Bøker av Bill Stenlake

The Grand Master: The Keeper Trilogy: Part 2 This is the second book of The Keeper Trilogy. The Keeper Trilogy starts like this: A long long time ago when the universe was arranged three Guiding Masters were appointed to oversee and act if the overall balance was not maintained. If necessary they can step in to sort problems. As a back up to the system The Keeper was also created. He holds the balance or rather he can restore the balance should it ever be required. The role as The Keeper passes down through the generations and although they are each aware they are something important they do not know what it is. The Keeper is protected by The Watcher who is a humanoid. The planet where The Keeper lives unexpectedly has serious unrest so The Watcher decides to move The Keeper and his parents to another planet (Earth) in the universe. On their journey they go through a time jump (unbeknown to them at the time). The Watcher knows it will only be a matter of time before they are found but it is all he can do. One of the current Guiding Masters notices the unrest and leaves the other two Guiding Masters at their base. Their system is set up so that there must always be two Guiding Masters present at their base at all times. The remaining two suspect that the third Guiding Master is up to something so they seek guidance. They are told that they should leave things as this was the sort of circumstance The Keeper was created for and it will be a good test. Their hands are tied so all they can do is keep a watching brief. The third Guiding Master arrives on the planet Velchitta where the unrest has been only to find The Keeper has gone. The new leader Algreb is also keen to follow them and bring them back under his control. He and The Guiding Master team up to follow The Watcher and The Keeper. This group too in their turn are followed by a small band of family and friends to do what they can to stop The Keeper from being found. They fail! The Keeper has been captured by The Grand Master. His aim is to upset The Balance across the Universe. The Grand Master wants to be the power force of the Universe. He recruits like minded individuals and arms them. They set out across the quadrants to conquer the planets and take the wealth for their own. The Watcher, who has so far been ineffective in guarding The Keeper sets out to redeem the situation, but so far it is The Grand Master who definitely has the upper hand.

The Coridae Key is the sequel to Lowarth Toll. Arthur Snade has inherited a house in Torleith, from his Aunt Emily. He spent some time visiting her and reading to her, when he was on holiday in Cornwall. Emily's brother and sister found a note from Charles Trewartha reminding Emily not to forget about the family treasure. They did this when Emily was taken to hospital having been found on her hall floor. Emily knew nothing of the treasure, so they systematically pulled her house apart in an effort to find it. When Emily died, they found out that she had left everything to Arthur, so they started on Arthur. They presumed he knew about the treasure. He knew even less than Emily did. Arthur is rescued from a further beating by an heir hunter. Arthur inherits Lowarth Toll and moves to Cornwall. He meets up with his childhood sweetheart, Jenny, when she stops to give him a lift as he walks home with several bags of shopping. The family still hasn't given up on finding the treasure themselves. Having watched Arthur find something in the field behind Lowarth Toll, they investigate it for themselves during the night, with tragic consequences. Arthur and Jenny keep working at the clues and discover 4 pieces of treasure. They are made of a dull coloured, very heavy metal. There is a crown, a collar, a ring and a bangle. They report the find to the authorities and the treasure is taken to the British Museum to be assessed. One morning when they open their vault they find the treasure has gone, but no one has been in the vault. Arthur finds the treasure inside a safe he is having delivered to Lowarth Toll. He is given the instructions to hide the treasure away again until the right time, so he does. The Coridae Key takes up the story from that point. It tells of how the treasure was made and how it was brought to Cornwall many centuries ago. Arthur and Jenny try to find more about the treasure and where it might have come from. Events come together to make this 'the right time' and so they find out a little bit more about the treasure and eventually find The Coridae Key.

Lowarth Toll. While on holiday with his parents one summer in Cornwall, Arthur visits his Great Aunt Emma. She spent the first 50 years of her life, nursing her parents. Not that many years after they passed away, Emma has suffered a stroke. Her brother and sister do not believe she will survive, so go to her house to check on things. Emma lives in a cottage in the hamlet of Torleith, in Cornwall. They go through her papers and find, along with her will, a note from their Grandfather, Charles, to his son. In it, he reminds his son not to forget about the family treasure. It does not specify what the treasure is. They set about taking the cottage apart, but still fail to find anything. They then take to visiting Emma in hospital, trying to force information out of her about the treasure. Even if she does know anything about it, which she does not, Emma is incapable of communicating to anyone. Eventually they give up. When Arthur visits his Aunt whilst on holiday, he feels for her. Every day he visits her and reads to her. He buys her a radio to listen to when he is goes home again. Emma responds to this and after Arthur has returned home, she continues to improve. The progress is slow but in the right direction. She improves to the degree that it is thought that she might even be able to return home. That is until the social worker visits and discovers that the family has wrecked her house. The family start to visit again too and the combination of all this sends her rapidly downhill, culminating in her having another stroke. Only when she eventually dies, does the family learn that when she improved she had also changed her will. Arthur now inherits her estate. They now turn their attention on Arthur, to reveal the family treasure to them. Arthur isn't even aware he has inherited when they first attack him in his home. On the second occasion they do so, a visitor steps in to help save him. This visitor leads him back to Cornwall, where he follows the clues left by Charles. Is it all a big family joke or is there something to be found at Lowarth Toll?

'Dimensions' is in fact the first novel that I wrote, in the early 1990's. I had the manuscript printed out but never got to the stage of publishing it. I came across the manuscript again recently and I have decided that it deserves to be published, along with my other novels: on kindle and in paper-back. So here it is, over twenty years after I wrote it: Adam Wilcocks and his family get caught up in an explosion in the in local shopping center. The emotions that he goes through when he learns of the outcome are quite powerful. Also on the scene is John who has just parked up his vehicle when the explosion occurs. He belongs to a small special unit that operates out of London. John is in the middle of his annual vacation but that has to be cut short and he is asked to return to London. Following a meeting of their team, John is contacted by Liam who asks to meet him up. His group wants to deny any responsibility for the explosion. Two members of John's unit are assassinated shortly after and the unit separates to work on their own. William has been employed as a consultant for over four years by his company. He is about to be made redundant and so has time on his hands while he thinks about looking for another job. He has been experiencing some strange occurrences with some people he sees having a colored dot that only he can see, by their heads. Over the days he thinks he discovers what the dots mean and decides to do something about it, his own little crusade. 'Dimensions' is a passionate, emotional, fast moving action thriller. Nobody really understands what is going on and when they think they get a handle on it, they find they are wrong. The story moves in a full circle and the characters come together to conclude in an unexpected ending.

THE ROOTS I find that my life has come to a crossroads. I need something to change the recent pattern of my life. While clearing out my Mother's things, I come across a letter sent to my late Father, 25 years ago. The letter has come half way round the world from a solicitor in Cornwall. I have no idea what it was about, nor do I know if my Father ever responded to it. I realize how little I know of my family history and start the process of unearthing my ancestors. It should be relatively easy to do online, once I have a starting point. But I decide that as I need a change of scenery. I will travel half way round the world and visit Cornwall; the home of my ancestors. I contact the solicitor who had sent the letter to my Father all those years ago, more as a starting point to try to trace my family. His reply asks that I make an appointment to go and see him when I reach Cornwall, which is what I do once I have made my journey. It would appear that there are some people, who are not so welcoming on learning of my visit. First they take pot shots at me with an air rifle and then they attack me when I visit the old family house in Polfowys. All they seem to want from me is information about an old well. They are convinced there is something to be found in it and they seem to think that I know something at the very least about it. They watch me from afar, as I try to bring the house and garden back into a cared for state. I haven't really started my ancestry search as yet. They won't keep their distance for long.