Black Wood by Derek Flynn. Advance Reader Copy (ARC) from the author included. No affiliate links used. You can read my full disclosure policy here.
How far would you go to get out? And once you get out, how far would you go to protect the secrets from your past?
When our unnamed narrator receives an unexpected phone call from Samantha, someone he went to school with it, he knows something must be wrong. He is right and they need to find a way of their past remaining as just that, in the past.
Split between their school days in Concord and 25 years later, Black Wood is a tale of conspiracy, obsession and what happens when life in a small town gets complicated. But can our narrator’s version of events be trusted? Has his need, as a writer, for the perfect story clouded his judgement so much that we never get a clear picture of what happened in the Black Wood all those years ago?
In a break from his popular John Ryan series, Black Wood is a standalone thriller where the action takes place without much input from cops. That is actually where its beauty lies, in the spaces between law and order. The spaces between things that happen to us and the things we choose to do. The spaces between our past actions and their impact on our future lives.
Black Wood is unsettling and compelling, a must read!
Black Wood is available in paperback and as an ebook from Amazon here and here.
About the author
Derek Flynn is an Irish writer and musician with a Masters in Creative Writing from Trinity College, Dublin. BLACK WOOD is his third novel. His previous books BROKEN FALLS and THE DEAD GIRLS have been a big hit with readers – THE DEAD GIRLS featured on a number of book blogger’s “Best of 2018” lists and came in at number 11 in the Rick O’Shea Book Club poll of the “Best Irish Books of 2018”.
He is also a regular contributor to Writing.ie, where he writes his “Songbook” column.
Like most writers, he is fuelled solely by caffeine and self-doubt.
You’ll find him on Twitter as @DerekFlynn03
I don’t use affiliate links, but if you like what I do you can show your support by buying me a coffee here.