Today, we have an excerpt from the recently-published Pagans, by James Alistair Henry. It certainly has an intriguing premise, as it is a crime/mystery novel set in an alternative 21st Century Britain where a number of key events never happened (including the arrival of Christianity, the Norman Conquest and the Industrial Revolution). My interest in the novel grew after I learned that the author had written for Smack the Pony and Green Wing. The novel is out now, published by Moonflower Books. Here’s the synopsis:
21st Century London.
The Norman conquest never happened.
The ancient tribes of Britain remain undefeated.
But murders still have to be solved.
The small, mostly unimportant, island of Britain is inhabited by an uneasy alliance of tribes – the dominant Saxon East, the beleaguered Celtic West, and an independent Nordic Scotland – and tensions are increasing by the second. Supermarket warpaint sales are at an all- time high, mead abuse shortens the lives of thousands, and social media is abuzz with conspiracy theories suggesting the High Table’s putting GPS trackers in the honeycakes.
Amid this febrile atmosphere, the capital is set to play host to the Unification Summit, which aims to join together the various tribes into one ‘united kingdom’. But when a Celtic diplomat is found brutally murdered, his body nailed to an ancient oak, the fragile peace is threatened. Captain Aedith Mercia, daughter of a powerful Saxon leader, must join forces with Celtic Tribal Detective Inspector Drustan to solve the murder – and stop political unrest spilling onto the streets.
But is this an isolated incident? Or are Aedith and Drustan facing a serial killer with a decades-old grudge? To find out, they must delve into their own murky pasts and tackle forces that go deeper than they ever could have imagined.
Set in a world that’s far from our own and yet captivatingly familiar, Pagans is “The Bridge” meets “Vikings”, exploring contemporary themes of religious conflict, nationalism, prejudice… and the delicate internal politics of the office coffee round. Gripping and darkly funny, Pagans keeps you guessing until the very end.
The latest novel getting the 
Next month, 
The Apocalypse Ark is the third novel in Peter Darbyshire‘s Book of Cross series, and today we have an excerpt from the book. We’ve already shared excerpts from the first two books in the series — 
Next month, 
On January 13th, we shared an excerpt from the first novel in Peter Darbyshire‘s Book of Cross series, The Mona Lisa Sacrifice. Today, we have an excerpt from the follow-up book: The Dead Hamlets. (In a few days, we’ll post an excerpt from the third novel, The Apocalypse Ark.) The three novels are out now, published by 
Today, we have an excerpt from The Mona Lisa Sacrifice by Peter Derbyshire, the first book in the Book of Cross series. The book is out now, published by 
Miserere was my debut novel in 2011, and as such, it had some problems. The prose was too purple, the descriptions too long, and the villains were a bit over the top. Thirteen years and four novels later, I’ve learned a lot about writing fiction, and I’ve grown, not just as an author, but as a person.
A little while ago, we shared an excerpt from the first new Conan the Barbarian novel published by Titan Books — 
Tomorrow, Lake Union is due to publish the latest novel by Emily Beeker: When We Chased the Light. A new novel set in Golden Age Hollywood, here’s the synopsis:
