Spontaneous combustion and Chinese mafia – all part of Wick man's debut novel Parallax
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An aspiring writer from Wick published his debut novel today (March 20) and its subject matter will take the reader on a journey to the claustrophobic streets of Hong Kong.
The fantasy crime novel called Parallax is by Scott Crowden, a fourth year student at the University of Aberdeen, and is available at various outlets in Caithness and to purchase on Amazon.
Scott said: "I’ve been writing for quite a while, ever since I was in primary school, and now I’m finally getting some of my work out there. During my time at Wick High School, I was in both the school’s creative writing club and in the Caithness Writer’s group, but now I’m finally releasing my own work.
"The book is called Parallax, and although I hail from Caithness, the book itself takes place over 5000 miles away, in Hong Kong. It's mainly a crime mystery novel at its core, although it does contain some fantasy elements. I also talk about and combat some of the issues going on in Hong Kong at the moment, such as the imposition of the National Security Law, which targets and names peaceful protestors as terrorists."
The 21-year-old states that he has more books in the pipeline and shared a synopsis of Parallax:
"All around Hong Kong, people are combusting. When waste collector Tony Chao is found drowning in his bathtub, beaten and tortured, he is rescued by his roommate, Johnny Lai. But when he is freed from drowning, his body spontaneously combusts. It is an impossible death with even more perplexing circumstances surrounding it. Nobody believes that he actually combusted.
"This brings British detective Proctor Davis to Hong Kong. Hired by Johnny, the detective who specialises in the unknown, the unexplained and the paranormal, aims to get to the bottom of this case. But as Proctor is chairbound, he struggles to find the confidence as the investigation progresses.
"Be it from the claustrophobic living spaces, the threat of the police’s ongoing investigation or from the bloodthirsty triad [Chinese mafia] that’s gunning for his head, Proctor faces the consequences of sticking his nose where it doesn’t belong. Can he solve the case, catch the killer and make it home in one piece? It seems to be an impossible task, but Proctor Davis thrives off of the impossible."
The 492-page book is available on Amazon as an ebook priced £4.99 and as a physical paperback priced £12.99 at: amzn.eu/d/5Dnl1wU.
Some copies of the book will also be sold at local outlets in Wick, John O’Groats and Bettyhill as well as various stores in Aberdeen.
