The psychological heartache after successive failed attempts at IVF treatment has inspired a new novel by Cardiff author, Peter Luther. Describing the IVF lottery of success as “absolutely horrible”, he has used the experience as a basis for the second installment in his Honeyman series of novels.

Precious Cargo promises couples beautiful and gifted children when all other means have failed, but it’s a lifetime deal. The newborn children are ruled by its Trustees’ baptism gifts, handcrafted toys that nurture their talent and aspirations. The toys also understand what’s at stake, for while two Precious Cargo children are born every year, only one survives past age sixteen. Their fate seems linked to a Fabergé egg with an impossible lock, the clue to an old, fanatic crime…

As with all Peter Luther novels, the concept behind the story is bizarrely original: handmade toys communicating with a terrifying code, and a mystery that reaches back to the era of Marie Stopes.

Peter says of his third novel, “This is my most ambitious work to date. I always feel a sense of trepidation when my books are released because the ideas are so left field, so I wonder how they will be received. Fortunately, my readers have shown themselves to be very receptive to something which doesn’t neatly fit into one particular genre. In truth, my novels are human interest stories masquerading as supernatural thrillers, albeit with some entertaining twists.

“As someone who has trod the bitter path of IVF, Precious Cargo is also inspired from experience. The book is dedicated to my wife, the most courageous person I know.”

Peter Luther, a successful solicitor and an accomplished musician, lives in Cardiff and has already published Dark Covenant and The Mourning Vessels, supernatural thrillers which have been widely acclaimed in Wales and beyond. He has been called the ‘Welsh Dan Brown’.

Precious Cargo is published by Y Lolfa and was launched at Waterstone’s, Cardiff on 16 April 2010.

Photograph: Peter Luther signing copies of his new book

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