At a time when mainland politicians are trying to make us forget the “Long War” in Northern Ireland, former soldier turned professional writer and member of the Haileybury School Governing Council Chris Darnell has launched an explosive all action thriller onto the scene.
“The Return” is a fast paced story set in Ulster and Berlin at the time of the highly charged atmosphere surrounding the Anglo Irish Agreement. The novel’s hero is a SAS major, Paul Stanton, who, following an IRA attack on his troops embarks on a journey to root out the source of their betrayal and exact his revenge. The tone is dark, brooding and accurately conveys the conditions of soldiering at the time. The author is planning a sequel involving Stanton that takes him to Africa in 1989 and a brush with the murky world of private military companies.
Sharing last Thursday night’s book launch in the Barnes Bookshop was David Dickinson, writer of historical novels set in the late Victorian period, who has just published his 11th book in the Lord Francis Powerscourt series, “Death at the Jesus Hospital”
“The Return” is published electronically by Endeavour Press ( www.endeavourpress.com ) and along with Chris Darnell’s and David Dickinson’s short stories are available as kindle editions from electronic resellers such as Amazon Kindle, iTunes, Nook and Sony.
The launch was hosted by literary agent Richard Foreman of Endeavour Press and Chalke Authors, who looks after several writers on military subjects including Patrick Bishop, Matt Lynn and Saul David. Amongst the guests were writers from other genres including Paul Hannam, author of “The Magic of Groundhog Day: Transform Your Life Day by Day”.