In Rufus And The Biggest Diamond In The World, Michael Elsmere creates nothing less than a complete fantasy world of children’s literature. Rufus has been told a story by his father about a diamond of a size beyond anyone’s dreams. It is just waiting to be found, so, having lost his parents, Rufus sets out to do precisely that.

It is a journey of total imagination, a journey through some quintessential scenes of childhood experience, settings of spectacular invention, surely reminiscent of places that many of us might have been. There is a treasure hunt bound for the Spanish Main, an adventure voyage on board ships from a chivalric, Romantic past. But when the mission is redirected according to an omen unearthed by a submarine hero, Africa becomes the destination that Rufus and his companion, Jim, must explore. If only they could themselves have read the clues that explained how the under-sea horde was transformed into a diamond mine on land.

In Rufus, Michael Elsmere has invented a wonderful, likeable character, a young lad with an imagination powerful enough to give ideas life and to do so in the most mundane of surroundings. The author also avoids cliché at all times. There are no platitudes of magic potions that appear just as they are required to do exactly what is needed, convenient shrinking or aggrandizement, and no mere description of scene after scene. Throughout Rufus And The Biggest Diamond In The World, Michael Elsmere offers elegant prose that provides regularly evocative surprises. It provides a quite beautiful vehicle to explore the power of imagination, to re-experience the joy of discovery.

OK kids. Rufus is a good lad. He is perhaps about the same age as you. He’s lost his parents and there’s a diamond to be found. There’s a sailing ship, pirates, treasure, gold, shipwrecks, talking birds, submarines and electric eels. There are eggheads who know how to read things that other people can’t even see. Maps are redrawn in people’s pockets and point to new places. There are lions, jungles, snakes, beautiful ladies and witches. There are deserts, oceans, seas, mountains, caves, caverns, stones, stalactites and schools.

And so Rufus And The Biggest Diamond In The World becomes itself a celebration of the form in which it exists. It is gentle, subtle writing to convey truly exciting, fast-paced fun. And kids, I suspect a few parents, especially those that might be rendered a little tearful by genuine nostalgia, might enjoy reading Rufus themselves. It’s a book that genuinely inhabits multiple levels, a story that will enrapture the young, and a concept that will fascinate the once young.

But then, when you have read Rufus, you will want to read more, because that is what Rufus is about. These imagined worlds are themselves bigger, greater, more vivid and more real just because they are imagined.

Jill's story follows a fashion designer, Joanna, on an assignment back to Nigeria, where she lived years before with her husband. Her return visit re-discovers some skeletons from a cupboard she thought had been closed as she renews a relationship with Marcus, whom she promised not to meet. Throughout the book, Joanna has choices to make in her life and, perhaps, the return to Nigeria brings the options into sharper focus. A gentle story well told. The characters really do come to life.

The Possession Legacy is an exceptional novel by Trevor Dalton, making this book a must read for fans of the horror genre. A chilling, modern tale of life, betrayal, humanity and vampires, The Possession Legacy begins in the 13th century and swiftly moves into modern times. It grips the reader from the outset. The author throws you into a mix of family emotions and troubles experienced by so many modern families while slowly seeding the birth of a modern vampire and the devastation to come.

A Million Would Be Nice

The fast-moving tale tells of the exploits of Donavan Smith, a successful young man who wanted more. But his strange character, perhaps the result of his mother’s religious bigotry and abuse during his childhood, requires him not just to use other people, but to exploit them, ruthlessly. In A Million Would Be Nice, Ken Scott creates the perfect anti-hero, a man you want to hate, but a character whose exploits you want to uncover.

Good looks, top job in the city, Ferrari, second and third homes in Paris and Cannes, not to mention a spacious penthouse overlooking the Thames. Yes, it seemed Donavan Smith had it all. And the girls. ready and willing. And if, every now and again, they weren't so willing, Donavan had his own way of persuading them.

Jenny McArthur was different though. She knew something terrible had occurred during a ten-hour period of her life that was a total blank. But, as it all gradually came back to her, she relived the horrors encountered at the hands of Donavan Smith. And she wanted to get even. Donavan would have to deal with her.

Vicky Mackenzie harboured a secret, a secret that she hadn't disclosed to anyone. So why was she spilling the beans to a total stranger from London, a stranger who she'd only met that night? She told him all about her past life, the cold-blooded murder of her husband, the phoney bank raid and how the money was still out there somewhere. Donavan listened and wondered how he could get his hands on the money; wondered if it was possible to plan a premature retirement.

It would get nasty, that was for sure. But why not? Donavan Smith had done nasty before, just ask Jenny McArthur. Donavan Smith and Vicky Mackenzie: two soul mates, two secrets; it was a match made in hell.

Cao Thac from Australia reviews Mission by Philip Spires

Mission, by Philip Spires, offers an armchair exploration of the locals and foreign workers in a poor village in Kenya. Through their stories, we get to know their hopes and aspirations, their dilemmas, the circumstances that force them to act the way they do and, ultimately, their humanity. The book begins with a car accident in which the village drunk, a character nobody liked much, got killed. However, the day of the accident proves to be fateful for the major characters of the book. Like Kurosawa’s movie Rashomon, each of the major characters – a Catholic priest who cares more about the welfare of the people in this life than for their souls in the next life, an earnest young Kenyan who wants to become a Catholic priest, a couple of local entrepreneurs who cleverly exploit the business and political opportunities in Kenya just after it gained independence etc – tells their hopes and ambitions, their circumstances and their dilemmas. The car accident at the beginning of the book turns out to be the denouement for the major characters.

The book is only published recently but has been incubated by Philip over many years while he spent time in Kenya, London, Brunei and the United Arab Emirates. While his portrayal of Kenya and London is quite vivid, we also recognise the basic humanity of the characters in the book. It is comforting to know that while we face different circumstances, we are basically the same round the world. This is a message we need to remind ourselves constantly as tribal and sectarian conflicts exploded in recent years.

Synopsis
John Mwangangi is an idealist. He turns his back on a successful legal career in London to return to his home in Migwani, a small, poor town in eastern Kenya. His ambition is to assist his country's development, to create a model that others might emulate. But in trying to rediscover his roots and his very identity, old tensions resurface and new battles have to be fought. John gradually finds himself isolated by irreconcilable demands, excluded from his own culture, never fully admitted to the one he adopts. His father seeks proof of his son's integrity and insists that John's daughter be initiated into adulthood, an act that John's wife would never sanction. And when the tensions force the family apart, John finds solace in the company of Janet Rowlandson, a young British volunteer teacher, who becomes more than a friend. It becomes clear that someone will try to force the issue. A Fool's Knot is a sensitive portrait of a man's attempt to reclaim his cultural identity and, at the same time, stimulate change. The contradictions he must confront in his campaign against the grinding poverty of his people lead almost inevitably to conflict.