and unwanted by his parents, Colin Bailey, is a bitter, emotionally damaged young man. He’s hell-bent on exacting revenge on anyone who has stopped him becoming the person he believes was his destiny. What sets Colin apart is his intellect and meticulous planning. Detective Phil Hounsell pursues his man relentlessly while trying to avoid the small town in which he works sliding further and further into the grip of two rival gangs.
A devastating event in Colin’s life provides the final straw that herald’s a bloodbath. Can Phil prevent it happening, or will he too be a victim? This tale of revenge spans two decades, yet the police are chasing shadows; it builds in pace and tension to a thrilling climax against the backdrop of a quiet West Country town.
Unfinished Business
The sequel to the award-winning ‘The Final Straw’ sees Colin Bailey return to the UK after a decade abroad. With a new name and a new face, he still has scores to settle. His meticulous planning takes him ingeniously across Scotland and the North of England ticking names off his list with the police completely baffled.
DCI Phil Hounsell pitted his wits against Colin before, and so he is sent to Durham where he teams up with super intelligent young DS Zara Wheeler; together they track their man to Manchester and then eventually south to Bath. The final scenes take place on the streets of the Roman city; Phil Hounsell’s family is threatened. In a dramatic conclusion reminiscent of Holmes and Moriarty at the Reichenbach Falls, the two men struggle above the foaming waters of the historic Pulteney Weir.
A Sting In The Tale
A collection of twelve short stories, each with an unexpected twist at the end. Love stories, ghost stories, and tales of revenge sprinkled with a touch of humour.
There is something for everyone, young or old; from the elderly bookshop owner with an unusual talent and his summer of love with a young schoolteacher. To the haunting account of the journey on the last bus back to town from the heart of the countryside. Each story has characters and situations you will recognise. But will you identify the 'sting in the tale' before you turn that final page?
The Olympus Project
Rescued by strangers from a watery grave and given a new identity.
The Phoenix is a stone-cold killer.
An ideal fit for the Olympus Project, a secret organisation fighting injustice.
With hard, fast action and a cast of characters you can reach out and touch, this is the thriller series for which you’ve been searching.
Gold, Silver, and Bombs
The eyes of the world are on London 2012.
British security services anticipate an organised terror attack.
Safety is paramount. What if the real danger comes from a lone wolf?
You won’t want to miss the page-turning intensity of the second story in this gripping series.
Nothing Is Ever Forever
The action never slows. The tension never slackens.
The Phoenix stares death in the face once more.
Detectives Hounsell and Wheeler return.
The past threatens to catch up with Phoenix.
What will the future hold for the Project? What dramas lie ahead? After all, nothing is ever forever.
Something Wicked Draws Near
Newly-weds Phoenix and Athena battle The Grid and its leader Hugo Hanigan.
Olympus seeks fresh faces to join the Gods and provide finance for its missions.
Grid gang leader, Tommy O’Riordan, is convicted of murder.
Hugo Hanigan immediately takes bloody revenge.
A nostalgic trip to Dublin for Hugo Hanigan brings the curtain down on this part of The Grid’s story. It continues in the eighth book ‘Evil Always Finds A Way’.
Evil Always Finds A Way
The drama unfolds over forty days and forty nights across the UK.
The Grid’s story continues as death becomes a constant companion to Phoenix and his colleagues.
Can Olympus halt the reign of terror perpetrated by The Grid?
When this story reaches its conclusion, one thing is sure, what follows next promises to be even more exciting and unpredictable.
Revenge Comes In Many Colours
Justice and revenge are to the fore.
A senior Grid members meeting has a dramatic conclusion.
Colleen O’Riordan strengthens her grip in the capital.
Who is her secret assassin?
What does the future hold for Hugo Hanigan?
The excitement never lets up as the vigilante organisation battles organised crime.
Step by step, the Olympus story moves closer to its final instalments.
Three Weeks In September
The Grid becomes all-powerful under its new leadership. The UK is on the brink.
An onslaught from organised crime combined with attacks by Islamist extremists takes its toll.
Can Olympus stem the tide without revealing its hand?
These are some of the story threads in this tenth Phoenix book. The pace is relentless. There are enough passion, excitement and tragedy to last a lifetime. All squeezed into three weeks.
A Frequent Peal Of Bells
The Islamist terror attacks resume.
The Grid wields its power with sustained bursts of criminal activity.
Government resources are stretched to breaking point as austerity cuts hamper their response.
Packed with current issues of political and economic concern, this eleventh book retains the intensely realistic feel of the whole Phoenix Series.
Larcombe Manor
Can Olympus continue to thwart the ambitions of the all-powerful Grid? Will the authorities uncover the truth behind the Olympus Project? Can the Larcombe families survive the troubled waters that lay ahead? These are the unanswered questions. Many dangers face the Olympus agents before the climactic conclusion of this final book in The Phoenix Series.
The Freeman Files Series
Fatal Decision
Gus Freeman is a retired Detective Inspector who has spent the past three years alone. Freeman’s wife, Tess, died from a brain aneurysm six months to the day after his retirement. He is still coming to terms with his enforced solitary existence.
His old boss wants Gus to head up a Crime Review Team investigating cold cases. Past witness statements and fresh clues would cloud his thoughts. The hunt would be on. Freeman wonders whether his superiors need his old-style methods. Is the request out of pity; to occupy his mind with fruitless digging into cases their best young brains failed to crack? Gus can't resist the chance to enter the fray for one last hurrah.
"It's a mystery that will keep you wondering, with the usual wide array of characters to enjoy that give Tayler's novels their stamp."
Last Orders
A newly-formed Crime Review Team is investigating cold cases that defied their colleagues. Austerity cuts mean that Gus Freeman only has a team of three to assist him.
‘Last Orders’ follows the case of Trudi Villiers, a 26-year old barmaid murdered as she walked home from the Ring O’Bells pub in October 2003. Trudi may have been a good-time girl with a string of lovers, but she was someone’s daughter, and Gus wants his team to find the truth about what happened to her on that fateful night.
Pressure Point
Laura Mallinder left home for work on Sunday, 12th June 2011. She walked to ‘Gentle Touch’, a massage parlour in Broadgreen, Swindon. Her boss, Maggie Monk, discovered her body later that evening. Laura, twenty-seven years old, sustained fatal stab wounds to her back.
Gus Freeman’s Crime Review Team has two successful cold case investigations behind them. Will it be third time lucky? The victim’s profession might make it hard to find someone to talk. ‘Pressure Point’ has a wide array of characters, and offers action, romance, humour and drama.
Deadly Formula
Dr Ian McGuire, a research scientist, was shot dead in his kitchen in 2004
The original investigation found no
motive, no leads, and no suspects
Gus Freeman and his Crime Review Team have a tough cold case to solve
In this fourth book in the series, the case becomes the least of their worries
Late on a quiet afternoon on Saturday, 10th January 2004, Dr Ian McGuire, a Southampton football fanatic, was working at his home in Amesbury. He had one eye on the kitchen door he was repainting, and the other on the TV screen for the football scores. Outside in the darkness, a killer crept silently through the small back garden and fired two shots through the kitchen window from a pump-action shotgun.
Final Deal
Will the frantic search for DI Suzie Ferris and her kidnapper have a successful outcome? Can Gus end the careers of the corrupt senior officers behind her disappearance? Despite everything, the Crime Review Team has another cold case to unravel.
Dennis Gates was shot dead in August 2010. His killer was never found. The team members have their own crises to face. Will they buckle under the pressure?
Final Deal has two stories woven together to produce a gripping climax not to miss.
Dennis Gates, a forty-nine-year-old car dealer, was murdered in Marlborough, in August 2010. The police believed it was a possible contract killing. A young man drove onto the forecourt of the garage, pulled up by the office door, and calmly walked around the front of the car. Gates came to the door expecting to greet a potential customer, and the killer swung the gun up and fired twice from point-blank range hitting Gates in the throat.
Still to come in this gripping series -
Unless more cold cases tempt Gus Freeman to continue?
About The Author
Ted Tayler lives in West Wiltshire, England where many of his stories are based. Born in 1945, Ted’s been married to Lynne since 1971. They have three children and four grandchildren. Let Ted take up his story: -
“I grew up with reading and writing all around me. My mother loved books, and I had two aunts who taught English. There was no escape. I put it all on hold after I left school because of my music and work until I wrote my book of memories about my life in bands which was published in 2011. At the end of 2012, I wondered if I could write fiction!
I think of myself as a storyteller; I hope that with each successive book, I get better at it. What I’ve been told is that the reader feels as if we’re sat across the table from one another and I’m chatting with them.
As for the thriller series featuring The Phoenix, well, life is all about balance, isn’t it? Good and evil, love and loss, laughter and tears. The Phoenix believes that criminals should pay for their crimes; the system often fails to deliver the correct punishment. The Olympus agents can help him redress the balance. There are stories left to tell.”
Acknowledgements
The love and support of my family; without them, this would have been impossible.
The Phoenix Club
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Thanks again for reading. Until the next time.