Hell's Ditch

Black Road #1

by Simon Bestwick

The dream never changes: a moonless, starless night without end. The road she walks is black, bordered with round, white pebbles or nubs of polished bone; she can’t tell which but they’re the only white in the darkness, marking her way through the night. In dreams and nightmares, Helen walks the Black Road. It leads her back from the grave, back from madness, back towards the man who caused the deaths of her family: Tereus Winterborn, Regional Commander for the Reapers, who rule the ruins of a devastated Britain. On her journey, she gathers her allies: her old mentor Darrow, the cocky young fighter Danny, emotionally-scarred intelligence officer Alannah and Gevaudan Shoal, last of the genetically-engineered Grendelwolves. Winterborn will stop at nothing to become the Reapers’ Supreme Commander; more than anything he seeks the advantage that will help him achieve that goal. And in the experiments of the obsessed scientist Dr Mordake, he thinks he has found it. To Winterborn, Project Tindalos is a means to ultimate power; to Mordake, it’s a means to roll back the devastation of the War and restore his beloved wife to the living. But neither Winterborn nor Mordake understand the true nature of the forces they are about to unleash. Forces that threaten to destroy everything that survived the War, unless Helen and her allies can find and stop Project Tindalos in time.

Genres: Horror, Post Apocalyptic

Hardcover

First published December 1, 2015

About the author

Simon Bestwick was born in Wolverhampton in 1974. He has worked in various jobs, from fast food operative through drama teacher to training administrator. His short fiction has appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies, including Nasty Piece of Work, All Hallows, Darkness Rising, Extremes 5, and Beneath the Ground. He lives in Swinton, Lancashire, and when not writing can be found indulging his interests: walking, films, literature, rock, folk, and jazz music, good food, and the occasional pint.

Reviews

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set twenty years into the future, after an apocalypse has decimated the earth, this follows rebel Helen Damnation who is fighting against the powers-that-be, led by Winterborn, an old adversary. Things already look bleak - the Reapers govern by brutal force and the general populous is dying of disease and starvation - but when the rebels hear of Project Tindalos, it seems like things are going to get a lot worse. Read for a critique, this is very different to Simon’s usual milieu (if I had too, I’d say it was more sci-fi/post-apocalyptic/urban fantasy than anything else) and not a sub-genre that I’m well-versed in. Having said that, it’s up to his usual high standards and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Placing the POV over a small cast - Helen, Danny a young soldier, Alannah and Gevaudan, a Grendelwolf - he paints a quick but thorough picture of the world, piles on the atmosphere and dread and never skimps on the nasty stuff - especially the fall-out of Tindalos itself. The first book in a proposed trilogy, I enjoyed it a lot and would highly recommend it.

[Steve Byrne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simon Bestwick is an excellent wordsmith, and I'm always heartened to see quality writers who're not afraid to tackle action thrillers. Hell's Ditch is a lovely, decidedly British dystopian novel, which reminded me of grand old Brit tv series like Blake's 7. Gritty, down to earth characterisation, and a plot that creates a mythos to rival Lovecraft, ensure a thoroughly entertaining read. Good stuff.

[Laura Mauro · Rating 4 out of 5]

it would be remiss of me not to review this book it since it is very good. Set in a resolutely dystopian future Britain, the story revolved around Helen Damnation, a woman simultaneously haunted by her own failures and determined to seek revenge. Helen averts my most hated ‘Strong Female Character’ cliche in that she is obviously flawed, and those flaws inform her decisions throughout the narrative. Fighting alongside her is a motley crew of old allies and newer, younger recruits; the latter serve as a lens through which the reader is able to understand the grim reality of this new Britain; the way they relate to the older characters, who remember something of the world before, is at times quite heartbreaking. And then there’s Gevaudan Shoal…

The compelling characters and chillingly believable glimpse into a cold, unfriendly future make Hell’s Ditch a darn sight better than your average post-apocalyptic romp.