Monday 29 June 2015

Callisto


Hot on the heels of my last release, I am pleased to announce another! This, however, is a re-release of my first novel, Even The Dead Dance To Live, spruced up with a gorgeous new cover and some light re-editing.

Re-reading this while editing has been a nice surprise. I'd forgotten how involved the tale was. For those of you who haven't read the original, it follows the travails of an ex-cop named Shakespeare Cruz in the aftermath of a civil war on the far-off moon Callisto. Shakespeare is taking care of his adopted daughter, unaware that her real father, a brutal warlord, is closing in on his location. Mayhem will ensue.

It's not just a simple tale of survival, vengeance and action, however. For Callisto, I did a hell of a lot of research on the real Callisto, the frozen moon that orbits Jupiter, and looking back, I'm kind of impressed at how much information I included in the story. Callisto is a real place, and I wanted the reader to physically walk the landscape and feel what it would take to survive there.

The other star of the tale is the colony city of Cielo - a gang-ridden hellhole after the civil war. For this story I did a lot of research on the Lebanese Civil War, and the cartels in Mexico. It's a grim setting, with no room for sentimentality. Again, I was impressed at the attention to detail. It may sound strange, since it was I who wrote the book, but after three years it's easy to forget.

This is a book with a ton of characters too. We have Shakespeare Cruz, the ex-cop with a very shady past (I won't give too much away), and his daughter Seina, a lively, feisty seven year old who doesn't actually know the truth about her father. Or her mother, even. But there is also Raoul, the once-mighty criminal lieutenant who is now forced to scavenge for scraps on the moon's surface, dreaming and plotting to return to the city and reclaim his rightful place. Then there's Crisi, the noble ex-cop on a crusade to liberate the city; Pulia, the dance instructor who defies the gangs to rescue young girls trafficked for prostitution; Nilés, the rogue businessman who funds the resistance movement whilst selling goods for the gangs; and Lorenzo, the mighty warlord who rules over them all, and who wants Shakespeare's head.

And even that doesn't really scratch the surface of the story. I've never written such a long, descriptive tale involving so many characters, and I'm not sure I will again. It took a lot out of me. Reading it all again, however, I'm glad I did. It's immersive, and by the time I'd finished, I felt like I'd actually visited the frozen moon that NASA has yet to land a probe on. Hopefully, you will too.

The good news is that you can get your hands on it for just 99 cents (or 99 pence) at Amazon (or Amazon UK) until the 13th July. So don't hang about. An epic tale of colonization, love and death awaits you. Just don't forget to bring your winter woolies and, if you're a softie like me, a hankie too. Enjoy. :)