Dec 8, 202312 min read

'London Tales' by Tim Walker. Review.

Book Title: London Tales

Author: Tim Walker

Publication Date: 7th November 2023

Publisher: Independently published

Formats: Kindle; paperback; Kindle Unlimited

Length: 205 pages

Genre: contemporary fiction with references to history and legend

Book Description

London Tales is a collection of eleven short stories that offer dramatic pinpricks in the rich tapestry of London’s timeline, a city with two thousand years of history. They are glimpses of imagined lives at key moments, starting with a prologue in verse from the point of view of a native Briton tribeswoman absorbing the shock of Roman invasion. The first story is a tense historical adventure set in Roman Londinium in 60 CE from the perspective of terrified legionaries and townsfolk facing the vengeful Iceni queen, Boudica, whose army burnt the fledgling city to the ground.

Further historical dramas take place in 1381 during the Peasant’s Revolt, the Great Fire of London, in 1666 and the last ice fair on the frozen Thames in 1814. These are followed by a romance set during the Blitz in 1941, then the swinging Sixties and wide-flared seventies are remembered in the life story of fictional policeman, Brian Smith. Moving on, an East End family get a fright from copycat killings that are a throwback to the 1888 Jack the Ripper murders.

There’s a series of contemporary stories that reference recent events, including the London terrorist bombings of 2005, a literary pub crawl and a daring prison break, building to the imagined death throes of London in a chilling, dystopian vision. These stories are loosely inspired by the author’s personal experiences and reflections on his time living and working in London in the 1980’s and 90’s. Adaptability, resilience, conformity and resolve are recurring themes.

London Tales evokes the city’s rich history and showcases the qualities that were needed by Londoners at various times to survive and prosper – from the base and brutal, devious and inspired, to the refined and civilized.

Available in e-book, paperback and Kindle Unlimited, London Tales is a companion volume to Thames Valley Tales.

The audiobook edition is available from Amazon Audible and Apple i-Tunes.

Extract

Burning Shadows

Fast forward to 1666 and the Great Fire of London. In the story Burning Shadows, fugitive and notorious regicide, William Say, enlists the help of a friend to escape the sheriff’s men…

Half an hour later, they were on the raised deck of an elongated skiff with six oarsmen on each side. A family begged for deliverance, but Rook shook his head and ordered his men to cast off.

“I am relieved to be on the river, my friend, as the sheriff’s men nearly had me at the meeting house,” Say explained whilst scanning the shore for sight of his pursuers. “I have also learned that you can find friends in the most unexpected of places.”

“Then it’s God’s will that you are saved, William. To hunt you still for your part in Cromwell’s obsession is unjust, in my view. The Indemnity and Oblivion Act was intended to bring reconciliation and put the past to bed, but the new king uses it only to pursue his vengeance. I warrant we’ll be safe at Richmond.”

“Aye. My thanks again, Sebastian. My old bones cannot take much more of this. But we must spend our time in prayer to the Lord of Hosts to ready our souls for a sterner judgement.” The sight before them was one never to be forgotten, for however many days that remained of the world of Men. The river was a bustle of boats, mainly ferries taking distressed families from the north bank to the south, whilst the sight of St Paul’s burning brightly beneath a sombre, darkened sky, framed a scene of utter devastation. Warehouses along the river burnt fiercely, as did the first three houses on London Bridge in the distance. A warehouse exploded, sending white and blue sparks mixed with yellow high over the river in an unnatural rage, causing a wherry to capsize and the two friends to shudder.

“This has the whiff of God’s judgement, alright,” Rook muttered, gripping the rail as the boat rocked in a gentle swell.

William’s feet were planted wide apart, as he had learned from his Channel crossings. He linked his plump fingers in the act of prayer. “May God our Father watch over my daughter and her family, until such a time as they meet our maker on Judgement Day, whether this be it, or it is yet to be.”

The birds had fled the skies and the only sound was that of oars splashing in the opaque, brown flow of the river as the skiff moved upstream. They rounded a bend so that all that could be seen on the horizon was a column of black smoke rising to the heavens.

“There is meaning in this, but what is the lesson?” Rook asked.

“Either a divine rebuke, the wicked tongue of Satan, or the opening act of Doomsday?” William’s thoughts turned to little Ruth and a tear welled.

“An eye for an eye, ‘til we’re all blinded,” he muttered, wiping his face with a kerchief.

“What’s that, William?” Rook enquired.

“If I gave myself up to the king’s justice, would his revenge be satisfied, and my family be saved from persecution?”

“The king would have your head on a spike, but his thirst for revenge will not be slaked until the last of you is dead,” Rook replied. “This is a man who had Cromwell’s body dug up to display his rotting head on a pole. He would soon find another cause for his vengeful spirit to feast on. Do not doubt the importance of removing his father, the tyrant Charles Stuart, William, and ending the age of absolute monarchy. We shall bide our time, whatever time there is, and if the world doesn’t end, then we shall be here to curb the excesses of this arrogant, restored king. Parliament will rise again.”

William nodded at his friend’s soothing words, but his eyes remained fixed on the foul, black spew issuing from Satan’s gaping maw. All was not well in the world of Men; on that, all could agree.

Book Review

Review for 'London Tales' by Tim Walker.

Read and reviewed for Tim Walker.

Publication date 7th November 2023.

This is the second book I have read by this author. It is also the second book in Tim's 'Short Stories' series. I have also read the first book in this series 'Thames Valley Tales' which I would also highly recommend. This book can be read as a standalone.

This novel consists of an introduction, prologue and 11 short stories. It also includes author's notes which consist of information of where Tim got his ideas for his stories from. The stories are short in length so easy to read 'just one more story' before bed...OK, I know yeah right, but still just in case!

A fantastic collection of 11 short stories filled with history, death, historical events, action, drama and so much more. Grab your copy of this book to travel from the Roman invasion 43CE and into the devastating future, through conquering, plagues, wars, fire, terrorist attacks and more. As I always do with books of short stories or poems I will rate them individually and then give an overall rating at the end. These are the stories that are included in order, a short description of what they are about and my rating:

⛺ Prologue 'The Day Our World Changed': This book starts with a heartbreaking poem with the protagonist being a native Briton tribeswoman who watches and describes the conquering and defeat of the Catuvelauni people by the Romans. It is a chilling and heartbreaking tale of defeat, pain and loss. It is beautifully written and begins this book off nicely. I rate this poem 4/5.

⚔️'Londinium Falling': This story moves on from the introduction taking us 60/61 CE and into the attack of Boudicca. It starts with a game between Marcellus and Lupus where Marcellus accuses Lupus of cheating. They are disturbed by Darius who warns of the invasion. This wasn't my cup of tea if I am honest but the historical aspects were intriguing and I thoroughly enjoyed reading Tim's notes in the back of the book. Unfortunately I can only give this story a 2/5

👑 'A Summer's Disquiet': This story takes us into the year 1381 which is a dramatisation of the Peasant's Revolt. It tells the tale of the rebellion leader Wat Tyler and the Lord Mayor or London Sir William Walworth. The people of London have just come out of The Black Plague and the survivors are fed up of being treated unfairly so revolt on the monarch. Again, this story wasn't quite my cup of tea although I did find the historical notes fascinating. This story gets 3/5 from me.

🔥 'Burning Shadows': Tim now takes us into the year 1666 and as most know this is the year of the Great Fire of London. William is in hiding after his involvement in the execution of Charles Stuart. The Sheriff of London Sir William Hooker is paying an award of ten pounds for the arrest of William and Davey is first in line to claim it after watching William's family and spotting him. The Swallow Family are made aware that William has been spotted which leads to a chase through London while the flames rise up around them. I really enjoyed this story which was very well written with excellent descriptions leaving me feel the heat on my back while running with William and his friend Rook. This story gets a 4/5 from me.

❄️ 'Holly's Dream': The year is now 1814 and after Holly keeps having the same dream of a girl almost drowning and being pulled out of the ice but never finishes her dream to find out if the girl survives. Holly is encouraged to finish the girls story herself and this is the story she comes up with. This story has an 'Oliver' vibe to it with some of the things that happen in the story and I absolutely loved reading this one. I could imagine Holly and Mabel running for their lives away from The Collectors and was rooting for them throughout. This one also gets 5/5.

💣'Cherry Blossoms Fall': Another fantastic short story from Tim. This one is set in 1940/1941. Martin is a doctor who spots a body laying on the floor of a home in a bomb site. Something told Martin to check the body and he suspects she has been murdered. Martin orders the body is taken to his mortuary where he consults his superior Doctor Bow. We also see the friendship between Martin and Alice for who he has feelings for and worries about when she goes missing. This story is set during The Blitz and shows how easy it was to cover up murders during this time. Another 5/5 from me.

🚓 'Brian's Beat': This short story is set over 5 parts and is set from 1966 through to 1981 and later. The 5 parts each tells us if different eras of Brian's life. The first part is called 'When We Were Young' and Brian's first job as a PC is to guard the World Cup which ends up getting stolen. Part Two is called 'Let It Be' and Brian has been informed of a rumour that the Beatles are going to play on the roof of Apple Records but they haven't informed the police so Brian is told he needs to end what is going on. However, he enjoys the experience too much but does tell a white lie to his superiors. In Part Three 'The Stakeout' Brian is now a Detective Sergeant and is on a Stakeout' with DC Phillip Clark. They follow the suspects to a warehouse where Chief Inspector Jones arrives out of the blue. Brian suspects there is something dodgy going on and there is more than the drug gang involved in crime. In Part Four which is called 'The Waters Of Time' Brian has moved on from the police and into security where he is guarding a London Museum when something is added to some of the modern art!!! Part Five called 'Nelson's End' is the end of Brian's story in more ways than one. I loved reading Brian's life story and getting to know him more as well as learning about several events of the timelines. This definitely gets a 5/5 from me!!!

🔪 'Mac The Ripper': This is a short story of A modern day Jack the Ripper where a family gets stuck in the middle of it all. The son Tom plays Jack The Ripper game while the real life events happen outside his home and his Dad Mac is a suspect in the Ripper killings. A great short story which I really enjoyed. Another 5/5 from me.

🍻 'The Seesaw Sea Of Fate': Stephen and Sean are friends who go in a pub crawl through London giving each other interesting facts on the pubs they visit on their way. This was an intriguing story and I enjoyed the interesting history tour. This one gets 4/5 from me .

🌺 'Geraniums': This is the story of a husband and wife who visit a gardening store and the husband gets suspicious of a middle eastern man who is buying fertiliser and aprons. It is set during the devastating events of the London bombings. The husband becomes suspicious of this man and does some digging of his own. This story is actually very thought provoking in regards to how people felt about certain ethnicitys during this time and how everyone was on edge. A 5/5 from me.

💰 'Blue Sky Thinking'. This was quite a fun shirt story which tells the story of Donald Myers who escapes prison after faking his own early release and embezzling money, the reason he was in prison for the first place!! I thoroughly enjoyed this story but was also fascinated and intrigued by Tim's information at the back of the book too!! A 5/5 from me for this one!!

💜 'Valentine's Day': This book is set in the future where London is now under water and tells the story of Val Hanwell, his work life, life working with AI robots and his love life. Unfortunately this wasn't a story I found enjoyable and can only give it a 2/5.

A fantastic collection of short stories with an excellent range of situations, characters, locations and narratives. My favourite three have to be 'Brian's Beat', 'Mac The Ripper' and 'Holly's Dream'. These stories include suspense, history, tension, crime, action and much more! The fact that Tim has done his research absolutely shines through this book so a HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to him for that!! One of my pet hates is when an author has not done enough or any research into the topic they write about as it can completely spoil the book for me. However, Tim manages to weave his fascinating historical research into some fascinating stories and I enjoyed delving deeper into some of the topics that he discusses. Make sure you read until the very end of the book to read his Authors notes at the end which tells you the history and information behind each of these stories. I discovered loads of fascinating facts through the stories, his author notes and then from further research I did because of the stories so Thank You very much Tim as I love discovering new information! Tim's fantastic descriptions plus the fact that he has based many of these stories around well known landmarks ensures the stories come to life while you are reading. The fact that these are short stories also allows you to pick it up and read a story at a time or read it in one sitting which is perfect for those who like to read multiple books at one time. Tim has excellent writing skills and I look forward to reading more of his books! The average rating for all the story ratings is 4.08 so I give the overall book a 4/5 rating .

Grab your copy of 'London Tales' and discover which stories you love!! Congratulations Tim on another absolutely fantastic success and here's to your next 🥂!!!

Overall a great mix of intriguing stories from old to new all based around the city of London.

205 pages

This book is just £1.99 to purchase on kindle, free with kindle unlimited and £6.99 in paperback (at time of review) which I think is an absolute bargain for this book!!!

Rated 4/5 (I enjoyed it ) on Goodreads, Instagram, Amazon UK and Amazon US and on over 30 Facebook pages plus my blog on Facebook.

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Author Bio

Tim Walker is an independent author living near Windsor in the UK. He grew up in Liverpool where he began his working life as a trainee reporter on a local newspaper. After attaining a degree in Communication Studies he moved to London where he worked in the newspaper publishing industry for ten years before relocating to Zambia where, following a period of voluntary work with VSO, he set up his own marketing and publishing business. He returned to the UK in 2009.

His creative writing journey began in earnest in 2014, as a therapeutic activity whilst recovering from cancer treatment. He began writing an historical fiction series, A Light in the Dark Ages, inspired by a visit to the site of a former Roman town. The series connects the end of Roman Britain to elements of the Arthurian legend and is inspired by historical source material, presenting an imagined history of Britain in the fifth and early sixth centuries.

Book one is Abandoned (second edition 2018); followed by Ambrosius: Last of the Romans (2017) and Uther’s Destiny (2018). The last two books in the series, Arthur Dux Bellorum (2019) and Arthur Rex Brittonum (2020) cover the life of an imaged historical King Arthur, and are both Coffee Pot Book Club recommended reads.

In 2021 he published a dual timeline historical novel, Guardians at the Wall. This was inspired by visits to Vindolanda and Corbridge at Hadrian’s Wall, and concerns the efforts of archaeologists to uncover evidence and build a narrative of the life of a Roman centurion in second century Britannia… and find his missing payroll chest.

Tim has also written three books of short stories, Thames Valley Tales (second edition 2023), Postcards from London (2017) and Perverse (2020); a dystopian thriller, Devil Gate Dawn (2016); and three children’s books, co-authored with his daughter, Cathy – The Adventures of Charly Holmes (2017), Charly & the Superheroes (2018) and Charly in Space (2020).