A new historical fantasy and adventure novel set in Elizabethan London will hit store shelves this month.

The Midnight of Eights, the second novel in The Island of Angels series by Justin Newland, is set to be published on October 28.

It follows Nelan, a Flemish immigrant living in London, as he navigates his continued adventures.

Mr Newland, who is based in Weston-super-Mare, said: "As a novelist, I can write about what happened in history, but, as a historical fiction author, I can also speculate on why it happened and how it happened.

"Through the lens of esoteric and the supernatural, I can explore the secret history of the events that shaped our world."

In the novel, the year is 1580, and Nelan Michaels docks at Plymouth after a voyage around the world aboard the Golden Hind.

He is on a mission to master his mystical powers and reunite with his beloved Eleanor.

However, after delivering a message to Francis Walsingham, he is recruited into the service of the Queen’s spymaster.

His astral abilities prove invaluable in predicting and thwarting future plots against the realm.

But in 1588, as the Spanish Armada threatens England’s shores, the question arises: how could the fledgling navy of a small isle repulse the greatest fleet in the world?

Was it divine intervention, as the Queen claimed, or was it the extraordinary conjunction of coincidences that Nelan’s astral powers brought to bear on that fateful Midnight of Eights?

(Image: The Book Guild)Mr Newland writes secret history thrillers, combining historical adventure with supernatural thriller and magical realism.

He is also a speaker and broadcaster, giving historical talks and radio interviews.

He said: "Sometimes in writing a novel, and in conducting historical research, you come across an amazing synchronicity that no one else has ever spotted.

"That was the case with this novel, and that’s why I wrote it, in the hope of discovering just an extraordinary set of coincidences."

The Midnight of Eights, priced at £9.99, can be pre-ordered on The Book Guild's website.

The ISBN for the book is 9781835740330.