Tag Archives: Novels

The Irresistible Summons – Out Tomorrow!

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Irresistible Summons mock up 1

My new novel The Irresistible Summons – my second to be published by Dragon Soul Press – is officially released tomorrow.

Supernatural conspiracy thriller. Horror mystery. Modern gothic ghost story. These are all genre terms that apply to The Irresistible Summons. If you love a gripping, page-turning, suspenseful, spine-tingling nail-biter, why not give it a go?

Paperbacks are already out, and Kindle downloads can be pre-ordered. Check it out here (in the UK) and here (in the US).

Here’s the blurb from the back of The Irresistible Summons:

The nail-biting new novel from the author of Spectre of Springwell Forest…

Television producer Naomi Levinson makes documentaries debunking the supernatural.

When asked to film a promotional video for computer game company Persephone, she considers the task beneath her talents. But as production gets underway at the Persephone office block on London’s Canary Wharf, a mysterious disappearance, ghostly sightings, and lingering tragedy from Naomi’s past lead her to believe she might have stumbled into a genuine haunting.

As Naomi continues to investigate, past and present collide in a horrifying conspiracy. Cutting edge technology and ancient evil meet, leading to the discovery of a shocking and terrifying secret that could change the nature of life and death as we know it.

Spectre of Springwell Forest: Have you read it yet?

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Have you read Spectre of Springwell Forest yet? If you love a gripping supernatural mystery, why not give it a go?

Spectre promo 1

A nail-biting ghost story in the classic tradition of Susan Hill or MR James, the plot concerns Lily Parker, who, after moving to the sleepy village of Springwell, discovers in her attic an eerie painting depicting an abandoned railway tunnel amid a local forest.

When she learns the secretive villagers also have paintings of this image on walls in their homes, Lily begins to ask questions no-one is willing to answer. Then, after an uncanny encounter in the forest, a mysterious figure appears in the painting, emerging from the tunnel.

Every time Lily looks at the picture, the figure gets closer and closer. At the same time, Lily’s young daughter Olivia begins to exhibit increasingly strange, disturbing behaviour.

Spectre of Springwell Forest has had several great reviews. Here’s a sample from Amazon:

“A darkly intense and intriguing horror story full of mystery… Will have you on the edge of your seat all the way to the end.”

“A wonderful horror/thriller, which cannily interplays woo and rationality so that the reader can decide which explanation they favour. A creeping sense of unease starts almost immediately – even before you know what is to come you are shouting at Lily to leave well alone. Dillon writes excellently and believably as a 1st person female protagonist. The story is tightly written with little preamble which has a pleasingly sudden way of throwing you into this strange and disturbing village.”

“Carefully chosen words oozed from the text, creating a creepy feeling as the story went on. But the element of the novel that kept me turning the page was the suspenseful mystery and the attachment I felt to the mother protecting her child.”

“The story is slow-building and the spookiness develops in a subtle manner with an occasional BANG of fright. If you like subtle creepiness that builds as the story progresses, I’d recommend this. Good read for horror fans. Also good for those who enjoy sniffing out a mystery.”

“Spine-chilling, terrifying, absolutely gripping… a fantastic read, very well written.”

Spectre of Springwell Forest is available now and can be ordered here.

New release – The Irresistible Summons

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Exciting news! My next novel, The Irresistible Summons, is out on the 27th of July.

Published by Dragon Soul Press (who published my previous novel, Spectre of Springwell Forest), The Irresistible Summons is a gripping supernatural horror thriller that grabs from the very start and doesn’t let go.

The photos in this article tease a few locations from the novel – Wistman’s Wood on Dartmoor, a haunted office block on Canary Wharf, and eerie, abandoned London Underground tunnels.

Here’s the blurb from the back of the novel:

The nail-biting new novel from the author of Spectre of Springwell Forest…

Television producer Naomi Levinson makes documentaries debunking the supernatural.

When asked to film a promotional video for computer game company Persephone, she considers the task beneath her talents. But as production gets underway at the Persephone office block on London’s Canary Wharf, a mysterious disappearance, ghostly sightings, and lingering tragedy from Naomi’s past lead her to believe she might have stumbled into a genuine haunting.

As Naomi continues to investigate, past and present collide in a horrifying conspiracy. Cutting edge technology and ancient evil meet, leading to the discovery of a shocking and terrifying secret that could change the nature of life and death as we know it.

The Irresistible Summons is released on the 27th of July. Pre-orders will be available soon, and there will be a cover reveal within the next week or so. Watch this space.

Recent Reviews: First Love and Spectre of Springwell Forest

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I’ve had one or two very encouraging reviews on Amazon for my recent work. Firstly, there was this review for Papercut, my short story included in Dragon Soul Press’s romantic fantasy anthology First Love.

First-Love-Kindle“I had a fantastic time reading the anthology. My absolute favourite stories were A Season’s Time, Papercut, and The Rusalka of the Murashka. Mayhap I’m biased because I like stories with a folk and fairy tale twist, or it maybe that I love stories set in nature, or perhaps I simply loved the strong and surprisingly well fleshed out female characters in each story, and wanted them to get everything they wanted. But either way, my reading time was well spent with Shargorod’s little river, Chimney’s dreamscape and a nyad’s forest.”

Secondly, this lengthy rave review of Spectre of Springwell Forest proved particularly satisfying. It essentially told me I achieved everything I set out to achieve with this novel. Here is a slightly edited version:

SSF cover“A darkly intense and intriguing horror story full of mystery, Spectre of Springwell Forest… will have you on the edge of your seat all the way to the end. You won’t dare want to put this book down, as it will haunt you with the darkness that threatens a family, and that threatens to tear them apart in every way… Dark, intense, engaging, and truly gripping from beginning to end…

If you are a lover of horror novels, the supernatural, and don’t mind twisted endings then I think that this book will be a good fit for you. The damage that the family in this story suffers is truly believable. You would honestly think that this story could have happened to someone from the way that it is written so true to life. There are moments of where I normally would have been angry at characters for what they did, but this story felt so real and I loved it!

I am rating this book 5 out of 5 stars. There is nothing that I didn’t like about this story. It is twisted, creepy, dark, and mysterious and kept me engaged. The more I read the deeper I was pulled into the story. I loved the moments of where my jaw literally dropped in shock. I have to admit that I am one who enjoys books from time to time that gives you that less than happy ending, and this book does exactly that. A curse has been laid… and nothing will stop it. Enter Springwell Forest if you dare, but be prepared for the consequences.”

If you read and enjoy any of my stories, please leave a review on Amazon or Goodreads (or ideally both). Reviews on Amazon in particular really help. This isn’t because I require constant affirmation, but because reviews mean their algorithms show my work to more readers. As such, reviews are essential to the livelihood of small time or independent authors like yours truly. They don’t need to be essays. A simple “I liked it” is fine.

Thank you.

Title Announcement for my next novel (and other news)

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As well as promoting new releases Spectre of Springwell Forest and my short story Papercut (part of the First Love romantic fantasy anthology), I’ve made good use of the grim winter months writing another spooky mystery novel entitled (drumroll…) Phantom Audition.

St Johns Museum, Warwick

I struggled more than usual to find a title for this particular novel, even resorting to testing a few suggested titles on social media. But in the end, my closest friend suggested this title to me, and it stuck.

Phantom Audition revolves around Mia Yardley, a recently widowed bit-part actress grieving for her much more successful actor husband in his ancestral family mansion (like the one pictured above). Cryptic runes, a strange diary, a mysterious medium, and ghostly visions gradually lead to the unravelling of a sinister mystery. Is Mia being given a message from beyond the grave?

This novel sits more at the supernatural/psychological thriller end of my gothic thriller/horror spectrum, though there are still plenty of suspenseful, skin-crawling moments. I intend to beta test it very soon, and once that’s happened (and it’s been through various publisher hurdles), it should be available this October.

Before then I have another scary novel to unleash, called The Irresistible Summons. This is a haunted house story of a very different kind about which I will say no more at present, other than you can expect to have it in your hands in July.

In between those two releases, I might just release another short story. It all depends whether my somewhat offbeat submission to my publisher’s upcoming Coffins and Dragons anthology is accepted. Watch this space.