Welcome to Derek Hart Enterprises

Derek Hart

iUniverse, Apr 2010, $16.95

ISBN: 9781450224239

In wintry 1941, Hitler’s air force is bombing England as the Americans enter the war due to the Pearl Harbor attack.  A trio of fourteen years old buddies (Gavin Kane, Emily Scott, and Bunty Digby) are friends with eccentric dragon Sir Thaddeus Osbert, who knows his human allies have a specially destiny.

In Germany, Himmler has a black dragon that he uses on missions against the allies.  He also uses the dark arcane arts egged on by an invisible apparition to open a rift between worlds.  Himmler makes a pact with the dark witch Agnes Olmanns, who once fought against King Arthur.  She journeys to England to cause havoc from within.  Meanwhile former powerful wizard Lamken Rune is helpless except for his new allies, a sugar addicted dragon and three teens, as he lost his staff Elizabeth and his skills.  Yet in his true form takes on Agnes while the Nazis come ever closer to blitzing England.

Adults and young readers will appreciate the third spellbinding Secret of the Dragon World War II fantasy (see Secret of the Dragon’s Breath and Secret of the Dragon’s Eye).  Sir Thaddeus is a great unique character, determined to protect England, though the Dragon’s Council forbids his interference.  Lamken has learned the hard way Lord Acton’s theory that that power corrupts as he is freed from a lengthy imprisonment while the three teens find out what their destinies are.  Derek Hart continues his deep urban historical fantasy saga rooted in the impact of the war on North Cornwall.

Secret of the Dragon’s Claw continues the adventures of Gavin Kane, Emily Scott, and Bunty Digby, fourteen-year-old teens who struggle with their daily lives in England during the winter of 1941 and into the spring of 1942.  War has forced everyone to settle into an uncomfortable daily pattern, while England is still under siege, as U-boats relentlessly attack vital convoys.  Halfway across the world, British, American, and Allied forces are now also fighting the Japanese Empire.  Twice before, the teens have helped battle the forces of darkness, but once again face strange and wicked creatures sent from deep within Nazi Germany.

Secret of the Dragon’s Claw further develops the friendship and alliance between this teenage trio and the eccentric Sir Thaddeus Osbert.  The dragon has become accustomed to battling a myriad of dangerous foes over the ages, but protecting Gavin, Emily, and Bunty has become a full-time endeavor. Thaddeus must deal with his nagging sweet tooth, which this time gets him into several compromising situations.  However, the dragon’s addiction to sugar has unforeseen benefits too.  The children band together with their dragon friend, of course, but they also discover magical powers are commonplace throughout the United Kingdom.  Will a hasty alliance with a senile old wizard be enough to prevent something so horrible, so unimaginable, that it threatens to plunge the entire world into permanent darkness?