The Seven Gifts

This book is not easy to classify but I would place it somewhere between Fairy Tale and Magical Realism. A London publisher called it "One of those unique and wonderful manuscripts that come one’s way all too rarely”.

A reclusive outcast rock star heads a band of lonely misfits trapped in the pages of seven mysterious books locked away at the top of a remote seaside tower. Each cryptic book contains clues to a hidden gift that was bestowed on the Earth by its guardian. A young boy is commanded by an Angel to read and decipher the seven stories.

The stories defy all worldly notions of normal, yet remain strangely matter-of-fact; and they challenge even this boy's view of reality as he struggles to unveil the gifts, and also the enigma of the Angel, and the secret of himself. When the boy finally closes the books the gifts are no longer hidden, and the characters no longer trapped; and he is no longer a boy.

Some reviewers have said: ".. a great achievement"; “A most unusual and beautiful story that lingers in the mind long after one has read it”; ".. walks that fine line between profound and insane"; "brilliant, wise & funny .. lingers in the head like a piece of music"; "everyone will take something away from this novel, that will stay with them for a long time .. a brilliant read"; "It is really a wonderful, unique book".

You can read more about the book, together with the full reviews, interviews with me, and some quite long excerpts at http://7-books.net