Christopher J. Williams – författare

Our story opens in Afghanistan in 2002 and Special Forces operative Jake Walker is trapped on the side of a mountain. His team have been ambushed; they are carrying casualties and are sheltering from a growing number of Taliban fighters and a hidden machine gun. What happens next is an act of bravery which results in Jake being awarded the Medal of Honor, his country's highest decoration for valor.

Fast forward ten years and Jake is out of the life; he's affected by post traumatic stress and survivors guilt, but is doing okay and working for an LA-based security firm undertaking risk assessments. As he wraps up an assignment in Bolivia for the US State Department, he gets a call from his brother and has to return back to LA; his Father's fallen ill.

Fortunately, the youngest daughter of the former US President is also flying home that day, after opening a school for for her Father's Foundation. Jake knows her pilot from his previous life and manages to hitch a ride on her private jet.

On the border of Panama and Colombia is a group of narcotraficantes; they have a ton of cocaine and are waiting to meet a light plane which is bringing them millions in cash.

Steaming across the Panama Canal is the USS Peleliu returning from duty in the Middle East, its crew of sailors and marines counting the days until they are home.

Bringing them all together is an al-Qaeda operative intent on personal revenge.

With battle scenes from Iraq and Afghanistan and contemporary action in Colombia, Seconds from Impact is a fast-paced, action-filled thrill ride that will leave you gasping for more.

You will love Christopher J Williams' debut novel. Storytelling at its very best.

And, don't miss his further books in the series, Rendition and Meltdown. Whether you want print or digital copies – they're available everywhere good books are sold.

For more information, please visit www.JakeWalkerUSSF.com

A young American doctor is taking a well earned holiday from her charity work in the tourist town of Portoroz in Slovenia. Feeling happy and safe in a local bar, she makes the fatal decision to talk with an attractive and charming man. But, before she realizes her mistake, he drugs her drink, takes her back to his apartment and rapes her, before giving her a fatal dose of heroin and dumping her body in the street.

The Slovenian Police don't do their job and turn a blind eye, so her Seattle-based Father hires a private detective who skilfully identifies the murderer as Marko Kovak, the son of a senior Russian criminal, with blood ties to a larger Russian gang or vory. The Father wants justice so they they seek out someone who is capable of an act of rendition, someone with the skills and resources to snatch Kovak and bring him back to the States so that he can be charged with the young woman's murder.

Jake Walker, a former US Special Forces operative, is fresh from his exploits in Colombia when he hears the Father's story and is offered a lot of money to bring Kovak back to the States. Jake doesn't really need the money, but his sense of injustice is strong and he agrees to assemble a team and attempt the mission. He seeks out three close buddies, all former Special Forces soldiers and they commence training in Montana.

Before they can complete their preparations, however, the private detective is snatched from the streets of Portoroz as the Russians want to find out who he is and what he knows. If the detective talks, the mission can't be completed, so Jake suspends their training and his team fly immediately to Slovenia to rescue him.

The Russians are heavily armed and fortified and they bring every man they have to the battle intent on killing the Americans and silencing any further pursuit.

In the ensuing battle and car chase through Slovenia, Jake and his team need every skill they've ever learned just to get out of there alive. Can they also capture Kovak alive and bring him back too?

THE BEATLES JUDY GARLAND JEAN SHRIMPTON

DUDLEY MOORE JOHNNY O'KEEFE SPIKE MILLIGAN

Just some of the many celebrities John Williams met and worked with over an extraordinary career Filled with humour, honesty and interesting tales, A Fortunate Life, provides a revealing look at Australia in the last half of the 20th century, where John worked as a journalist and, later, ran his own public relations firm.

John Williams was born in Liverpool in 1934 to a working class family and was the youngest of three children. John recalls his experiences of Liverpool during World War 2 and his first sights of the world as at the age of 17. He joined the Merchant Navy as a steward and served on bulk carriers and passenger liners bringing families and individuals from England and Europe who were hoping for a better life in Australia. Later, he served on the New Australia carrying Australian troops to and from the Korean Peninsula.

In 1953, John took his own discharge in Brisbane and began a new life travelling around Australia as a stooge for a famous Ventriloquist before landing a job as a journalist with The Daily Telegraph which later morphed into a very successful career in television and as a Public Relations consultant. During his career John recalls meeting the Beatles during their 1964 Australian Tour, working on films with Dudley Moore and Spike Milligan and running across Australia with Tony Rafferty.

John also worked with some of the biggest names in the business world including Rupert Murdoch and Sir Frank Packer and was instrumental in the getting East West, and later Compass, Airlines off the ground, which brought much needed competition to the airline industry that finally forced Australia's airline duopoly to fold.

A Fortunate Life is a fascinating tale of one man's extraordinary life and provides a unique, historical insight into Australia over the period 1950 to the present day.

The plant fossil record provides evidence that the genus Metasequoia was widely distributed and experienced a wide range of climatic and environmental conditions throughout the Northern Hemisphere from the early Late Cretaceous to the Plio-Pleistocene. Today the genus is limited to one species with approximately 5,000 mature individuals growing in the Xiahoe Valley in southeastern China. This book is a distillation of the collective efforts and results of the world’s Metasequoia specialists and enthusiasts. It is the most up-to-date and comprehensive reference source for the genus and the authors have sought to incorporate obscure, hard-to-get and non-English reference sources. The book reviews what is known about the biology, ecology and physiology of fossil and living Metasequoia, current research directions and problems that remain unresolved.

This book presents a definitive overview of fossil and living Metasequoia and was written by sixteen of the world’s experts on this important genus. Given the reality of increasing human pressure and the inevitability of global change, efforts to conserve this ancient genus are underway.