Books by Ian Butler

Obermaier's Travelling Carnival is like no other show on earth. Despite its modest size and appearance, the unusual performers possess unworldly abilities which they utilize to enhance their acts. Their children, affectionately known as The Carnie Kids, also enjoy the same abilities and use them for their own amusement. Thinking the small dessert town of Trenthide would be just like every other, the Carnie Kids go in search of adventure and are soon embroiled in a sinister word of kidnapping and unbelievable scientific research. They quickly find themselves the prey of malicious intent and greed, with a power hungry corporate kingpin who will stop at nothing to get what he wants. The kids must use their amazing abilities in ways they never have before if they are going to survive the unwanted attention of the Stellar Corporation; a task that seems increasingly impossible when they encounter a fantastical force of man-made botanical mayhem, the like of which has never been conceived before.

Paul Castle loves his son Jack and hates being a Burger Bar Dad. Seeing his son only on Wednesdays and Saturdays pulls him apart. His ex-wife is a thrusting ambitious banker and he is a middling, not very ambitious Birmingham journalist with hopes of being a playwright. The divorce gave her the house, and he got the guilt. He's just about keeping it together, but after a disastrous parents evening, Paul discovers that Jack's mother is planning to move to London and put Jack in a private boarding school. Paul must quickly sort his priorities and his life as he embarks on a hilarious campaign to frustrate his ex-wife's plan. However, his life is just about to get even more complicated, when he meets Gillian and begins to remember the joys of being in love. All too soon, he is confronted with the reality that in order to maintain even his inadequate Burger Bar relationship with Jack, he will have to move down South. As he falls quickly in love with Gillian, he is then offered the chance to be a playwright in Birmingham. How can he choose between being with Gillian or being with Jack?