Book Jacket

 

rank 5456
word count 32309
date submitted 09.06.2008
date updated 04.12.2009
genres: Fiction, Thriller, Horror, Crime
classification: moderate
incomplete

Skin Deep

Gavin Bell

An amnesiac plagued by nightmares of a murdered girl uncovers more than she bargained for when she investigates her own past...

 

Claire Chester is a woman without a past. Recently afflicted with psychogenic amnesia, she lives in Glasgow’s upmarket west end with her husband, slowly trying to piece her life back together. It doesn’t help that she’s plagued by nightmares about a mysterious black-clad teenage girl, or that she has a nagging suspicion that someone is watching her.

Who is the ethereal teenage girl that stalks the corridors of her dreams? Who is the mysterious raincoat-clad man that haunts her days? Could they both be figments of a damaged imagination?

As she begins to investigate her own secret history, Claire becomes entangled in a web of conspiracy, blackmail and murder...

 
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tags

amnesia, crime, dreams, glasgow, investigation, murder, mystery, nightmares, stalker, thriller

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Nick Poole2 wrote 826 days ago

ARISE, AUTHONOMY GHOST!

Ease those weary, withered limbs from your coffin. Push away the stone from the mouth of the tomb.

You have one last task to perform. One last, sacred shelf to confer.

Whether you were plugger, spammer, gusher or troll, whether you flirted or fought in the forum or beavered away in the shadows, now is the time for your resurrection.

One last time. Marshall your strength, muster the last vestiges of your power and carry out your final Authonomy act:

Back my book, MIRROR IN THE SKY.

Then, only then, you may rest easy in your Authonomy grave.

Nick Poole2 (formerly known as NickP)

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Citizen Gav wrote 1059 days ago

Wow, that was fast - thanks Jane!

You might be right about quickening the pace a bit, this was my first attempt at a novel and I was trying out a more stately pace than I've used in the past. I still definitely want to finish it, but it's on the back burner at the moment as I'm developing another novel for an agent who contacted me via authonomy!

Thanks for your comments, though! I have another 10 or so chapters of Skin Deep written longhand, and it does start getting a little more eventful after a slow burn. I'll type them up and post them once I've finished the first draft of the other book, which is about 70% done right now.

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Jane Alexander wrote 1059 days ago

Love the beginning of this - the dream, the spooky girl, the hint of horrible things that have happened to obliterate Claire's memory. The prologue is great and the first chapter delivers a few shocks - though there was a little too much tell going on for my personal preference (I can see it's an easy device to have an amnesiac fill in her back story to a mother with Alzheimer's but it seemed a trifle pat). I kept on reading (and often don't - I have to say!) but you lost me a little in the following chapters which seemed a little uneven. Not just in length but in developing the story. Maybe I'm being too impatient but I wanted the pace cranked up a little by chapter four.
However, I love your writing and I think this has huge potential so it's going straight on my shelf (eek, will have to move something else off - but will have to be done!).
All very best, jane

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