'Knocking off the Corners'

Welcome to Patrick Field's blog. Well, a blog - penned on his behalf by me. My name is Richard. I'm doing this for him because Patrick's busy. Very busy, actually. He has lots of things going on.

Like most of us, much of his world is uneventful. Days and nights pass, birthdays come and go - so far, so ordinary. I am pleased to relate that there are a few things in his life which bring joy and happiness. But some are downright bad. They cause worry, for himself and for others, with good reason. Events in his past have fallen on a scale from mild anxiety to petrified fear. He was sufficiently concerned for his very survival that he took me on one side last year and shared some of his experiences.

When I write 'took me on one side', what I meant was he 'bought me several beers'. We are both fond of an occasional pint, you see. There is a happy and productive state to be found between the end of the first pint and about halfway down the third. I used to find this during after-work sessions with colleagues when I was an investment banker. But just as then, passing the halfway point in that critical third pint, renders unreachable the searing insight we had one pint before.

I digress. Patrick started to tell me stories about his experiences when sent abroad by Royal Counties Bank. He'd joined them as a lad, really, straight from school with 'A' levels. They thought him worthy of a place on their Management Development Programme - (known by less fortunate wits as 'Mentally Defective Pillocks'). This was an accelerated development stream to give bright young men and women lots of different experiences to push them up the seniority scale in the hope that the very best would emerge in their thirties and forties as the next generation of General Management.

After a variety of retail roles in London and provincial branches - Mech room Operator, Cashier, Securities clerk and eventually, Assistant Manager, Patrick was given his first overseas posting.

He'd not heard of the New Hebrides before. But he didn't tell anyone when he was called for interview with the Staff Manager. Judging by the name, he assumed he'd be wrapping up in heavy coats and rain gear all the time. A little research in his parents' set of Chambers Encyclopaedia revealed that the exact opposite was the case. The New Hebrides was a group of tropical islands in the South West Pacific, many miles from anywhere else.

There, he was to fall in love, be dumped by his girlfriend (he believed), be threatened by an organised crime gang, be bullied by his Chief Manager and learn the techniques of barbecuing food. He also came to the notice of an ancient and secret society. You see, the gangster whose activities Patrick frustrated was the local representative of this society. I don't mean to make the man sound like a branch of the Railway Modelling Club. He was the drug and gun-smuggling overlord in the islands and he'd been recruited years before by this society to raise money for their cause.

Goodness knows how such a creature fell into their clutches. But fall, he did. And spent his time recruiting others by blackmail, threat of violence or simple bribery. This gave him a network providing information, cash, means of laundering money and political influence.

It wasn't long before my friend appeared on his radar. Patrick was and remains a well-meaning chap. He continues to think the best of everyone, sometimes even after he has seen evidence to the contrary. This is his nature, he explained to me, and he cannot change it. I was sufficiently alarmed by his stories that I think you should know about the creeping danger of this society. It is known to our own Government's Security Services who are concerned at its inexorable rise. 'It will not do', Patrick cautioned me, 'To spread fear among ordinary people. Some may disbelieve and reject the notion as their way of handling the threat. Others may write to the Times - 'Something simply should be done', they will say.' But that won't stop Al Sharika, whose founding aim is downfall of Western Civilisation.

I have told Peter's story so far in four books. The first, entitled 'Saved by the Bull', will be published at the end of April. I have tried to present Patrick as I first knew him - naive, good-natured, eager to learn and determined to right wrongs. One of his later bosses referred to such wrongs as 'Naughtiness' and to the perpetrators as 'Bad Hats'. Those names, I think, conceal the depths of evil underlying them by the very innocence of the terms.

But see what you think! I'll reveal the cover of Book 1 at the end of this month. I'll tell you a little more about Patrick as well.

The book will be available on Amazon in eBook and Paperback. You can pre-order your copy towards the end of April.

In the meantime, I hope you too will strive to be good-natured and well-meaning and ...kind. Heaven knows, we are all in need of kindness, these days.