When David Mallory confesses to murder, no one assumes the body is two hundred years old. Clinical psychologist, Newton Flanigan, is subsequently drawn into a sinister path unravelling a series of murders spanning two centuries. David is hiding secrets of death and betrayal, triggering a journey that could be Newton's last.
My debut novel ‘To The Bitter End’ told the story of how circumstance and revenge can ultimate turn a good person bad, and from that moment on, I wanted to delve deeper into this theory. After all, we are not black and white caricatures, nothing is either good or evil but resides in grey areas of uncertainly, our actions driven by pain and suffering.
Beyond The Veil is told in the first person, from both the mindsets of the main character, protagonist Newton Flanigan, and David Mallory, our antagonist. From the first page the reader gets to see the killer in action, setting the scene and the darkness of the series.
Beyond The Veil is told in the first person, from both the mindsets of the main character, protagonist Newton Flanigan, and David Mallory, our antagonist. From the first page the reader gets to see the killer in action, setting the scene and the darkness of the series.
We know straight away who David is and what he is doing, yet what the reader does not know, of course, is why David has become a killer in the first place, his pain, his suffering. The crux of The Flanigan Files is to create a series that changes what readers expect from a thriller, showing them things from the other side of normality, whilst still following a detailed thriller plot, building tension and suspense.
Being told in the first person allows the reader to live inside the antagonistic mind, their conscience directly overtaken by someone else’s dark thoughts. The reader is not overseeing events, but is thrust deep inside the head of the monster. Only by seeing things from another point of view do we ever understand others, and my aim is for The Flanigan Files to stay with readers long after they finish the books, to appreciate what it is like to be someone else.
There are always reasons behind every murder, every unforgiveable action, no matter how uncomfortable they may be. Yet never is an explanation provided for such actions, be it on the news, in documentaries, or in books or films.
Being told in the first person allows the reader to live inside the antagonistic mind, their conscience directly overtaken by someone else’s dark thoughts. The reader is not overseeing events, but is thrust deep inside the head of the monster. Only by seeing things from another point of view do we ever understand others, and my aim is for The Flanigan Files to stay with readers long after they finish the books, to appreciate what it is like to be someone else.
There are always reasons behind every murder, every unforgiveable action, no matter how uncomfortable they may be. Yet never is an explanation provided for such actions, be it on the news, in documentaries, or in books or films.
We have come to expect an explanation of WHO did what, wanting confirmation that they were caught, sent to prison, forgotten. But never do we get an explanation of WHY. Maybe because in accepted society, we do not want to understand the actions of a murderer. Maybe we believe such things are beyond our limited comfort zones.
In David Mallory’s case, he lived beyond normal society, hidden behind a veil of his own making. His story is tragic, his actions terrible. But in the end, we see a man, not a monster, someone who was never accepted for who he was, his pain becoming his actions, his fear becoming his downfall. I know many readers will relate to this. After all, we are all human, we all suffer. None of us are perfect.
The Flanigan Files dares to delve into the damaged mind, dissecting and uncovering hidden, often uncomfortable mental health issues that exist in real life, the lives of the characters something that can be found in reality. David Mallory was diagnosied with paranoid schizophrenia, but his problems went far deeper.
It becomes the main characters job to understand these people, what drives them, and how he can help them. Newton Flanigan is a clinical psychologist who works with the police. At the end of each novel, he records his findings on each character, initially for his own personal appreciation and then to create a set of files that can be assessed at a later date, hence the series title, The Flanigan Files.
In David Mallory’s case, he lived beyond normal society, hidden behind a veil of his own making. His story is tragic, his actions terrible. But in the end, we see a man, not a monster, someone who was never accepted for who he was, his pain becoming his actions, his fear becoming his downfall. I know many readers will relate to this. After all, we are all human, we all suffer. None of us are perfect.
The Flanigan Files dares to delve into the damaged mind, dissecting and uncovering hidden, often uncomfortable mental health issues that exist in real life, the lives of the characters something that can be found in reality. David Mallory was diagnosied with paranoid schizophrenia, but his problems went far deeper.
It becomes the main characters job to understand these people, what drives them, and how he can help them. Newton Flanigan is a clinical psychologist who works with the police. At the end of each novel, he records his findings on each character, initially for his own personal appreciation and then to create a set of files that can be assessed at a later date, hence the series title, The Flanigan Files.
Newton himself has a complex personal life, his pain and suffering helping him empathise with those he meets, the plot lines dark and twisted, sometimes disturbing. The series falls within the realm of the psychological thriller, but with a touch of horror thrown in. Humans are complex, often incomprehensible. The Flanigan Files is set to dissect them all.
Nicky Shearsby
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