Graham Hamer’s Books

Understand that I’m a story-teller, not a wordsmith. Shakespeare was a wordsmith, sewing his words into a wonderful tapestry for all to see and wonder at. But his plots were recycled asinine rubbish! On the other hand, I use everyday language to tell original stories that I hope will please and amuse my readers. Don’t confuse me with Shakespeare – nobody has done yet!!

Every one of my books is a stand-alone story. No nasty surprises when you get to the end and discover you have to buy a follow-on to see what happens next. But certain characters have their own stories to tell, so reading my novels in logical order will open up their lives to you in a neat chronological fashion. No good having somebody lose a leg in one story only to discover it’s miraculously grown back later, because you read the older book first! The ‘logical’ order is as I set them out below.

CHASING PAPER

They say that we all have a book in us, and I always knew what my book would be about. During my time as a builder in Norfolk, I was royally done over by a man with no scruples who was more street-wise than me (he’d done it all before). It cost me dear and was a hard lesson to learn, but it also had the makings of a story (with embellishments and lots of additional material) so, during 1999 and 2000 with evenings to myself while my wife and I were separated by 200km of Dutch and Belgian autoroute, I put together my first tome, Chasing Paper, which was published in hard print and is still in print twenty years later. You can get Chasing Paper as a FREE ebook.

WALKING ON WATER

My second book, Walking on Water was penned shortly after Chasing Paper, but then the manuscript sat collecting dust for over ten years as I got on with other things. Eventually, in 2014, I dusted it down and revised it, and like all my books, it is now published in both Kindle and paperback format. You can get Walking on Water as a FREE ebook.

UNDER THE ROCK

I’d grown to like many of the characters from the first two books, so my third book became the first of The Island Connection series. Under the Rock is a jaunt through some inlikely happenings where some of my imaginary friends came back out to play! When Jihadists take the Isle of Man’s Chief Minister captive, you can expect sparks to fly – and they do!

OUT OF THE WINDOW

Two of my characters out of ‘Under the Rock’ took on a special life of their own and virtually wrote the second book in the Island Connection series, Out of the Window, on their own without me telling them what to do! It’s two years after the Chief Minister was taken captive, but our two intrepid heroes come across someone of about the same age who is in a bad situation that is getting even worse. They do what any 16-year-old would do, and adopt her!

ON WHOM THE AXE FALLS

On Whom the Axe Falls, the third book in the Island Connection series examines a different aspect of life and a different aspect of the Isle of Man, which is an island that wallows in magic, myth and legend like a hippo wallows in a mud bath. And maybe, just maybe, one of our well known characters will find romance!

CHINA IN HER HAND

In the fourth book in the series, China in Her Hand, we explore personal relationships, many of which are still taboo to some people. Our main characters are two strong women who work together to overcome an old enemy. But they have a little help from an unusual source, which doesn’t become apparent until the final chapters.

THE DEVIL’S HELMET

Devil’s Helmet is the fifth book in the ‘Island Connection’ series. A disgruntled army Colonel threatens the island with the most toxic chemical agent ever synthesized. But worse is yet to come as an even more dangerous threat becomes apparent. The Devil’s Helmet is the code name for a toxin that is so lethal it could wipe out the whole population of the Isle of Man. And the man who is going to release it is never what he seems.

THE VICAR’S LOT

After Devil’s Helmet, we take a break in pace and watch as Sarah and her new police partner are whisked away to The Dordogne area of France. The Vicar’s Lot follows a character who has made a couple of brief appearances in previous books but who has remained a somewhat enigmatic force. The Dordogne becomes a killing ground when The Vicar turns up. But is that such a bad thing?

CHICKEN ROCK

In the seventh book in the ‘Island Connection’ series, Chicken Rock, we return to the Isle of Man and find Sarah and her new police partner Penny stranded in a deserted lighthouse in the middle of the Irish Sea. Deserted, that is, except for a dead body. How will the women get back to dry land and who put the body there? Questions that you can discover the answers to when you read the book.

THE PLATINUM PIRATE

The eighth book in the Island Connection series is called The Platinum Pirate and is based again on the Isle of Man. Al Callow leads a group of people who steal £15 million of platinum. But all is not as it seems, and Al’s wife, Paula, has other ideas. Craig, a hard-drinking, hard-hitting Australian tries to steal the platinum but Al is wise to him as Craig soon discovers. And while everybody is chasing their tails, Al and his new love, Carla, are having a ball.

PICASSO’S SECRET

The ninth book in the Island Connection series is called Picasso’s Secret. A valuable painting has disappeared and Penny Chakyar is tasked by her chief constable with finding it. Meanwhile, twins Brian and Sue Hodgetts are increasingly unhappy with their court-appointed guardians. But nowhere near as unhappy as Elvis and Ozzy who roll a van loaded with stolen goods and find themselves in jail awaiting trial. Meanwhile, Maddi and Jason are caught in a compromising position by Boris, who has taken incriminating photos on his cell phone. While he’s doing that, Daisy Norwood has a few too many vodka and tonics for breakfast and sets fire to her house, exposing the secrets in her cellar. It’s just another tale of life on ‘The Island’ where the loose ends come together at the end.

WEB OF TANGLED BLOOD

My wife and I are lucky people: we take the best from two different countries and two different cultures and meld it to suit our chosen lifestyle. So the next book to be released, began a series called ‘The French Collection’. In Web of Tangled Blood the action takes place in Paris. The story stretches the nerves as Florence and Ken rekindle old feelings and old desires while they search for their lost son. But there is more than one elephant in the room as they struggle to understand their past. Meanwhile, Florence’s brother is making life as difficult as he can and it is only by bringing Harry (Harriet) Lewis over from her home on the Isle of Man that Florence and Ken can begin to make sense of the multitude of problems that beset them. But Harry has her own issues to deal with.

CENOTAPH FOR THE LIVING

In Cenotaph for the Living we pick up where ‘Web of Tangled Blood ends’. Tristan (Florence and Ken’s son) is kidnapped by a group who are too close to the authorities to be challenged. Ken has only one choice, and that’s to call for help from friends who are also former Special Service operatives. Can he and his friends find him before it’s too late? They are pitted against dark and powerful forces, and Tristan has only days to live if they cannot release him. Are Florence and Ken going to lose their son for the second time?

TOMMY GEE

A book I was particularly pleased with was, Tommy Gee because Tommy is a real person (though maybe I took a load of liberties with his character and his choice of actions). It was fun to write and fun to see the real Tommy’s face when he finally was given his own copy.

Tommy Gee’s decision to spend a long weekend visiting his mother in King’s Lynn, on England’s east coast, leaves behind eight dead bodies and a suicide. Not that they were all Tommy’s fault, but he seems to be a magnet for chaos and the unpredictable. Add to the mix, Tommy’s sultry pickpocket sister and his gangly deranged half-brother, and you have the recipe for a frenzied few days. When two Romanian mafia bosses are stirred into the melting pot, along with a sexy bank employee with a cunning plan, things are likely to move from complicated to dangerous before you can turn the page.

TRAVELLERS

Travellers is the tenth book in the Island Connection series. Unknown and unseen guests have remained hidden for millions of years until their accidental discovery revives their chances of survival. But what will they do with their new-found freedom, if indeed they can escape their prison? The discovery of a mysterious pod that glistens black during the day and glows red at night sets people’s imaginations running wild. Soon, the mysterious object becomes the focus of attention for the world’s media. But does the pod contain anything? And if so, what? What are Travellers? Some people know the facts, but they dare not speak out. “I wonder what people would think if they knew what we were enabling?” she said. “I think they would string us up quicker than you could say ‘traitor’,” the tall man replied. “I don’t suppose that many would realise that we are gambling with the future of the planet.”

JASMINE’S JOURNEY

Jasmine’s Journey tells the story of eight-year-old Jasmine Guichard who gets lost in the catacombs of Paris. Her disappearance triggers a sequence of events that she could never have imagined. And many that she will never know about. While she is trapped in the darkness, a contract killer arrives in the city to wreak revenge on a paedophile who made a mockery of the justice system. D.S. Robbie Allen and D.C. Benedict Blewett are dispatched from Liverpool to find the killer before he strikes again. But when D.C. Blewett spots their mark, his senior officer refuses to believe him. Meanwhile, Harry and Tristan are determined to find Jasmine and are helped in their efforts by a young nun who is not at all what she seems. Jasmine’s Journey triggers the world’s media to expose the wrong doing at the Daughters of Charity of Saint Isabelle of France

FLINT

Flint takes us back to the Isle of Man where the body of a woman is found with a camping knife through her eye. The island’s law enforcement officers are left scratching their heads. With no fingerprints and no DNA to help them, the murder becomes even more confused by a series of seemingly meaningless clues, left behind to taunt them. Nobody saw the killer come. Nobody saw the killer go. And there is no apparent motive. When a second body is discovered a week later, more clues are left to ridicule the police and lead them down even more blind alleys. But why? What does the killer want? What’s he hoping to achieve? What’s the end game? After the third murder, the answer becomes clear and the final outcome is even more bloody and pernicious with a lethal stand-off that only he controls. Flint is a story of murder, of mystery, and of suspense that ends with the death of…

A LITTLE BIT ODD

A Little Bit Odd brings back one of the characters who we’ve seen in previous books, both in The Island Connection and The French Collection. Oddball is an enigmatic figure who works for a top secret agency, N2K. Everything he is tasked to do is totally deniable. If ever he was caught doing what he did, he would be completely on his own. And that’s the way Oddball likes it. His team, Aequum, operate under the same free license. The elite of the elite. But now Oddball has a personal reason to intervene. The agent who was just buried alive was his lover. Oddball intends to find those responsible and give them a good talking to. A Little Bit Odd is a story of murder, of grand scale theft, of personal relationships, and of the country’s most sensitive secrets

TAKEN ON FACE VALUE

Taken on Face Value reprises Detective Benedict Blewitt and forensic pathologist, Nicole Dubourg, Benedict’s fianceé. Detective Benedict Blewett has moved to France to be with Nicole, but death is never far from their door in this chilling story of murder and suspense.

Right from the start, Benedict’s new boss, Lieutenant Jérôme Bérenger, makes no secret of his dislike of the English policeman. He presents Benedict with an impossible case – to find out what happened to a man whose rotting corpse has no finger tips, no face, and whose insides have been eaten by rats. It’s a case that will take all Benedict’s resources to solve.

THE ZONE

The Zone An unknown virus has taken hold on the Isle of Man. It is so contagious and so deadly that the World Health Organisation, with the help of the British Government has quarantined the whole island. The quarantine is rigidly enforced by men with guns and the determination not to allow the virus to escape the boundaries of the island. Street marshals in protective clothing don’t hesitate to shoot anyone breaking the stringent lock-down. If it breaks loose from the island, it could wipe out half of humanity.

In Bishop’s College, a private school, Nick and Jack thought they were returning from the winter break to continue studies for their A levels. Within days of arriving back, the quarantine is enforced and they find themselves locked in for the duration – or until the virus breaches the school boundary and ends their young lives in untold agony.

ODD GETS EVEN

In Odd Gets Even, someone is murdering Oddball’s former regimental buddies and it seems like the whole platoon has been targeted. Oddball teams up again with what remains of the platoon. They need to find the culprits and have a quiet word in their ears. They also need to find out who’s bankrolling the killers. However, one of the thugs makes himself known when he targets the wife of one of the old team. But he underestimated her reaction.

Oddball enlists master hacker Harry Lewis – real name Harriet – who has the social skills of an angry porcupine but is as sharp as a winter’s morning when it comes to breaking through firewalls and uncovering secrets. Harry’s personal space is normally defended with alarms, barbed wire and motion sensors. But she drops her guard when she meets Danny Nightly, a Special Forces veteran who was sacrificed as a political pawn.

A LITTLE BIT ODDER

In A Little Bit Odder, pools of human blood are appearing, but there are no matching bodies to go with them. Oddball and the team are tasked with finding out what’s going on. But before being sent out on their mission, they are told something about themselves that they find difficult to believe. Their investigation takes them to the Norfolk Broads where Oddball and Sandi discover that their feelings for each other are growing..

In a story of mayhem and murder, typical of the Oddball Odyssey, the incredible becomes the norm as the characters are drawn into a hunt that can only end one way. Or is there an alternative ending that could never have been foreseen?

JANNA’S QUEST

Janna is fourteen going on twenty-four. She is tall and athletic and sharp as a razor. But her grandfather has gone missing and Janna makes it her business to try and find him. She is helped by Oddball, an old friend of her parents. Oddball is forty-six and drives an1100cc Ducati Panigale the same way that he lives his life – fast and dangerous. Their partnership develops into a mutual quest to find Janna’s grandfather – though maybe it’s already too late.

ISLAND IN FLAMES

Island in Flames tells the story of a normally tranquil island that is rocked by a series of unexplained house fires. When the bodies of an old couple are discovered in the burned-out shell of their home, the tension increases as it is learned that it wasn’t the fire that killed them.

Meanwhile, when Dick pays Rachel £300 for an hour of her time, Rachel has no inkling that he will be her last paying client. She never planned leaving this life in a pool of blood, but that’s the way her partner found her a couple of hours later.

TOMMY GEE’S LONG WEEKEND

Tommy Gee’s Long Weekend Tommy Gee’s Long Weekend begins one year after borrowing a healthy sum of money from the Eastern European mob. Tommy and his girlfriend Vicki decide to spend a long weekend in London, looking for antiques, enjoying the sights, and catching up with Tommy’s old school friend, Andy.

Saturday morning starts well, but the afternoon goes rapidly downhill. Vicki is kidnapped and Tommy is persuaded to undertake ‘a little service’ for a middle-eastern man, in return for Vicki’s safety.

LINKS VIEW

Links View After the death of his aunt, Alex Palmer finds himself to be the main beneficiary of her estate – much to the displeasure of his cousin, Carson. But one of the properties left to Alex in the will is being used illegally by sisters, Anna and Lucy Campbell and Alex makes more new enemies as he takes steps to evict them.

While Alex finds himself getting close to Charlie Townsend – a good-looking girl who works in one of Cromer’s hotels – Carson Palmer is murdered and his older sister, Michelle White, extracts revenge. Shortly after, another stranger steps into Alex’s life in the form of Russell Smith, a London lawyer who’s running from the mob..

ODDER STILL

In Odder Still Someone is manipulating the actions of one of Oddball’s team and Crocker, Oddball’s quirky boss, tasks him with finding out what the hell is going on. But things straight away become complicated when the disfigured body of a senior government minister is found face-down in the River Thames near Windsor Castle. No sooner do they start looking into it when the mutilated body of a high-flying lawyer turns up in the same spot. With no clues to work with, the team are up against it.

DOUGAL JOUGHIN’S LOST TREASURE

Dougal Joughin’s Lost Treasure On the Isle of Man, one of the most effective smugglers was Captain Dugal Joughin who, as the customs men closed in on him, sank his treasures in the depths of Kilpheric Lake. Unfortunately he had no means of ever retrieving them. Today, Noah Callow does. And so he goes looking. But he’s not alone because ruthless businessman Albert Lynch is out for blood, and sees this as a way to settle a longstanding debt. Throw into the mix a dead car driver and a couple of sexy business women, and you have all the ingredients for another humdinger of a plot.

NOT OVER OUR DEAD BODIES

Not Over Our Dead Bodies Detective Sergeant Kelly Ross is acerbic, strident, sarcastic, and feisty. And that’s on her better days. Her work partner, Detective Constable Jordan Sparrow tolerates her caustic tongue, He puts up with the fact that she’s ornery and abrasive, because he also knows she’s courageous and honest, and very good at what she does.

When Reverend Malcolm ‘Deep Pockets’ Cockburn goes missing, Kelly and Jordan are tasked with finding out what’s happened to him. Meanwhile, ten miles away, on Snettisham beach, James Smith is concerned about late-night activity for which he has no explanation. Kelly and Jordan go to investigate and Kelly finds herself attracted to the man. But despite her best endeavours, she discovers no answers to the mysterious behaviour of a large, white van.

KIDNAP IN PARADISE

Kidnap in Paradise On holiday, Detective Sergeant Kelly Ross is getting ever closer to her new boyfriend, James. Their Caribbean holiday gets off to a perfect start but, on day two, Kelly finds a human toe floating in the water. Then, on Christmas Eve, she bumps into a stranger who’s about to change all her perceptions of what she thought she knew.

Meanwhile, thirteen-year-old Jasmine Carpenter has her hands full fighting off Sly Griffiths who is being paid to do her harm. But, on Christmas morning, Sly ends up face-down in his swimming pool and Sergeant Bertram Brathwaite makes a discovery that sends his blood pressure racing to the stars.

AN ODD REVENGE

An Odd Revenge People are disappearing. Important people. People with momentous, far-reaching secrets to hide. And Oddball’s team are tasked with getting to the bottom of it – quick, before it escalates. Meanwhile, ordinary folk are being robbed of tens of thousands of pounds in a scam of epic proportions. The team are hard pushed to find solutions to either problem. It becomes even more urgent when Yulia Volkov, Oddball’s secret lover and illegitimate daughter of the Russian president, is abducted. Now, Russia is involved, and they’re far from happy.

NO FOOLING THE VICAR

No Fooling the Vicar Meet The Vicar, a psychopathic contract killer, whose mission is to send sinners into God’s welcoming arms. When he realises he’s killed the wrong person, he sets about discovering where his real target is hiding. And, in a race to save the life of Hollie Stevens, so do the police. But The Vicar gets to her first. Can Hollie Stevens talk her way out of The Vicar’s clutches? Nobody has ever succeeded before. And the only guidance she has had has come from a strange ‘Intuitive’ called Camille, and Atticus, a one-eyed black man with dreadlocks.

STAGE EXIT

Stage Exit In the Isle of Man’s Gaiety Theatre, Lenny Barlow is bludgeoned to death with a baseball bat in the men’s toilets. But who’s doing the killing? And why? Police officers Hannah Davis and Frankie MacEwen are left to investigate on their own as their detective inspector, Des Cartwright, slides deeper and deeper into an alcohol-fuelled haze. A story of intrigue and hidden agendas. People are seldom who they seem to be. Scores have to be settled. Eventually, the two police women discover who the killer is. But is it going to cost one of them her life also? There’ only one way for you to find out…

MISSION: MURDER

Mission: Murder Alan McGee, the local butcher is found with a large meat cleaver buried in his head. It’s not suicide, that’s for sure. Detective Inspector Sarah Flemons is called out to investigate and soon teams up with DS Josie Armstrong and Constable Don Bailey to find the killer. The dead butcher was an active member of a local vigilante group, the Civic Mission, who are stirring bad feelings in the town by their over-zealous activities. Naturally, it is the first line of enquiry that the police team follow up on.

FACELIFTER

Facelifter Detective Sergeant Kelly Ross is charged with discovering who dumped a mutilated body in the woods opposite the golf course. Along with her detective constable – Jordan Sparrow – she finds herself drawn into a mystery with so many unknowns and so many false leads that it’s impossible to sort the facts from the fiction. It’s particularly unhelpful when her own senior officers seem intent on making the enquiry more difficult. When another mutilated body turns up, it leads to Kelly and Jordan reopening a large-scale murder enquiry which had been finalised eight years previously.

DEFYING THE ODDS

In Defying the Odds Oddball receives an envelope containing a USB key and a brief note addressed to ‘David’ and signed ‘Uncle Stan’. Few people know Oddball’s real name but, more to the point, he knows nobody called Uncle Stan. It will be a few days before he discovers that he does, indeed, have a relative of that name. Unfortunately, Stan has already fallen foul of the London mob and the contents of the USB key don’t make any sense. Now, it’s up to Oddball to try and make sense of everything.