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The Garden Saga #1
Seeker
Passion, fear, betrayal, vengeance, love.
The price of being human?
Meet Willem Townsend; London-based entrepeneur, loyal friend and loving uncle. To all intents and purposes a man who has
everything going for him. But Willem feels bound by his responsibilities, and knows it's time to break free - to do the unexpected.
And so he embarks on a secretive internet romance, which soon leads to preperations for a weekend renderzvous in Southend.
Jake, Willem's best mate, is concerned by this development, but he begrudgingly agrees that Will does need to step out of his box and find some love. After all, Jake is coming to grips with his own budding romance, so who is he to argue?
As the weekend passes, Jake is troubled by Will's lack of contact, and failure to return home. He enlists the help and support of those closest to Will as he tries to find his friend, and in doing so he opens the door on some unexpected revelations about both Willem, and himself.
Meanwhile in a garden in Essex, a man is found. Bereft of clothes and memory, this man may hold the answer to a four-thousand-year-old mystery. And in a converted factory on Canvey Island, the Three are watching... and waiting.
There is no turning back now...
The price of being human?
Meet Willem Townsend; London-based entrepeneur, loyal friend and loving uncle. To all intents and purposes a man who has
everything going for him. But Willem feels bound by his responsibilities, and knows it's time to break free - to do the unexpected.
And so he embarks on a secretive internet romance, which soon leads to preperations for a weekend renderzvous in Southend.
Jake, Willem's best mate, is concerned by this development, but he begrudgingly agrees that Will does need to step out of his box and find some love. After all, Jake is coming to grips with his own budding romance, so who is he to argue?
As the weekend passes, Jake is troubled by Will's lack of contact, and failure to return home. He enlists the help and support of those closest to Will as he tries to find his friend, and in doing so he opens the door on some unexpected revelations about both Willem, and himself.
Meanwhile in a garden in Essex, a man is found. Bereft of clothes and memory, this man may hold the answer to a four-thousand-year-old mystery. And in a converted factory on Canvey Island, the Three are watching... and waiting.
There is no turning back now...
580 pages, Paperback
First published March 16, 2010
About the author
Andy Frankham-Allen
65 books46 followersWelsh-born Andy Frankham-Allen's passion for writing began with a love of Doctor Who. He's been writing since as far back as he can remember, and, although unsuccessful, he wrote a Doctor Who novel for BBC Books in 1996 after an accident caused him to be out of work for four months. Following that writing fell back into a hobby until 2001 when he began an ongoing fan-fiction series called Doctor Who: The Legacy, which carried on until 2006.
He has been writing professionally since 2004, through several official Doctor Who short stories, and since 2010 with horror shorts of Untreed Reads Publishing. March 2011 saw the release of his novel, 'Seeker', the first book in The Garden Saga, published in print by Hirst Publishing and in all digital formats by Untreed Reads.
He has been writing professionally since 2004, through several official Doctor Who short stories, and since 2010 with horror shorts of Untreed Reads Publishing. March 2011 saw the release of his novel, 'Seeker', the first book in The Garden Saga, published in print by Hirst Publishing and in all digital formats by Untreed Reads.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
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December 28, 2011It’s not easy to like this paranormal novel, mostly since it’s not your usual happily ever after where the heroes are perfect men and the villains are easily identifiable and targetable as the one to dislike. It’s not easy also since it forces you to “change” your idea in the course of it, changing who you want to be a couple, who you hope will find their soul mates, who will be the ones to kiss in the end and the ones who will walk alone in search of something else, someone else.
At the beginning the author put a lot of effort in making you feel for Willem and his best friend since forever Jake. It’s clear that Willem is in love with Jake, but it’s also clear that Jake has a cloth in front of his eyes. Jake is juggling/fighting with his straight relationship with Amy, but at the same time is unconsciously preventing Willem to find a mate; every man Willem met was wrong, and Jake was always there, being the epitome of what Willem wanted, but being also unreachable. And now Willem once again is risking his happiness, choosing to meet face to face with Charlie, a man who he met online. Jake is not happy, but Willem is stubborn… and when he disappears, Jake has the confirmation he was right, but also the epiphany that he is in love with his friend and that he will do everything to find him.
At this point the storyline split in two, following Willem and his nightmare in the paranormal world, and Jake and his mission to find Willem. Probably for the first time since forever, they are far from each other, and while this is heartbreaking, it allows to Jake to comprehend his feelings, not only towards Willem but also on himself and his desires.
I felt a lot for Willem, and as I said, at first I hoped he would be lucky, that he had finally the chance at happiness he was searching since forever. But that is the skill of the author, to move the reader’s expectation, to yes, let you with a bittersweet aftertaste for Willem, but to give you also a glimpse on a better, and happily, future for Jake. And why not, maybe the “new” Willem will have his chance in the following three books of this 4 books series. He is no more the same Willem we knew in the first book, not at all (and I will stop here to not ruin your reading experience) but he is someone else the reader could care for.
More than a paranormal feeling, this novel reminded me a bit of a gothic genre. Maybe it was the setting, Southend and London, rainy England, always with a dark and heavy feeling, given but the clouds, the muted light, the wet cobbled streets where you expect each moment a coach to come out from the next corner. In this setting it seems more “ordinary” for paranormal events to happen.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004SHNNTG/?...
At the beginning the author put a lot of effort in making you feel for Willem and his best friend since forever Jake. It’s clear that Willem is in love with Jake, but it’s also clear that Jake has a cloth in front of his eyes. Jake is juggling/fighting with his straight relationship with Amy, but at the same time is unconsciously preventing Willem to find a mate; every man Willem met was wrong, and Jake was always there, being the epitome of what Willem wanted, but being also unreachable. And now Willem once again is risking his happiness, choosing to meet face to face with Charlie, a man who he met online. Jake is not happy, but Willem is stubborn… and when he disappears, Jake has the confirmation he was right, but also the epiphany that he is in love with his friend and that he will do everything to find him.
At this point the storyline split in two, following Willem and his nightmare in the paranormal world, and Jake and his mission to find Willem. Probably for the first time since forever, they are far from each other, and while this is heartbreaking, it allows to Jake to comprehend his feelings, not only towards Willem but also on himself and his desires.
I felt a lot for Willem, and as I said, at first I hoped he would be lucky, that he had finally the chance at happiness he was searching since forever. But that is the skill of the author, to move the reader’s expectation, to yes, let you with a bittersweet aftertaste for Willem, but to give you also a glimpse on a better, and happily, future for Jake. And why not, maybe the “new” Willem will have his chance in the following three books of this 4 books series. He is no more the same Willem we knew in the first book, not at all (and I will stop here to not ruin your reading experience) but he is someone else the reader could care for.
More than a paranormal feeling, this novel reminded me a bit of a gothic genre. Maybe it was the setting, Southend and London, rainy England, always with a dark and heavy feeling, given but the clouds, the muted light, the wet cobbled streets where you expect each moment a coach to come out from the next corner. In this setting it seems more “ordinary” for paranormal events to happen.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004SHNNTG/?...
Read
July 25, 2010it has taken me a while to read this book, but its the kind of book that no matter how long it takes you to read you will remember the story so you can just pick up where you left off, after finall getting to the end i am so eager to read the next one, but i gotta wait as mr frankham has only just started writing it...sob sob..
from the moment i started reading the characters gripped me (which is rare, it usually takes a few chapters for that to happen)and by the end of the book i was "egging" certain ones on...lol, i have read a lot of books by unknown authors an very few have had such an impact on me that im actually wanting more from them,
i wont write any details as i dont want to spoil it but this is a defo must read for ppl who want to get lost in a world of fantasy, love, agression, secrets, lies an so much more...a great book from a great author....u heard it here first - this guy is gonna be HUGE if he carries on wrting this way.....
from the moment i started reading the characters gripped me (which is rare, it usually takes a few chapters for that to happen)and by the end of the book i was "egging" certain ones on...lol, i have read a lot of books by unknown authors an very few have had such an impact on me that im actually wanting more from them,
i wont write any details as i dont want to spoil it but this is a defo must read for ppl who want to get lost in a world of fantasy, love, agression, secrets, lies an so much more...a great book from a great author....u heard it here first - this guy is gonna be HUGE if he carries on wrting this way.....
July 1, 2010
What kind of a book is Seeker? Part mystery, part horror, part thriller, Seeker may be hard to define, but it is very hard to put down. At 576 pages, Seeker is not your ordinary, quick read with beautiful, exquisite characters and little else. On the contrary, this novel will draw you in teasingly at first and then grab you in the gut with a storyline that twists and turns like a medieval maze. Sadness, pain, fleeting moments of happiness all designed to invite the reader into a complex world that is only beginning to unfold for the major character of Will Townsend. No doubt about it, Seeker is an ambitious novel and the author, Andy Frankham-Allen has given new life to a genre that nowadays might be seen as almost too trendy. Not so. Seeker is for mature readers who want imaginative, dark novels that challenge the reader with what they have to say.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews