Waiting for Jack

Born in 1948 in Leicester, England, he lived in a slum clearance area, just a stone’s throw from the Great Central Railway and the Grand Union Canal.In 1953 his family, soon to include five brothers and a sister, moved to a council housing estate with a reputation for being tough yet friendly with many working class homes with skilled tradesmen and labourers required to support the regeneration and expansion of Leicester. He is Leicester born and bred and proud of it.Formal education and the introduction to reading and writing came early at Slater Street Nursery School before moving to Benbow Rise Infant School. Next he went to the school in the park Braunstone Hall Junior School and finally attending Alderman Newton’s Boys’ Grammar School where he gained a modest 5 GCE O-Levels including English Language and English Literature.A keen sportsman he played rugby for his School XV and was selected for the Leicestershire County Schools and Colts teams.Starting work at 16 one of his first jobs was to sell books, bacon and lighting amongst other household items at Leicester’s former landmark retail store Lewis’s.Now retired after a career working on Britain’s railways starting as a draughtsman designing and installing permanent way followed by a spell in railway accident investigation before managing operational and track workers’ safety. Whilst commuting from Leicester to London by train he decided to write a novel as an alternative to deciphering the Daily Telegraph crossword,taking just six weeks to complete it.His only previous claim to fame for story writing, at the age of 10, was being awarded the third highest mark from all entrants when sitting the City’s ’11 plus’ entrance examination before being selected to go on to Grammar School.About the Author: This story opens with the main character Jack Bishop, JB for short, reflecting on two interviews that got him out of the dole queue and back into work where he now manages his own Team of Museum Assistants: he needs to be successful, he is on probation! How JB manages his own team ’us’, and the interaction within ’us’ and between ’us’ and ’them’ (the museums’ Curators and Managers) is described in and around three story threads in a number of supporting scenes be they at work or at play - not least is a social event that enters into the museums’ folklore! The interwoven story lines are developed and occur over a six month period during which time the summer is long, hot and stormy. JB has to try and thwart a planned theft of a valuable artefact before becoming involved in the supernatural and finally has to find time for a burgeoning romance. Museum security is JB’s Achilles heel and his attempt to prevent a theft requires some fast tracking to boost his knowledge and understanding. However, his efforts leave him disappointed. JB is drawn into a story of railway tragedy that occurred not long after the end of the Great War at a former railway station, now a technology museum being one of a number of museums JB now helps his new employer to manage. It is at this museum that on several of occasions one of JB’s Team is waved at by a porter. JB’s curiosity takes him on the trail of a ghost. JB’s burgeoning romance appears not purely incidental as a number of fateful coincidences seem to have brought him, his loved one and ghosts together but for what reason?