The Narrows is the superb debut novel by James Brogden about the titular magical pathways that weave their way through Birmingham.

The novel is driven by two residents of Birmingham. There is Andy who lives in the everyday side of the city and there is Bex, one of the Narrowfolk, who can negotiate the magical alleyways. Their friendship brings the two sides of the city together and they form an alliance to stop the villainous Barber, who intends to exploit the power of the Narrows for his own dark purposes.

The Narrows is urban fantasy at its best, combining the surreal with the everyday. This is a novel where Narrowfolk can cut across the city in minutes, evading the monstrous skavags and living in an invisible shelter at the end of a cul-de-sac. However, this is also a world where people play X-boxes, watch Deal or No Deal and own Spongebob Squarepants DVDs. Brogden relates the fantastical to the everyday, with similes that reference pop culture such as Hogwarts, Reading Festival and Jeff Goldblum's The Fly, all of which ensures the magic remains grounded and believable.

Even better, this is more than just urban fantasy, this is Birmingham urban fantasy. England's second city is packed with potential for a fantasy novel and Brogden clearly enjoys himself weaving Brummie landmarks into his story. The German Christmas Market makes an appearance, lovingly described as "a child's jewellery box crammed to overflowing." The Rotunda, "a visionary landmark and a concrete toilet roll," features in a climatic battle scene. Even the famous Number Eleven bus route plays an important part in the plot. All of this makes The Narrows essential reading for Birmingham residents.

Aside from his witty description and crackling dialogue, Brogden also knows how to keep a story moving. He is a writer that knows when to introduce a curveball. The novel switches from the everyday life of Andy to the fantastical shelter of Moon Grove, so far so routine, but then readers will find themselves taken back to the fifties, or swept away into another world entirely with a nomadic desert clan. With Brogden, you can never tell what will lie waiting on the next page.

I would recommend The Narrows to fans of Stephen King, Neil Gaiman and Charles de Lint, and, of course, anyone living in Birmingham with a taste for the fantastical. This is funny, exciting, terrifying dynamite. Enjoy.

The Narrows is available on Amazon.

IAMNOWHERE is a layered, sophisticated, expertly-crafted and entertaining novel, which, quite frankly, is wasted on Amazon and should be sat in the best-sellers charts.

The novel is told through three separate narrative threads: 1) John Hathaway recounting his disturbed childhood in Southcotes. 2) John's later discussions with his psychiatrist Dr Widney. 3) John's return to Southcotes to investigate a series of drownings that began with the death of his mother when he was a boy. This intermingling of story strands takes some getting used to but once you settle into the rhythm of the novel the rewards are insurmountable.

Grant is a generous story-teller and there is so much packed into these pages: a murder mystery, a child struggling with OCD, reality distortion, an unlikely romance between two lost souls and reams of existential debate all set against the backdrop of a timeless British seaside town.

This might sound like heavy, inaccessible material but thanks to Grant's writing style, this is all digestible, endlessly readable and - against all odds - often quite funny. The prose is peppered with plenty of pop culture references, including movie quotes, Pac-Man, Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon and even gents' urinal etiquette, all of which ensure the philosophy and mathematical discussion remains light and engaging.

Grant's penchant for snappy dialogue takes on new heights. John's conversations with both Dr Widney and his love interest Lolly Quayle are immersive, hilarious, thought-provoking pieces of writing. Academy Awards have be given for lesser dialogue.

Huge segments of The Make-Your-Own-Adventure book The Palace of Tsui Pen are included throughout the novel. This is a curveball which is confusing at first. However, its inclusion makes more and more sense as the novel progresses. I heavily suggest you read the novel start to finish, rather than getting side-tracked in playing the Make-Your-Own-Adventure game yourself. As the opening note explains, "the sections have been arranged to create a meaningful narrative of sorts" and this is indeed true. Its inclusion is akin to a DVD Easter Egg: it adds value to the main purchase but should not detract from the main story.

At £2.22, this is surely one of the best bargains on Amazon.