They Kill Bears [Paperback]

On a dark night, in the ancient European city of Luxembourg, a tragic accident results in fifteen-year-old Tanith losing her home and being wrongly labeled as a criminal. She seeks a new start in unfamiliar England, but trouble still follows her. Nevertheless, she has the skills she needs to survive.

"You have a rare talent," a police karate instructor tells her.

And Tanith can also sometimes see things that others cannot. Things from the past perhaps?

They Kill Bears describes a real and dangerous world, where genuine martial arts skills and the ability to overcome fear, mean an exceptional girl who knows her limits (and walks with a giant white dog called Nicely, that stops traffic and enemies in equal numbers!) can even the odds.

Professional dog fighters, police officers, soccer hooligans, sadistic school bullies, Japanese gangsters, and even the anonymous group that has been watching Tanith from the shadows since she left her home, discover this for themselves, as you can, when you visit the world of Tanith and Nicely in this, the first novel in a series of four that eventually unfold the shocking truth behind Tanith's 'Secret'.

"You're very brave, Tanith, but these are relentless men ... they'll come back, again and again." Tanith continued to look Derek right in the eye. --in a way that made the teacher rock back on his chair.

"We met them before, Nicely and I. We will meet them again, whenever they like, wherever they like..." Tanith lowered her voice to a whisper.

"Let them come."

Whilst They Kill Bears is the first story to be published, the four books in the series are all complete, and will be published at intervals. Each book has its own plot but the series also has an underlying plot as a whole, the truth behind Tanith's Secret.

And whilst I can't disclose what Tanith's Secret really is - yet - you'll have to wait for the next three books to be published for that - if you enjoy puzzles, look for the unfolding clues in each book, and do bit of research. On the Internet, in the Library, or just ask around.

You might be able to guess what's happening. And if you'd like to contact me by email or letter, I'd love to hear from you, and will do my best to reply. The contact details are in the back of They Kill Bears.

You might also be interested in the background to the books. The Tanith and Nicely stories are entirely fiction, and the characters in the stories are all fictitious, with any resemblance to persons living or dead being entirely co-incidental.

But the books are intended to be realistic, and are largely made up of real people’s names, places, myths, and often, actual events.

The martial arts details are real enough, and Tanith's Boxing, Shotokan karate and kick-boxing skills are supposed to be the genuine article, not the movie variety, where high kicking girls who seem more like dancers than fighters, manage to overpower grown men. It is a fact of life that a woman must be far, far more skilful and determined than a man to stand an equal chance against him in unarmed combat.

Tanith gets by through skill, training and knowing her own limitations (plus she has Nicely to back her up most of the time!).

The majority of the locations in the books are also real, with buildings and countryside that can be visited today. Occasionally, some locations have been adjusted, or mixed together, to suit the plots, but even then only a little.

Many of the events and incidents that take place in the stories did happened, and are either personally known to me or are matters of record.

Similarly, all of the legends featured in the books are genuine, although one or two have, like the locations, been adapted a little to suit the plots.

Enjoy!

Lee Vernon, Summer 2004