Fifteen-year-old Paige Langley's life has always revolved around good grades and escaping her less than ideal home life...but once she meets Devon Connors, her life drastically changes. Although, they share an instant attraction, Devon's concealing a dark past. And an even darker secret...there's a dead girl haunting him nightly. Resolute to win the school's writing contest, Paige will do just about anything to achieve her goals. So after she finds a binder containing information on a past murder and the illegal activities of the students, she believes the stories are fictional and the perfect way to win the contest. But the owner of the manuscript, Devon Connors, has other plans. To keep Paige from exposing his secrets, Devon befriends her and even offers to help her write a winning story for the contest. The chemistry between Paige and Devon is undeniable, but Paige doesn't know if she can trust him. The deeper she digs into the dark underbelly of their high school, the more she realizes that some secrets are better left buried.

Description

This first-person account tracks the real life of the author who slowly became engulfed by an acute depression, and his subsequent attempt to gain back his former lifestyle. The work offers an insight into the mind of a person diagnosed with depression - explaining how the illness started, the deterioration felt as it took hold, and the author's progress through recovery. It endeavors to explain the distorted thinking that controls everyday life, making the smallest tasks which we all take for granted seemingly overwhelming and impossible.

About the Author

M. M. Johns lives in Stirling in Scotland. Educated in South Africa and Zimbabwe, he served in the British South Africa Police for three years prior to joining the British Army for nine years. He worked in the UK for several years before moving to South Africa where he was employed in the Security Industry as a Consultant in Loss Prevention for corporate clients. He returned to the UK eleven years ago to work in the Hospitality Industry. He retired due to ill health in 2007 and now writes from home more as a hobby, something to do, and the result is that he has now written one non-fiction and two fiction novels. A Cheerful Depression is the story of his journey into depression, a suicide attempt and the recovery process.

Description

"I, War" is crime thriller which initially follows the actions of an assassin as he fulfils a contract to remove the heads of an established crime organisation in the UK. He is working for the head of a Russian crime movement who holds a grudge against the now retired head of the UK organisation. The first part of the story is about the assassinations and the involvement of James Hawk and his friends to protect the family. The story moves across the UK and Europe. At the same time a police task force is involved, working on information of a deep cover agent in the Ukraine, to prevent a massive influx of drugs and arms. The story moves to the Ukraine as it follows the efforts of the agent to escape and the moves by the main character to eliminate the threat posed by the head of the organisation. The action is fast paced and developed with skillfully interwoven plot and sub plots.

About the Author

Born in Stirling, Scotland in 1949, M M Johns was educated in Zimbabwe, South Africa and Scotland. He served in the British South Africa Police prior to joining the British Army for nine years. After working in the UK for several years he returned to South Africa where he worked as a Security Consultant in Loss Prevention for corporate clients. He returned to the UK 13 years ago to work in the Hospitality Industry. After struggling with Anxiety and Depression for two years he was forced to stop working. During the time he was under treatment for his depression M M Johns started to write. He wanted to try and help others understand the processes within depression and anxiety and found the process cathartic. His first book, an autobiography about the illness, "A Cheerful Depression," was published in 2009. He has gone on to write his first fiction novel, "I, War," which is to be the first in a series of four novels. M M Johns believes strongly that the diagnosis of Depression and Anxiety made him re-evaluate his life and placed him on a different career path, that of writing. He currently lives in Scotland and is learning to manage his depression and move forward rebuilding his life.