Gita V.Reddy
Active Member
Dear Fellow members,
My book, King Neptune's Delite', is released today.
King Neptune's Delite is a novel for children (9+).
Available on Amazon as Kindle ebook.
The story starts in a tiny fishing village in Kerala, India. Maya finds a bottle with a diamond ring, a newspaper cutting, and a blank paper. She, her brother and their two friends put together these clues and guess someone, probably aboard a ship, had sent out a signal for help.
The children, who have lost their fishermen fathers in a cyclone, work for the owner of a Curios shop. They pick the beach for shells, drift wood, sea glass and anything of value the sea brings.
Maya is the youngest in the group but she is the practical and sensible one. However, the dazzling find, the appearance of muscled, tattooed Swamy, his suspicious way and above all, the call of adventure makes even Maya reckless. Instead of going to a grownup or the police, the children decide to go to the rescue of the prisoner. Their quest takes them to the harbor town of Cochin, aboard the ship, 'King Neptune's Delite' and into danger with men for whom bloodshed is a game.
The story has adventure and humor too.
A few excerpts from the book:
1. “Give it to me,” Jacob said, reaching out but before he could take it from Satish, the ring slipped and fell down and a larger than usual wave washed against them, covering them to their knees.
“No!” They stood still, shocked by the suddenness and watched the wave returning, dragging into the sea whatever it wished to reclaim.
“Don’t move!” Maya ordered. She waited for the wave to recede and stared hard at the smooth wet sandy surface. Another wave was fast approaching.
“Maya, let’s all look!” Satish said and his voice, which usually came out as a loud bellow, was low and strained. Maya held up her hand, holding them back. She bent down and even as the fresh wave splashed against her, scooped up sand from a spot with both hands and held it tightly.
She walked well away from the edge to where the sand was dry and the waves would not come. The boys followed. Maya slowly uncurled her fingers and they stared at the ball of wet sand she held.
“I knew it! It’s gone!” Satish bellowed.
Maya ignored Satish and gently tapped at the sand. It crumbled to reveal the diamond ring, brilliant and shining.
2.Satish placed everything except the item under ‘other’. Like Jacob, he too had a fair share of discards. “What else did you bring?” Maya asked. “I told you to look for something that Moosa chettan can use."
Satish was looking uncomfortable and a little hesitant. He took out something wrapped in a piece of newspaper from his bag. All of them, Abbas included, leaned forward to have a look. Satish’s finds, though rarely of use to Moosa, were varied and interesting.
This time too he did not disappoint. Everyone gazed at the set of false teeth Satish had brought. The silence lasted for a minute; Satish looking hopefully at Moosa and everyone, including Moosa, trying not to look at Satish. A suppressed laugh broke the silence and soon everyone was hooting with laughter. Moosa had tears running down his cheek.
“What,” he asked, wiping his eyes, “do you want me to do with this?”
“You can use it in something…..I checked, it’s a whole set. You can make a face and stick the teeth in it…”
“Or I can wait for a toothless man to visit our beach and sell it to him.”
“I still think it’s a good piece. You promised me last time when I brought in a broken belt that the next time I got something which was whole, you would take it!” Satish was not prepared to give up.
3.There was the sound of footsteps and Raju rushed to crouch in one corner of the cabin. It was Swamy. As usual, he showed his white teeth in a smile and said, “Raju, you’re doing a good job. Did Matt scare you? Don’t think anything of it. He has to keep his sister in check that way.”
In the same soft voice, switching over to English, Swamy told Shirley, “I like Matt’s plan. I think it will work.”
“What plan?”
“It’s already working. You’re speaking to me. The plan of killing the boy, of course.”
“Why will I sign if you kill the boy? As soon as I sign, you’ll kill me. I value my life more than that of this boy.”
“This boy and other children too. You will not be able to watch; Matt enjoys such activities, believe me, you will not be able to watch,” Swamy said in a cold voice which made Raju shiver.
Please read /gift the book to a child close to you . I would love to get feedback.
Best Regards,
Gita
My book, King Neptune's Delite', is released today.
King Neptune's Delite is a novel for children (9+).
Available on Amazon as Kindle ebook.
The story starts in a tiny fishing village in Kerala, India. Maya finds a bottle with a diamond ring, a newspaper cutting, and a blank paper. She, her brother and their two friends put together these clues and guess someone, probably aboard a ship, had sent out a signal for help.
The children, who have lost their fishermen fathers in a cyclone, work for the owner of a Curios shop. They pick the beach for shells, drift wood, sea glass and anything of value the sea brings.
Maya is the youngest in the group but she is the practical and sensible one. However, the dazzling find, the appearance of muscled, tattooed Swamy, his suspicious way and above all, the call of adventure makes even Maya reckless. Instead of going to a grownup or the police, the children decide to go to the rescue of the prisoner. Their quest takes them to the harbor town of Cochin, aboard the ship, 'King Neptune's Delite' and into danger with men for whom bloodshed is a game.
The story has adventure and humor too.
A few excerpts from the book:
1. “Give it to me,” Jacob said, reaching out but before he could take it from Satish, the ring slipped and fell down and a larger than usual wave washed against them, covering them to their knees.
“No!” They stood still, shocked by the suddenness and watched the wave returning, dragging into the sea whatever it wished to reclaim.
“Don’t move!” Maya ordered. She waited for the wave to recede and stared hard at the smooth wet sandy surface. Another wave was fast approaching.
“Maya, let’s all look!” Satish said and his voice, which usually came out as a loud bellow, was low and strained. Maya held up her hand, holding them back. She bent down and even as the fresh wave splashed against her, scooped up sand from a spot with both hands and held it tightly.
She walked well away from the edge to where the sand was dry and the waves would not come. The boys followed. Maya slowly uncurled her fingers and they stared at the ball of wet sand she held.
“I knew it! It’s gone!” Satish bellowed.
Maya ignored Satish and gently tapped at the sand. It crumbled to reveal the diamond ring, brilliant and shining.
2.Satish placed everything except the item under ‘other’. Like Jacob, he too had a fair share of discards. “What else did you bring?” Maya asked. “I told you to look for something that Moosa chettan can use."
Satish was looking uncomfortable and a little hesitant. He took out something wrapped in a piece of newspaper from his bag. All of them, Abbas included, leaned forward to have a look. Satish’s finds, though rarely of use to Moosa, were varied and interesting.
This time too he did not disappoint. Everyone gazed at the set of false teeth Satish had brought. The silence lasted for a minute; Satish looking hopefully at Moosa and everyone, including Moosa, trying not to look at Satish. A suppressed laugh broke the silence and soon everyone was hooting with laughter. Moosa had tears running down his cheek.
“What,” he asked, wiping his eyes, “do you want me to do with this?”
“You can use it in something…..I checked, it’s a whole set. You can make a face and stick the teeth in it…”
“Or I can wait for a toothless man to visit our beach and sell it to him.”
“I still think it’s a good piece. You promised me last time when I brought in a broken belt that the next time I got something which was whole, you would take it!” Satish was not prepared to give up.
3.There was the sound of footsteps and Raju rushed to crouch in one corner of the cabin. It was Swamy. As usual, he showed his white teeth in a smile and said, “Raju, you’re doing a good job. Did Matt scare you? Don’t think anything of it. He has to keep his sister in check that way.”
In the same soft voice, switching over to English, Swamy told Shirley, “I like Matt’s plan. I think it will work.”
“What plan?”
“It’s already working. You’re speaking to me. The plan of killing the boy, of course.”
“Why will I sign if you kill the boy? As soon as I sign, you’ll kill me. I value my life more than that of this boy.”
“This boy and other children too. You will not be able to watch; Matt enjoys such activities, believe me, you will not be able to watch,” Swamy said in a cold voice which made Raju shiver.
Please read /gift the book to a child close to you . I would love to get feedback.
Best Regards,
Gita