Four Short Stories is Tom Jobling’s latest book. In it, he has moved a little way from his usual nautical fiction but still delivers a character-driven book of cringe-worthy humour balanced by tales perhaps too close to be comfortable.

From the port of Larne on County Antrim’s east coast, Tom has long been associated with sailing at East Antrim Boat Club, but since retiring from business, he has turned his hand to writing novels, to date, all of which have had a maritime flavour.

Four Short Stories is different, with only one of the tales having a nautical theme. Leap of Faith sees the author opening the floodgates on nostalgia and reliving bygone days in his hometown - the harbour, the lough, the Islandmagee ferry ... and teenage romance.

First Timer, the opening story, is the tale of naive teenager Darren stumbling through the hurdles of his first office party and his reaction to being refused a dance.

Incident at Twisted Elbow is the anchor piece of this collection in which two of the main characters, Abernathy and Shawcross, together with Danielle Dewhurst, must demonstrate their ability to overcome adversity as a race to the finish builds in not only a rally hill-climb but in life and love.

Finishing with a story set on foreign shores, A Not So Tender Trap is as dark and twisted as that earlier hill-climb course. Set on the Costa del Sol, it is a semi-sarcastic tale of how a downtrodden wife finally deals with her philandering husband.

Jobling’s debut book, Chasing Shadows, was published in 2014 and succeeded in the international nautical world; he has not looked back since. The others were Arthur’s Dead and A Letter to a Lucky Man, all having a nautical twist.

Four Short Stories is available as both an e-book and paperback. Described by the author as “a compact little number”, it has been sized as a unique jacket pocket travel read. The quirky cover illustrations are Tom’s, too, with colour by Latharna Press. The 128-page paperback is available for retail purchase at all online stores, including Amazon.

This is Thomas Jobling's third novel and as with the preceding books, Chasing Shadows and Arthur's Dead has a distinctly nautical backdrop which I suspect comes easily to a writer who was born and lived by the sea. Tom (as I know him) has been since a young age, steeped in boats and all manner of things maritime, having been much involved in East Antrim Boat Club in Larne, Co. Antrim, as well as in the Irish GP14 Association of which he became President. Tom competed at a high level in sailing and still enjoys racing a quarter tonner, albeit at not quite such a frantic pace.

Having spent considerable time as a freelance writer for sailing magazines and the local newspaper as well as producing an e-manual on planning and organising sailing competitions, Tom then got himself a 'proper job' to back up the writing, and ventured into building glass fibre yachts, leading to involvement with the plastics distribution business and then into the construction industry selling plastic building products. Eventually, he rose to the level of national sales manager.

Throughout A Letter to a Lucky Man it's obvious that Jobling draws on his extensive nautical and business knowledge to chart the tale of the main player Curtis Cardinali, from his humble childhood to becoming the 'big boss'; from his turbulent teenage years to a happily married family man. Even the name Cardinali smacks of the intriguing story of Italian immigrants to Northern Ireland but cleverly, the author doesn't tell us about Curtis's ancestry. And I'm left wondering, not only about the name, but also in this work of fiction, which of Cardinali's circumstances were based on Tom's personal experiences. And the dramatic land and seascapes of Jobling's native County Antrim shine through the story and will be to many, recognisable.

Unfortunately, because of the current Covid 19 restrictions, Thomas Jobling's new novel has been forced to forgo a formal book launch. However, 'A Letter to a Lucky Man' will be available to purchase directly through all online bookstores and by order through high street stores.

Letter to A Lucky Man is published by Leschenault Press (Book Reality Experience Imprint). Paperback ISBN: 978-0-6489496-1-9: RRP (UK) £9.99.