Linda Hampton reports the launch of local author Nigel Stewart’s second novel, The Lines Between Lies.
When you read the blurb for local author Nigel Stewart’s new novel The Lines Between Lies, the story is clearly a contemporary one set in the almost present day in a world that feels uncomfortably less like fiction and more like harsh reality.
Kirkham based Nigel’s latest novel is a thriller set in Britain in 2017, with events taking place in Lancaster, Arnside and the Lake District, and London. It explores a divided, fractured society, and how those fissures extend into relationships, marriage, friendship, work and family. It also deals with the way social media and an on-line lifestyle expose people to situations they may be ill-equipped to manage, in spite of any strength of character or status.
The political and sociological problems of this age are never far away; Brexit; terror; a president’s sabre rattling – but their impact on the plot and main characters is to show how little those things affect those with limited engagement in activism. A key theme is the notion that the soft politics of many people are blind to the extremes around them.
The novel centres around the character of Edward Clayton, who is naïve yet duplicitous. The fractures in his life are patched up by convenient affiliations, sewn with loose stitching: his kids; social media; dating sites and above all by his job. And, in all innocence, he does something that puts him at odds with the wrong kinds of people. His indiscretions cause eddies that drag him in to a muddy pool and, the deeper he gets, the harder it is to recognise where the danger lies. His obsessive search for the biggest fish with the sharpest teeth means he doesn’t realise he’s already been hooked and netted.
Nigel Stewart was born in Corbridge, Northumberland and now lives in Kirkham, Lancashire. He is an author, musician and lyricist. The Lines Between Lies is his second novel published by Purple Parrot Publishing small, local, independent publisher based in Thornton Cleveleys. His first book, Colouring In, was published in August 2019.
Publisher Viv Ainslie tells us, ‘The Lines Between Lies takes the reader in to a world where wealth and power are wielded covertly, to no-one’s benefit and with potentially fatal consequences.’ And if that has you hooked you need to read it and find out just how the plot unravels.
Follow Nigel at:
https://nigelstewart2017.wixsite.com/
For further information about The Lines Between Lies and Nigel Stewart, in the first instance please contact Viv Ainslie at purpleparrotpublishing@outlook.com or on mobile 07761 834093 https://www.purpleparrotpublishing.co.uk/
