I am really excited to announce that my new book, Dark Harbour: The Tale of the Night Shiner, has now been released. You can check it out now on Amazon where it is available as an eBook or as a paperback. The cover, as I mentioned before, was designed by the awesome studio Asylum Seventy7.
This is a follow up to my first book, what was indeed the first of the Dark Harbour trilogy, The Tale of the Soul Searcher, and was released last year. I actually wrote half of this new book before the first one was released, so writing it concurrently I was able to sow a little detail into the continuity. Saying that, I’m also aiming for these books to be standalone narratives.
The first Dark Harbour tale very much had a romance theme to it, despite all the death and blood in it. This new tale though sits firmly within a horror / supernatural genre. A bloodthirsty creature, the Night Shiner, has returned to the town. He’s a figure loosely based on the legend of Spring-Heeled Jack as he pounces on people from out of nowhere and then flies away again. The story also takes inspiration from one of my favourite films, Jaws, where a terrified community attempts to deal with the deadly problem at hand. The Night Shiner preys on people in the dark hours, killing off the losers and the wasters, and many individuals are forced to look in the mirror and ask that dreaded question: am I next?
There is a definite psychological subtext to this book, with overtones of the fear and terror that we increasingly find ourselves in in this modern day. Even as I was publishing this book, one of the deadliest terror attacks to hit my country was taking place. Psychopathic groups around the world make it their agenda to instill fear in us, rogue nations demonstrate what destructive powers they are concocting, and in the vicious circle, the media know that fear sells, and that, as Michael Moore talked about in one of his films I watched recently, nations can be so fueled and steeped in fear. In fact, I may talk more about this on a personal level in another blog…
The Night Shiner character was touched on a few times in the first book (I was sowing the seeds, as I say!) as I knew that the sequel would be all about this horrific beast. There were various other details I set up in the first book without you realising too. Most of the characters from the first book make reappearances in the new book, and they all have their part to play in it.
All in all, I am very pleased with how this new book has come together. I know when people are plugging their newest creation, they’ll always tell you that it’s the best thing they’ve ever done, but really, I do think that this is the best thing I’ve ever written. I think it’s more engaging, more page-turnery, more terse, and more tense than the first book.
If you haven’t read the first book, and want to dive straight in with this new one, then I don’t mind…
Or if you want to start at the beginning, then The Tale of the Soul Searcher is also sitting there waiting for you (the eBook version of it will also be going on a free promo from the 5th till the 9th June 2017).
I’d love to hear your feedback on the new book. Is it better than the first? Any thoughts on where things may go in the concluding book of the trilogy? I look forward to hearing your thoughts…