The Book That THEY Do Not Want You To Read

by Andy Ritchie

The fate of mankind hangs in the balance...and Jethro Postlethwaite is still keeping his diary.
He's still on the run from THEM, but now he's left Peterhead behind and is heading south for a meeting with The One.
He's still experiencing someone else's memories (some good, some not so good)...
...but he's started to get a disturbing liking for classical music...
...and he's learnt all about Emotional Energy and W.I.M.D.s...
...oh, and he's been bitten by midges. He doesn't like those.
At least he's still got the camper van.

220 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 11, 2013

About the author

Andy Ritchie (who writes under his Sunday name of Andrew) lives a relatively unremarkable life with his long-suffering wife, Wendy, his two inordinately expensive-to-keep daughters, Kayleigh and Emily, and the ghost of their recently deceased three-legged cat, Burt.
They live in a well-appointed detached house on the outskirts of the occasionally exciting former cotton-mill town of Darwen in Lancashire, which remarkably was never actually mentioned in the Domesday Book.

Andy is fifty years old but remains (in his own eyes at least) fairly ‘hip’ and ‘cool’ on the basis that he owns an iPod, can use Facebook, has completed Halo, and knows who George Ezra is.
In addition to becoming a published author, published poet and published photographer, he also has an ambition to experience a mid-life crisis before he is fifty-two, if only because most of his friends appear to have had one and he feels a little left out when they are being discussed at parties.

Andy's first books, The Book That THEY Do Not Want You To Read, Parts 1-3), were published as e-books in 2013 and were positively received, with many reviewers likening his work to that of the late, great Douglas Adams. A subsequent book of short stories, entitled God, Aliens, Death & Teapots, was also published as an e-book and was spectacularly unsuccessful. Unperturbed, Andy has recently published his latest work, Red Plus Zone, both as an e-book and, excitingly, in paperback. It's a long way from his first foray into print, a very small article published in Trail Magazine about how he once climbed to the top of a mountain called Merrick.

As well as writing, Andy enjoys photography, films, hill-walking and reading. When he's not writing or climbing hills, Andy can be found leafing through the novels by some of his favourite authors, including Terry Pratchett and Ben Elton. He is currently working through the Gollancz SF Masterworks series.

Andy has never been accused of taking himself too seriously.

Reviews

[Gee Liz Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a free copy of TBTTDNWYTR Part 3 for an honest review. As I said in my review for Parts 1 and 2, Andrew Ritchie in my Uncle but that doesn’t change how I review his work – if it’s crap then I will say so!

I’m writing this review whilst on holiday in not so sunny – but ever so beautiful – Scotland. I’ve literally just finished the book and just like the part 1 and 2, I could NOT put it down.

Part 3 is the final part of The Book That THEY Do Not Want You To Read. It continues with the same diary(ish) format written by JP and collated by the author. It continues being a believable sci-fi x thriller x british comedy book (which I’ve decided to call a thri-fi bromedy… that definitely needs work).

I loved how the story comes to an end in part 3. It was so clever and unexpected, so brilliantly written. However, I couldn’t help being agitated that some questions were left unanswered. Usually, this would really annoy me and likely make me give a review that is less than 5 stars, but on reflection, it actually just makes the story more believable. Throughout your life there are always questions that are left unanswered and when something happens you might not know all of the how’s and why’s so I actually think this is really clever. Additionally, there could potentially be another story that comes from this which I am definitely hoping for.

Jethro, the main protagonist and diarist continues to develop and I enjoyed seeing him grow from a boring, mundane character to somebody who takes no $hit. His language and personality reminds me of a typical middle-aged man – he doesn’t know what politically correct is! Though it’s funny that an Alien not from this planet chastises him about these things sometimes.

I’m really sad that this is over and I hope that it actually isn’t. I would really recommend this trilogy to you all. It’s just like nothing I’ve ever read. It’s bloody fantastic!

[April Ames · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars, but....

How can you do that to your readers? Just end the book with several unanswered questions? What's on the Researcher's P.I.U? What is the black tentacle stuff? Those two questions above all others are making my eye twitch because I can't find out!

You've got to write a sequel and give us/me the answers!

Besides that slightly disappointing state of affairs, the book is wonderful. It's not as jam-packed with action as book 2 was but that's ok. I found myself sad that it was about to be over.

If you like aliens, sci-fi, and good writing you will like this book. By the way, dear author, I absolutely LOVED what "The One" was. I laughed out loud and thoroughly enjoyed that. There was a lot of humor in this book, a few satisfying scenes where the Bad Guys get theirs, but I am so sad that it left me with a void.

On a related note, I am awed and astonished by how much work the author did for this book series. Creating an alien bureaucracy complete with several tedious documents with subsections, a different way of telling time, and including samples of all that in the appendices... well, I respect the heck out of that.

This is a well put-together series, a fresh take on storytelling, an exciting plot with characters that develop organically as the story rolls on, humor, philosophical musings, bureaucracy gone mad, and all told in a way that kind-of makes you believe THEY are going to come bust down your door because you read The Book That THEY Don't Want You To Read.

Buy these books. You won't be disappointed.

[Matthew Perryman · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Final (?) part of this series, I add the question mark as with all good books, the ending is very open, there is potential for more stories tacked onto this saga.
In this book you get a real look at THEM and who THEY are.

I wont say much more than that, if you are reading this series you'll know what I mean, if you are not reading this series, then I ask you....why not?

[David Raby · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very interesting series of books. The author has clearly spent an enormous amount of time researching his work as the attention to detail is very impressive. What is unusual in these books is that unlike most Sci Fi that takes place in some faraway galaxy or on some space ship zipping across the universe this takes place at real locations in the UK that the normal reader can relate to. This makes the story and its' situations much more life-like and the approach is quite refreshing. He has created interesting characters that we can warm to and others that attract quite the opposite reaction. A good read but read all three books for the full benefit.