Malcolm Haslett Boeken

On holiday at a small seaside resort, Bridget meets Tom, whose aunt pilots the airship Goodcheer that takes lucky tourists on sightseeing trips around the bay. She does not guess what a role the airship will play in her life as she gazes out to sea with her wheelchair-bound brother and remarks casually: ""Isn't it funny how we often see clouds on the horizon and like to think they're mountains?"" Nor does she foresee the role of the sinister Madame Retsinis, a fairground fortune-teller who talks darkly of opportunities to travel to far lands Or what it all has to do with the strange local tales of Manny Reeve, a local eccentric who claimed to have visited a land whose people were threatened with ecological disaster, fierce tribal conflicts and power-hungry tyrants.

Strange carvings adorn the walls of the lonely tower Sean finds deep in the woods near his home. But fascination turns to anger when he discovers the tower belongs to a judge, the man responsible for jailing his brother Michael for ‘terrorist' crimes he didn't commit. Years later, when Michael again faces arrest, accused of involvement in a policeman's killing, he and Sean move to a remote island off the Donegal coast. But any sense of security vanishes when Sean recognises a visiting tourist as one of the murdered man's family. Revenge is in the air. But who will dispense it? The affable young woman who says she's come to the island to learn Irish; the shaven-headed man with a foreign accent who helps run the language school; or maybe Michael himself? A strike is made, but hits the wrong target. And again Sean is forced to flee, back to the woods near his home and the mysterious tower dedicated to Mithras, where the final struggle takes place between the forces of peace and of vengeance.

Tensions escalate in a remote Irish fishing port when a mysterious newcomer, Mahood, moves into an empty house. Initially befriended by Father Brian, a young boy named Tony, and his mother Kathleen, Mahood's past as a former RUC officer comes to light, raising suspicions, especially from local man Donal with ties to paramilitaries. As the villagers grapple with their entrenched hostilities and the challenge of trust, the story explores themes of isolation, loyalty, and the impact of personal tragedies on community dynamics.

A cryptic reference in his late father's diaries leads Adrian McCausland to investigate a sectarian killing in 1930s Ulster, specifically the death of Matty Coyle, a Catholic activist. As he revisits the location of the incident, Adrian uncovers a complex web of loyalties and threats, questioning whether Matty was murdered by loyalist vigilantes or by those protecting a factory. His quest for truth reveals ongoing dangers, putting him at risk of meeting a similar fate as Matty while exposing dark secrets that some wish to keep buried.

Bridget and Tom have entered the giant, smouldering volcano of Fles. They discover an astonishingly sophisticated community which uses the power of the mountain to transmit 'thought messages' back to the Realm of Omelyn. But a fierce struggle is taking place to decide what those 'messages' should be. Should they contain highly-coloured, provocative images to excite citizens of the Realm and help them forget the drudgery of their lives? Or should they be truthful and instructive messages, helping people to ward off the threats of war, famine and climate change that hang over them? Bridget discovers her friend, Pageya, is to be used as a pawn in one faction's bid for dominance. Can she and Tom help their friend escape an awful fate in the fiery cavern of Flesethro, thwart the evil wizard, Shoderim, and save the realm from the doom which his plans would inflict on it?