I was born in Bristol in 1972 and quite early on developed an unhealthy interest in ghosts, ghouls and things that go bump in the night. When seven, my family and I moved to a remote seventeenth century farmhouse near Taunton, Somerset, rumoured to be haunted by the ghost of a little girl.
At the age of eight, my class teacher, Mrs Jones, read my class The Hobbit. I can still remember the moment very clearly. I’d never known, let alone heard, anything like it. The language, the scenes, the characters, they all seemed to talk to me. I knew exactly what Tolkien was trying to say, as if I too inhabited his world. It was as if a light had gone on in my head. I knew after that what it was I wanted to do with my life. Write stories.
Growing up on a diet of Tolkien, David Eddings and 2000AD comics, I attended art college, spending most of the year writing when I should have been drawing. I’ve rarely stopped writing since.
In 2014, I was offered a three book deal with Duckworth Overlook and, when rights returned to me in 2018, was delighted to sign to RedDoor Books to repackage and republish the series in its entirety.
Dark, emotive, thrilling and engaging! I was completely blown away by this book. Likely, due to the strong presence of the Catholic Church and the Vatican, thoughts of Dan Brown came to mind while I was reading, but this is firmly Richardson’s novel, the writing and the plot his own, holding my full attention throughout, emotionally involving me in the plot and leaving me sad when I finished the book.”
THE DARKEST HAND trilogy consists of the free prequel novella, THE HUNTED, THE DAMNED, THE FALLEN and lastly THE RISEN.
The story spans the whole of world war one and is an epic tale of war, religion, conspiracy, murder, treachery and eventual redemption.
Based on historical fact and vast in its scale, the trilogy should appeal to lovers of Dan Brown, Graham Greene, Lee Child and Tolkien.
J.R.R. Tolkien, David Eddings, Alan Moore, Anthony Horrowitz, Herman Melville, Tom Rob Smith and 2000AD comics!