Showing results by author "Richard Ayre" in All Categories

The places in this book are shunned, abandoned, and forgotten. They do not exist, and yet here you will find the stories of people who have gone and survived to tell their tales. These are the postcards from the void, frightful evidence of places that should not be, and yet exist in our nightmares. Should you dare to venture into these blighted places, remember: Don't talk to strangers, don't stray far from home, and never, ever go in alone.

Newcastle. 1988. When reporter Phil Sturgess hears of a new rock band called Minstrel's Bargain, his life descends into horror. As the city he lives in succumbs to shocking acts of violence and murder, Sturgess begins to understand that there is something very wrong with Minstrel's Bargain. Something very wrong indeed. With time running out for humanity, Sturgess is threatened by an age-old malevolence. And if it is triumphant, the souls of millions will be destroyed.

Charles Pettifer, 75, a former chief planning officer, returns from a hospital appointment, having received his final sentence. He lives alone. His wife left him years ago, and he is childless and friendless. His health worsens. Lonely and frightened, he confides in his cleaner and his nurse, revealing events in his youth in the 1950s and '60s when he couldn't relate to the culture of the times and was frightened of girls.

This is a tense portrayal of a mystery in Martin's past, and its effect on his life and relationships - chiefly between him and his wife, Jennifer, and another couple, Stephen and Jacqui. The main themes explored in this novel are the impact of a single traumatic event on the life of an individual, the fragility of friendship, the effects of aging and changes in personality on relationships, and the impact of class origin and childhood upbringing on later life, all played out in the seeming tranquility of the Yorkshire Dales.

Tony Cawson, 75 and in the early stages of dementia, has a dreadful secret dating back to his youth of which his daughter Rebecca is ashamed and that she dreads her children will discover. But Rebecca, a conflicted individual in a failing marriage, also has secrets in her past she wishes to keep from them and from her husband. As Tony's dementia worsens, and as Rebecca's inner conflicts lead to irrational behavior, incidents occur that result in the gradual revelation of these secrets, with consequences for the whole family. 

Mike Carter has been a lecturer at Streetbridge College of Further Education for 30 years. He has been the leader of the pack, scourge of college management, seducer of students, colleagues, and wives of colleagues. But now, approaching 60, things are going awry. The younger lecturers are no longer in awe of him, his powers of seduction are declining, and those whom he has offended over the years, sensing his diminishing influence, are seeking to exact revenge. 

It is England in the Jubilee summer of 2012. Three couples living in different parts of the country await the celebrations with varying degrees of enthusiasm, hostility, or indifference. Derek Bailey, in his 60s, has a secret past, linked to a tragic event that happened 24 years before. If he is ever to come to terms with that event, he needs an answer to a question that has nagged at him all this time, so he starts to write a series of letters to Marcus, a young man whom he has never met. The secrets revealed in the letters begin to erode fragile relationships....

It is 2002, and Dave is 59. A former university lecturer, he had to retire after suffering horrific facial injuries, which have resulted in his becoming a recluse. He becomes emotionally dependent on his counsellor, Susie. Susie encourages him to end his isolation by making online contact with his former school-friends, whom he has not seen since he left his home town. Emails are exchanged, and his old friends begin to confide in him about each other. Dave realizes he can influence their lives by breaking these confidences.