STOPPED IN THE SHADOWS

by Paul Britton

Erica finds herself attracted to a young man named Joe. Both he and Erica are outsiders from a small northern coastal town in England called Whitby. Although Joe has only returned to Whitby for a short while, he instantly connects with Erica, asking her to accompany him to London. She says yes and their adventure begins.

Upon their arrival in London, Joe takes Erica to stay with his drug addled friends in Catford. The place is a dive and Erica soon begins to question her decision. Trouble enters into their lives almost immediately with the fatal stabbing of one of Joe's friends, Elias in The Pit, a local hangout for goths and alternative types.

Things go progressively from bad to worse for Joe but it is not until Joe's so called friend Mike Mitchell reveals his true identity as Raziel Veron Zemplar, a Vampire who has existed for over six hundred years that things really begin to get crazy.

Raziel has been in waiting, hiding in amongst the human population for centuries. Originally created by Merdios, Raziel has in recent years led a double life as Mike Mitchell, a drop out druggie, hiding his true identity perfectly whilst biding his time to become a ruling Vampire once again.

Although deep down Raziel despises his very own creation, seeing the endless life of a Vampire as being the ultimate curse he is, on the surface, in love with himself. Nurturing an ego that has no bounds.

Raziel knows that there are other, weaker Vampires in existence, but none who can outsmart his superior being given that he was made by Merdios, the ultimate Vampire ever to walk the earth, or so he believes. Such unyielding belief in false facts lead Raziel into a web of nightmarish events that unfold into a world of uncertainty for him and chaos across the UK like never before.

Erica and Joe are main characters within the story, as are Raziel and Merdios. Later into the plot, Xeroxis becomes the dominant character as he is in fact, the most powerful Vampire in existence, all knowing and in complete control. It is not until Xeroxis reveals his identity to Raziel and the other characters, including members of the London Police force and friends of Joe and Erica that they finally realise each and every one of them is a pawn in Xeroxis's game.

The adventure twists and turns along different paths until the reader reaches the final chapters where everything comes together, revealing answers to many questions that are posed earlier on in the story.

186 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 11, 2012

About the author

He is perhaps the UK's leading psychological profiler.


Paul Britton was born in 1946. Following degrees obtained in psychology from Warwick and Sheffield universities, he has spent the last twenty years working as a consultant clinical and forensic psychologist. He has advised the Association of Chief Police Officers' Crime Committee on offender profiling for many years and currently teaches postgraduates in clinical and forensic psychology. He is married with two children. Paul Britton is the author of Picking Up the Pieces and The Jigsaw Man, which won the Crime Writers' Association Gold Dagger Award for Non-Fiction.