Sam Winter is 18 years old and she is on her way to Iceland on a two week vacation to stay with an uncle whom she has never met, and most of the family don't know much about either. What they do know is that he worked at the NATO base at Keflavík in western Iceland, had settled down with an Icelandic wife and that he has a fishing boat. At least this is what she's been told. Along the way she meets Tómas Hallgrimsson, an Icelander whom she falls for immediately and the feeling is mutual, then they have to part as Sam has to start looking for her uncle. No-one's too sure where exactly this uncle lives except that it's near a town called Ísafjörður in the north-west of the country. All Sam has is a Post Office box number and his photograph. She has to get to him somehow; bus would be the best bet, but if not, she'll have to hitch a ride. She would then have to find someone who knows her uncle and can take her to him, but a girl has to be careful who she shares a truck with. However, her troubles are only just beginning, because her uncle is not all what he appears to be. She soon discovers that he has an alcohol problem and that it has changed his personality. Sam is suspicious that he may be involved in something criminal, and is determined to get to the bottom of it. She enlists the help of her uncle's partner Lei, and together they try to solve it, but can they do this without getting caught?
About the Author: Several visits to Iceland in the early 1980s inspired the writing of this book, and many of the incidents in the story are based on actual events experienced by the author. On the second visit there, he acquired an Icelandic textbook for learners of Icelandic living in Iceland, and began to learn some of the language, examples of which can be found in the text. He was writing sci-fi short stories as a teenager as a form of escapism from the troubles at home, and the consequences of bullying at school. This was in long-hand, but in the 1970s, after buying a manual typewriter, he began to write articles for the house magazine of a tape correspondence club in England. In the mid-nineties he started writing stories again, this time on a Commodore Amiga computer, but due to constant interruptions and domestic problems, had to give it up for the time being. In 2007 whilst on holiday in Canada he purchased a laptop computer and embarked on his this first novel, Iceland Spar. This was followed by A Game of Cat and Mice (published by Rosedog Books) and Dreaming of BC (yet to be published). A W Farmer was born in Glasgow in 1951 and attended Bishopbriggs High near Glasgow. After leaving school at age 16, he went to work at a structural engineering company as an apprentice draughtsman. A few years later he joined the Scottish Co-operative Society as apprentice warehouseman, then the Post Office in 1968 as a postman. In 1989 he moved to the Isle of Skye as the result of a transfer in the Post Office. In 2000, he began working in the local Co-op supermarket in Portree. He lives near Portree with his mother. Interests include photography, writing, music, walking, nature and birdwatching.