TWO more blockbuster books have been promised this year by Dunster author Dennis Coath, with one of them already on bookshop shelves.

They will complete a trilogy about the fictional geriatric rock band The Dogs.

The first, ‘The Band That Time Forgot’, was published in 2024, while ‘The Band That Time Forgave’ has just hit the market, and, finally, ‘The Band That Turned Back Time’ will follow later this year.

Dennis, who takes inspiration from the stunning West Somerset environment and often writes while sitting on a bench on top of nearby Grabbist Hill, is a former ITV and BBC journalist who in his 70s gained an MA in history.

He has also published books with England’s greatest cricketer Ian Botham and most-capped footballer Peter Shilton, and published a guide for aspiring young journalists titled ‘Rats, Pies and Pigeon Poo’, which he took to the 2023 Dulverton Exmoor Literary Festival.

Dennis also originated the World’s Biggest Liar Competition, now an annual event in Cumbria - that’s true.

His rock band story is based on the premise that when the real life band The Beatles, from Merseyside, were launched, there was another band in the background expected to be bigger, which has more than a grain of truth in it.

But, The Dogs, from Derby, miss out on stardom.

Fifty years later, an impromptu reunion leads to a sensational success story and the fading four are propelled into the spotlight as septuagenarians and octogenarians, facing up to the rigours of ‘sex, drugs, and rock and roll’.

It is a story which is pertinent, given the success of aged rockers such as The Rolling Stones, The Who, and Rod Stewart, bands and acts whom Dennis saw when he frequented London clubs during the 1960s.

‘The Band That Time Forgave’ is published by Olympia Publishers.