Imagine you could travel in time. What would you do? What should you do? These are the questions facing Jeff when an accident throws him back thirty years to his time at University. He is given a chance to live his youth again. What can he change? What ought he to change? What can he do better? What can he avoid doing? What can he do that was left undone in the past, but may now be corrected? If you have ever had regrets, if you have ever wished you had done things differently, this story is for you. What would it be like to get a second chance? Jeff travels to his twenties and the start of...

This is the third novel in John's 'midlands trilogy'. The books feature several common characters whom we follow through the decades. The other stories are ' A love foretold', set in Birmingham in 1992/3 and 'Jail, bait and the hook', set in Shropshire in the mid-2010s. The inequity of redemption is the storey of Jann, who moves to Birmingham for work in 1986. He is alone and bored in a big new city and he gets involved in an affair with Beryl, a much older woman who works in the same office. She turns out to be controlling and vindictive and Jann finds himself increasingly isolated and...

'The Elder Queen- a modern fair tale' is John Kruse's third novel and is set in North Cornwall and North Devon, between Bude and Bideford, centred on the fictional village of Darracombe. The story follows the experiences of Darren Carter, whose family life is turned upside down when he meets a fairy woman at a local ancient monument. Marriage breakdown, eviction, loss of money and possessions follow, before redemption comes through saving the local area from test drilling for shale gas (with the help of the fairies). Darren has a range of issues to confront and overcome: the struggles of life...

'Freak or smoothy?' is a semi-fictionalised autobiography which tells the story of John Kruse's involvement in student rock bands in Barnsley in the mid to late 1970s. It looks at the scene from which Saxon and Danse Society later rose to national prominence. The book will resonate with those interested or involved in the 70s music scene, whether heavy metal or Northern Soul. It deals with all the trials and tribulations of young bands- choosing a name, finding somewhere to practice, buying equipment, getting gigs- but it discusses much more than that. It provides a snapshot of life in...

In 'A Northern Youth' John Kruse brings together in chronological order his three novels set during his teenage years in his hometown of Barnsley, South Yorkshire. The stories are 'Feeling Called Love' a romance set in 1975-77 in Barnsley and Dunfermline; 'Freak or smoothy?' which follows his career as a schoolboy rock-star between 1974 and 1979; and, lastly, 'Rewind and edit' which is a tale of time travel and growing up after he leaves home for University. All the stories are concerned with issues of growing up, sex and romance and contemporary music.