JUSTICE A convict is tormented by his wife’s memory — and his lack of one…
OLD FLAME A twisted tale of lust, obsession and revenge.
THE BUTCHER Meet Anthony Harding, psychopath. He'll make your skin crawl...
PLUS Bonus introductory notes from the author:
Featuring exclusive insights into how these short-form tales relate to the psychopathic characters in ‘The Remorseless Trilogy’, the author's British Crime Thriller series.
'Stand alone' thrillers:
These three novelettes can be read as stand alone stories although readers may enjoy 'The Butcher' more if they are familiar with the main characters in the trilogy — Doctor Colin Powers and Detective Inspector Carver — as this tale fleshes out the backstory of how these two 'heroes' first started working together.
Please note: The author's comments sections contain some spoilers for the novels in 'The Remorseless Trilogy'.
Publication history:
‘Justice’ has, on occasion, been offered exclusively to Will Patching’s Readers Group Members but was first published in 2020 for a wider audience.
‘Old Flame’ was first published in ‘Burning: An Anthology of Thriller Shorts’, edited by Peter Oxley and Simon Finnie and published by Burning Chair Publishing, 2018.
‘The Butcher’ was first published in ‘The Murder Files — Eight Stories of Murder, Lies and Mystery’, edited by Terry Keys and published in 2017.
Will Patching was born and raised in ‘Sarf Lunnon’, Engerland, or at least, that’s how he pronounces it! Hence, many scenes from his novels are situated in London, the surrounding suburbs and other parts of southeast England, though they also span as far afield as the USA, Asia and the Middle East.
His approach to writing is to hit the reader with hard truths about the world we live in, and his mysteries, thrillers, and suspense novels are designed to set your pulse pounding. One male reader decided he needed to check his door locks late one night while reading Remorseless and subsequently commented on social media:
‘Seriously scary!’
Will’s eclectic professional experience – from his teenage role as a ‘gardener’ weeding sewage treatment filter beds, through flying a Hawk jet very fast, very low and very dangerously before the RAF realised and booted him out, then attending Harvard on a course for potential CEOs, largely thanks to the Peter Principle of promotion, and more recently, to building his dream, a charter yacht that sank in SE Asian waters – all have led to a rich and varied life, often reflected in his writing.
His gritty crime stories mix murder mystery, psychological suspense and intense thrills while offering unique insights into the darker side of human nature. His ‘pull no punches’ style and sparse but often brutal descriptive passages will not suit all readers, so if you are into cozy mysteries you might want to look elsewhere!
Now considered something of an expert on psychopaths, thanks to his extensive research and personal experience of people with this personality disorder, Will set up a popular website to help lay readers understand these destructive individuals and why their existence is so important to society in general. His writing draws heavily on this expertise but his novels are designed to entertain rather than educate – though many readers appreciate both aspects of his writing.
If you would like to know more about this indie author, you might like to head to his website:
www.willpatchingauthor.com