Wake Up And Smell The Coffin

by Mark Wilson

In a single lifetime, which moment mattered the most?

Son, husband, father.
Hero, alcoholic, wife-beater.
Steelworker, musician, friend.

At the moment of his death Wullie McAvoy confronts everything he's been, everything he could've been and the people he loved, lost, saved and destroyed along the way.

From the author of the Lanarkshire Strays series, the dEaDINBURGH series and On The Seventh Day

130 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 29, 2016

About the author

Mark Wilson is the Amazon-bestselling author of ten works of fiction and one non-fiction memoir.
He also writes Psychological Thrillers under the pseudonym, CP 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 (Lanarkshire Strays).
Pyschological Thriller (Novella) - Head Boy (Lanarkshire Strays).
International Thriller - Naebody's Hero (Lanarkshire Strays).
Science Fiction Thriller - The Man Who Sold His Son (Lanarkshire Strays).
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

Mark also writes Crime Thrillers under the pseudonym, CP Wilson.

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:


Alice - A Psychological Crime Thriller - Due February, 2017
The Headnet - Sci-Fi Dystopic Nightmare - Due Easter, 2017
AMSTERDAMned - Horror - Due 2017

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: @markwilsonbooks

Reviews

[Mark Tilbury · Rating 5 out of 5]

William McAvoy is close to death and learns some important lessons as he moves on towards the afterlife.

Written in a variety of styles and with a large cast of characters, this novella keeps your attention and makes you think - about your own life, the mistakes you've made and the aspects of yourself you wish you could change. I especially liked how the book examines the impact of a persons actions on their friends and family, and the consequences.

Wilson has packed a lot into a relatively short read, and it's a read that makes a big impact upon it's readers, including me.

A solid 5*.

[Sarah Faichney · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Atwood’s Gilead I imagine that Wilson would be hanged as a genre traitor. He repeatedly refuses to be pigeon-holed as a writer and I love him all the more for it. That aside, I greatly admire his writing style and ability. With “Wake Up And Smell The Coffin”, he’s played another blinder - carefully constructing a concept and executing it beautifully. Some of the descriptive passages were so vivid as to make me feel nauseous, others had me wincing with empathy. This is a shorter-than-usual yet stunning piece and one which I urge you to read. The title track by the mighty Hopeless Heroic is well worth a listen too, so feast your lugs along with your eyeballs.

[Jon Lewis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Intriguing.

Short and poignant. The characters were beautifully conceived and convincing. Not sure that the epilogue added anything apart from tying up the story completely. But who am I to pass comment. This has been the first book I have actually finished in 2 weeks. I am grateful for that alone.

[April Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

After some initial confusion, where I thought the last installment of the Lanarkshire Strays collection was called The Man Who Sold His Son and could not understand where exactly this semen deficient world was....I really enjoyed this one.

Very emotional. It felt, quite suitably, like a daydream. Left me a bit shaken at the end.

[The P.Turners]

Please see blog facebook page for *K*'s review: https://www.facebook.com/thepturnersb...

[Ryan Bracha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Usually about here I'd be going through the motions of how Mark Wilson dodges the net every time I try to scoop his work into a suitable genre, but I've run out of ways to say it. He doesn't have a genre. He's a genre hobo, taking his imagination through strange gardens and rummaging through bins to feed it, and himself. What Mark Wilson does have, however, and he has it in spades, is the capacity to write raw emotion and he doesn't hold back when he hits fifth gear.

Wake Up And Smell The Coffin is a short book, cataloguing the effects that the actions of people, generations earlier, have on the hearts, minds and lives of the generations that follow. Told through the eyes and mouths of the various people close (and not so close anymore) to William McAvoy, a musician whose life was destroyed with the death of his young son.

So yeah, "Coffin" is a short book, but by Lucifer's beard it packs a punch. The author drags us by the hand through abuse and neglect and violence, holding our eyes open and forcing us to sit up and pay attention to the scenes he's painting.

Yes, it jumps from narrative device to narrative device, and has the same kind of vibe to it as when a TV comedian tours material to test it out on the audiences before taking it to the screen. This is Mark Wilson flexing his muscles and trying out new things, ready for what I know will be a phenomenal next novel. If you don't like it then I fear you probably just don't get it.

This is an easy five stars for an unflinching shot of the dark stuff. Well played, Wilson.

[Robert Cowan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The latest offering from the most prolific writer on the indie scene isn’t a typical Mark Wilson book. But since there’s no such thing maybe it is. This is Wilson at his most experimental, pushing himself as a writer but most importantly taking the writer along too.
At its heart it’s the story of one man’s life, but quickly you realise that there’s no such thing. The narrative shifts between those who share his story, family and friends who’s own lives are profoundly affected by Wullies decisions, mistakes and failings. It’s a book of love, pain, forgiveness and redemption. An exploration of the human condition told in an intriguing way as Wilson plays with time, and first, second, third person narrative.
For me it’s Wilson’s most rewarding read yet.

[Phil Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

review to follow