Before we get into the business of celebrating the festive season, so often a balm for the woes inflicted on us during the preceding twelve months, I’m going to use this opportunity for a quick recap of my publishing year, which for the most part, I’m glad to say, has been successful.
Firstly, though ...
Major events
If you have to go at all, that’s the way to do it, I suppose.
My mum had been a lifelong supporter and encourager of my career, and a very keen reader of crime and thriller fiction right up to her final years. As 2025 comes to an end, I once again want to honour her memory and thank her unreservedly for being such a wonderful parent.
But now …
A year in the writing
This year has been one of my busiest ever in terms of titles to see publication. Of course, it’s not just a story of celebration. Any book needs first to be written (by the author, I’m sorry to insist, not by some cop-out AI replacement!), but it also needs to be structurally-edited, line-edited, copy-edited and proof-read. So, while I’m one of those authors who insists on being actively involved in the editing process, writing for a living can be very time-consuming indeed, which means that while 2025 has seen the fruits of many of those labours, there hasn’t been much respite in which to enjoy them.
I’m not complaining by the way. This is the job. If you go into professional writing thinking you’re going to be working nine-till-five, Monday to Friday, you’re in for a shock. But let’s look at how it all panned out.
Here are my books of 2025, in the order in which they were published. I’ll include each publisher’s back-cover blurb by way of explanation (and enticement, hopefully) but will also add up-to-date footnotes regarding my own innermost thoughts. Well … some of them.
(May 1)
The north of England is rocked by two horrifying but bewildering crimes: a £600,000 drugs heist, the couriers and the buyers all slain. And the abduction of an entire stag party, a bunch of strapping young men lured away by two pretty girls, and never seen again.
While northern police forces struggle to cope, go-it-alone Detective Sergeant Mark Heckenburg, still under suspension, is given a stark choice. Infiltrate the Crew, Manchester’s overarching crime syndicate, as an undercover asset, or lose his job permanently.
With the assistance of out-of-favour Manchester cop, Lucy Clayburn, Heck undertakes the onerous task, soon discovering evidence linking the two heinous crimes together. But he has a very serious and pressing problem. The Crew’s ruthless Chairman of the Board, Frank McCracken, is increasingly suspicious and determined to test his loyalty to the max.
Meanwhile, another bunch of guileless young men have gone missing, and are now awaiting their fate in the architectural nightmare that is the Crazyhouse ...
This is the ninth and, to date, most recent book in the DS Mark ‘Heck’ Heckenburg series. At the time of this writing, Heck has been by far my most lucrative writing product. In essence, the Heck novels are gritty, violent action thrillers, often pitting the go-it-alone cop against ‘villains who wouldn’t be out of place in Batman’ (not my quote, a review on Amazon). The Heck series almost died in 2020 when my change of publisher from HarperCollins to Orion coincided with the Covid catastrophe and all our careers were up in the air at least for a brief time. But the lone-wolf detective’s reappearance last year in ROGUE was so positively reviewed and, frankly, sold so many copies that I just knew he had much more business to do. NO QUARTER, therefore, was the first of two new Heck books that I unleashed on the world in 2025, and for good measure in this one, another of my older police characters, Lucy Clayburn, made a guest appearance. Again, this seemed to go down well, so perhaps her time isn’t over yet either.
(Sept 1)
You are offered the getaway of a lifetime on a remote island with a group of strangers. Things have been difficult recently, so you jump at the chance to swim under the summer sun, explore the peaceful woodlands and return to an elegant hotel for a glorious dinner.
As the boat pulls into the harbour, you’re surrounded by crystal-clear water and soon you are alone. Just the peace and quiet you were promised. No phone signal, no internet… no way to call for help. But nothing will go wrong in paradise, right?
As a huge summer storm rolls towards the island, everyone is starting to realise the secrets they’ve been hiding for years seem to have followed them here. And you are no different.
Then one of your group disappears. His body washes up in the picture-postcard harbour, and it’s clearly no accident. Can you get out alive?
THE ISLAND was my first publication with Thomas & Mercer (Amazon Publishing), and I attacked it full-bloodedly. It wasn’t a Heck novel but a stand-alone thriller and was a conscious effort on my part to try and overlap the hardcase crime actioner that had become my trademark with the cosier whodunnit end of the market. As to whether I succeeded on that, I guess the jury is still out. It’s true to say that it’s sold by the bucket-load; for a couple of weeks, it sat at No. 2 in the BOOKSELLER’s best-seller list, which was very gratifying. Did I enjoy the experience of writing it? You bet I did. Putting a bunch of flawed and corrupt ex-cops together, only a few of them redeemable, on an idyllic holiday island, where they find themselves alone and soon learn that Paradise is much closer to Hell than any of them could have imagined … hey, for someone with my darker sensibilities, it was too good an opportunity to miss.
(Oct 9)
Amid the mayhem of the Third Crusade, a fearsome knight, Thurstan Wildblood, is charged by Richard the Lionheart with escorting one Melinda of Jerusalem, believed to be a living saint, back to England to help justify his war.
But others want Melinda, too: the Knights Templar, who would take her to Rome; Saladin's men, who want her dead; and sell-swords and bounty hunters of every ilk.
And yet the indomitable knight has reasons of his own to succeed: after a bizarre encounter with a mysterious figure who promised him unmatchable prowess, he increasingly worries that his soul is damned.
Wildblood has strayed far from the light, and Melinda may be his only hope for redemption. But even he will be tested by the hardships and horrors on the journey ahead.
He thinks he knows evil. But he doesn't. Not yet.
THE DEVIL’S KNIGHT was written by my imaginary counterpart, PW Finch, who the evidence would suggest so far is not quite as well known as Paul Finch. It’s the first part of a two-book series, the Wildblood Quest, which commences during the Third Crusade and finishes, in the second volume – THE DARK ARMY – out next year, in the war-torn Europe of the 12th century. It’s obviously not a crime thriller, but is hopefully the sort of rollicking all-action adventure that my regular readers will enjoy. I first started writing historical novels as sideline during Covid, when all of us found that we had more time on our hands than ever before. My first two books in that line, USURPER and BATTLE LORD, got very good reviews and sold in reasonable numbers, but I can’t pretend that they’re among my most popular titles. I’ll be honest: whether I continue in this line is going to depend on how THE DEVIL’S KNIGHT and THE DARK ARMY perform over these next few months. Whatever happens there, though – and as the author, I’m obviously going to say this – I think both these books are a damn good read and as far as I’m concerned, none of the efforts that went into creating them have been wasted.
Murder detectives don’t often call on the services of psychics.
Or they’re not supposed to.
But others want Melinda, too: the Knights Templar, who would take her to Rome; Saladin's men, who want her dead; and sell-swords and bounty hunters of every ilk.
And yet the indomitable knight has reasons of his own to succeed: after a bizarre encounter with a mysterious figure who promised him unmatchable prowess, he increasingly worries that his soul is damned.
Wildblood has strayed far from the light, and Melinda may be his only hope for redemption. But even he will be tested by the hardships and horrors on the journey ahead.
He thinks he knows evil. But he doesn't. Not yet.
THE DEVIL’S KNIGHT was written by my imaginary counterpart, PW Finch, who the evidence would suggest so far is not quite as well known as Paul Finch. It’s the first part of a two-book series, the Wildblood Quest, which commences during the Third Crusade and finishes, in the second volume – THE DARK ARMY – out next year, in the war-torn Europe of the 12th century. It’s obviously not a crime thriller, but is hopefully the sort of rollicking all-action adventure that my regular readers will enjoy. I first started writing historical novels as sideline during Covid, when all of us found that we had more time on our hands than ever before. My first two books in that line, USURPER and BATTLE LORD, got very good reviews and sold in reasonable numbers, but I can’t pretend that they’re among my most popular titles. I’ll be honest: whether I continue in this line is going to depend on how THE DEVIL’S KNIGHT and THE DARK ARMY perform over these next few months. Whatever happens there, though – and as the author, I’m obviously going to say this – I think both these books are a damn good read and as far as I’m concerned, none of the efforts that went into creating them have been wasted.
(Oct 31) – Novella
Or they’re not supposed to.
When the so-called Edmonton Strangler starts to run up a scorecard of victims across North London, leading to riots in the streets and interference from politicians, even seasoned murder investigator, DS Mark ‘Heck’ Heckenburg is reaching the stage where he’ll consider almost anything.
It’s a ghastly scene. Strangulations so brutal they defy belief. Broken naked bodies left in backstreet dustbins. An assailant who comes and goes like a ghost.
Heck has never failed to crack a case, and neither has his ‘straight bat’ boss, DSU Gemma Piper. But when they are approached by a disturbed young woman who claims that spirits have revealed the killer’s identity to her, they are reluctant to play that game.
At least officially.
With nothing to lose, Heck enquires covertly into the so-called ‘intel’ … and is stunned by the rabbit hole of madness it leads him down into.
Are the spirits real? And if so, exactly whose side are they on?
Okay, well I mentioned that Heck was going to reappear again in 2025, and he did indeed, in the e-novella, BEAST OF THE FIELD. This was never part of my original plan for this year. In truth, BEAST OF THE FIELD was written last year rather than this year. My intent had been to use it was a lure for the new mailing list I aim to set up in 2026. But when we saw that it was 20K words in length, and early readers reacted to it so positively, we decided it would have been a crying shame not to get it out there with all the other Heck stories. As I say, it’s a novella, not a full-length novel, but the good reviews again piled in and it’s selling nicely, so the decision, I feel, was the right one. Also, if there are any film and TV producers out there just dying to get Heck on celluloid but don’t know where to start, this would be a very good place.
It’s a ghastly scene. Strangulations so brutal they defy belief. Broken naked bodies left in backstreet dustbins. An assailant who comes and goes like a ghost.
Heck has never failed to crack a case, and neither has his ‘straight bat’ boss, DSU Gemma Piper. But when they are approached by a disturbed young woman who claims that spirits have revealed the killer’s identity to her, they are reluctant to play that game.
At least officially.
With nothing to lose, Heck enquires covertly into the so-called ‘intel’ … and is stunned by the rabbit hole of madness it leads him down into.
Are the spirits real? And if so, exactly whose side are they on?
Okay, well I mentioned that Heck was going to reappear again in 2025, and he did indeed, in the e-novella, BEAST OF THE FIELD. This was never part of my original plan for this year. In truth, BEAST OF THE FIELD was written last year rather than this year. My intent had been to use it was a lure for the new mailing list I aim to set up in 2026. But when we saw that it was 20K words in length, and early readers reacted to it so positively, we decided it would have been a crying shame not to get it out there with all the other Heck stories. As I say, it’s a novella, not a full-length novel, but the good reviews again piled in and it’s selling nicely, so the decision, I feel, was the right one. Also, if there are any film and TV producers out there just dying to get Heck on celluloid but don’t know where to start, this would be a very good place.
(Oct 31) – As editor
The giant serpent of the Richtersveld
The shapeless leviathan in the Polar Sea
The stone colossus of Prague
The winged predator of Thebes
The snow beast of the Balkans
The many-headed horror on Erytheia
The corpse eater of the Middle East
A feast of terrifying tales by: C C Adams, David Barnett, James Brogden, Simon Clark, Paul Finch, Helen Grant, Christopher Harman, Carly Holmes, S L Howe, Stephen Laws, Tim Lebbon, Keris McDonald, Mark Morris, Reggie Oliver, Lynda E Rucker, Sarah Singleton, Simon Kurt Unsworth and Stephen Volk.
What can I say? Along with uber-dark thrillers and battle-filled historical adventures, horror fiction – the whole spectrum of it – is my other great literary love. CHAOS is the 17th in the TERROR TALES series to date, and we opted to make this one into a special bumper edition to coincide with World Fantasy being held in the UK, where the book was launched. Telos Publishing even produced a very special and very lovely hardback edition to complement the paperback, while a whole posse of roguish horror writers went above and beyond in the cause, despite the unusual limits I imposed on them (each tale had to carry the name of a mythical monster) to create an inspiring and wide-ranging anthology of legend and folklore-based bone-chillers, including several that I predict right now will later be seen as masterworks of the genre. I’m very, very proud indeed of this one
So, that’s 2025 nearly done and dusted. Except not quite. We also must give a special mention to this title …
(Jan 15, 2026)
You have been dreaming of an unforgettable weekend escape, and Black Tarn Lodge seems to offer everything―a magnificent Gothic mansion with towering turrets nestled in the misty Lancashire hills.
Expecting elegant dinners, vintage wines and a screening of a legendary lost film in the private cinema, all seems perfect. Until night falls and a thick fog isolates you from the world. Your phones go missing. Guests start vanishing. And then you find the body.
Someone, it seems, fell from the roof. But you can’t help wondering if he was pushed. Totally cut off, you cannot leave or call for help. You don’t know these people. But you need to decide who you can trust soon. Because someone is going to be next―will it be you?
This is my second book from Thomas & Mercer, and strictly speaking, this one won’t be published in 2025, but the actual day of its release – January 15 – is only two weeks into 2026, so it would be remiss not to mention it here (not least because so much work has been done on it these last few months).
I think I can confidently predict that this one will go down well with both murder mystery readers and horror fans alike. Please indulge yourself on THE LODGE (it’s up for pre-order now). I know I’m the author, so I’m inevitably going to bang my own drum, but I reckon this one will hit the sweet spot.
Okay, that’s it for now, but keep watching this space right until the end of the year. In my normal style for mid-December, I’ll have a brand new Christmas horror story posted on here for your delectation, entirely free to read. Call it an early Christmas prezzie, if you like.
Okay, that’s it for now, but keep watching this space right until the end of the year. In my normal style for mid-December, I’ll have a brand new Christmas horror story posted on here for your delectation, entirely free to read. Call it an early Christmas prezzie, if you like.
Happy reading (and writing).
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