Grim Coastal Town – Brief Writing Sample

I’m most of the way through a third novel, Silent, a psychological thriller set in the North, aimed at teenagers and the Young Adult market. 

In Silent, central character Gavin (17) attends a special school for gifted musicians after getting in trouble with the police back in London.  But events from the past threaten the safety of the students, along with current mind games, and Gavin finds himself drawn into confusion and danger:

The atmosphere had changed and I thought the town looked pretty unattractive now. Dying feel. Black, grey sea with its lapping waves. Tide in. Cheerless sky. Daylight ebbing away. The pylon-like structure holding up the pier. The abandoned vendor booths and empty cider cans. The dome-like room of the Grand Theatre, aged and grimy. Closer to the sea, I detected a scent, a mixture of pickled onions and diesel that seemed to get stronger and stronger, and once more, I wondered why a family like the Harlesden’s had chosen to host their piano master classes in a town like this one.

The sun had begun to set over the horizon, a strident shade of scarlet and purple, and the smell from the sea intensified. The late evening breeze turned chilly, brushing my cheeks, cooling them. So Philippa had invited Dawn and Paul too. For a moment or two, I considered giving the party a miss and getting a cab back. I wished people would stop picking on me and treating me like a kid.