Books by Martin Campbell
A good story stays with you
True courage is facing danger when you are afraid.
Three men fought for their country in the Arctic convoys of WWII, then for their sanity and dignity, labelled as cowards and subjected to experimental psychiatry at an isolated facility set up by the British Admiralty. This is their story.
The places in this book are real, but everyone who played a part is now dead. It is safe to tell what really happened.
Feature article on Sailor’s Heart, Dundee Courier 2022.
There are many kinds of poker and many kinds of players. All players have secrets.
Shuffle up and deal
There are no murders in this story, just killer hands and players drawing dead.
Once a week the players come together to play their cards, trying to avoid bad luck, bad beats and bawbags.
Arthur and Rab both learned how to play when they met in the Mad Hotel and saw fruit Ninjas throwing cards at bananas. Arthur plays for succour after his wife disappeared. A poker table is the only time that Rab, aka Frank the Penguin, will sit down with anyone not committed to the Cause.
Lee learned how to play in prison, for a crime that he's still paying for. Welsh doesn’t want to know what he did, but thinks he's about to find out.
CHAPTERS
1 Shuffle Up and Deal
2 Texas Hold ‘Em
3 Heads Up
4 Crazy Pineapple
5 Cincinnati
6 Anaconda
7 Bad luck, bad beats and bawbags
8 Chase the Queen
9 Crazy Tahoe
10 Omaha Bingo
11 Double Draw Poker and Top Ups
12 Chip and a Chair
13 Showing Your Hand
14 Final Table – Buried Pair Book Reviews
sailor’s heart
Book of the Week, Dundee Courier and Evening Telegraph:
“Campbell’s extensive research into the institutions, Sailor’s Heart itself, and the awful conditions and experiences of naval warfare in the Arctic shine through.
A combination of fictional novel, documentary and extrapolation of research makes this an interesting read, which often had me reaching out to the internet. to determine which was which!”
Review, The Herald and The National online:
“Itʼs sometimes hard to tell where fact ends and fiction begins in this fascinating and highly readable novel. Campbellʼs imaginative flights are as wickedly convincing as his historically accurate detail. The chapters give the impression of being written by someone with first-hand knowledge of serving in the Royal Navy during World War II. The minute details of living and working at sea during wartime are woven expertly into each manʼs story, in immersive detail, without the reader ever feeling on the receiving end of an info- dump.”
Book of the Month, Yachting Monthly:
“Sailor’s Heart is not a polemic.
It’s a satisfying novel on many levels, perhaps less about courage than bedrock survival of the individual human psyche, the capacity for endurance and resilience, the mutual support – and the little bits of luck, which may help damaged people through darkest times..”
— Julia Jones, publisher and author of the Strong Winds series“
”Excellent. Always looking for stories of the unheralded and unknown. One of the best books I have read in a long time.”
— Rona Simmons - Author of The Quiet Room and A Gathering of Men.
“This is a story you will want to read more than once. It is gripping, it is painful, it has humour and it has a raw reality that only those who have been there will fully recognise.”
— Bernard Bale, Herald journalist and former BBC broadcaster
“Sailor’s Heart is a tale of comradeship forged and survival found under unique and difficult circumstances during WW2. A story of men broken in different ways as they sailed in the Arctic Convoys of WW2, their ships being hunted down by U-boats and bombed by the Luftwaffe. I thoroughly recommend this book. It is damn good read that casts a light on the dark parts of the human condition.”
— 5 star review in Amazon.co.uk
bad beat hotel
“If you like poker, Scottish comedy (dark humour in particular), gritty thrillers, plumbing, plot twists, or any combination of the above, it has all of this plus more.”
— 5 star review in Amazon.co.uk
“A superbly written book. Each chapter stands on its on merits as a story on its own and then all the tales come together in a very well-crafted ending. Full of a mixture of humour and insight. Poker players will no doubt appreciate the level of detail woven into the novel, but a knowledge of the game (or plumbing!) isn't necessary to enjoy this splendid and spellbinding story. Highly recommended.”
— 5 star review in Amazon.co.uk
“Very funny, surprisingly poignant and informative. Good characterisations with great intros to different forms of poker played gives the necessary backdrop as the story develops and ends in an unexpected fashion.”
— 5 star review in Amazon.co.uk
“I found the Bad Beat Hotel a thoroughly compelling read. The characters' stories were fascinating, both tragic and hilarious.”
— 5 star review in Amazon.co.uk
”I know nothing about Poker (or plumbing) but this was did not inhibit my enjoyment in the slightest. Laugh out loud funny in places (See Frank the Penguin), deeply moving in parts (Arthur) and most of all very relatable, I believed in the characters.”
— 5 star review in Amazon.co.uk
About Martin
Dr Martin Campbell was born in Greenock, Scotland. He has a background in clinical psychology practice and university teaching.
He is the author two novels. Bad Beat Hotel was published in 2016 and Sailor’s Heart in 2022. He has a strong belief in the power of storytelling.
In the past He has worked as an ambulance driver, window cleaner, teacher and care manager.
When he is not writing, he enjoys sea fishing and playing poker, neither with much success.
Martin Campbell