Book Extract: The Hearing Voices Series By Charles Porter
It’s such a pleasure to be welcoming Charles Porter to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for The Hearing Voices Series.
At a certain point, the way you experience things starts to affect everyday decisions, how you respond to people, what you trust, and how you move through situations that used to feel simple. For Aubrey Shallcross, that shift has been building for years, shaped by the voices he hears as he works, forms relationships, and tries to stay in control of his life. The Hearing Voices Series by Charles Porter follows how that begins to change what everyday life looks like.
Aubrey Shallcross has learned how to keep his life steady, even with voices that never leave. He works, maintains relationships, and moves through the world with a sense of control that, from the outside, appears solid.
But the voices don’t stay in the background.
They surface in moments that matter, when decisions have to be made quickly, when situations escalate, when the wrong move can set something in motion. Sometimes they guide. Sometimes they push.
And sometimes, they lead him straight into situations he can’t easily step out of.
As tensions build around him, in the people he’s connected to and the environments he’s drawn into, Aubrey finds himself acting before he fully understands why. What follows isn’t contained. The consequences spread outward, turning individual decisions into events that carry far beyond him.
By the time he realizes the scale of what he’s part of, he’s already committed.
Charles has kindly shared an extract from Shallcross: Flame Vine, the second novel in The Hearing Voices Series with us today. We hope you enjoy.
*****beginning of extract*****
Chapter 2: Aubrey
JULY 1952
by 
A Moment With… Gina Cheyne
I am very excited to be welcoming Gina Cheyne to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for her book, Twenty-Six Years Living a Lie.
Twenty-Six Years Living a Lie
In 1997, high in the alpine resort of Tignes, Cecily celebrates her third wedding anniversary with a night of passion. But in the morning her happiness turns to misery and shock when she find her husband Nick dead in the bed beside her, the victim of a sudden heart attack.
Six weeks later, Cecily learns she is pregnant.
Twenty-six years later, her son Charlie takes a DNA test alongside his uncle Adam, Nick’s identical twin. The results shatter everything he thought he knew: Charlie is not related to Adam. If Nick wasn’t his father, then who was?
Cecily insists she was faithful, and the timing points only to that single night in Tignes. Desperate for answers, she turns to the SeeMs Detective Agency. Could someone have entered her room that night without her knowing? And if so—who? And why?
As the detectives dig deeper, they uncover a web of conflicting memories, buried secrets, and dangerous lies. Slowly they discover other people are in danger and if they don’t find out very soon what really happened in that wonderful night in Tignes two, or maybe more, lives will be lost.
To talk about the themes of Twenty-Six Years Living a Lie, it’s over to you, Gina.
This book is first of all a whodunnit, although it is who fathered Charlie, rather than who killed his father, (father died of a heart attack) but it has other themes in its writing.
Sometimes when you are writing a novel these themes jump out at you when you aren’t expecting them. I was planning to write a straight whodunnit inspired by a dark night in the ski resort of Tignes in the French Alps. So dark was the night that I thought someone could climb over the balcony, and enter my bed. We could share a night of passion, and I would never know it was not my husband! However, other things wanted to be heard in the story.
Firstly, the theme of knowing yourself. We think we know other people and ourselves very well, but do we? Cecily has idolised her dead first husband and thinks of her second husband as merely security and the father of her other children. But, as the story progresses it is obvious that he is much more than that. He has a depth of kindness and insight she did not understand until everything goes wrong.
by Book Extract: Bamboo Island: The Planter’s Wife By Ann Bennett
It’s so wonderful to be welcoming Ann Bennett and the Book Birthday Blitz for her book, Bamboo Island: The Planter’s Wife.
From award-winning author Ann Bennett comes a haunting and powerful novel of love and loss during World War 2 Malaya.
‘A vivid account of a brutal period, and a searing exploration of trauma, memory and loss..’ The Lady Magazine.
1938: Juliet and her sister Rose arrive in Penang to stay with an aunt, after the death of their father. Juliet quickly falls under the spell of Gavin Crosby, a plantation owner, who despite his wealth, charm and good looks is shunned by the local community. Rushed into marriage, Juliet is unprepared for the devastating secrets she uncovers on Gavin’s plantation, and the bad blood between Gavin and his brother…
But in 1941 the Japanese occupy Malaya and Singapore sweeping away that world and changing Juliet’s life forever.
For decades after the war which robbed her of everyone she loved, Juliet lives as a recluse back on the plantation. But in 1962 the sudden appearance of Mary, a young woman from an orphanage in Indonesia, forces Juliet to embark on a journey into the past, and to face up to the heart-breaking truths she’s buried for so long.
This book has previously been published both as The Planter’s Wife and as Bamboo Island
Praise for Bamboo Island: The Planter’s Wife..
‘This was a story of love, passion and cruelty I could not put down … I needed to discover Juliet’s secrets.’ Lizeanne Lloyd – Lost in a Good Book
‘I raced through this book in just over twenty-four hours … I literally could not put it down. I connected and sympathised with Juliet as a character so much… and I was constantly on edge whilst reading it, desperate to find out more about her past.’ Bibliobeth – Goodreads.
‘I really loved this haunting, powerful and beautiful novel.’ Amazon Reviewer.
To celebrate its birthday, Ann has shared an extract from Bamboo Island: The Planter’s Wife. We hope you enjoy.
*****beginning of extract*****
Bamboo Island: The Planter’s Wife
Chapter 1
Windy Ridge Estate, Malaya, 1962
The big white house dominated the crest of the hill and looked out over the lines of rubber trees to the jungle beyond. It was quite alone, miles from any neighbours, and hardly any traffic ever ventured along the rutted dirt road that ran the five miles between the estate and the nearest settlement, Kuala Lipis. It had been a proud, grand building in the years before the war, its paintwork startling white against the blue of the tropical sky, but now the walls were scabbed and peeling and there were a few gaping holes in the roof where the tiles had blown off during the high monsoon winds.
The deep veranda running the length of the ground floor was shaded with bamboo chicks, which were rolled up near the front door so that Juliet Crosby, relaxing in her deep rattan chair, had a view of the faint breeze playing in the rubber trees. She watched it ruffling the leaves, turning them from green to grey and back again.
She always sat here at this time of day, before the sun had begun its descent behind the jungle-covered horizon, and the cicadas were still chattering in the casuarina trees in the garden. This was the best hour of her unwavering routine. She liked to sit with her afternoon tea tray on the little cane table, her two Dalmatians lazing on the boards of the veranda beside her, and take deep breaths to empty her mind of everything but the mundane business of running the estate, banishing any other thoughts that might trouble her. She loved the sharp light of the early evening. It was as if the sun was burning with renewed intensity before it dipped away.
by Book Review: Perotine By Dreena Collins
It’s a pleasure to be welcoming Dreena Collins and the blog tour for her book. Perotine.
Abandoned, faithful – and on trial for heresy.
On a bleak autumn morning in 1555, Protestant Perotine wakes to find her husband packed to leave. Catholicism has returned to Guernsey, and, fearing for his life, he abandons Perotine, her sister and mother to face increasing hostility alone.
The three women endure a challenging winter of rain, isolation, and poverty – until a dramatic series of events draws unwanted attention. When a local woman asks Perotine to hide stolen goods, what begins as a trial for theft spirals into accusations of heresy.
Secluded, steadfast, and terrified, the women face their plight with fortitude and prayers. Together.
But Perotine Massey holds a terrible secret. One that could bring a reprieve, or a fate worse than death.
And she’ll do anything to keep that secret safe.
*****
Perotine has recently married and is settling into life with her new husband on the island of Guernsey. However, with the rise of Catholicism under the reign of Queen Mary, it isn’t long before Perotine is left alone with her sister and mother. Alone and vulnerable, rumours soon put them in danger. Can they weather the storm?
I had not previously read anything by Dreena Collins when I was invited onto the blog tour for her latest book, Perotine. The premise for this novel is one I found intriguing.
by Book Extract: Body Man By Al Pessin
It’s a pleasure to be welcoming Al Pessin to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for his book, Body Man.
Moments that seem contained can quickly expand into something far larger, especially when they strike at the center of power. What begins as a single act can ripple outward, reshaping roles and responsibilities in ways no one anticipated. In Body Man by Al Pessin, that ripple becomes a turning point.
A new presidency built on sweeping reform quickly becomes the focal point of national tension. When an assassination attempt fails, the aftermath sparks widespread unrest that spreads rapidly across the country.
Spencer, the president’s closest aide, gains unexpected influence as leadership becomes increasingly unstable. His proximity to power places him at the center of critical decisions.
Carl, a disgraced Marine sniper, is drawn into a militant movement convinced that drastic action is necessary. His mission begins with purpose but grows uncertain as events escalate.
As cities erupt and institutions begin to fracture, both men are pulled deeper into a conflict neither can control. Each believes he is acting in the country’s best interest, even as the line between defender and adversary becomes increasingly blurred.
Al has shared an extract with us today. We hope you enjoy.
(Warning: Language).
*****beginning of extract*****
Chapter 1
Spencer
I’m the best person to tell you this story.
by Book Club
