Stones of Petronicus

A new-born baby is left naked and exposed to die on a city wall while his father is hanged for petty theft a few feet away amid the cheers and hoots of a crazed mob. Petronicus, an itinerant healer and man of wisdom, takes the babe to heart and together they begin a quest for knowledge, groping through a maze of magic and madness to find answers in the cruel and mysterious ancient world.

Kate O’Mayer

‘The Stones of Petronicus’ is an uplifting and inspiring book. The story of a healer, wise in the ways of herbs and plants, and the novice he trains in the ways of healing and of life, having found the boy abandoned as a baby. The tale soon becomes as complex and intriguing as any crime thriller, with the added virtues of a good literary style and amazing characters. In the dark times in which the book is set we meet the good and the evil in men, their fears and hopes, their des

Peter Tomlinson was born on Merseyside, England. He was evacuated during the World War II blitz to a remote hill farm in North Wales. There was little entertainment for children in wartime and listening to stories on the wireless was important. The radio stimulated his imagination in a way that today's multi-media does not - the scenery is better. After the war he received a rudimentary education where his most vivid memories are his teacher's well told stories, and just mooning around and daydreaming. It was during his secondary education that his involvement in story telling began. Whenever the teacher was engaged in administrative duties, Peter was brought out and told to stand in front of the class and tell a tale. This happened so often that making up stories on the spur of the moment became second nature. He left school at the age of fifteen, worked briefly in a shipyard and as a messenger boy for an American Telegraph Company in Liverpool. He was conscripted into the British Army in his late teens and this is when his interest in writing really began. Whilst serving in Cyprus in the Royal Signals, he found time during endless hours on Morse radio links to jot down ideas for poetry and short stories. On demobilisation he completed his first novel (unpublished) and studied for a university degree in order to pursue an academic career. Peter Tomlinson is a widely published poet. He reads his work to live audiences at poetry festivals. He is a BeWrite short story writer and has self- published two collections of his short stories and epigrams. The Stones of Petronicus is his first BeWrite Books novel. He is happily married to Margaret and lives in rural England. Margaret acts as his in-house editor and nothing is submitted to editors without having passed her critical eye.