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The Kindly Man
“Use your second chance wisely…”Only the dead get a second chance, so they say in the destitute back streets of 18th century London. For Hannah Ginter, decades of abuse have long since left her without hope of anything, let alone a second chance. Riddled by the pox, addicted to gin, brutalised by her vicious bawd and the men who use her, she already has one foot planted in the corner of Cross Bones cemetery reserved for fallen women like her. Each day is a torment and a trial she can only ever escape via drunken oblivion.
Waking up in a doorway with no recollection of the night before is not something new for Hannah, but when she finds even the people closest to her no longer recognise her, realisation dawns that something far stranger than being robbed of a night’s memories has befallen her.
Escaping the desperate world of rogues, thieves and whores she has existed in for so long, her only friend a broken and bitter ex-soldier, she discovers that betwixt and between the London of money and privilege that first used and then discarded her and the underworld of crime and poverty that slowly destroyed her, exists a third city.
A city of miracles. A city of wonders. A city of monsters. A city that has conspired to give her a second chance.
But is it one she can use wisely or is it one that will simply allow the dark desires of the greatest city on Earth to destroy her once more? Can she escape her past to find a future that does not end in the mud of Cross Bones or is she cursed to simply live through the same wretched life all over again?
Or will a monster with two minds have other plans for her…
The Kindly Man, part one of Rumville, a dark fantasy of broken lives and second chances set against the backdrop of 18th Century London.
Waking up in a doorway with no recollection of the night before is not something new for Hannah, but when she finds even the people closest to her no longer recognise her, realisation dawns that something far stranger than being robbed of a night’s memories has befallen her.
Escaping the desperate world of rogues, thieves and whores she has existed in for so long, her only friend a broken and bitter ex-soldier, she discovers that betwixt and between the London of money and privilege that first used and then discarded her and the underworld of crime and poverty that slowly destroyed her, exists a third city.
A city of miracles. A city of wonders. A city of monsters. A city that has conspired to give her a second chance.
But is it one she can use wisely or is it one that will simply allow the dark desires of the greatest city on Earth to destroy her once more? Can she escape her past to find a future that does not end in the mud of Cross Bones or is she cursed to simply live through the same wretched life all over again?
Or will a monster with two minds have other plans for her…
The Kindly Man, part one of Rumville, a dark fantasy of broken lives and second chances set against the backdrop of 18th Century London.
422 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 30, 2020
19 people are currently reading
2 people want to read
About the author
Andy Monk
26 books9 followersI currently live in Suffolk in the United Kingdom and am fortunate enough to be able to devote my time to my three great loves - writing, photography and daydreaming.
As a writer of dark speculative fiction I have published the following novels,
The King of the Winter, A Bad Man's Song, Ghosts in the Blood and the Love of Monsters which form the In The Absence of Light series - a dark vampire fantasy set in 18th century London
The five book Hawker's Drift series - set in a small town in what may, or may not, be the 19th Century American West and follows a disparate cast of characters and their interactions with the town's Mayor. Who may, or may not, be The Devil.
In the Company of Shadows, an ongoing series featuring separate stories set in the same world as In the Absence of Light
The standalone fantasy novel The House of Shells.
Two free novellas, The Burning & A House of the Dead can be obtained via my website www.andymonkbooks.com.
2020 will see the following works published;
Rumville - a three book cycle set within In the Company of Shadows - is the tale of a alcoholic street prostitute dying of syphilis in the slums of 18th century London, who is mysteriously given a second chance to relive her misbegotten life. With the help of a crippled ex-soldier, she attempts to understand what has happened to her and escape her wretched life in the gutter, while discovering all gifts come with a price...
As a writer of dark speculative fiction I have published the following novels,
The King of the Winter, A Bad Man's Song, Ghosts in the Blood and the Love of Monsters which form the In The Absence of Light series - a dark vampire fantasy set in 18th century London
The five book Hawker's Drift series - set in a small town in what may, or may not, be the 19th Century American West and follows a disparate cast of characters and their interactions with the town's Mayor. Who may, or may not, be The Devil.
In the Company of Shadows, an ongoing series featuring separate stories set in the same world as In the Absence of Light
The standalone fantasy novel The House of Shells.
Two free novellas, The Burning & A House of the Dead can be obtained via my website www.andymonkbooks.com.
2020 will see the following works published;
Rumville - a three book cycle set within In the Company of Shadows - is the tale of a alcoholic street prostitute dying of syphilis in the slums of 18th century London, who is mysteriously given a second chance to relive her misbegotten life. With the help of a crippled ex-soldier, she attempts to understand what has happened to her and escape her wretched life in the gutter, while discovering all gifts come with a price...
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October 9, 2022
The beginning of an exceptional series!
Down amongst the slums in eighteenth century London lived the thieves, murderers, disease ridden prostitutes and all the other dregs of Society. A short and brutal life "enjoyed" by all. One such debased older woman wakes up in an alley and finds herself young and beautiful again. How and why? She finds herself becoming involved with a one eyed and crippled former cavalry officer who had fallen on hard times. The pair are being blackmailed by one of London's most feared gangsters . The prognosis being, hanged for witchcraft or hanged, drawn and quartered for high treason. I just couldn't put the book down and cannot wait to read the next instalment.
Down amongst the slums in eighteenth century London lived the thieves, murderers, disease ridden prostitutes and all the other dregs of Society. A short and brutal life "enjoyed" by all. One such debased older woman wakes up in an alley and finds herself young and beautiful again. How and why? She finds herself becoming involved with a one eyed and crippled former cavalry officer who had fallen on hard times. The pair are being blackmailed by one of London's most feared gangsters . The prognosis being, hanged for witchcraft or hanged, drawn and quartered for high treason. I just couldn't put the book down and cannot wait to read the next instalment.
Displaying 1 of 1 review