Short Writing Sample: Silent

The Internet connection remains problematic, as do the grey skies and cold weather.  I’ve been working on a third novel, Silent, a psychological thriller set in the north of England. In Silent, main character Gavin has to return to Harlesden Hall, the scene of several murders five years earlier.  One of the survivors has sought Gavin’s help but has disappeared and Gavin is trying to find her.

I text, hey, cheers for your help and sorry to get you up here for nothing, but let me get on with it, okay? Speak soon.  

I switch off the phone and continue on my way, taking in deep air in the hope of catching a scent from those student days of five years ago. A rhythm, the hint of a voice or laughter. Perfume.  But I only catch the silence of the fields and the river and the bleakness all around me, the traces of memories; the echoes of a chilly breeze, despite the fact it’s summer. The abandoned mills and old factories at the foot of the side hill leading up to Harlesden Hall. The overwhelming scent of manure in the air. Thundery clouds reflected in the surface of the river. The silence that is rarely calm. Echoes and traces of death and sorrow  from more than a century of suffering.

The climb up the hill takes me about ten minutes and I have to keep pausing to catch my breath, thankful that I’ve never taken up smoking. I arrive at the long driveway to the house and walk down, past the tall hedges and the bushes, stopping suddenly by the hilly mound at the bottom of the grounds.

Someone’s watching me in the driveway. It’s pretty obvious this time. I hear a branch snap. Feel the intense gaze directed at me.

A game. Cat and mouse.

Except I’m not playing the mouse.  No way.

 

Meanwhile, my other two novels – Secrets by Lawrence Estrey and EggHead - are available from Amazon in paperback and e-book. 

Check out the reviews for my debut novel Secrets.

Newspaper article on author.

Local musician publishes crime thriller

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Cold and Frost

Temperatures have plunged again here in the UK and the pavements have become slippery again.    Plus, internet connection poor again.

Meanwhile, I’m working on a third novel, a psychological thriller set around a stately hall, involving five music students.   The hall has a dark history and one of the students inadvertently reignites the past, leading to fatal consequences.  Five years later, central character Gavin and the other survivor of the hall Lucy find themselves in trouble.  Much of the story comes from Gavin’s perspective in the first person, but some sections are told from Lucy’s viewpoint using the third person. 

In the following sample, Lucy takes on the role of viewpoint character:

‘What’s this?’ she says to herself.

There, lying on the post mat in the hallway, is an A4 packet, hand delivered. She stops short. Glances around.

A photograph drops to the floor.

A photograph of herself, done in black and white.

There are five photos in the package, all of her. 

In one, the photographer has captured a shot of her in central Manchester on her way to a wine bar to meet a girl she knew from Uni. In another, she’s walking past the local church, reading an email on her phone. The next photograph shows her leaving a supermarket. The fourth has been taken near Manchester Piccadilly. In the final snap, she’s heading towards her local pub, talking hurriedly on her phone. The most frightening photograph of all, since the photographer has included the date the photograph at the bottom of the image and she remembers the occasion clearly, the clothes she wore that day….the day former music student Gavin called her back from London and they arranged to meet.

The stillness closes in, growing audible. That day, someone was following her, but she didn’t realise it. They know all about her and Gavin.  Although the stalking seems a recent thing, it has been going on for much longer in practice and the person has been tracking her movements for more than three months.

The landline phone rings, startling her.

She grabs the receiver.

Silence.

‘What do you want?’ she says.          

No answer.

She detects faint breathing in the background. 

Male breathing.

A man watching her, following her about.

Photographing her and editing the images in black and white.

Posting photo packages through the door of her flat. 

‘The police have been,’ she lies. ‘And they’re on to you.’

Silence.

Cruel, tormenting silence.  She hates silence, always has hated silence. How the person on the other end of the line understands the power of silence.

The caller hangs up.   

Meanwhile, my other two novels – Secrets by Lawrence Estrey and EggHead (teen fiction) - are available from Amazon in paperback and e-book. 

Check out the reviews for my debut novel Secrets.

Newspaper article on author.

Local musician publishes crime thriller

Read Full Post »

Proof Copy On The Way, My Second Novel…

Waiting for the proof copy of my second novel, EggHead by Lawrence Estrey.  It should arrive around Tuesday or Wednesday, and I’m already queasy from nervous excitement. 

EggHead, a psychological thriller, explores what happens when an adolescent boy from a stable environment secretly seeks out his estranged father and a serious crime occurs.  Forced to go on the run, central character Wayne (“Egghead”) struggles to cope in a north east coastal village where he becomes increasingly isolated and drawn into further danger… 

The novel, set in Manchester and the Newcastle area, was originally intended for teenagers and young adults, but crosses over into mainstream fiction.

Currently, readers can order EggHead as an e-book by visiting the Amazon page.  Hopefully, the paperback version will be available by the middle of the month.

 

Meanwhile, my first novel – Secrets by Lawrence Estrey - is available in both forms from Amazon, including reviews.

Sample Chapters

Newspaper article on author.

Local musician publishes crime thriller

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EndGame

I’m in the final stages of my novel EggHead, a crime thriller focusing on a boy at the ages of twelve and nineteen.   The twelve-year-old gets into serious trouble when he faces up to bullying.  As a nineteen-year-old, he is struggling to rebuild his life in a remote village on the north east coast (England, UK).   

The atmosphere inside the pub is rising.  The mood is ugly.  Again, I sense the hostile stares, the silent accusations, the thirst for revenge against the monster who killed the missing lad. 

The locals think that I or one of the other men at the Halfway House played a role in whatever happened on Wednesday night.  Worse, I can’t account for my movements that night.  I don’t recall any of it, apart from coming to in a groggy state shortly after midnight in an unfamiliar squat less than a quarter of a mile from this pub on the promenade where the lad was last seen.  I stumbled back home.  Someone must have seen me approaching the Halfway House in the early hours of the morning and passed on the information to the teams of villagers patrolling the area.  That would explain why the teenage boys and men stopped outside the Halfway House in the middle of the night, lingering by the front wall, talking in quiet voices. 

Because they suspect me of foul play. 

They must know my background.  They will have lifted it from the internet.   The anonymity required by law wouldn’t stop people in my hometown identifying me

 Meanwhile, my debut novel – Secrets by Lawrence Estrey – is available on Amazon.    Reviews.

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