This gripping mystery thriller was originally written in early 2020. It is one of my most “personal” works to date, and I’ll expound more on why in a future article. In the meantime, I’m immensely excited to finally have this story out for you all to read and enjoy.
Here’s the blurb from the back of the book:
From the author of Spectre of Springwell Forest and The Irresistible Summons…
A nail-biting new mystery.
After his young son Ben writes a disturbing story about murdering a boy in a forest, widower Nick Unwin is alarmed by eerie parallels between his son’s behaviour and that of his younger brother Jason, prior to his inexplicable disappearance twenty years previously. This tragic past returns to haunt Nick when he sees an image of his long-lost brother in a newly released film.
Fearing history will repeat itself, Nick decides to investigate, along with Tanith, an old flame from his early teenage years, with dark secrets of her own connected to Jason’s disappearance. But as they delve deeper into the labyrinthine mysteries of their past, long buried memories resurface. Nick is forced to face the terrible fear that has plagued him for decades: Was he responsible for the death of his brother?
A riveting coming-of-age thriller exploring traumatic sibling relationships, parental fears, and the misleading nature of memory, Death Nest is Simon Dillon’s most gripping novel yet.
Get your copy today! Available in paperback or on Kindle from Amazon (click here for the UK, and here for the US). It’s also available from Smashwords and their various outlets.
Look out for more about Death Nest on this blog over the next few weeks, including excerpts, information on inspiration and influences, and other exclusive insights.
My new mystery thriller novel Death Nest is out on the 1st of October and available for pre-order at Amazon and Smashwords. Here’s a final teaser image as we count down to the release with just one day to go!
A cryptic comment on today’s image: What is the White Nest?
My new mystery thriller novel Death Nest is out on the 1st of October and available for pre-order at Amazon and Smashwords. Here’s another teaser image as we count down to the release.
A comment on today’s image: Some of my earlier mystery horror-thrillers featured either (apparently) haunted forests, sinister mansions, secret tunnels, and labyrinths. This novel features all four. I’m not shy about leaning into gothic location tropes when they serve the story well.
My new mystery thriller novel Death Nest is out on the 1st of October and available for pre-order at Amazon and Smashwords. Here’s another teaser image as we count down to the release.
A comment on today’s image: This is more a metaphorical picture, as no one literally plays with marionette puppets in the novel. But the unsettling thematic implications ought to be clear.
My new mystery thriller novel Death Nest is out on the 1st of October and available for pre-order at Amazon and Smashwords. Here’s another teaser image as we count down to the release.
A spoiler-free tease on today’s image: What terrible secret lies at the heart of the Darkfire Forest?
My new mystery thriller novel Death Nest is out on the 1st of October and available for pre-order at Amazon and Smashwords. Here’s another teaser image as we count down to the release.
A brief spoiler-free comment on today’s image: There is a romantic subplot.
My new mystery thriller novel Death Nest is out on the 1st of October and available for pre-order at Amazon and Smashwords. Here’s another teaser image as we count down to the release.
I won’t comment on today’s image for fear of spoilers, except to say, probably needlessly, that the novel features sinister, nail-biting, suspenseful events.
My new mystery thriller novel Death Nest is out on the 1st of October and available for pre-order at Amazon and Smashwords. Here’s the first of a few teaser images counting down to the release.
A spoiler-free comment on this image: The story features a cave on the north Cornwall coast, in the fictional village of Corthpothan (loosely inspired by the real Cornwall coastal village Porthcothan).
In case you were unaware, I’ve recently released and have been extensively promoting my new dystopian sci-fi anthology Love and Other Punishments. Now available in ebook or paperback from Amazon, Smashwords, and associated outlets, this selection of novellas and short stories is proving a hit with readers. Featuring futuristic satire, technological speculation, alternative realities, and melancholy obsessions, Love and Other Punishments is a compelling compliment to my earlier dystopian novels Children of the Folded Valley and Peaceful Quiet Lives.
Some of these stories had previously been available on Medium (all except one are now removed), but three are brand new and exclusive to this volume. Two never-before-seen novellas of about 20,000 and 18,000 words each, and one new short story at around 12,000 words, have been added to the other earlier novellas and stories earmarked for inclusion. The total word count for the volume is around 85,000 words. Not bad value for £2.99 (or $3.99, in the US).
Here’s a plot taster for each story, plus the accompanying graphics. For more detail on the story and what inspired it, click on the link to the appropriate specific article on this blog.
Sweet Dreams
A journalist investigates a tech company manufacturing nightmare suppressing nanotech for children. “Sweet Dreams” refers to the technology involved, which the journalist comes to believe may be linked to an increase in suicidal tendencies among young people. Her investigations uncover conspiracies, cover-ups, and eventually murder.
For more about this story, click here. Also, if you want a taster of this collection, all five parts of Sweet Dreams are currently available on Medium, beginning here (each instalment contains a link to subsequent parts).
The Thought Improvement Plan
In a world where thought monitoring brain implants are standard employment practice, a man and woman conduct a secret workplace romance against company policy. Together they find devious ways to fool their thought supervisor by providing false brain metrics. New and exclusive to this volume. For more about this story, click here.
Driverless
When terrorists hack the Driverless Vehicle Network, threatening to crash cars unless their demands are met by the British government, a civil servant begins to suspect there may have been an inside job. New and exclusive to this volume. For more about this story, click here.
Bleed with Me
In the not-too-distant future, ghost sightings are found to be “quantum contamination” or “memory bleeds” that can be easily disposed of via scientific means. A quantum contamination cleaner becomes secretly obsessed with the unsolved murder of a young woman whose memory bleeds occupy his home. New and exclusive to this volume. For more about this story click here.
The Traffic Warden
A curious IT technician discovers a surreal, sinister truth about traffic wardens. I almost left this darkly comic tale out of the volume, but ultimately felt it made a nice a palate cleanser following the emotionally intense finale of Bleed with Me. Exclusive to this volume, previously available on Medium. For more about this story click here.
Apocalypse 1983
In a parallel universe, a Soviet Air Force officer holds the fate of the world in his hands. Inspired by the real-life 1983 Soviet nuclear false alarm incident, in which Stanislav Petrov essentially saved the world from nuclear annihilation. Exclusive to this volume, previously available on Medium. For more about this story click here.
Love and Other Punishments
In a fascistic future London, a widowed salesman begins to suspect he has repressed memories when he encounters a mysterious woman. Exclusive to this volume, previously available on Medium. For more about this story click here.
To order a copy of the Love and Other Punishments anthology, click here (for Amazon in the US), or here (for Amazon in the UK). Digital versions are also available from Smashwords and associated outlets here.
Simon Dillon Books 
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