13 June 2023.
ISBN: 978-1-91560390-6 (PB)
‘The human race just doesn’t float my boat’ – Randal Forbes
It is the dawn of the new millennium and a double celebration for Randal Forbes, owner of Astral TV, because it is also his birthday. Handsome, powerful and influential, Forbes welcomes in the new year by throwing an elaborate party for his adoring wife, their four children, and a host of family and friends who admire and respect him. This ostentatious show of wealth hides Forbes’ disdain for lesser mortals, an arrogance that stems from his ‘gift’ of telepathy.
His ability to read and control the minds of others is something he does not flaunt because it would reveal a past that might put him in prison. Previously, Forbes’ exploited his talents to remove anyone who stood in his way including some of his own kith and kin. Forbes is a man without morals or compassion when it comes to getting his own way and he now shares his power with adopted daughter Roxanne. The pair have a special bond and they previously combined forces to avoid exposure. Indeed, Roxanne and Forbes’ unlikely friend and lover, Clive Hargreaves, are the only two people Randal really trusts, and his expurgation of potential enemies has been so thorough that he has been able to avoid using his extrasensory abilities for some time. This hiatus changes dramatically when Randall’s eldest son Ryan introduces sixteen-year-old Roxanne to a schoolfriend, Tyrone Pendle. Roxanne falls for Tyrone and brings him home where Forbes senses the young suitor’s psychic powers. All hell is about to be unleashed – literally!
This is the sixth novel featuring the terrifying Randal Forbes, but it can be read perfectly well as a stand-alone. It describes the age-old clash when a mature, established male protagonist is confronted by a young, green pretender. Will Tyrone become an ally or an adversary? The book contains adult themes as it charts Forbes’ response to an opponent who may just have the psychic punch to challenge his undoubted prowess.
Fran Raya creates an
unnerving tale of power and evil hiding in plain sight. A perfect read for those who enjoy horror and
the supernatural with a modern twist.
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Reviewer: Dot Marshall-Gent
Fran Raya lives in Manchester. Her career has been predominantly in music since the 1970s, both in the UK and abroad, originally as a singer-songwriter but now in later years purely as a songwriter who places original songs with other artists. Fran is a member of The Guild of International Songwriters and Composers and has performed throughout Europe as she used to live in Denmark. Fran was the support act for Eric Clapton on his Scandinavian tours in the 1980s. She has also published poetry in numerous anthologies and as a result was awarded her own book, Thoughts of the Poet. Fran's first book in the Poetic Justice trilogy (Poetic Justice: The Dawning) was published by The Book Guild in August 2018.
Dot Marshall-Gent worked in the emergency services for twenty years first as a police officer, then as a paramedic and finally as a fire control officer before graduating from King’s College, London as a teacher of English in her mid-forties. She completed a M.A. in Special and Inclusive Education at the Institute of Education, London and now teaches part-time and writes mainly about educational issues. Dot sings jazz and country music and plays guitar, banjo and piano as well as being addicted to reading mystery and crime fiction.
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