The Secret Library: James Harris 1

by Craig Halstead

First they destroyed his life. Then they snatched his son …Samantha Frewin-Hamilton is on holiday in Tenerife with her two young sons when one of them goes kidnapped. She returns home with a sealed envelope addressed to her husband, a wealthy Cambridge professor, but it doesn’t contain a ransom demand.Drummed out of the SAS before he receives his first posting, James Harris finds a brown envelope on his doormat. Inside the envelope is a graphic image from his past, the same image that led to his dishonourable discharge from the army. When he comes face-to-face with the man guilty of the atrocity depicted, he is shocked to learn he is the father of a young boy – a young boy who has been abducted. Reunited by the kidnappers, James and Samantha learn the price for their son’s safe find the mythical Metal Library.Spurred on by the desire to rescue his son, James finds himself plunged into a desperate battle for survival, as he is compelled to join an expedition to the jungles of South America, in search of one of the greatest archaeological finds of all time …

Genres: Thriller

341 pages, Paperback

First published March 18, 2012

About the author

Craig Halstead was born and raised in Rochdale, England, where he still lives with his son Aaron, to whom his books are dedicated. He is an ardent reader, and after graduating from university with an honours degree in Applied Chemistry with Biochemistry, he spent six months in Israel, four months working on a kibbutz followed by two months working on a moshav. Back in the UK, not sure what he wanted to do, he accepted a temporary post at a busy multi-cultural community centre, which he enjoyed so much he was happy to make the post permanent when the opportunity arose.

Craig’s first novel Tyranny was inspired by the human rights violations that took place in Chile, following the military coup led by General Augusto Pinochet in September 1973. The book, more off than on, took ten years to research and write, and during this time Craig wrote several articles that were accepted and published by philatelic magazines, including one titled ‘Better To Light One Candle’, which marked the 25th anniversary of Amnesty International.

Craig’s second novel The Secret Library was a thriller featuring a disgraced ex-SAS soldier, James Harris, which one reviewer described as a ‘cracking, fast-paced thriller’, and likened it to a new James Bond book. In creating the character James Harris, Craig deliberately chose to make his ethnicity mixed. He says ‘I wanted to create a character who was different to the traditional hero who, whether he’s American or British, is invariably white. At the same time, I wanted a character who was credible, capable and well trained, but who was a normal guy who experiences the same highs and lows as the rest of us.’

The Secret Library was the first book in the James Harris trilogy, and was followed by Shadow Of Death and Twist Of Fate. Never one to stick to one genre, Craig has written several completely different novels and novellas in recent years, including Cataclysm and books with a coming of age and/or LGBTQ+ theme.

Craig has had a passion for music and music charts since he was a boy, and he has written numerous music books including the best-selling Michael Jackson: For The Record, which he co-wrote with Chris Cadman. The ‘For The Record’ series also includes books dedicated to Donna Summer, Janet Jackson and Whitney Houston.

Craig is also the author of Christmas Number Ones, which details the UK’s Christmas #1 singles from 1940 to date (and is up-dated annually), plus a series of 'All The Top 40 Hits' music books dedicated to some of his favourite artists.

Craig has always been interested in ancient and historical mysteries, one of which he explored in The Secret Library, and when he isn't researching or writing his next book, or up-dating one of his already published music books, he is an ardent reader who is interested in antiques and collectables, ancient alien theory and cryptozoology, and has a passion for 1960s to 1990s music, nature and wildlife.

Reviews

[Sharron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Where to start, it's an interesting one. I liked the plot. It was fast moving and had all the elements of a good adventure story.

There were as expected with many Ebooks, lots of typos, that's just a bug bear with me personally and it didn't affect the reading too much.

What concerned me most about this book was the constant, unnecessary derogatory racial and sexual references. I don't feel that this in any way embellished the story or made it better, it would have been better without to be honest. The main characters James and Alex were likeable and I think with some development they could have been much better. The lead female, Sami was annoying and unrealistic to day the least.

However, having said all that don't be put off, this is an entertaining read and as I said the plot is good and believable. With a bit of tweaking this could be a fantastic book. The ending was a little abrupt and could go one way or the other but I think I'd like to see James and Alex in action again, I would give a sequel a go.

I have given the four starts purely for the plot and the two main characters, without these it would have been a one.

[Christopher Everest · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was okay. Perhaps a touch derivative of other writers in the adventure genre. Perhaps a touch lazy in the readiness and willingness to use the first cliche that springs to mind. Some interesting elements in the writing to denote the writers' support of minority issues, political correctness, liberal ideals but rather confused in that so many are just a part of the narrative for very little reason. Add a touch of information about guns and a touch of cultural history about Incas and Mormons - the linkage between them, to my mind never fully explained (?) - add an ex-SAS hero with an ex-girlfriend whose child is threatened, add a jungle setting, and somewhere deep in that mix there might well be a far more convincing read. This however, was not it.