A collection of short stories set in the late l950's and early 1960's and based upon the author's own family whilst living in South Queensferry on the Southern shore of the River Forth in Scotland.

The stories are all beautifully written with the characters brought alive in a colourful and authentic manner. With his usual flair, Mr Gisby has managed to create a compilation of tales to warm and touch the heart of the reader. The tales contain depth, humour and pathos, and as always his characters generate compassion in the reader whilst they hold the interest from page to page.

A nice added touch is the fact that most of them re-appear in the different stories, and it's not until one has almost finished reading that one realises there is a continuing story-thread running throughout.

Equally entertaining as a whole read or as individual reads, this is a most delightful book to add to anyone's bookshelf, and is to be especially enjoyed when curled up in the warm on a Winter's evening.

Bob Dylan wrote the classic song 'Knockin' on Heaven's Door' and thereby unforgettably marked the passing of an otherwise insignificant character in the movie 'Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid'.

Brendan Gisby has written this utterly beautiful novella to honour the short life of his father, a man of seemingly as little significance.

The story is narrated with haunting subtlety, rhythm and depth of feeling by his teenage son as he takes a bus ride back to school for the first day of a new term where he will have to announce his father's sudden death and deal with the resultant reactions without bursting into tears.

He also has to come to terms with the fact that, on reflection, there is a huge amount he doesn't know about his father and that all he is really left with are snippets of personal memories.

Make no mistake, 'The Bookie's Runner' is a modern masterpiece and, in writing it, Brendan Gisby has not only honoured his father, he has ennobled him.

In 1975, when in his mid-twenties, Brendan Gisby - spurred on by a press report on "The warming of relations between the Republic of China and the USSR" - put his imaginative prowess of words to work, together with the courage of his convictions, and the then-full-blooded youth (in his own words "I was further Right than Attila the Hun") began to write his own version of what might happen should these two Communist giants combine and collude to dominate the world.

The result, some 30 years later due to the intervention of life and his career, is "The Olive Branch". Set a few years into the future, this gripping and scintillating yarn has all the necessary ingredients and more for a first class read. Combining the horrors of war with the scenic beauty of surrounding countryside, and the essential underlying blossoming of first love, this book provokes a host of emotions within the reader - not least of which is the humbling realisation of how lucky we are to have our freedom.

Set on a rocky islet lying in the shadow of the Forth Railway Bridge, this superbly written tale centres on the creatures who inhabit it - a huge colony of rats who have made their home beneath the crumbling ruins of the monastery.

'Home' is hardly the word for the native black creatures, however, who live under the cruel dictatorship of the larger brown rats who took over the colony when they first arrived in their masses from a passing foreign ship.

Of the original black rats, Twisted Foot is a rodent on a mission, and one cannot help but feel compassion for our protagonist as he carries us along with him through his trials and tribulations, until finally deciding to take matters into his own hands and make a bid for freedom.

This is a delightful and cleverly constructed story. With his excellent powers of description, Brendan Gisby has produced an enthralling and utterly fascinating book - and one which is an absolute must for anyone who has ever read and enjoyed "Watership Down".