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Mark Brownless Q&A – The Hand of an Angel

Yesterday I shared my review of the darkly chilling The Hand of an Angel. If you missed that then you can catch up here.

This weekend is the blog tour for The Hand of an Angel and I am thrilled to be joined by author, Mark Brownless, as we chat about the nature of his story and consider why hospitals can be perfect settings for creepy tales:

The Hand of an Angel does get very dark in places. I had a quick check on Amazon and spotted it is ranked in Science Fiction and Fantasy classification and also Medical Thrillers – could consideration be made to class it as a Horror tale?

The book does cross a few genres, which creates its own challenges when trying to categorise and promote it for the reader – Sarah Pinborough has had huge success of late by doing this, however. There are science fiction elements, but it’s more ‘fictional science’ rather than spaceships and aliens.

Essentially The Hand of an Angel is a psychological medical thriller. It plays with the idea of reality – what is real? Do we believe all the main character says he’s seen when he has his near death experience, or is it the product of an oxygen-starved brain?

I’ve always been fascinated by unexplained phenomena like near death experience in this case, alien abduction, Nessie and Bigfoot. These type of themes lend themselves to the horror genre from the fear of the unknown, and I agree, that late on there are some more horror-type elements in the book. When I wrote the ending I had Stephen King in mind with some of his big set pieces like at the end of It and Needful Things. The tension building over the last few chapters, and the increasing presence of Hoody has that supernatural element as well. I hope people find it satisfying.

Much of the story is set around a hospital. All those rooms, all those corridors, the strange contraptions and the ever present presence of illness and even death. Does a hospital make a great setting for a thriller? As a supplemental question…are there too few medical thrillers?

Oh yeah, hospitals make great locations. I had to build my own hospital in The Hand of an Angel, because I didn’t know of one that had all the elements I needed for the story. If we are talking about scary hospitals, one has to think of Victorian asylums. I had great fun in writing about the old parts of ‘my’ hospital and trying to make them have that kind of feel in the type of bricks used and the design of the corridors, etc. The hospital is such an integral part of the story that I’ve always felt it’s a character in itself – the old and the new struggling with each other, the underfunded research wing that hasn’t even been completed, in contrast to the ostentatious atrium foyer and glass roof.

I’m not sure if there are too few medical thrillers. I love Patricia Cornwell’s Kay Scarpetta books, but there are a lot of others in that pathologist / post mortem sub-genre. I think a medical thriller has to be intrinsically medical – it can’t just be a story that happens to be set in a hospital or with doctors and nurses, so in that sense there may be too few. There are a lot of good medical thrillers out there, though, and I hope mine measures up.

The one element I found most disturbing in The Hand of an Angel was the transformation in the lead character, Tom, through the story. Is it fun to build up a character to then break him down or did some guilt creep in?

The book starts off slowly with us getting to know the family at the centre of the story. I really want you to get to know them, to share some experiences with them almost as if you are part of their family. As a kid I read a lot of James Herbert. His book, The Magic Cottage, spent the first hundred pages or so building the relationship of this couple in their holiday home. I loved it and actually didn’t like it when Herbert started to pull the rug out from under them. So yes, I want you to like Tom and Sarah and the family, and I want you to be annoyed with me when bad stuff happens. Because it does.

What comes next from Mark Brownless? Is there a work in progress which you can chat about?

Well I’m just about to upload the second of my Locksley short story series to Amazon for pre-order. It’s a re-telling of Robin Hood and arose from a challenge in a writing group about getting a short story written, edited, with a cover done and on pre-order within a month. I want Robin to be real and grounded, to be someone who doesn’t really have a choice with what happens to him, and to be driven by doing what is right. I’m hoping to release a chapter a month for the next few months, each with a cliff-hanger ending like those old Saturday morning serials.

My next novel again looks at reality, but this time in the form of memories. Can you trust them? Can you rely on them? And what happens when you find out that your memories aren’t quite what you thought. I decided to revisit memories and incidents of childhood, but as an adult looking back from present day. Earlier on I was talking about unexplained phenomena, and The Shadow Man will follow this theme by having a background of spontaneous human combustion, and lean a lot more to horror than The Hand of an Angel. I’m hoping to have The Shadow Man available by the end of the year.

Huge thanks to Mark for finding time in his busy week to answer my questions. The Hand of an Angel is available to order here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hand-Angel-shattering-thriller-heart-stopping-ebook/dp/B077Y83GT1/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1529830185&sr=8-1&keywords=the+hand+of+an+angel

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June 23

The Hand of An Angel – Mark Brownless

How far would you go to get a glimpse of the afterlife, and what would you bring back?

A shattering medical thriller with a heart-stopping climax.

Devoted family man and respected cardiologist Tom Boyand is obsessed with the near-death experiences of his patients. An obsession that leaves him dead on a table with his colleagues battling desperately to resuscitate him.

But Tom has pushed the limits of the experiment too far and he’s gone for too long, seeing more of the other side than anyone before.
They get him back but he isn’t the same person. And he’s not alone.

My thanks to Sam at Lounge Marketing (Lounge Books) for the chance to join this blog tour and for providing a review copy.

I reviewed The Hand of An Angel a few weeks ago but now that the official tour is running I am re-sharing my review. Coming up in a few short hours will be my wee chat with Mark Brownless, but before we discuss his chilling thriller I thought a recap may help….here is what I loved about this book.

I cannot remember the last time I read a medical thriller, however, The Hand of an Angel made me appreciate how much I had missed them. Doctors playing God, patients suffering mysterious ailments and so many long corridors with many, many closed doors…love, love, love a good medical drama. It is pleasing to be able to confirm that The Hand of an Angel is every bit a good medical thriller!

Tom Boyand is about to embark on the final journey. But he also plans to make it a return trip and live to tell the tale. In order to cheat death he has amassed a huge wealth of medical knowledge, assembled team of researchers and physicians who can help him “die” and then bring him back to life. Everything will be carefully monitored, all done under controlled conditions and Tom hopes that he will remember exactly how it feels to die so that he can share the knowledge.

The first half of the novel draws readers into Tom’s world. His project, his colleagues, his family and we get a very good idea as to the type of person that Tom is…a nice guy!

When the time comes to begin his experiment we are excited for Tom and his team and as a reader I was also keen to find out what he may experience after his death. Suffice to say I was shocked by how the story changed – perhaps I should have read the blurb before reading…

Tom becomes a changed man. His easygoing personality changes and he becomes paranoid, suspicious, aggressive and confrontational. Having spent so much time getting to know Tom it is upsetting to see the changes he appears to be undergoing. More so when when we see the impact it is having on his family and friends. Mark Brownless handles this change in dynamic brilliantly and it makes for gripping reading.

Unfortunately for Tom he has more pressing problems to contend with than a change to his moods. He believes that he may not have returned from the dead on his own. Tom keeps seeing the same strange figure in different places he visits…at work, at home and he cannot understand why other people don’t appear to notice.

What had been a great medical thriller now becomes a dark and sinister tale. The change up in tension is marked and it had me flicking the pages like a demon (as it were) trying to reach the end of the book as quickly as I could so I could find out what happened. And Wow.

This story totally sucked me in – what more could a reader ask for?

The Hand of an Angel is available in paperback and digital format. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hand-Angel-Mark-Brownless/dp/1976248744/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1527016541&sr=8-1

Follow the tour

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June 17

The Chosen Ones – Howard Linskey

Eva Dunbar wakes in a large metal box.

She has no idea who has taken her.

She has no way out.

She isn’t the first young woman to disappear.

And with no leads Detective Ian Bradshaw has precious little time.

When at last a body is found, the police hope the tragic discovery might at least provide a clue that will help them finally find the kidnapper.

But then they identify the body – and realise the case is more twisted than they ever imagined .

My thanks to Penguin Books for my review copy and the chance to join the blog tour.

I hadn’t realised that The Chosen Ones was taking me into a series which has been running for a few books. It made no difference to my enjoyment of this cracking police thriller – I felt I was given all the backstory and information I needed to ensure I could keep up with proceedings.

The Chosen Ones is downright disturbing in places (a real positive for this reader) – women are vanishing in Newcastle and NE England. Readers get to learn what happens to the latest girl to be abducted – held in a small box by a masked man then shifted to a larger, but extremely well hidden, location.

Police are baffled and problems of staffing are going to compound their problems – a sting operation has exposed some corrupt cops and this leaves very few officers to track down the disappearing girls. Ian Bradshaw is tasked with the investigation into the missing girls, with resources a problem he manages to persuade his boss to agree to draft in some external assistance – journalist Tom Carney and his assistant Helen Norton.

I am new to Howard Linskey’s books but there was clearly some history between Tom and Helen and their relationship (or Tom’s relationships with women who are not Helen) made for some fun reading. Tom is dating a girl who is quite a few years younger than he…Helen does not approve. However, when one of Tom’s old flames appears on the scene to seek out his assistance things become even more entertaining.

Back to Eva, the girl lifted from the streets and held against her will. Her captor is a strange individual, he holds her at gunpoint while she washes but shows no interest in getting too close. He seems driven by an agenda which the reader does not get to share and the puzzle surrounding his motives ensured I kept turning the pages as I tried to work out what was going on!

As I have already stated, this is a cracking story which spins along at a crisp, and entertaining pace. The short chapter length and multiple viewpoints made sure there was always something new to develop or follow. I much prefer when a story zips along in this way, no lags or padding this is continuous entertainment.

The end came all too soon. Not that The Chosen Ones is a short book, I just wanted more of this story as I was enjoying it so much. A wee review of my bookshelves and Kindle Library shows I already have at least two more of Howard Linskey’s books waiting to be read – they will be moved up the reading order as Mr Linskey is very readable.

The Chosen Ones is available in paperback and digital format and also as an audiobook. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Chosen-Ones-gripping-crime-thriller-ebook/dp/B072FH6XM5/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

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June 13

A Dead American in Paris – Seth Lynch

Arty Homebrook lived and died in a world of sleaze which stretched from Chicago to Paris but never beyond the gutter. He’d been sleeping with Madame Fulton, which is why Harry Fulton promised to kill him. So far as the Paris Police are concerned it’s an open and shut case.

Harry’s father has other ideas and hires Salazar to investigate. As Salazar gets to grips with the case he’s dragged reluctantly into an unpleasant underworld of infidelity, blackmail, backstreet abortions and murder. Salazar is far too inquisitive to walk away and far too stubborn to know what’s for the best. So he wakes up each hungover morning, blinks into the sunlight, and presses on until it’s his life on the line. Then he presses on some more, just for the hell of it.

My thanks to Emma from Damppebbles.com for the chance to join the blog tour

A murder tale taking the reader into the dark heart of 1930’s

Paris. A tight reading schedule meant I had to read A Dead American in Paris in just a couple of sittings. If I am honest I think I would have read it in the same short space of time even if I had allowed myself all the time in the world – I was drawn right into the world of Salazar and his chain-smoking companions and could not get enough of this story!

From early in the book we have the very dead American (as advertised in the title). The police believe the killer is quite obviously Harry Fulton, a jealous husband who threatened to kill the dead man after he slept with Harry’s wife. But Harry’s father is convinced of his son’s innocence and hires Salazar to investigate and prove Harry is not guilty.

So begins an extremely entertaining murder story which took more dark twists than I had originally anticipated. The reason for my surprise at those dark twists was due to the highly engaging characters of Salazar and his delightful companion Megan. When these two are in a scene together I rather enjoyed some of the best written dialogue I have read for some time – they are brilliant together. Their verbal sparring (affectionate) lulled me into believing the story would be leaning to the cozy – how wrong was I??? Full on “noirish” goodness – as this was a Fahrenheit Press publication I should have realised this much sooner.

Seth Lynch captures the location wonderfully and the feeling of being in post WW1 Paris comes oozing out of the pages. The scenes feel claustrophobic, rooms are chilly, damp and dingy and even the descriptions of poorly furnished apartments make the whole reading experience seem more authentic as it draws you back to harder times.

It becomes clear that our dead American may not have been the nicest of chaps and Salazar will have his work cut out in narrowing down the suspect pool – but it bodes well for Harry Fulton as his standing as prime suspect starts to look too straightforward. Lots of people wanted Arty Homebrook dead and if Salazar gets too close to uncovering secrets then there is every chance he will be a target too.

A Dead American in Paris was hugely entertaining. Plenty of surprises and twists to keep this reader happy and the location and time-setting of the story made this story stand out (in no small part down to the wonderful descriptive writing by Seth Lynch).

Read this – it’s a good’un.

A Dead American in Paris is published by Fahrenheit Press and you can order a copy (paperback or digital) here: http://www.fahrenheit-press.com/books_a_dead_american_in_paris.html

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May 31

Ghost Virus – Graham Masterton

The girl had been staring into her mirror all morning before she picked up the small bottle of sulphuric acid and poured it over her forehead.

Samira was a young woman with her whole life ahead of her. What could have brought her to this? DC Jerry Pardoe and DS Jamila Patel of Tooting Police suspect it’s suicide. But then a meek husband kills his wife, and the headteacher of the local school throws her pupils out of a window. It’s no longer a random outbreak of horrific crimes. It’s a deadly virus. And it’s spreading. Somehow, ordinary Londoners are being infected with an insatiable lust to murder. All of the killers were wearing second-hand clothes. Could these garments be possessed by some supernatural force?

The death count is multiplying. Now Jerry and Jamila must defeat the ghost virus, before they are all infected…

My thanks to Melanie at Head of Zeus for the chance to join the tour.

When I read a horror story I like to begin with the understanding that anything goes. I don’t want a story which is content to ground its-self in the confines of reality, that is what psychological thrillers are meant to do. I want an author to embrace the freedom of being able to do whatever they like to put their characters through the emotional wringer (and a fairly high body count is a bonus).

In Ghost Virus Graham Masterton has very much taken the freedom available to him and has infected some Londoners with an insatiable lust to murder. The common thread (no pun intended) is that all those infected have been exposed to second hand clothes which form a lethal symbiotic relationship with their host and drive them to kill.

As the carnage escalates we get two cops trying to make sense of these seemingly unrelated acts of violence. Jerry Pardoe and his new colleague Jamila Patel are perplexed by the horrific scenes they are called to investigate but soon start to see a pattern in the behaviour of the murderers. The challenge they face is that there is no logical or rational explanation to accompany the events they are witnessing.

Graham Masterton has a dark and disturbing imagination and this comes through in Ghost Virus. There is no glossing over the violent acts, the horror is very much front and centre of the story. Horror fans will love it. As a frequent reader of police procedurals there was also a very strong investigation by Pardoe and Patel for me to enjoy too. Everything I enjoy in a story – sit back, pick up the book and let the story flow around me. Bliss.

Fantastical horror and a criminal investigation. Will not be for the crime purists but I enjoyed this immensely.

Ghost Virus is published by Head of Zeus and is available in digital format. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ghost-Virus-Graham-Masterton/dp/1788545044/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1527632832&sr=1-1

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May 30

Motherland – G.D. Abson

Motherland is the first in a gripping series of contemporary crime novels set in contemporary St Petersburg, featuring sharp and intriguing policewoman, Captain Natalya Ivanova.

Student Zena Dahl, the daughter of a Swedish millionaire, has gone missing in St Petersburg (or Piter as the city is colloquially known) after a night out with a friend. Captain Natalya Ivanova is assigned the case, making a change for Natalya from her usual fare of domestic violence work, but, because of the family’s wealth, there’s pressure for a quick result. But as she investigates she discovers that the case is not as straightforward as it may seem. Dark, violent and insightful, Motherland twists and turns to a satisfyingly dramatic conclusion.

My thanks to Mirror Books for my review copy and the chance to join the blog tour.

It was an absolute treat to read Motherland. Before I started to read I knew that I wanted the story to convey the location and a cultural identity of Russia so I could feel immersed in the story. It most certainly did that. But I also hoped to get a cracking crime thriller to entertain me. Motherland delivers that too.

Captain Natalya Ivanova is plucked from her latest assignment to give urgent attention to a missing student. The missing girl’s father is a businessman with significant wealth behind him and urgent action is needed, with the pressure on Natalya to deliver a fast resolution.

I was not shocked to find that there are significant political pressures placed upon Natalya as she conducts her investigation. The modern day equivalent of the KGB are keeping an eye on Natalya and when they are not comfortable with the direction her enquiries are taking they will intercede. This added element of suspicion and scrutiny gives Motherland a satisfying edginess as you read the story – always the possibility that a spanner shall be thrown into the works to disrupt Natalya’s plans.

There were plenty of twists and clever plotting to keep me concentrating as I read. I tend to skim read many of my books but the detail in Motherland kept me glued to the page, didn’t want to skimp on the story and was worried about missing some subtle clues in the plot. When I focus more on a story it only helps enhance my enjoyment so much satisfaction was had.

I realise that in the first 5 months of 2018 I have read crime thrillers set in Rome, Berlin, Louisiana and now St Petersburg. All seem so very far removed from my wee corner of Scotland but each book has had a distinctive voice and I have loved the variety of locations I am introduced to. Motherland does a wonderful job of capturing the uniqueness of St Petersburg.

Once you get into the story you will appreciate that Natalya is built up to be a strong lead character with a real life away from her investigations. You care more about the characters as they become more real to the reader, particularly Natalya, and you want to read her story (and hope that this will not be a stand-alone tale).

If you enjoy police procedurals and fancy a read which takes readers away from the more established stomping grounds of London, Oxford or Edinburgh then Motherland will deliver all the crimey fun you seek with a new backdrop to explore. Highly recommended.

Motherland is published by Mirror Books and is available in paperback and digital format. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Motherland-gripping-thriller-Putins-Russia-ebook/dp/B077XPBDZV/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1527632672&sr=8-3&keywords=motherland

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May 30

Rubicon – Ian Patrick

Two cops, both on different sides of the law – both with the same gangland boss in their sights.

Sam Batford is an undercover officer with the Metropolitan Police who will stop at nothing to get his hands on fearsome crime-lord Vincenzo Guardino’s drug supply.

DCI Klara Winter runs a team on the National Crime Agency, she’s also chasing down Guardino, but unlike Sam Batford she’s determined to bring the gangster to justice and get his drugs off the streets.

Set in a time of austerity and police cuts where opportunities for corruption are rife, Rubicon is a tense, dark thriller that is definitely not for the faint hearted.

My thanks to Fahrenheit Press for my review copy and to Emma Welton (Damppebbles) for the chance to join the Rubicon blog tour

On rare (but happy) occasions I sit down to write a review and cannot think of any way to convey just how much I loved the book I have just finished. Going forward I may refer to this predicament as The Rubicon Dilemma.

Rubicon is utterly brilliant and you should make sure you read this book as soon as possible.

Not sure what else I can add…

…

Okay some information about the book may help. Sam Batford is working undercover for the Metropolitan Police, he is a wonderfully complex character who will do whatever it takes to complete his mission. But Sam is serving many masters and his motives and methods keep you guessing and you are never quite sure how he will behave next.

Sam is the main focus but we also keep track on DCI Winter – she wants drugs removed from the streets of London and will let nothing get in her way. With the two leads operating in very different ways it is inevitable that Rubicon will deliver some delightfully twisted and tense situations for readers to enjoy.

Reading about Sam spinning so many plates and keeping up the facade of confident bravado is engrossing. Yet the readers also get sneak peeks at the pressures it brings on him when he is alone and his guard lowered.

There always seems to be something happening in Rubicon. Some books will see the story ebb and flow but with this story there never seemed a good point to put the book to the side (even when I *really* needed coffee). If you want a story which delivers dark, twisty entertainment then I cannot think of many finer examples. Ian Patrick delivers a wonderfully crafted tale of tension and intrigue and I just did not want to stop reading.

Top, top read. The purchase link is below – use it.

Rubicon is published by Fahrenheit Press and you can order a copy here: http://www.fahrenheit-press.com/books_rubicon.html

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May 23

The Hand of an Angel – Mark Brownless

How far would you go to get a glimpse of the afterlife, and what would you bring back?

A shattering medical thriller with a heart-stopping climax.

My thanks to Sam at Lounge Marketing (Lounge Books) for the chance to join this blog tour and for providing a review copy.

The first half of the novel draws readers into Tom’s world. His project, his colleagues, his family and we get a very good idea as to the type of person that Tom is…a nice guy!

This story totally sucked me in – what more could a reader ask for?

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May 22

The TV Detective – Simon Hall

Dan Groves is a television reporter newly assigned to the crime beat and not at all happy about it.

Dan knows next nothing about police work or how to report on it, so when he persuades Detective Chief Inspector Adam Breen to allow him to shadow a high-profile murder inquiry it seems like the perfect solution. Sadly for Dan it soon becomes clear some members of the police force have no intention of playing nice with the new boy.

With his first case Dan is dropped in at the deep-end. A man is killed in a lay-by with a blast through the heart from a shotgun. The victim is notorious local businessman Edward Bray, a man with so many enemies there are almost too many suspects for the police to eliminate.

As tensions rise Dan comes close to being thrown off the case until the detectives realise that far from being a liability, Dan might actually be the key to tempting the murderer into a trap.

My thanks to Emma Welton for the chance to join the blog blitz and to Fahrenheit Press for my review copy.

The newsroom is meeting the squadroom in Simon Hall’s The TV Detective. Dan Groves is the environment reporter for his local TV news channel. He loves his role and has developed a great reputation for reporting on contentious issues with a sympathetic understanding.

Dan finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time to avoid a new assignment from his demanding boss. A man has been attacking prostitutes in the Plymouth area – Dan is sent out to see if he can secure an interview with someone who knew the latest attack victim. A rash decision to secure the story sees Dan landing in hot water – the only way to avoid the wrath of the powers that be is to accept an immediate move to the Crime Beat (something Dan knows nothing about).

With no time to find his feet Dan finds himself dispatched to cover the latest hot news story. Local businessman and all round bad-fellow has been shot in his car by person unknown. Dan is to cover the police conference, see if he can establish any story leads from the scene of the crime and put out the best story which will ensure his network has the best coverage of the shooting. Easy. Or not so much.

Further shocks lie ahead for Dan when he learns that agreement has been reached for him to work alongside the chief investigating officer on the case, DCI Adam Breen.

Splitting his time between police station and tv studio we get to see Dan finding his feet in his new role. Shadowing the police and being allowed to contribute to discussions on suspects, motives and other case sensitive information. As the story unfolds Dan begins to show his value to the police both as a sounding-board for suggestions and as a helpful (friendly) media voice.

The TV Detective is a very accessible and entertaining read. Dan and Breen have good verbal sparring throughout the story as each man comes to understand the other and boundaries are established. Away from the investigation we are also treated to Dan’s first attempts at online dating, some light relief from the murder tale and a fun way for the reader to understand the main character a bit better too.

The TV Detective is made by the characters, a small(ish) cast are all really well presented. Dan and Breen hold centre stage and the story is built around them but the supporting cast are also well defined and the author makes you want to know more about his cast – it keeps you reading.

The TV Detective is published by Fahrenheit Press and is available in digital and paperback editions. You can order a copy here: http://www.fahrenheit-press.com/books_the_tv_detective.html

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May 15

The Louisiana Republic – Maxim Jakubowski

New York, and the world, have been transformed by an unexplained global catastrophe now known as ‘the Dark. Once a modest researcher, has now become an involuntary detective.

He is recruited by her elder sister to find the missing daughter of a local gangster in a city in chaos where anarchy and violence are just a step away. He soon discovers the case is anything but straightforward and compellingly close to home. Compromising photographs and the ambiguous assistance of a young woman with ties to the criminal gangs lead him to New Orleans, which has seceded from the rest of America in the wake of the Dark.

A perilous journey down the Mississippi river, murderous hit women and sidekicks, and the magic and dangerous glamour of the French Quarter become a perilous road to nowhere and to madness in his quest for the amoral daughter, his own lost love and his sanity. Will he find the missing women or lose himself?

My thanks to Anne Cater and Random Things Blog Tours for my review copy and the chance to join the Louisiana Republic Blog Tour.

Been staring at a blank document for 10 minutes trying to find a way to begin a review of The Louisiana Republic…tricky…very tricky as this is the book which I loved for its striking difference to everything else I have read recently.

Okay, I think we are in.

The Dark has changed the modern world as we know it, a dystopian America is the setting for The Louisiana Republic and it is not a place for the faint of heart. Savage criminal gangs are running rampant through the cities and there is more than one President (some may see this as an improvement on our present reality). Battles are being fought over key strongholds, libraries are revered (because of what the Dark is) and people are required to learn lost skills.

Into this mix steps a gorgeous femme fetale who wants to recruit the our lead character (a detective) to find her missing sister. He should have said no, but that would have made a much shorter book. The missing sister is a legend among purveyors of specialist pornography. Before the Dark she was happy to pose for any picture which people would request and people had some very extreme requests. Her father used his vast wealth to try to remove every trace of these images from the hands of strangers, he also disowned his daughter and most certainly does not want some private detective to find her. No problem – he has a number of employees who can deliver very persuasive messages!

I should probably make it clear that The Louisiana Republic is not going to be to everyone’s taste. It is dark, violent, sweary, ~~shaggy,~~ though I think “erotic” is the official designation and dystopian thrillers are not to everyone’s liking. The deeper I got into The Louisiana Republic the more I lost the link to a releatable reality – and the more I enjoyed what I was reading. It is not easy to create a new world and breath such compelling life into the society you have built whilst also keeping the main story spinning along.

There are not many books like The Louisiana Republic but when a story like this comes along I cherish the opportunity it gives me to enjoy something so very different.

The Louisiana Republic is published by Caffeine Nights and is available in digital and paperback format. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Louisiana-Republic-fantastic-distopia-erotica-ebook/dp/B07C5SJDHJ/ref=sr_1_8?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1526326337&sr=1-8

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