The Only Truth That Sticks

by C.P. Wilson

The startling new thriller from the author of the Lanarkshire Strays series.

In a world where few fertile men remain and sperm is the most valuable commodity on the planet, is blood really thicker than water?

The Man Who Sold His Son is a dark look into the future and an uncompromising glimpse at what being a family really means.

The Lanarkshire Strays Series connects characters and stories from Lanarkshire. All books are standalone stories.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Amazon

166 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 21, 2014

About the author

Pseudonym for Amazon best-selling Mark Wilson. C.P. Wilson writes psychological thrillers.

Mark Wilson is the Amazon-bestselling author of ten works of fiction and one non-fiction memoir. He also writes Crime Thrillers under the pseudonym, C.P. Wilson

Mark's short story Glass Ceiling won first prize in May, 2015 on Spinetingler's Short story competition and will be included in Ryan Bracha's Twelve Nights at Table Six. dEaDINBURGH reached the quarter finals of the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award in 2014 and is a finalist in the Wishing Shelf Book Awards, 2015.

Mark's works include:

Coming of Age - Bobby's Boy.
Psychological Thriller (Novella) - Head Boy.
International Thriller - Naebody's Hero .
Horror novels - dEaDINBURGH: Vantage, dEaDINBURGH: Alliances, dEaDINBURGH: Origins, dEaDINBURGH: Hunted
Satire: On The Seventh Day
Psychological Satire: Wake Up And Smell The Coffin
Autobiography - Paddy's Daddy

As C.P. Wilson:
Psychological Thriller - Ice Cold Alice (Tequila Mockingbird 1) (Bloodhound Books)
Medical Thriller - The Only Truth That Sticks
Psychological Thriller - half the Lies You Tell Are true

Mark's acclaimed Lanarkshire Strays series are standalone novels and feature Mark's home county. Lanarkshire Strays is also available as an omnibus edition.

His novels have been well received and feature Scottish characters and locations.

Mark has several other stories in progress:

Tequila Mockingbird book 2
The Headnet - Sci-Fi Dystopic Nightmare
AMSTERDAMned - Horror
Vesalius - Historical Fiction

Mark currently teaches Biology in a Fife secondary school and is founder of Paddy's Daddy Publishing, a company he set up to assist Scottish authors. He writes in his spare time, in lieu of sleep.

You can visit Mark at markwilsonbooks.com or facebook.com/markwilsonbooks
You can also connect with Mark on twitter: @bellshillwilson

Reviews

[Maxine (Booklover Catlady) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was really looking forward to this book after reading the brief blurb about it and after it got off to a decent start this book just lost it's oomph for me unfortunately. By halfway through I was just simply bored and skimming paragraphs for something good.

I had LOVED another book by this Author Ice Cold Aliceso this really took me by surprise. 😳 However this is a much earlier book than Ice Cold Alice and I do believe writers improve over time. I HIGHLY recommend Ice Cold Alice, I have reviewed it if you want to check it out.

In a world where few fertile men remain and sperm is the most valuable commodity on the planet, is blood really thicker than water?

The Man Who Sold His Son is a dark look into the future and an uncompromising glimpse at what being a family really means.

The concept is fantastic, the execution of it however is a little lacking. This did not engage me or hold my interest, for much of the book not a lot is really happening which I think is part of the problem. It's got some really great review, so maybe it's just not for me. I was terribly bored..




It seemed repetitive and long winded at times, the point could have been made a lot quicker. I got that the story behind this book is an awesome idea, I just wish it had come across to be thrilling, exciting, disturbing even. I felt nothing but the desire to finish it. I was hoping a grand finale would save the day, but no. Sorry, it way okay, can't get excited about this one. You decide, read other reviews, like I said, some loved it.

Next..




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[Stephanie Dagg · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's 2055 and male fertility is at an all-time low but fortunately there's a company, Synthi-Co, owned by billionaire Gavin Ennis, selling sperm. And what's more, buyers get to choose the physical and behavioural characteristics it will carry. Kids conceived naturally, known as Randoms, are frowned on these days and there are moves to segregate them.
Tommy Kinsella is such a Random and his parents are anxious to keep it a secret. However, he bumps into Gavin Ennis in an ice cream parlour, a meeting that will have huge knock-on effects for both of them, and particuarly for Tommy's parents.
This is another great novel from Mark Wilson. As usual there's an original plot, which never quite goes the way you think it will, fascinating characters both good and bad (and fans of Mark will be delighted to see some familiar faces), a full range of emotion and lots of action. Settings, which include Bellshill in Scotland, Paris and a remote Chinese island, are depicted in great detail so that you get a real feel for each place.
You come away from the novel thoroughly entertained although slightly uneasy, since in Mark's hands this possible future scenario for humankind becomes one hundred percent plausible. However, thanks to the overriding determination and sense of loyalty of the strong key characters, the overall emotions you're left with are hope and optimism.
Brilliant book.

[Phil Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

brilliant. Mark Wilson continues to enthrall me with his writing. This book loosely follows on from Wilson's Bobby's Boy not in storyline, but in the linking of characters. Wilson's writing and story telling prowess has grown so much from the earlier book.This book is set 40yrs or so on from Bobby's boy during a time when 99% of every male in the world has been rendered infertile and the worlds population is reliant on synthetic sperm supplied exclusively by "synthi Co" headed by the mysterious muti billionaire Gavin Ennis.
The story centres around the Kinsella Family, (different generations of which are featured in Wilson's "Lanarkshire Strays" trilogy of books) . Alex Kinsella is one of the rare males able to conceive naturally and Alex and his wife, Sarah's offspring, Tommy, attracts the unwanted attention of Ennis just as Sarah is recovering from severe depression and drug dependency. Alex is whisked off to an island to save his family..whilst Sarah spends the next decade trying to find him.
Wilson's glimpse of the future and his fascinating descriptions of the science behind the synthetic fertility process aligned with a family's love and strength to stay together made for a beautiful and tense thriller.
Another easy 5 stars for Mark Wilson. Highly recommended

[SuperHeroQwimm · Rating 4 out of 5]

For me this was a book I almost couldn't put down. I loved it. The only reason it wasn't 5 stars for me was the ending. I was furious with it, it didn't feel like an ending, it felt like a pause. With the first epilogue I decided I was ok and that I could like it again, but then with the second epilogue I was back to what. the. fuck.

You're trying to tell me a man like Ennis is just gonna jump to his suicide the instant upon watching the press conference where he's "outed" without any attempts to save his ass in anyway AT ALL first? Nope, I'm not buying it. That doesn't go along with his character at all.

I wish that instead of the two epilogues, the author would have ended the book without them and worked on a sequel. There is too much still to happen to fit into those half page epilogues.

But honestly, the whole book had me ensnared and I found it new and exciting and it had me thoroughly pleased up until that tidbit there at the end.

[Mark Tilbury · Rating 5 out of 5]

The one thing that I'm sure of with a novel by Wilson is that I'm in for a great read. Each book is different to the next and each a surprise.

This book introduces something which could conceivably happen - or could already be happening, pharmaceuticals exploiting a situation to make more profit. It also introduces us to Gavin Ennis. Charming and the world population's saviour in public, manipulative and evil behind closed doors. He has been written in such a way that to say that I despised him would be being nice!

I really like Alex and Gayle's working relationship and how their hard work resulted in a very important discovery. In many of their scenes there is quite a lot of medical terminology, but it's inclusion was necessary and written clearly so not to disturb the flow of the story.

Great characters and dialogue, spot-on pacing and some humour to lighten the otherwise dark plot. Another excellent novel from Wilson that left me wondering how much of what we're told about illness and vaccines is true?

[Geoff. Lamb · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very compelling read, a true page turner. Highly recommended.

[Ryan Bracha · Rating 5 out of 5]

The talented and prolific Mark Wilson is at it again. With the exception of the fantastically dark Head Boy, which was my sociopathic cup of tea from the off, he continues to mess with my preconceptions of the various genres that he chooses to tackle. His release of dEaDINBURGH earlier this year was a YA horrorfest (ordinarily not my cup of tea) that set his concept as simply an imaginative backdrop against which he would expertly paint quality relationships, both fracturing and blossoming. His latest, The Man who Sold his Son, is yet another reason to keep your eye on this awesome talent that continues to bang out top notch multi dimensional literature.

It's 2055, and the world is a very different place to what we know now. A virus rendered the majority of men infertile, and the conception route of choice is via synthetic sperm, created and sold by the titular man, Gavin Ennis. Some people can conceive naturally though, and these offspring are derided and reviled by others as 'Randoms', but they do have their uses. Enter Alex, the grandson of the hero of Wilson's debut novel, Bobby's Boy, whose own son was conceived naturally, and whose wife is addicted to mind altering substances. After a near tragic accident the family grow closer, but the joy is short lived, because Ennis is about to rear his head, and force them to make decisions they'd really rather not.
So yeah, Wilson is to writing mesmerising and emotionally packed relationships what Katie Price is to being a mediawhore. He's very good at it. You feel every ounce of emotion he wrings out of his characters in your very marrow. The return of a handful of protagonists from his earlier work is a master stroke.

Look, just buy and read this book. It is an intelligent, educated and mind blowingly complex technological tale of one man's paternal love and determination vs one man's heart stopping and crass treatment of the same responsibility. Highly recommended.

[Craig Furchtenicht · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Man Who Sold His Son is yet another fine example of how Mark Wilson refuses to paint himself into a literary corner by relying on one specific genre. I have read several of his previous novels and once again find myself in awe over how he manages to cross the gap by mastering any subject he takes on. This book, although a great stand-alone novel, brings forth characters who I absolutely fell in love with in some of his previous works. It is an intelligent piece that beckons the reader to dig in deep and utilize a part of their mind that the average books of late do not.
I won't touch on too much of the plot. It is best to be discovered and enjoyed as it comes through reading it. I will say that it takes place in a not so distant future that brings with it scientific advances that are seemingly for the greater good, yet in reality benefit so few. It portrays the sheep-like mentality of the general public and their willingness to buy into the events that shape thier lives. A phenomenon that has haunted us throuogu8ht history.
Fasten up your head gear because this is a fantastically brilliant ride.

[Jayne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mark Wilson has again pulled it off in yet another genre id never think to read. I have read all of Marks books and been asked for review on each of them. In doing this not only have i given honest reviews but i have learned its not always the story or genre but the writer that makes a book so good and Mark is a brilliant writer.Every time i read his books i cant put them down. The man who sold his son is no different. A few characters from previous books show up so if you have read any of the other 'Lanarkshire Strays' you will, like me, feel like you know them . But again Mark managed to capture my interest entertain me and have me wanting more. The science side of it had me a bit lost but this doesn't deflect in any way from the main story. Another great job Mark keep them coming

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

My second read of Mark Wilson novels and yet again I was impressed. I could hardly put this down. A man made virus has created worldwide infertility and the Multi National Pharmaceutical company, owned by the slimy Ennis are making billions. Is this far fetched? Sadly, I don't think it is. I do think some viruses are man made. I do think these multi nationals are evil and put money over people. Wilson's characterisation is fantastic and his plotlines keep you intrigued until the end. I must admit that the science bit really bamboozled me, but science often confuses this English teacher. A clever novel which is highly enjoyable.

[Shervin Jamali · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a father, I instantly related to the protagonist, Alex, and took a liking to him right off the bat. His devotion to, and love for his family tugged at my heart strings, making it easy for me to rage with him and weep for his sacrifice. Wilson writes drama (even melodrama) quite well. And this is an original story worth reading. There were quite a few typos/errors that detracted from my reading, but the author has assured me that it's been sorted out, since I probably got my hands on a first draft that slipped through. So go forth and devour this tale with reckless abandon.

[BattyKat · Rating 4 out of 5]

As I said in my mini, sectional reviews, Mr. Wilson was kind enough to send me a free Kindle version of his new book. (Thank you!)

I began this story mid-morning, and I haven't done a lick of housework all day!

Characters and scenes made me cry, some characters disgusted me.

After reading the last paragraph in the last epilogue, I'm very pleased Sarah got her licks in when she did!

Great, if disturbing story.

[maria seilius · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read .

First time that I've read a novel by this author but won't be the last . This is a story set in the not to distant future where the majority of the worlds population rely on genetic engineering to produce their children due to male infertility . Genetically engineered sperm is therefore a valuable commodity and hence rife for exploitation . Although this tale is science fiction it's really rather believable and well thought out .

[Su Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another fantastic read from author Mark Wilson! The Man Who Sold His Son is a compelling story of the aftermath of a man who sold his son. Duh! The characters are engaging, the story complex and very well told. And the fact that Mark has a background in the science involved in the story, brings realism to the tale. An authentic, sci-fi, suspense novel!

[Dreamer · Rating 4 out of 5]

An engaging sci-fi in which the population has resorted to synthi-sperm to conceive their mild-mannered children. Alex Kinsella is a good man drawn into a world of corruption to protect his wife and naturally born son.

[Karen Vivian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really liked his book a bit twisty but jumps about a bit at the beginning. Would make a great film!!

[A Book Lovers Diary · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to admit I wasn't too keen on this book. Some people have given it really good reviews and I just thought it was a bit too out there and I didn't feel like there was much to the actual plot. Some aspects of the book felt a bit rushed. I also felt that the ending could have been a lot better!

[Pam Devine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Annoyingly badly edited but a decent read. I like C.P. Wilson's other books and this was definitely another good one.

[Sandra Preston · Rating 4 out of 5]

Didn’t know where this book was going, when I started it, it ended up being a good read

[Nic's · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really liked the story, I would have given it 3 stars if only he had, or someone had proof read the story better. So many hes and his instead of hers and her.
When he said 'gave the main character a sex-change' he wasn't kidding, half the time I thought Gill was very skilled cross-dresser.
Despite this regular annoyance, the story worked, and I congratulate him on not killing Rob off when it could have been so easy to do so for that extra bit of drama.

[Keith Nixon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review to follow

[Julia · Rating 2 out of 5]

very disappointed