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Fireworks’ Editor’s first book

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The Fireworks (magazine) editor’s latest book has been re-printed

‘Superbly crafted stories that touch on experiences common to most of us in our imaginations and probably in real life, but served up with surprising twists. I enjoyed them all and can recommend them.’
– Peter Lovesey

Subjects of the Tales

Evocative and nostalgic stories with an emotional edge; suspense and the supernatural; crime and mystery with a twist. It’s all here. Girl on the Seventh Floor presents a number of tales reflective of a young man growing up in the swinging sixties

33 short stories collected together for the first time. Written in the 1970s-1980s, these appear as originally presented and provide a snap-shot of the times. The title story appeared in Short Stories Magazine in 1981. A range of stories – from crime, romance, the supernatural, humour to a blend of all these.

185 Pages (ISBN 978-1-5272-2033-1)

Also available in a Kindle edition (at £1.40) from Amazon. This is a Print Replica edition so that it is identical to the paperback. However, as such, it is not compatible with Paperwhite devices. Please check the list of devices by clicking ‘Available on these devices.

Critical Acclaim for John F Bennett books

‘Gentle reading. A delightful set of easy to read short stories, great for when you need to fill a gap in your daily mayhem.’

‘Great books: I really enjoyed them. There is such a variety of stories, from the creepy to the funny. There seems to be so much atmosphere put into every story, with nostalgia as well as mystery and suspense, and almost every one has a twist which surprises you.’

‘No excuses now to be bored: In those times when you have an odd five or ten minutes to kill, “The Lights In The Wood” is an ideal book to fill the time. Just be careful you don’t miss your train, forget to pick the kids up from school or burn the dinner as it is ever so easy to become very quickly engrossed. Like a modern day “Tales of the Unexpected” each self-contained short story is a quick read, but J. F. Bennett has a talent where you are no sooner drawn in to a scene, when suddenly a curve ball appears that produces a twist from nowhere. It then continues again with the next story, each time keeping you waiting in anticipation until the end and leaving you guessing as to what is going to happen in the next time.’

‘Excellent and relaxing reading.’

‘A Fine Selection of Very Different Tales: Reading these stories took me back some 60 years, when I first discovered the short stories of H. G. Wells and E. A. Poe. Like any good collection of stories, these are comparable to a fine box of chocolates, offering a wide selection of very different treats, best savoured and appreciated one at a time, rather than devoured in one sitting. Highly recommended!’

‘There are touches of MR James and Roald Dahl in some of these tales: John F Bennett writes with an easy, accessible style and has a pretty fertile imagination and I wonder if some of the stories are, in part, semi-autobiographical although I am not suggesting for one moment, of course, that he has ever really planned the perfect murder!’

‘I like being able to dive in to a book like this and get a short story but often also deep content.’

‘A good short story writer is invaluable. We sometimes just want a quick read and I would highly recommend “Lights in the Wood” for that. Often ghostly stories, like “The Manor House”. Relaxing stuff.’