NOVELS

THE SANDMAN by Miles Gibson 1984

Dustjacket synopsis:

Growing up in a small hotel in a shabby seaside town, Mackerel Burton has no idea he is to grow up to become a serial killer. A lonely boy, he amuses himself by perfecting his conjuring tricks, but slowly the magic turns to a darker kind, and soon he finds himself stalking the streets of London in search of random and innocent victims. He has become the Sandman.

"A splendidly macabre achievement. As an account of a descent into homicidal mania, it has seldom been bettered"

"Confounds received notions of good taste - unspeakable acts are reported with an unwavering reasonableness essential to the comic impact and attesting to the deftness of Gibson's control"

DANCING WITH MERMAIDS by Miles Gibson 1985

Dustjacket Synopsis:

Strange things are afoot in the Dorset fishing town of Rams Horn. Set close to the poisonous swamps at the mouth of the River Sheep, the town has been isolated from its neighbours for centuries. But mysterious events are unfolding . . . a seer who has waited for years for her drowned husband to reappear is haunted by demons, an African sailor arrives from the sea and takes refuge with a widow and her idiot daughter.

"Murder and mayhem decked out in fantastic and erotic prose"

"Absolutely first rate. Absolutely wonderful"

"An extraordinary talent dances with perfect control across hypnotic pages"

VINEGAR SOUP by Miles Gibson 1987

Dustjacket synopsis:

Gilbert Firestone, fat and fifty, works in the kitchen of the Hercules Caf? and dreams of travel and adventure. When his wife drowns in a pan of soup he abandons the kitchen and takes his family to start a new life in a jungle hotel in Africa. But rain, pygmies and crazy chickens start to turn his dreams into nightmares. And then the enormous Charlotte arrives with her brothel on wheels. An epic romance of true love, travel and food.

"Savagely black comedy along Evelyn Waugh lines with its merriments even kinkier!"

"I was tremendously cheered to find a book as original and refreshing as this one. Required reading for anyone setting up a restaurant or about to holiday on the Dark Continent"

KINGDOM SWANN by Miles Gibson 1990

Bookjacket Synopsis:

Kingdom Swann, Victorian master of the epic nude painting turns to photography and finds himself recording the erotic fantasies of a generation through the eye of the camera. A disgraceful tale of murky morals and unbridled matrons in a world of Suffragettes, flying machines and the shadow of war. Art has come to life and all hell is breaking loose. . .

"As is Daniel Defoe's Roxanna, a voyeuristic fascination plays games with high morality"

"Wonderful fun to read. Read this delightfully comic book!"

Kingdom Swann was adapted for the screen as "Gentlemen's Relish starring Billy Connolly and Sarah Lancashire. Screenplay by David Nobbs for BBC Films and Principal Pictures.

FASCINATED by Miles Gibson 1993

Dustjacket Synopsis:

Frank Fisher, tropical-fruit marketing man, walks out to post a letter and disappears, falling into the hands of eccentric underworld supremo Conrad Staggers. Reluctantly he becomes an accomplice in gangland wars and a chaperone to Conrad's daughter, Valentine, a woman addicted to shopping and sex . . .

"The blackest of comedies, sexy and unpredictable with a plot that convolutes like an eel on speed. Truly wild; dangerously funny"

"A gorgeously written romp through a London underworld of bruisers, mugs and molls"

THE PRISONER OF MEADOW BANK by Miles Gibson 1995

Dustjacket Synopsis:

When her husband drives to work in the city each morning, Holly Walker remains trapped in their house in the quiet suburb of Meadow Bank. She's thirty-five years old and fat and it's time she took control of her life. But when she succeeds in losing weight she becomes an object of fear and loathing. Everyone feels threatened by her struggle for independence. And in the secret world of Meadow Bank no one can be trusted . . .

"Gibson's sense of fun never wavers. He made me laugh out loud again and again"

"Black comedy at its most compelling"

MR ROMANCE by Miles Gibson 2002

Bookjacket Synopsis:

Skipper shares his parent's boarding house with their lodgers, lovely Janet the bijou beauty and Senior Franklin, the volcanic literary genius. Life is sweet, until one night the lugubrious Mr Marvel seeks shelter with them. Who is the mysterious fugitive and what dark secret haunts him? Skipper sets out to solve the riddle. But then the astonishing Dorothy Clark arrives and his life is thrown into turmoil. Skipper falls hopelessly in love and plans a grand seduction. He'll stop at nothing. But Dorothy is saving herself for Jesus . . .

"A novel brimming over with observations and quirks, wit and erudition."

"With nice observations on everything from religious architecture to wrestling, Mr Romance's precocious, adolescent take on English life is a real charm"

WORKS FOR CHILDREN

Say Hello to the Buffalo and other poems by Miles Gibson 1994

Little Archie by Miles Gibson 2003