Writing

The Secret Animal Society - The Forgotten Phoenix

The second instalment of the thrilling magical adventure series, from real-life vet Luke Gamble, as seen on Sky TV. 'An irresistible, magical adventure' Vashti Hardy, author of Wildspark

Edith Wight can't wait to stay with her uncle, doctor to incredible magical animals and beasts, for the Christmas holidays. She's expecting to be reunited with all her friends, both animal and human and celebrate the holidays together - but adventure is afoot as one of only six phoenixes left in the world is missing and at peril. Accompanied by Arnold and Francis, the SAS head to a remote part of Bavaria to track down the phoenix, only to encounter a new foe more deadly and dangerous than they could have possibly imagined. a villain who is using the phoenix ashes to create new magical hybrid beasts to sell to the Syndicate. The SAS must free the phoenix and destroy the Syndicate, before the phoenixes are lost forever.

The Secret Animal Society

'An irresistible, magical adventure' Vashti Hardy, author of Wildspark

When Edith Wight is sent to spend the summer with her eccentric uncle, she has no idea what is in store.

Her uncle, the Doctor, runs a vet practice in a remote part of the New Forest, shrouded in secrecy. The reason for the mystery surrounding it, Edith discovers, is none other than the protection of some of the Earth's most unusual animals - creatures that most believe only exist in folklore.

Then the Doctor receives a summons from the Himalayas to help a family of yetis and Edith finds herself on the voyage of a lifetime.

But Edith and the Doctor are not the only ones taking an interest in the yetis... The Doctor's old enemies, the Syndicate are on a mission to hunt down every last mythical creature on Earth.

The Vet - The Big Wild World

Luke Gamble cut his teeth as a mixed practice vet in the West Country. Now it’s time to see if he can stand on his own two feet. Wild stallions, drowning cows and constipated snakes aside, Luke’s challenges have only just begun.

No longer working at the West Country clinic, he’s marrying the girl of his dreams while launching his own practice, Pilgrims. On top of that, he’s managing his international veterinary charity and two other veterinary businesses. On his extreme travels around the world, Luke dodges hippos and chimps, and swaps the familiar farms of home for the refugee camps of Africa, all on his idealistic quest to make a difference.

But Luke is more than just an international vet. He’s also a husband, a friend, an entrepreneur and, potentially, an Ironman triathlete. Does he have what it takes to juggle it all?

The Vet - My Wild and Wonderful Friends

When he was a small boy, Luke’s mother gave him a copy of a James Herriot book with the inscription: ‘One day you might write a book like this’...

The Vet: My Wild and Wonderful Friends is TV vet Luke Gamble’s collection of heart-warming tales of his life as an idealistic and naïve vet in his first year of practice in the West Country.

‘A gamut of emotions; laughter, serious weeping, but always enjoyable!’
- Clarissa Dickson Wright

‘Vet school provides you with the fundamentals, but there are things you’ll never learn until you’re out there, on the job, being mauled by a lovelorn donkey or running round in circles with a particularly truculent goose. One of the most novel bits of vetting I was to learn in my first two months of practice was that it is actually illegal to release a grey squirrel back into the wild. Not quite as interesting as the urban myth that the seemingly benign daddy long-legs has a bite, which – if it had a mouth big enough to actually nip you, could kill a grown man in seconds – but nevertheless, still something I had to learn.’

The Vet is published by Two Roads Books and is available to buy in Waterstones and Amazon UK.

Academic and scientific publications:

Luke has written many articles for veterinary journals and is published as main author / co author or senior author in Vet Times, Vet Record, Clinicians Brief, JSAP, BMC Infectious Disease, PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, amongst others.

ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3095-5935

• The problem of stray dogs L. Gamble, A.D. Gibson, K. Shervell, F. Lohr, I. Otter & R.J. Mellanby Vol. 37 (2), August 2018 OIE Scientific and Technical Review
• Investigation of short-term surgical complications in a low-resource, high-volume dog sterilisation clinic in India. Airikkala-Otter I, Gamble L, Handel IG, Bronsvoort BMC, Mellanby RJ, Meunier NV. 27;14(1), 56. (2018) BMC Vet Res
• Global Rabies Management: Perspectives on Regional Strategies For Prevention & Control C.E. Rupprecht, H. Bannazadeh Baghi, V. Del Rio Vilas, A. Gibson, F. Lohr, F. Meslin, J.F. R. Seetahal, K. Shervell L. Gamble Vol. 37(2), August 2018 OIE Scientific and Technical Review
• A Rabies Lesson Improves Rabies Knowledge Amongst Primary School Children in Zomba, Malawi. Bailey, J., Gamble, L., Gibson, A., Bronsvoort, M., Handel, I, Mellanby R.J.* Mazeri, S*. PLoS Neglected Diseases(*joint senior author)12(3):e0006293 (2018)
• Proof of concept of faecal egg nematode counting as a practical means of veterinary engagement with planned livestock health management in a lower income country, Eithne Leahy,Barend Bronsvoort,Luke Gamble,;Andrew Gibson;Henderson Kaponda,;Dagmar Mayer,Stella Mazeri, Kate Shervelland Neil Sargison (2017)Irish Veterinary Journal70:16
• Vaccinate-assess-move method of mass canine rabies vaccination utilising mobile technology data collection in Ranchi, India. Gibson A.D., Ohal P., Shervell K., Handel I.G., Bronsvoort B.M., Mellanby R.J. Gamble L. (2015). BMC Infect. Dis., 15(1), 589. doi:10.1186/s12879-015-1320-2.
• The Vaccination of 35,000 Dogs in 20 Working Days Using Combined Static Point and Door-Door Methods in Blantyre, Malawi Andrew D Gibson, Ian G Handel, Kate Shervell, Tarryn Roux, Dagmar Mayer,Stanford Muyila, Golden B Maruwo, Edwin M. S Nkhulungo, Rachel A Foster,Patrick Chikungwa, Bernard Chimera, Barend M.deC Bronsvoort, RichardJ Mellanby,Luke Gamble(2016) PLoS Negl Trop Dis 10(7)
• Barriers of attendance to dog rabies static point vaccination clinics in Blantyre, Malawi, Stella Mazeri,Andrew D Gibson, Natascha Meunier, Barend M.deC Bronsvoort, Ian G Handel. RichardJ Mellanby, ;Luke Gamble(2018) PLoS Negl Trop Dis12(1): e0006159. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0006159
• The Mission Continues... L. Gamble(2014) Vet Rec Mar 22;174(12):292-4. doi: 10.1136/vr.g187 1
• Gamble L. Mission Rabies 1 year on VT 44-46 17th November 2014 Part 1
• Gamble L. We could, we should, and we will nail rabies...Vet Times 45.35 August 2015