From the first chapter, Emma's story gripped me. She battles with
memories and emotions too large for her, but finds an outlet in dance.
The Dangerous Dance of Emma JJ
Some Secrets are too risky to stay hidden
A lifetime of being in care and coping with disturbing memories has made Em desperate to be ‘normal’. That includes finding out about her father and meeting her grandparents. But what she learns is devastating. Her ambition to dance professionally, her relationships and her identity all threaten to come crashing down. Who can she turn to for the help she needs?
With an increasingly atmospheric and suspenseful mystery at its heart, this book kept
me hooked until the end. Most fascinating was being inside the heroine's head as events unfolded.
Red Cabbage Blue
Some colours are never forgotten
A Dr Mike Lewis story
Christmas is fast approaching when psychologist Dr Mike Lewis is presented with the most unlikely client – twenty-two-year-old Adelle Merchant. Dressed all in blue, she could be like any other young woman. Except it’s not just her clothes – her hair, her home, everything she eats or drinks has to be blue.
Seeing beyond a surface diagnosis, Mike works with Adelle to delve deeper, uncovering family secrets her over-protective mother has long suppressed. Emboldened by a blossoming romance, Adelle travels to New York and seeks to put right a crime that has shaped both her life and another’s beyond recognition.
Is it too late for the truth to come out? Are some wounds too deep to be healed? And how will pursuing the mystery affect Adelle’s obsession?
I enjoyed 'Trying to Fly' but this novel is even better, with the psychologist now as protagonist, and his life in a mess.
The unfolding story of Johnny 2 is intriguing and the fluent style keeps the pages turning, in parallel with the hero's own struggle to take his life back. The threads are skilfully interwoven and the story operates on a number of levels, with insights into the disciplines of therapy as the healer comes to his own place of healing.
Out of Silence
Voiceless words echo an unspoken loss
A Dr Mike Lewis story
Jaded Clinical Psychologist Dr Mike Lewis is on the edge. Separated from his wife, Ella, and deeply wounded by the death of their child, the future is bleak. But when he is assigned the case of mute asylum seeker 'Johnny Two', things begin to change.
Working on Johnny's case, Mike connects with attractive art therapist, Anita, and a close friendship quickly grows between them. Inspired by Anita, and Johnny's response to therapy, Mike finds reasons to hope again - but then dramatic events overtake them all and force him to confront his past.
Will he find courage to face it? Do he and Ella have a future? And can the silence of grief be broken?
Annie Try understands the psychology department and how it works, and how
effective good psychological treatment can be. It’s real and when the book is read you feel good.
Trying to Fly
Haunting memories arouse a daunting mystery
A Dr Mike Lewis story
Jenny Drake has never forgotten what she saw on that Devon beach. Just a small girl at the time, those frightening events have overshadowed her life ever since. Determined to escape their cruel effect and be free, she ignores her psychologist's warnings and forces herself to revisit the scene.
When she is overcome by fear and emotion, Jim, a local café owner with memories like her own, comes to her aid. Together they begin a journey to understand what happened all those years ago and why - a search that will soon put their own lives in danger. As the mystery deepens, the circle of interest quickly widens, but who can Jenny trust? Can she even believe her new friend Jim? And will she ever fly free of the past?
As I read Losing Face,
I was struck by how realistic it is. Like Cass, one of the main characters in the book,
I suffered facial disfigurement as a teenager, and the book mirrors many of the emotions, conflict, and situations I experienced. In fact, I sometimes wondered if Annie Try had 'been there' herself, so empathetically and realistically does she tackle difficult issues.
Losing Face
Losing Face takes the form of Word documents, interspersed with emails. It covers the accident and recovery of Cass, who sustains terrible facial injuries in a car crash, including the loss of an eye. Her friend Em supports her throughout and the two very different girls struggle in their own ways to cope as Cass undergoes surgery, eventually returning to a mixed reception in school.
Throughout the story, friendship and values are challenged, particularly through Cass's relationships with her mother and with her boyfriend, Spider. Courage is redefined and the triumphant final chapters celebrate that life is worth living. New beginnings and new relationships are promised.
Annie's Works in Progress
The Precarious Path of Emma JJ
GCSE results are out, but even before she finds out her results, Em assists an old enemy who is in trouble which leads Em herself into danger. Will she be able to start a drama and dance course at college?
And if she does, will she be able to complete it?
(Novel in final editing stage)
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The Post-Bill Writings of Jax Greeson
Set in 2041, Jax’s world is crumbling as severe restrictions are imposed on everyone in a last-ditch attempt to save the planet.
Jax is desperate to reach his friend and her
dangerously ill mother but his journey is fraught with danger.
(Novel undergoing continuity editing prior to submission)