Death's Cold Hand by J.E. Mayhew (good romance books to read txt) 📕

that. Norton wasn’t treating him, she was manipulating him and making his condition worse. People call these ex-soldiers heroes and buy poppies every year but Terry White suffers every day. He shouldn’t have ended up in the state that he did.”

“True,” Ian said.

“Prepare your hearts for Death’s cold hand,” Blake muttered. “That’s Blake, my namesake. A War Song to Englishmen. Nobody prepares to end up like Terry, though, do they?”

“No,” Ian said, staring into the distance. “And what about Laura Vexley?”

Blake shook his head. “God only knows, Ian. I can’t decide if she’s gone back to her old ways for good or is up to something else. Either way, I can’t go anywhere near.”

“Best way, mate. Stay clear of that whole business.”

“I wish I could, Ian, but I think it’s going to come looking for me whether I like it or not, someday.” He looked down at Serafina. “Still, you seem much better… Jeez!” And to demonstrate her agreement, Serafina sank her sharp fangs into Blake’s hand.

The End

 

Author’s Note

My father joined the RAF in 1938 at the tender age of 18. Like many young men of his age at that time, he was patriotic and had no love for the Nazi regime that had taken power in Germany. He could see the writing on the wall and believed that war was inevitable. But his own father had died from wounds received in the Great War and he always told me that he wanted to be a trained soldier rather than a conscript.

To hear him talk, you’d be forgiven for thinking that my dad’s war was a comedy of errors. He’d tell stories of the various cockups that had blighted his service; the time the USAF filled the only plane to take him home with salt water instead of aviation fuel, getting drunk in Cyprus and falling off a donkey, breaking his ankle, ditching an Avro Anson in the Mersey and finding out that the emergency dinghy had no paddle, being sent to Iceland with full tropical kit. I could go on but I suspect that my dad talked about these things rather than his other experiences.

I can remember only two occasions when he spoke about the horrors he’d seen. Once he told me about travelling up through Italy and described the rotting bodies of fallen soldiers. Another time, he described the RAF’s policy of designating aircrew with what we would now call PTSD as Lacking Moral Fibre. He and his mates thought it was a disgrace. Needless to say, Remembrance Day was always observed in our household.

That last story resonated with me and I still think we, as a public, don’t always recognise the traumatised and brain-injured amongst our veterans. I don’t know what it must be like to be caught in violent conflict. I can imagine but I don’t suppose it comes anywhere near the real thing.

 

About the Author

Jon Mayhew lives on the Wirral with his family and has done all his life. A teacher for many years, he enjoys traditional music and plays regularly in ceilidh bands and sessions. Jon is also an award-winning author. His dark children’s books are published by Bloomsbury.

Find out more at www.jemayhew.blogspot.com

Find JE Mayhew on Facebook and twitter.

To keep in touch with Jon and get news about upcoming publications, what he had for dinner last night, and how his dogs and chickens are faring go to https://dl.bookfunnel.com/gs5oc6n68k There a free prequel novella waiting for you there, too…

Order No Time for Sorrow, book 7 in the continuing adventures of DCI Will Blake and his team. http://mybook.to/NoTimeForSorrow

Also by JE Mayhew:

http://mybook.to/PoisontreeBlake

http://mybook.to/FearsomeSymm

http://mybook.to/Bonesofdead

http://mybook.to/CrueltyHumanHeart

http://mybook.to/Allthelies

http://mybook.to/DeathsColdHand

Get a free DCI Will Blake prequel on Bookfunnel:

https://dl.bookfunnel.com/gs5oc6n68k

Waiting for the next DCI Blake? Why not try DCI Boyd?

Silent Tide

A sinking boat is spotted a few miles off the south coast. Waiting onboard, is a grisly discovery. DCI Bill Boyd - recently relocated from London to Hastings - is now with the East Sussex CID and his first case is that of a local business man and his new young wife, missing in the English Channel. All that remains of them is a grisly discovery aboard their half-submerged yacht and a digital trail that could put Boyd and his daughter, Emma, in danger.

Book 2 – Old Bones, New Bones

Table of Contents

Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

Chapter 40

Chapter 41

Chapter 42

Chapter 43

Chapter 44

Author’s Note

About the Author

Also by JE Mayhew:

Waiting for the next DCI Blake? Why not try DCI Boyd?