2026: Feb-March: Delphian: A British Intelligence Top Secret by Tim Rees > Likes and Comments

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message 1: by Lesle (last edited Jan 29, 2026 03:00AM) (new)

Lesle Our first Book of the Month with Author: Tim Rees and his Thriller
Delphian: A British Intelligence Top Secret
A British intelligence spy thriller that's set in Wales and takes you inside the mind of an undercover secret agent.

Published: June 2, 2020
Kindle Edition: 614 pages
Paperback, 662 pages

Please allow Author Tim Rees to make the first comment.
Thank you!


message 2: by Tim (new)

Tim Rees Hi everyone. It's such an honour for Delphian to be selected as BOTM. If you have any questions, I'm here to answer them :)

Amazon seem to have the page numbers wrong. The paperback is 660 pages. Kindle edition? I suppose that would depend on the text size your Kindle is set at...

I look forward to your experience of time spent with Vincent and Millie.

Tim


message 3: by Lesle (new)

Lesle Tim wrote: "Amazon seem to have the page numbers wrong. The paperback is 660 pages. ..."

Good morning Tim!
Adjusted the page count in the comment above.
I put a request in with a Goodreads Librarian to update the page count for your novel.
She is usually really quick about taking care of things until I lost the Direct Messaging. Hopefully she gets my email request soon.

I did order the paperback version through Amazon, States it will be here Saturday! I am rather excited for the interaction and appreciate your willingness to participate.

Anyone else thinking about joining in?


message 4: by Tim (new)

Tim Rees Thank you so much, Lesle! :)


message 5: by Lesle (new)

Lesle Good morning Tim (maybe Afternoon for you!)

Your more than welcome of course :)


message 6: by PamG (new)

PamG Tim, I am looking forward to spending time with Vincent and Millie.

I already have a copy of the book on my kindle so I'm looking forward to getting started on it.

Happy Reading, Everyone!


message 7: by Carolyn (new)

Carolyn I also have a copy lined up on my Kindle :)


message 8: by Tim (new)

Tim Rees Thank you, Carolyn and PamG :)


message 9: by Sean (new)

Sean Peters  (A Good Thriller) Great news

I will try to join in, catching up


message 10: by Lesle (last edited Feb 01, 2026 07:32AM) (new)

Lesle Delphian A British Intelligence Top Secret by Tim Rees

I received my paperback copy today!
Ready to start soon :)


message 11: by PamG (new)

PamG Tim, I got started on your book and I've already read 1/4 of it. What a fascinating main character! I'm wondering how you developed his characteristics which are so complex.


message 12: by Tim (new)

Tim Rees Hi PamG,

My characters walk into scenes complete and I meet them for the first time. I get to know them as the story develops, then, of course, we (we being me and the characters) relive each scene during many drafts. The characters keep growing with every draft. I was talking to an actor friend and he said it was the same when he and his colleagues re-enacted a stage play night after night. The actors see different aspects and opportunities to develop character and the scene. For me, now, Vincent is every bit as real as other individuals in my everyday life and I consider him as a colleague I have worked with to create. i look forward to working with Vincent again.

When writing my first novel, Raw Nerve, something happened that, I think, made me a novelist. Gideon (main character) did something that changed the direction of the story I had plotted. I said: "Stop! You can't do that!" And he turned to me in my imagination and said: "Shut up and keep up." So I did and the story is so much better now! So since, i have learned to take a backseat and let the characters get on with it. Now, the characters are on a very loose rein and I let scenes unfold on the first draft and then I redraft and redraft with the characters until we feel we've got it right and exhausted all the emotional content.


message 13: by PamG (new)

PamG Tim wrote: "My characters walk into scenes complete and I meet them for the first time. I get to know them as the story develops, then, of course, we (we being me and the characters) relive each scen..."

Wow. What a wonderful process. Thanks for sharing it, Tim.


message 14: by Lesle (new)

Lesle Tim wrote: "Stop! You can't do that!" And he turned to me in my imagination and said: "Shut up and keep up." So I did and the story is so much better now! So since, i have learned to take a backseat and let the characters get on with it...."

I agree Pam!

That is something amazing to have as a beginning Author!
Discovering that uniqueness for you had to be an overwhelming feeling at first!
I have never heard of that before.


message 15: by Tim (new)

Tim Rees Yes, Lesle. At first I was taken aback. When the characters come to life on the page it is such a thrill. And the characters constantly surprise me. It's magic. The aspiration is that that magic communicates to the reader.


message 16: by Sean (new)

Sean Peters  (A Good Thriller) Ordered and starting tonight


message 17: by Carolyn (new)

Carolyn Whoa Tim! Just started your book and that opening chapter is a cracker (and just a bit gruesome!). I'm looking forward to getting to know more about Vincent.


message 18: by Tim (new)

Tim Rees Thank you, Carolyn. I do feel a little guilty about that. I have a lovely lady in her early eighties who lives locally and read the book. Now, every time I see her, she curls her eyes and says: "I'm still having nightmares." But she do say she loved the story and has given it to her granddaughter, so she must have genuinely liked it. :)


message 19: by Susan_MG (new)

Susan_MG New and exciting storyline entices me to read asap. I am thinking it took a great deal of research to put the medical aspects of the plot together. Finding out the details soon.


message 20: by PamG (new)

PamG I'm at the halfway point and it has been a ride, Tim. Vincent is a complex character with multiple layers. Millie is strongly in the picture now and I'm looking forward to seeing where the story goes with her.


message 21: by Lesle (new)

Lesle Tim
Question: I am into the second Chapter as I did not want to stop after the end of the first to make notes.
Delphian is Greek Mythology, but there is another meaning of obscure or ambiguous. I am assuming not one of those? Thinking...Ship name?


message 22: by Tim (new)

Tim Rees Hi Lesle,

I'm not sure whether it's a spoiler to tell you... Maybe I should whisper it: it's a codename chosen because of it's obscurity... :)


message 23: by Lesle (new)

Lesle Tim wrote: "Hi Lesle,

I'm not sure whether it's a spoiler to tell you... Maybe I should whisper it: it's a codename chosen because of it's obscurity... :)"


Shhh....I struck through it so no one will see!

I really thought it was the ship! Which would have made sense. Maybe I should whisper to you when your writing next time lol !!


message 24: by Tim (new)

Tim Rees Oh, well done! I hadn't thought of putting a line through it! Best keep it under our hats... ;)


message 25: by Lesle (new)

Lesle Most definitely Tim!
Good Afternoon :)

Have a Dr's appointment later today hoping to get back with Delphian soon if not it is going with me!


message 26: by Tim (new)

Tim Rees Hope everything goes okay. Wishing you good health! :)


message 27: by Lesle (new)

Lesle Thank you Tim!


message 28: by Sean (new)

Sean Peters  (A Good Thriller) I am on 33% read. still long way to go !


message 29: by PamG (new)

PamG I finished the book last night. What a ride! I think the cover with the mask is perfect for this book. I hope to get my review written later today.

Are you planning a sequel, Tim?


message 30: by Sean (new)

Sean Peters  (A Good Thriller) Your a quick reader Pam


message 31: by Tim (new)

Tim Rees PamG wrote: "I finished the book last night. What a ride! I think the cover with the mask is perfect for this book. I hope to get my review written later today.

Are you planning a sequel, Tim?"


Thank you, Pam. I'm so pleased you liked the novel #phew I can breath again!! :)

I do have a storyline in mind. Again, it will be a long novel and I will probably involve the American characters from The Need To Know Principle. However, I'm currently immersed in the fourth novel of the Original Earth series and will need to then write the fifth book, so it might be awhile... Sorry. :(


message 32: by PamG (new)

PamG Tim wrote: I do have a storyline in mind. Again, it will be a long novel and I will probably involve the American characters from The Need To Know Principle..."

That's good to know, Tim. Thanks for the update.


message 33: by PamG (new)

PamG Sean wrote: "Your a quick reader Pam"

I actually started it on the 30th, Sean.


message 34: by PamG (new)

PamG Tim,

I finished Delphian and have now posted my review in the 2026 Review thread.

What a great way to start our 2026 Group read. I hope everyone enjoys it as much as I did.


message 35: by Tim (new)

Tim Rees Pam, thank you so much! What a wonderful, comprehensive review! I'm deeply grateful and so pleased you like the story. I want to sign off with a kiss, but probably crossing lines ;)


message 36: by Lesle (new)

Lesle Lol!!

Probably haha!


message 37: by PamG (last edited Feb 04, 2026 01:22PM) (new)

PamG Tim wrote: "Pam, thank you so much! ....."

You're welcome, Tim. I enjoyed your novel and want to check out another of your books when I can work it into my reading schedule.

Tim wrote: "Pam, thank you so much! .....I want to sign off with a kiss, but probably crossing lines ;)"

LOL. Yeah. I am honest in my opinions. If I don't enjoy a read, I will say so (along with the things I liked about it.)


message 38: by Lesle (new)

Lesle Tim
This might sound kind of an odd question.
When I write and use a double or triple question mark it is a "Hmmm " moment for me.
Is that your thinking process? It kind of fits.

I almost halfway through and enjoying the details of the different aspects but especially the characters!!


message 39: by Sean (new)

Sean Peters  (A Good Thriller) Yes I am also halfway through


message 40: by Tim (new)

Tim Rees Hi Lesle,

have I written a double question mark in the text? Goodness! It sounds like a typo I missed to me... I've brushed through the text so many times and by changing the tense for the second edition it meant examining every line. Took me months!

My sincere apologies if you found a double question mark. Can you remember the scene so I can correct it for future readers.

Thank you.


message 41: by Tim (new)

Tim Rees Hi Lesle,

I've just done a search of the manuscript and can't see any ??. I'm always distrusting of converting files, so use Amazon't own conversion software, but it very possible the software doubled up on question marks in error. If so I will inform Amazon and reload the MS....

The life of an author, eh... :)


message 42: by Lesle (new)

Lesle Tim
I will look when I am done reading. I cannot remember.


message 43: by Carolyn (new)

Carolyn I’m afraid I’m reading rather slowly Tim because I’m away on vacation with some friends, but I am almost half way and enjoying the book :)


message 44: by Lesle (last edited Feb 07, 2026 11:15AM) (new)

Lesle Good morning (for me!)

Tim a few thoughts if you do not mind.

The double and triple spacing is a bit weird to look at when it is so inconsistent. You might have saved the paperback version a few pages! lol

How did you come up with Millie?
Millie and her choice of words. My Aunt would have pulled out the good old bar of soap! I did really enjoy her character.

Here is my humble review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Most of my Goodreads friends know me for reading pretty much only Classics. Might be fun to see their reactions and comments.


message 45: by Sean (new)

Sean Peters  (A Good Thriller) Yes it will Lesle.

We still might be able to convert you.

I have read 65% of the book, yes love the Millie character.


message 46: by Tim (new)

Tim Rees Hi Lesle,

Thank you so much for the review. Deeply appreciated.

With regard the spacings? I'm not sure what you mean? I don't use double or triple line spacings except when I was submitting material to agents etc... I have a paperback copy here printed by Amazon UK. I can't see any issues. It looks perfect to me. As with the double question marks you mentioned previously - I can't find those either - I'm wondering in Amazon USA's paperback POD printing system is set up differently than the UK. It's odd... Sorry if the strange formatting you encountered has affected you enjoyment of the story. Obviously, as the author, I want the book to be perfect. The copy I have is, so I remain mystified as to why yours isn't.

Has anyone else experienced odd formatting issues and double question marks?


message 47: by Lesle (last edited Feb 07, 2026 11:11AM) (new)

Lesle Tim wrote: "With regard the spacings? I'm not sure what you mean..."

Well it seems Tim I like to stump you haha!

It is the alignment or justify a paragraph I think in Word Doc.

My copy is paperback from 2014 and does not say who published it.
Chapter 21, page 288 reads like this:

She^^^ pressed^^^the^^^button. "Thanks f--k!"^^^Millie
breathed, seeing the screen light up. Then cursed again
when she saw there was no signal.

It is just random.


message 48: by Lesle (new)

Lesle Tim wrote: "Hi Lesle,
Thank you so much for the review. Deeply appreciated...."


Your more than welcome Tim!
No worries about anything. I adjusted as I went along. The read itself is worth the getting used to oddities!

How did you come up with Millie?
Millie and her choice of words. My Aunt would have pulled out the good old bar of soap! I did really enjoy her character.


message 49: by Tim (new)

Tim Rees Hi Lesle,

Well, that answers it! The 2014 copy. For two months - August September, I think - I redrafted Delphian and published a second edition. You won't be able to get hold of the first edition now. In my Word doc master, there weren't any formatting issues, but it depends how the POD software interpreted the the Word text and format in the old days ;)

I redrafted to change the tense from present (immediate) to past participle and did amend many paragraphs of text and deleted some and added some. I hadn't really marketed the first edition, because I didn't know how and just offered free download days where a couple of thousand copies were downloaded.

I had an agent when I'd completed the novel and he asked me to cut at least sixty thousand words! He'd read it and loved it, but told he'd be laughed out of every publishers office offering a novel of that length. We fell out and I self-published.

I so wish you'd read the second edition (the cover is a hand holding a mask over a face), because I think you'd have had a better experience of reading it.

Never mind. Thank you for your effort in identifying the formatting issues when there aren't any! Haha...

Still odd how you have those spaces between words. How did that happen.... If you want, I will gift you the second edition so you have a clean "perfect" copy?

Tim


message 50: by Tim (new)

Tim Rees He Lesle,

The Millie character came about because I wanted to introduce some love interest for Vincent and I thought it would be fun if she was a barmaid. I liked the contrast of their lifestyles. I do plan to write a sequel with Vincent and Millie involved together in exposing a group of billionaires up to no good. Millie will love that adventure...

If you ever visit Wales and go into a bar you'll probably meet a Millie-like character. Millie swears a lot because everyone around here seem to and the girls are worse than the boys!! :)

I remember a local lady who'd read the same edition as you, remark: "Well, Tim, I loved it. And that Millie, well, I could hear her talking..."

So that pleased me immensely...


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