Kindred Spirit by Paul Alan Fahey

Kindred Spirit by Paul Alan Fahey is now available in e-book format!

In the summer of 1944, Leslie Atwater -- feeling abandoned by his lover Edward -- rushes to London to enlist in the armed services. After failing the physical, he retreats to the sanctuary of St. Michael’s rectory and to the love and support of his brother Robert.

When a bomb explodes near St. Andrew’s Home for Boys, it unearths a skeleton of an adolescent. As Leslie, Edward, and Robert set about identifying the remains, the shocking discovery stirs up an old antagonism between the two brothers and brings to light a string of repressed memories for Leslie.

With the truth obscured by the passage of years, can Leslie and Edward sift through the lies and subterfuge to track down the coldhearted killer of a kindred spirit?

Read an excerpt or download a copy today!

Upcoming releases for August 30, 2015

COMING NEXT WEEK!

Desmond and Garrick Book 2 By Hayden Thorne

Kindred Spirit By Paul Alan Fahey

Space, Man By Sharon Maria Bidwell

Paul Alan Fahey on the Lovers and Liars Series

When I wrote Bomber's Moon, the first book in the Lovers and Liars gay historical romance series, I had no idea I'd be writing a series. But like most writers, I fell in love with my cast of characters and couldn't let them go. So the rest is history. Literally.

The six novellas of Lovers and Liars form a complete story arc from Bomber's Moon to Kindred Spirit, the final episode in the series to be released by JMS Books on August 30.

Here's a quick look at the story arc listing the books of Lovers and Liars in order:

1. Bomber's Moon
2. Weep Not for the Past
3. A Manx Tale
4. A Christmas in Kent
5. A Deadly Game of Malice
6. Kindred Spirit

Kindred Spirit picks up the storyline two years later after the events in A Deadly Game of Malice.

Here's a short summary of Kindred Spirit

• A 25-year-old murder
• A city under siege from German flying bombs
• A gay couple searching for justice

In the summer of 1944, Leslie Atwater -- feeling abandoned by his lover Edward -- rushes up to London to enlist in military service. After failing the physical, he retreats to the sanctuary of St. Michael's rectory and to the love and support of his brother Robert.

When a bomb explodes near St. Andrew's Home for Boys, it unearths a skeleton of an adolescent. As Leslie, Edward, and Robert set about identifying the remains, the shocking discovery stirs up an old antagonism between the two brothers and brings to light a string of repressed memories for Leslie. With the truth obscured by the passage of years, it rests on Leslie and Edward to sift through the lies and subterfuge to track down the coldhearted killer of a kindred spirit.

Hopefully this little tidbit will pique your interest. In Kindred Spirit, I did my best to tie up the supplementary stories and bring the series to a satisfying end. Hope you'll agree.

Here's another bit of good news: If you haven't read the last two installments yet, A Deadly Game of Malice and Kindred Spirit are scheduled for a paperback release August 31 under the title, Lovers and Liars Book 2.

I hope you'll enjoy the Lovers and Liars series as much as I did writing it.

Paul Alan Fahey on A Deadly Game of Malice

Paul Alan Fahey on A Deadly Game of Malice

I have to tell you I'm an avid Agatha Christie fan. Always have been. Always will be. I started reading her terrific mysteries as a teenager and was lucky enough, during the 1960's and '70's, to read every new book she wrote at the time her publisher released them. To the reading public, the latest Hercule Poirot or Miss Marple, released at Christmastime, became known throughout the reading world as "A Christie for Christmas," and I devoured each and every one of them.

Not one to delve too deeply into the psychology of her characters or spend an inordinate amount of time on character development, Christie became famous for her ingenious plots. And deservedly so. The idea for my latest Lovers and Liars novella, A Deadly Game of Malice, came from one of my favorite Christie plots in The Moving Finger: a rash of poison pen letters circulate in a small English village and a series of murders follows. Given this situation, I took two of my characters, Caroline Graham -- now six months pregnant -- and Leslie Atwater -- suffering recurring PTSD from the Blitz -- and set them smack dab in the middle of it.

Are the sudden deaths connected to the letters? Or are the letters a smokescreen meant to hide the killer's real motive for the crimes? As weeks pass and bodies mount, Caroline, with Leslie's help, must use all her cunning and put her life at risk to uncover a cold-blooded murderer -- a remorseless killer who continues to raise the stakes in a deadly game of malice.

I hope you have as much fun reading the book as I had writing it. Please let me know what you think. I'd love to hear from you.

Paul Alan Fahey
paulalanfahey.com

A Deadly Game of Malice by Paul Alan Fahey

A Deadly Game of Malice by Paul Alan Fahey is now available in e-book format!

It's spring 1942. Caroline Graham is six months pregnant, overweight, irritable, and most decidedly bored with her "delicate" condition. She hates being tied down and resents her husband Cyril and her cousin Edward for being off on assignment and having fun while she's confined to the village. She grows more restless each day, and her good friend and confidant Leslie Atwater does his best to boost her spirits but fails miserably. What Caroline needs is a problem to solve, "something juicy" to challenge her mind. And, of course, that's exactly what she gets.

Be careful what you wish for.

First there's a rash of poison pen letters circulating in the village. Librarian Elspeth Hunter receives a letter, and is the first to die, presumably by her own hand. Other deaths follow. Are the sudden deaths connected to the letters? As weeks pass and the bodies mount, Caroline and Leslie discover a pattern that suggests something more sinister is at work. With Leslie's help, Caroline must use all her cunning and put her life at risk to uncover a cold-blooded murderer -- a remorseless killer who continues to raise the stakes in a deadly game of malice.

Read an excerpt or download a copy today!

Paul Alan Fahey on Weep Not for the Past

Paul Alan Fahey on Weep Not for the Past:

One of the best books ever written about wartime London, for me at least, is unquestionably The Night Watch by Sarah Waters. What was so compelling about this book, set during the London Blitz, was the storyline that followed a group of ambulance workers, ministry clerks and building inspectors -- women in love and in relationships with other women -- through the nightly raids. To be honest I'd never read anything quite like it. And to make the book more unique and creative, it was told backwards. Uh-huh. You've got it right. She wrote the book backwards from 1947 to 1941. As I said, nothing quite like it.

Ms. Waters' book set me to wondering about gay relationships during those times. What must it have been like for a man to be in love with another man, perhaps, living with him, and forced to playing it close to the vest due to the horrendous English laws against homosexuality? With an idea to start, a title, Bomber's Moon, and a climax I envisioned in a lighthouse on the English coast, I created the main characters, Edward Bridger and Leslie Atwater, who are torn apart during the first months of the bombing. At the outset, I wanted to tap into the emotional effects on Londoners living with death day in and day out. In short I wanted to explore what was then called shell shock or battle fatigue, what we refer to now as post-traumatic stress disorder, as well as other themes.

A diehard fan of Agatha Christie -- especially her Miss Marple village mysteries -- and wanting to spend more time with my Bomber's characters, especially the supplementary ones of Caroline and Cyril, I set to work on the sequel, Weep Not for the Past. I think of this novella as a light historical/English cozy mystery with a bit of romance tossed in.

I hope you enjoy Weep Not for the Past as much as I loved revisiting these characters. I'm already working on a third entry in the series, A Manx Tale, set on the Isle of Man. Did you know there were "enemy" alien internment camps on the island? I didn't either. Stay tuned.

Read an excerpt or buy a copy today!

Paul Alan Fahey on Bomber's Moon

Guest post by Paul Alan Fahey ...

My novella, Bomber's Moon, came about because of my interest in the London Blitz that began early in childhood. In the 1950's, my mother worked in an upscale dress shop and one of her customers was a lovely Englishwoman who had lived through this terrifying time. I remember sitting at the breakfast table while Mother related to me this woman's stories of death, courage and the survival of the human spirit. I was completely fascinated by every detail.

Years later, when I began writing short stories and novellas, I knew one day I'd return to this interesting period in history.

Bomber's Moon is a M/M wartime romance set within the mystery/thriller genre. I knew in the writing I wanted to explore several questions: What was it like to be gay in wartime London? Was post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) a way to explain behavior-how people lived under such unimaginable conditions and somehow survived the terrors of the Blitz? These and other questions guided the character development and plot elements and led me to the main theme of the story: Following one's heart leads to happiness. (In addition, the themes of light, darkness and shadow play a part in the book and color setting and character mood.) I hope you'll like the main characters, Leslie, Caroline, and Robert) and enjoy their journey in Bomber's Moon. I'm currently putting the finishing touches on a sequel: Weep Not for the Past. For more information about me, my writing and what's coming up next, please visit my website.

Paul Alan Fahey
paulalanfahey.com

Bomber's Moon by Paul Alan Fahey

Bomber's Moon by Paul Alan Fahey is now available in e-book format!

After losing his lover in a tragic motorcar accident, Leslie Atwater goes about the motions but doesn’t really feel alive. Not without Edward. In a time where “one of us” was a euphemism for being gay, Leslie and Edward managed to live a quiet, private life together, but nothing prepares Leslie for a world without his partner.

During the day, Leslie works as a clerk in a modest bookshop in central London. By night, he’s an air raid warden in his district responsible for the safety of his “flock.” In an effort to feel closer to Edward, Leslie spends evenings in his flat reviewing Edward’s portfolio of sketches. Edward had worked as a freelance artist, and his depiction of Londoners surviving in the midst of World War II appeared daily in The Globe.

While reviewing the drawings, Leslie discovers irregularities in the sketches from Edward’s final assignment which he simply can’t explain. He begins to question what he was told about Edward’s death, and his investigation leads him down a tangled trail from the center of London to the coast of Great Britain.

Tension mounts and nothing is what it seems. In a showdown with German spies at a lighthouse overlooking the English Channel, bombs fall, people die, and Leslie gets more than he bargains for in his search for the truth behind his lover’s untimely death.

Read an excerpt or buy a copy today!