When a young British man living with his Greek wife on the Greek Island of Lesbos discover a half-drowned Syrian refugee on a remote beach near their home, their desire to help the unfortunate man soon begins to have far reaching effects on their own lives and that of their families that neither could have foreseen.

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John's ninth novel, The Lone refugee, which he says was very much inspired by the book The Beekeeper of Aleppo, by Christi Lefteri, is now on general release in Kindle and paperback format.

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John is unashamed about citing "The Beekeeper," as his influence, as he says it was one of the most inspiring books he's ever read. "It was one of those books," he says, "that so changed my perception of a lot of things that it has to be up there with the very best. I'd compare it impact-wise with The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini," another book that John feels ought to be essential reading in schools.

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Not that the new novel is a carbon copy of The Beekeeper, not at all. But it does take as its central premise the story of a man and his family trying to escape the war in Syria, this time, though, they come from Damascus, not Aleppo.

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And, in case you're wondering if there's a Greek connection, of course! Two of the principal characters are residents of the island of Lesbos, where much of the action takes place.

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