And the Winner is....

The winner of my Book of the Month Competition for a Signed copy of Ben Kane's Spartacus the Gladiator is.....Samantha Wilkinson! WWWWEEEEEEWWWW Congratulations Samantha! If you could just send me an e-mail with your address, I can get your book posted as soon as possible! :) My e-mail is adampreviews@gmail.com

Thanks to everyone that entered, be sure to enter next months competition, I have another brilliant, signed book to give away! Anyone guess what it is?

The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown

Publishers: Corgi Books

Pages: 592

 

Main Characters:

Robert Langdon, Sophie Neveu

I know I’m a bit behind the times reviewing the Da Vinci Code. The book was originally published in 2003 and the movie of Dan Brown's thriller was released in 2006. But after finishing and reviewing Inquisition, a book based around the inquisition of the Knights Templar in 1311, it got me thinking that I should review the Da Vinci Code because it is one of those modern classics (like Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings and A Game of Thrones) that I think any good book reviewer should have read and reviewed! I know most of you will have either read the book or seen the movie so I won’t go into the plot too much, but it is a book that I remember reading and loving so I thought I’d give it a quick review!

The thing I think I loved most about this book was the controversy it caused! I love it when a book can cause that much of a stir in a world where the most unbelievable things can be ‘YouTubed’ at any time and the technology in movies such as CGI can bring anything to life. It was amazing how much of a reaction Dan Brown got with his ideas behind Christ and the Holy Grail. What’s even more amazing is that some of his ideas seem plausible! I personally think that the idea of the Holy Grail been Christ’s blood line makes much more sense than the Holy Grail been a cup in which Christ turned wine into his blood!

The amount of work Brown must have put in is also staggering. To not only put across an idea that was very controversial but to also create a plot that was gripping and a mystery that was thrilling shows how much time and effort Brown put in to make his book a worldwide best seller. I also love Robert Langdon! I have to admit that I only read the Da Vinci Code just before the movie came out and then read The Lost Symbol, so have not yet read Angels and Demons. But in both books Langdon has been a character that I really engage with (and I thought Tom Hanks was brilliant as him!)

The only thing about this book is; how much of it is real? Most of the ideas Brown uses are not originally his and have been whispered around for years. Also there is no hard, factual evidence behind any of these ideas so they are made even harder to believe. But, as a novel this book was epic! Don’t avoid this book because of the reasons above (I’m sorry to say that there aren’t any hard, factual evidence to say Elves exist but The Lord of the Rings is still amazing!) the plot and the mystery are well worth the read!

So there you go, this was my quick review/thoughts on the Da Vinci Code. I would suggest this book to anyone how is a fan of Dan Brown or is into historical/crime novels.

For author’s official website click here

P.S. Don’t forget to enter my Book of the Month Competition for your chance to win a SIGNED copy of Spartacus the Gladiator by Ben Kane for absolutely FREE. To enter, just follow the instructions on the widget below and for more information click here
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Inquisition, Alfredo Colitto

Publishers: Sphere

Pages: 482

Main Characters:

Mondino de Liuzzi, Gerardo da Castelbretone,

Uberto da Rimini

Inquisition is the historical murder mystery novel from author Alfredo Colitto. The novel is based in the year 1311 in the Italian city of Bologna during the Church’s Inquisition of the Knights Templar. On a dark night, Mondino de Liuzzi, a respected physician from Bologna’s prestigious School of Medicine, is interrupted by one of his students knocking on his laboratory door. The student, Gerardo da Castelbretone is carrying a dead body! After Gerardo finally convinces Mondino that he is not the killer of the man he is carrying, Mondino allows him to enter his laboratory and examines the body. He finds the techniques used to kill the man are not normal. The man is missing both of his hands and his rib cage has been made into a chamber in which his heart has been turned into Iron! Mondino demands to know what happened to the man!

Gerardo tells him that the man was called Angelo da Piczano and that Angelo and he were old friends. Angelo was visiting Bologna for a few days, so Gerardo offered him his room as a place for Angelo to stay whilst he was in the city. But that evening when Gerardo returned home, he found Angelo dead in his room and decided to bring his body to Mondino to try and gain an explanation of how Angelo was murdered. That was when he heard a knock at his door from the Inquisitors, saying that they had been tipped off that a Templar Knight had been killed during a blasphemous rite with the Devil. To avoid been caught by the Inquisitor, Gerardo set fire to his room and fled over the roof tops until he came to the School of Medicine and Mondino’s laboratory. He also admits that he is not really a student of medicine but a Knight of the Temple and is in hiding until the Inquisition is over.

The murder of Angelo sets in motion a series of events where Gerardo and Mondino are accused of been heretics and the killers of two other Templars which have been murdered in a similar way to Angelo. Gerardo and Mondino must find who is behind the murders of the Templars to clear their names. Mondino has another reason to help Gerardo. He wants to know the secrets of how blood and flesh can be turned into Iron to further his understanding of the human anatomy in his scientific studies. But will Gerardo and Mondino find the secrets behind the murder of Angelo da Piczano or will the Inquisitor, Uberto da Rimini find them first?

This was a good book and I really enjoyed the mystery behind the murder of Angelo da Piczano. However I did have some issues with this book. When I first picked this book up to read I was like ‘a book about the Templars, I bet it’s about the Holy Grail/ Mary Magdalene’. I was worried that it was going to be full of the Dan Brown clichés that many novels about the Knights Templar and the Inquisition seem to be about these days. But I’m glad to say that it wasn’t! Colitto does briefly mention that there is a secret behind the Order and that the reason the Church wants to dissolve the Order is because they do not agree with the secret. There is also mention of alchemical gold (or the elixir of life) but again, Colitto does not go into it too much. For me this was great because it meant the book was more about the mysteries behind the murders than the mystery behind the Knights Templar, which I really enjoyed.

Another part of this book that I found interesting was reading about 14^th Century medical techniques and how medieval physicians had some very modern ideas but didn’t have the means to be able to put them into practice. I also enjoyed reading about some of the gruesome (and at sometimes crazy!) methods 14^th Century physicians used to cure illness.

This was a good book and a great historical murder mystery novel. I think that anyone who is a fan of C. J. Sansom’s Shardlake series would love this book. I would even say that fans of authors like Dan Brown would also enjoy this book because it does touch on some of the ideas about the Templars he uses in The Da Vinci Code.

For author's offical website click here

P.S. Don’t forget to enter my Book of the Month Competition for your chance to win a signed copy of Spartacus the Gladiator by Ben Kane for absolutely FREE. To enter, just follow the instructions on the widget below and for more information click here

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Interview with Gordon Doherty, author of Strategos, Born in the Borderlands

Hello everyone! Here is my interview with Gordon Doherty, author of Strategos, Born in the Borderlands. Gordon gives some great answers explaining what inspired him to write Strategos, how he researched it and gives us a snippet of what his next releases will be! I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did! For more info on Gordon Doherty click here for his official website.



1. Strategos, Born in the Borderlands is based around the Battle of Manzikert and the push westward of the Seljuk Sultanate. What inspired you to write about this specific part of Byzantine history when there are so many other great events within that rich history that a novel could be based on?

Good question. There were two main reasons behind me setting Strategos in the years before the Battle of Manzikert.

Firstly, I am intrigued by moments in history when something that was once great is in its twilight and must face overwhelming odds. The Battle of Manzikert is just such an event. The battle itself is believed by many to have been pivotal in the Byzantine Empire’s fate, crippling its armies and setting in motion the slow decline of the empire over the next four centuries. Indeed, historical texts refer to the battle as ‘The Dreadful Day’.

Secondly, the mood that would have hung over the eastern borderlands in the lead-up to the battle presented an irresistible cauldron of conflict in which my characters could develop. The land would have been a hotbed of mistrust, with tribal tensions between Byzantines and Turks reaching breaking point.

But you make a good point; Manzikert aside, Byzantium's story is indeed riddled with plotting intrigue and war. There are many parts of its long history that I long to write about one day; the complex relationship between Justinian and Belisarius, the rise of the mighty Heraclius and also the fall of the empire with the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453. Story ideas are forming as we speak!

2. The novel is based in the 11th century. How did you go about your research for a book that is based in a time where not many primary sources or texts still exist? Did you have any problems when researching for Strategos, if so what were they?

I love reading up on the history, so researching this time period was a joy. However, the scarcity of unequivocal sources meant it was a lengthy exercise. Pinning down seemingly basic facts kept me occupied for a long time; for example, I wanted to confidently state the size of a unit of infantry (a bandon/vandon), but this proved as elusive as a snake in oil. Eventually I read that the Byzantine military often deliberately kept their unit sizes non-uniform as a means of confusing or misleading an enemy force on the battlefield (and they did a fine job of confusing me too!).

Fortunately, there are some classic and essential reference works, such as Treadgold’s ‘Byzantium and its Army 284-1081’ and Norwich’s ‘Byzantium’ trilogy. One other work I found invaluable was Dr Timothy Dawson’s ‘Byzantine Infantryman’ – a concise and fact-packed volume including illustrations and archaeological photography that really helped me envision the world of Strategos. Indeed, I managed to contact Dr Dawson and he was kind enough to offer me more advice on particular aspects of the Byzantine military which really bolstered the narrative of my story.

3. In the book, Apion is plagued by Bracchus, an imperial secret agent who answers only to the Emperor and has the power to take life where he sees fit. Did this really happen in the 11th Century Byzantine Empire? If so are the powers Bracchus has slightly exaggerated for the novel or were there really agents who had the power to do the things Bracchus does in Strategos?

There is a fair degree of poetic licence in Bracchus’ role in the imperial borderlands, but not without historical footing. In the time of classical Rome, the Frumentarii served as a secret service for the Caesars, spying, informing, sowing dissent and assassinating on the emperor’s command. They grew to be hated by the populace of the empire and its armies until they were disbanded by Diocletian in the 3rd century AD. How substantial this disbandment was is questionable though, as Diocletian almost immediately went on to form the Agentes in Rebus, a group thought by some to have been personal messengers for the emperor, and by others to have been a rebranded and far more effectively organised version of the Frumentarii. Both theories have their merits, but that their title means ‘those who are active in matters’ tells me all I need to know. The Agentes in Rebus remained in existence as Rome fell, and served the Byzantine Emperors until they were officially abolished in the 9th century AD. However, given that subterfuge had been inherent in Rome and Byzantium for over a millennia, and the word ‘duplicitous’ had become synonymous with the word ‘Byzantine’, I find it hard to believe that an organisation like the Agentes of Strategos were not still in existence in some form.

Added to that, the Byzantine Emperors were always wary of the threat of ambitious strategoi and their themata armies rising to challenge imperial authority (which happened often). There are suggestions that the emperors employed furtive means to undermine these threats and prevent the outlying provinces from growing too strong. You could argue that this climate of mistrust probably dampened the possibility of late apogee-era Byzantium growing and flourishing as much as any external threat ever did.

4. Strategos is a classic historical-fiction novel. What authors do you enjoy to read and do any have an influence on your work?

I think my style is a blend of many writers whose works I have enjoyed. One definitely stands out though. For me, David Gemmell was the master of characterisation. Never has any character of his bored me by being a straight forward hero or villain; instead, every individual in his books is just that; unique, complex and both sympathetic and disagreeable at once. I aspire to weave such characters into my stories.

5. After finishing this book, I can’t wait to read more about Apion! So what’s next for him? When can we expect to hear from him again? Is there anything you can tell us about the second instalment to the Strategos saga or the second part of your Legionary series?

I’m pleased to say that Apion’s story has only just begun! The Seljuk Sultanate is poised upon the imperial borders and Apion is lost in a storm of bitterness and anger. Everything has been taken from him. Will he be able to rise to meet the challenge of Alp Arslan and his armies? I can’t wait to start work on the second book of the planned trilogy and I hope to have it published by early-mid 2013.

The sequel to Legionary (Legionary: Viper of the North) is right now going through a final edit and proof read. All things being well, it will be hitting the shelves in early August – just a few weeks away. The story picks up with our hero, Pavo, shortly after the end of the first volume. It pivots around the Gothic Wars of 377AD, so the action is intense and I think fans of the first book will love it.

6. Finally, there are many aspiring historical-fiction writers out there. Is there any advice you would give them to make their work stand out against all the other competition out there?

In reading the works of others, I have learned a lot. However, I think the secret lies in blending all the aspects you admire from your favourite authors while giving your own work a distinctive style. The term ‘finding your writing voice’ is oft-used when trying to explain the essence of good writing to aspiring authors. I’m not sure if I’ve found mine yet, but I am certain that I am a lot closer to it now, as I ready to release my third novel, than I was when I started out writing my first.

Strategos, Born in the Borderlands, Gordon Doherty

Publishers: FeedARead.com Publishing

 

Pages: 408

 

Main Characters:

Apion, Maria, Nasir,

Bracchus

Strategos, Born in the Borderlands follows the story of Apion, a young crippled Byzantine boy who has a dark past and an even darker future. At an early age Apion’s mother and father are murdered by masked killers and he becomes enslaved in the aftermath. Whilst working in a dingy drinking-hole for a cruel master, Apion stumbles into an elderly Seljuk man called Mansur, who buys Apion’s freedom and takes him back to his farm to live as a foster son. There Apion grows happy and forgets about his dark past and the murder of his parents, learning sword-play and strategy from Mansur whilst creating a great bond with Mansur’s daughter Maria.

However, a few years into his stay at Mansur’s farm, Apion discovers that the man behind the murder of his parents is none other than Bracchus, a corrupt soldier who forces Mansur to pay money for protection. But Apion cannot get at Bracchus for two reasons. The first is that Bracchus has been made into a Tourmarches, a powerful figure within the Byzantine army. The second reason is because Bracchus is a secret imperial agent with the Emperor’s protection and blessing, and therefore untouchable to Apion.

But Apion has a plan! With the threat of invasion from the Seljuk hordes in the East, Apion decides to join the army and becomes stationed under Bracchus. However when he arrives at Argyroupolis (where Bracchus is stationed) it is not what he is expecting, and soon finds Bracchus has the town run as a mini kingdom with him at the top! With joining the army, Apion also has another problem. With his deformed leg he cannot keep up on marches! Apion decides to bide his time, not only to make his leg stronger but to give him enough time to come up with a plan to take down Bracchus. Though, time may be running out for Apion as the Seljuk advance is much quicker than expected!

Apion and his comrades must face the odds and destroy the Seljuk army (which have 4 times as many troops!) Will Apion survive the battle? Will he gain his revenge for the murder of his family? Will the Byzantines push back the wave of all conquering Seljuks? You’ll have to read the book to find out!

I was looking forward to reading this book the moment I heard about it! I am a huge fan of Byzantine history (especially Justinian!) but I have never really read into this period of the long and eventful Byzantine era. And Strategos didn’t disappoint! I thought Doherty did a brilliant job of painting the picture of the era, especially when describing the troops of the Byzantine and Seljuk armies!  I also loved the character of Apion! He is the hero that I always love to read about because he shouldn’t really be a hero! He is a cripple, an orphan and hated by some other Byzantines because he was brought up in a Seljuk family. But he perceivers! He overcomes his weakness and uses his great mind and understanding of strategy to become a Tourmarches, the leader of hundreds of men. There is also a revelation in the book that I was not expecting! I thought I knew where the book was heading but towards the end a spanner is thrown into the works which I thought was excellent! And which really rattles Apion!

This was a great book! I would suggest it to anyone who is a fan of C. C. Humphrey's book Constantinople, A Place Called Armageddon or is a fan other Romanesque/Greek epics authors such as Simon Scarrow, Ben Kane, Conn Iggulden and Anthony Riches! I’d just like to say a massive thank you to Gordon for getting in touch and introducing me to his work, this was a great book!

For author’s official website please click here

P.S. Don’t forget to enter my Book of the Month Competition for your chance to win a signed copy of Spartacus the Gladiator by Ben Kane for absolutely FREE. To enter, just follow the instructions on the widget below and for more information click here

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Interview with Kalen Cap, author of Tangled Ties to a Manatee

Here is my interview with Kalen Cap, author of the humorous crime thriller Tangled Ties to a Manatee. I'd just like to say a massive thank you to Kalen for taking the time and answering my questions! Hope you all enjoy the interview and check out my review of Kalen's book Tangled Ties to a Manatee!



1. As Tangled Ties to a Manatee is your debut novel, what inspired you to write this book as your first book?

In general, I have received so much from the art of storytelling in my life. I'm driven to give back through writing. I enjoy writing and have had short stories, poems, and nonfiction articles published, as well as plays produced. This first novel was a more involved undertaking.

People giving of themselves for causes they care about inspire me. For my debut novel, I touched on issues I care about in an entertaining way. Activism feeds my writing and my writing feeds my personal activism as well.

I've also been told I have particular strengths with group dialogue. I wanted to expand on this strength to create something unique, or at least seldom seen, in a novel with intricate, interwoven storylines involved among characters.

2. Tangled Ties to a Manatee covers many different issues including the environment, depression, divorce and the way society treats adults with special needs. When writing your book, was there any specific message you wanted your readers to grasp?

While I prefer leaving most interpretations of any message to the reader, I hoped I presented messages with an open hand instead of a sledgehammer. I'll just touch on those mentioned in this question.

Regarding adults with special needs, I hope Tangled Ties to a Manatee presents the case that each individual has a full life with the same needs and desires of others, even when differently-abled. A developmental disability doesn't define the whole individual, and someone differently-abled can be just as heroic or antagonistic as anyone else.

For the divorce topic where depression did play a role, I believe there are always complex feelings around divorce. Experiences with any breakup affect how individuals approach other relationships, and can also affect how one approaches work and other matters.

Regarding the environment, even in more urban areas, the environment is still there. People may choose different activities or try to avoid it, but how a character relates to the environment is a characteristic of anyone. This is as true for those living in the city as for those living in remote wilderness.

3. The plot in Tangled Ties to a Manatee is very intricate. There are many different characters with their own story lines, and they all interact with each other throughout the book. Did you have any problems when trying to link each character together and tying them back to Ankh (the manatee)?

Some linkages and interactions took more work than others. Some of the more challenging connections are presented through dialogue. While writing plays, I was told dialogue was a strength of mine, particularly when more than two characters are involved. Whether in plays or novels, I enjoy writing group scenes.

In group scenes, I find more can be revealed more succinctly about characters and their relationships than with one-on-one dialogue. I think of these in terms of potential "reveals."

During a scene with two characters, there are three reveals. Say Al And Bob are two characters involved in a dialogue. Regarding individuals and relationships, this could provide the reader with three "reveals" - insights about Al, Bob, and Al & Bob's relationship.

If a third character, Carol, is added, there are seven potential "reveals" - Al, Bob, Carol, Al & Bob, Al & Carol, Bob & Carol, and all three characters' relationship as a group. For a 4-character dialogue, the potential "reveals" are 14, and the complexity advances from there.

In suspense, up to a point, more intricacies add to the mystery. With the suspense genre, that is part of the enjoyment. With the interwoven storylines, I wanted to take that mystery from intricacies further than usual, but keep everything anchored with strong through-lines in Tangled Ties to a Manatee. group dialogue was a key to achieving that.

4. You label the genre of your book a ‘humorous crime thriller’. What other authors of this genre do you like to read and did any of them influence you in writing Tangled Ties to a Manatee?

Carl Hiaasen is my favorite author in this genre. He employs environmental themes in his work and uses humor effectively.

So much of what's written or otherwise produced about environmental themes around activism is focused on the negative. Bringing environmental issues up in a humorous context reaches people in a valuable way while being entertaining. While my humor is more understated instead of madcap, I've been influenced by those who stretch the comedic.

5. After finishing your first novel what’s next for Kalen Cap? Is there another novel on the horizon, can you tells us anything about it?

My new work-in-progress is a novel with the working title, "The Peace Cipher." It is also a type of crime thriller where artifacts are stolen from a museum exhibit. The setting is primarily in Ottawa County, Ohio along Lake Erie, featuring the fictional Sandusky Bay Community College.

6. And finally, after finishing your debut book is there any advice you would give to other writers?

My advice should be confined to those considering self-publishing a novel, since that is what my experience is limited to, but here goes....

Take risks with your first novel. There are hundreds of thousands of books published each year and tens of millions already published historically still available to readers. The only way to provide real value to readers is to give your unique take on things. That requires taking risks because anything differing from the norm invites criticism.

I realize the "academic wisdom" bandied about among writers is that there's nothing new under the sun - that all the stories to be told have already been told. I don't buy that. I believe every individual writer has a unique perspective they bring into their work based on their life experiences and views. That's what gives each novel its distinctive flavor. At least, it does when chances are taken.

So, take some risks.

Tangled Ties To A Manatee, Kalen Cap

Publishers: Kalen Cap

 

Pages: 336

 

Main Characters:

Ankh, Jerry, Cecily, Vera, Clara,
Steven, Leeanne, Elise, Stan

 

Tangled Ties to a Manatee is the debut novel from author Kalen Cap. The book is a humorous crime thriller based around a number of different characters that all have their own individual story lines within the book. What I thought was really clever about the book was that all of the characters story lines interact with each other throughout the book, meaning that all the characters meet each other at some stage! Although every character does have their own part within the book, I think all of the stories can be grouped into three main plots.

The first is that of Jerry. Jerry is a developmentally disabled man who works as a cleaner in his local coffee shop. Jerry is looking forward to the annual trip to the zoo which he goes on every month or so with his care centre. He is excited to see two things at the zoo, a pregnant Manatee called Ankh and his friend Janelle (who Jerry has a crush on).  But Jerry’s day is spoiled when he learns that he will not be able to see either of them and storms off in a fit of rage! In his anger and disappointment, Jerry doesn’t realise that he has stumbled into two con-men’s scheme to cause widespread blackouts throughout the city. The two con-men (Stan and Craig) hold Jerry prisoner until their plan is complete!

The second main storyline in the book is that of Elise, Vera, Clara and the Environmental Retreat Centre (ERC). The centre is a non-profitable organisation that helps promote looking after the environment, where volunteers live within the centre and are there for any occasion. The ERC is run by two sisters Vera and Clara (Jerry’s aunts). Vera is the leader of the volunteers and always puts the needs of the centre before her own. Clara is worried. Many other non-profit agencies have been investigated and some even named as cults! Clara does not want this to happen to the ERC. With the support of the board members (and behind Vera’s back) Clara arranges an internal investigation from an independent detective agency to be held to prove the ERC is not a cult. The detective agency sends Elise to pose as a volunteer in the centre. Elise is looking for ten checkpoints that prove or don’t prove the ERC is a cult, but what she finds is not what she is expecting.

The third and final storyline is that of Steven. Steven is a twenty nine year old environmental management lecturer who has just completed the divorce from his wife Leeanne (who is Ankh’s vet). The divorce is hard for both Steven and Leeanne and is made harder by the fact Leeanne is under a lot of pressure from Ankh’s pregnancy! Steven’s students Cecily, Janelle, Gavin and Leonard are all studying hard for their final exams. As a means to get extra credit for their final grade, the students are allowed to volunteer for the ERC. However when they start their work, the students (and Elise) soon find that something is amiss and go in search of what is causing the blackouts in the city.

I thought this book was great! The way Cap wrote it was amazing and it must have taken him forever to work out how each character's story line would link back to Ankh and her pregnancy, I think the title Tangled Ties really describes this book. I have to admit that when I started reading the book, all of the different story lines did confuse me and I had trouble remembering which character was which! But after a few pages I really got into the flow of the book and these problems disappeared! It was funny, entertaining and well written like any good book should be and I’m glad I read it!

I think that if you like Mark Haddon's The Curious Case of the Dog in the Night-Time or if you are a fan of writers such as Nick Hornby you would love this book! With The Curious Case, I think there is a similarity with the main characters both having mental disorders and like Hornby, the characters in Tangled Tales are very quirky! This was a great book and a great read, thank you Kalen for getting in touch and introducing me to your work!

For author’s official website click here

P.S. Don’t forget to enter my Book of the Month Competition for your chance to win a signed copy of Spartacus the Gladiator by Ben Kane for absolutely FREE. To enter, just follow the instructions on the widget below and for more information click here
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Book of the Month Competition- July

Another month and another Book of the Month competition! As I said yesterday I have a right treat to giveaway! This month’s Book of the Month is Spartacus the Gladiator by Ben Kane. But this is not just any old paperback, but a signed copy by Ben Kane himself! I’d like to say a massive thanks to Ben for supplying me with the book!

All you have to do to win this brilliant, signed book (for FREE) is click on this link to my Facebook page, ‘like’ my page and then write a comment saying you would like to enter the competition. Or you can enter through the widget below! If you are not on Facebook but are a member of Blogger, you can enter the competition by following my Blog directly through Blogger by clicking on the ‘join this site’ button on the right hand side of the page. It is that simple!

Remember it’s FREE to enter and it will not cost you a penny to get the book in the post. So why not have a go? You could win an excellent book, signed by Ben Kane himself for FREE!

Good luck to everyone that joins, I hope you’ll have as much fun with the competition as I will. I will be choosing the winner on the 31st July. For further details on the competition such as how the winner will be chosen and when the winner will be announced please click here.

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