Overview

Chain O'Lakes State Park Spring Grove County Illinois Drop a rock into a still lake and sit back to watch the ripples grow... Set in contemporary America, this novel tracks the ripple effect of the arrival of a young couple in hiding from a religious cult on the quiet lives of the local people of 'Chain O'Lakes' Illinois, exposing their pasts. Character driven and mainly set in dialogue, the story encompasses repression, humour, action, fatality and violence in somewhat equal measure. 78 years of age and at last finding a version of peace in an acerbic relationship with her neighbors, Maggie Gray is shaken awake by the arrival of a night-time opportunist thief. Determined to expose them, whatever the danger, Maggie embarks on a vodka-fueled journey that takes her back through her work at Homeland Security to the very dangerous foundations of her lonely life. 'Kowalski he say... not all souls catch fire. God made me not strong for to blow spark... but you are strong woman...'

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9780993042454

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Reviews

'You have a truly wonderful ear for dialogue and language I could see and feel the geography in the voicing.' Cornerstones US. 'Her skin, even in this soft light, seemed pale and patchy. From around her throat, stretching downwards into the bodice of her simple dress were lines that Maggie knew stemmed from a lack of proper nourishment.' Great description Your style includes beautiful turns of phrase and I was really taken by your characters. The book is warm and stayed with me. Cressida Downing 'I am very jealous of your skill with dialogue. The economy of it and the precise way you catch all kinds of talk from all sorts of people... I love the way things and people recur in the book; but I love the range and the surprises too... I like the 'you' who emerges from these stories, with this alertness to language and a sense of the odd... I think your stories are kind, while dealing with loneliness and death and loss and madness and funny love and time and all the mess that usually gets people to be unkind... Your stories tease me to keep going back...' Rony Robinson, Sony Award-winning BBC Radio presenter and Playwright 'Your writing is so original and the dialogue so inventive and funny it cracks me up. It's brilliant, clever and lyrical. You have one hell of a talent...' Clem Cairns, Fish Publishing, organiser of the International 'Fish Prize'

What a great read! It starts off as a warm, gentle, funny, quaint and quirky story about 2 old ladies. I thought it was going to be a gorgeous hug of a book, like being wrapped in a snuggly duvet. And it was, at first. But there are constant surprises and with each surprise it gets deeper and darker and the pace picks up until it's quite a page turner. There are so many issues in here too, it could keep a reading group going for absolutely ages, although the main issue is religion. Really enjoyed it. Annette Morris 'You have a truly wonderful ear for dialogue and language I could see and feel the geography in the voicing.' Cornerstones US. 'Her skin, even in this soft light, seemed pale and patchy. From around her throat, stretching downwards into the bodice of her simple dress were lines that Maggie knew stemmed from a lack of proper nourishment.' Great description Your style includes beautiful turns of phrase and I was really taken by your characters. The book is warm and stayed with me. Cressida Downing 'I am very jealous of your skill with dialogue. The economy of it and the precise way you catch all kinds of talk from all sorts of people... I love the way things and people recur in the book; but I love the range and the surprises too... I like the 'you' who emerges from these stories, with this alertness to language and a sense of the odd... I think your stories are kind, while dealing with loneliness and death and loss and madness and funny love and time and all the mess that usually gets people to be unkind... Your stories tease me to keep going back...' Rony Robinson, Sony Award-winning BBC Radio presenter and Playwright 'Your writing is so original and the dialogue so inventive and funny it cracks me up. It's brilliant, clever and lyrical. You have one hell of a talent...' Clem Cairns, Fish Publishing, organiser of the International 'Fish Prize'

"What a great read! It starts off as a warm, gentle, funny, quaint and quirky story about 2 old ladies. I thought it was going to be a gorgeous hug of a book, like being wrapped in a snuggly duvet. And it was, at first. But there are constant surprises and with each surprise it gets deeper and darker and the pace picks up until it's quite a page turner. There are so many ""issues"" in here too, it could keep a reading group going for absolutely ages, although the main ""issue"" is religion. Really enjoyed it. Annette Morris 'You have a truly wonderful ear for dialogue and language I could see and feel the geography in the voicing.' Cornerstones US. 'Her skin, even in this soft light, seemed pale and patchy. From around her throat, stretching downwards into the bodice of her simple dress were lines that Maggie knew stemmed from a lack of proper nourishment.' Great description Your style includes beautiful turns of phrase and I was really taken by your characters. The book is warm and stayed with me. Cressida Downing 'I am very jealous of your skill with dialogue. The economy of it and the precise way you catch all kinds of talk from all sorts of people... I love the way things and people recur in the book; but I love the range and the surprises too... I like the 'you' who emerges from these stories, with this alertness to language and a sense of the odd... I think your stories are kind, while dealing with loneliness and death and loss and madness and funny love and time and all the mess that usually gets people to be unkind... Your stories tease me to keep going back...' Rony Robinson, Sony Award-winning BBC Radio presenter and Playwright 'Your writing is so original and the dialogue so inventive and funny it cracks me up. It's brilliant, clever and lyrical. You have one hell of a talent...' Clem Cairns, Fish Publishing, organiser of the International 'Fish Prize'"

Author Information

Bill Allerton lives and works in Sheffield UK. His partner, Bryony Doran, is also a prize-winning author. Bill retired from a successful business to write for a living, but mostly that's become 'living to write', given that so few authors actually make it to the megabucks stage. During his working life Bill has had many occupations, giving him a broad experience from which to draw new lines for his characters, so if you feel that you know them... perhaps you do... perhaps it's you...His influences are: Ray Bradbury, Malcolm Lowry, Herman Melville, Thomas Pynchon, Arthur C. Clarke, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Cormac McCarthy, Keith Waterhouse and Spike Milligan. Prizes: Fish Prize 2001 (Story anthologised and attended West Cork Literary Festival to read his submission 'To Kill a Wish')Chesterfield Pomegranate Theatre: New Playwright Awards'To Kill a Wish', the Fish Prize story, reworked for the stage and performed live.BBC Radio Sheffield: Six pieces of short fiction recorded and broadcast.Past Mentors (at least a week in the company of each)Anne Enright, Colm Toibin, Bernadine Evaristo, Ruth Padel, Peter Sansom, Berlie DohertyNoted writers he has worked with closely in the publishing of an anthology of short fiction ('Watch & Wait', 2014) on behalf of The Lymphoma Association.Ian McMillan, Marina Lewycka, Bryony Doran, Susan Elliott Wright, Berlie Doherty, Angela Robson, Judith Allnatt, Danuta Reah, Lesley Glaister, Caroline Pitcher, Kirstin Zhang, Henry Shukman, David Swann and Jemma Kennedy among others.

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