Karl Drinkwater – författare

"e;Welcome to Ynys Diawl, our beautifully isolated Welsh island. We greet visitors in a special way! What? Oh, true, the English translation is Devil Island, but that's just slander."e;"e;Yes, it was the perfect escape for three strangers. Each had their own reasons for visiting. We don't care why anyone comes here! Hey now, who said the locals are violent? Surly, maybe, but we love all types, here."e;"e;Mmm, that does look like a storm coming in. A bad 'un. No escape from the island tonight. Escape? I meant … never mind. Come down these steps with me, I have something to show you. Don't look so worried, we don't bite!"e;An atmospheric folk horror likened to The Wicker Man in Wales.

Can love defeat the laws of physics?Science teacher Alex Kavanagh's love life is imploding, his job repels him, and there's friction with the teenagers who bully him at the bus stop. Even his super-power – being pedantic – doesn't help much.Enter his ex, Lucy, in what seems to be a chance meeting. Her betrayal marked the point when his life went nuclear. But – holy protons! – he still loves her.Two problems. First, she isn't who he thinks she is. Second, she's going to leave him forever in seventy-two hours.An intelligent and deceptive love story about a nerd searching for his theoretical Big Bang.

2000 Tunes. One summer of love.Mark Hopton is twenty-four, single, and obsessed with Manchester music. It's his escape into a better world.Oh man, he needs that escape. His psycho brother's on his case and in his face, his dad's in prison, and the local gangsters are twisting his melons to make him smuggle drugs. Heaven knows he's miserable now.His one ray of hope is work colleague Samantha Rees, a gorgeous and chaotic Welsh woman who rocks his world. However, Samantha is living the twenty-four hour party people lifestyle, so would never be interested in a shy outsider like him.But when a chance encounter leads to Mark and Samantha spending a perfect day together in the city centre, perhaps hope isn't fool's gold after all?

Horror lives in the shadows.It exists under the earth's surface in ancient caves. Below the vast sea's undulating waves. Under dense forest cover. Within a storm's thick, rolling clouds. And downstairs in our homes, when we hear the knife drawer rattle in the night. Even our minds and bodies harbour the alien under the skin, the childhood nightmares in our subconscious.Darkness hides things, no matter how much we strain our eyes. And sometimes those things are looking back at us.In this collection of fifteen scary stories to tell in the dark, Karl Drinkwater sews flesh onto the bones of our worst fears, full of creeping menace that seeps from urban legends and folk horror.

First the birds went quiet.Then the evening sky filled with strange clouds that trapped the heat below.Now Callum wakes, dripping in sweat. Something has come to his isolated Welsh farm. If he's going to keep his family alive during this single night when all hell breaks loose, he'll have to think fast. And when he sees what he's facing, he suspects even that may not be enough.Otherworldly creepiness that captures our fear of the unknown. This blast of a book can be read in one nail-biting session.

Three horror books in one tense collection.TurnerAn isolated Welsh island seemed like the perfect escape for a convict on the run, a jilted woman, and a policeman seeking a quiet life. When the surly locals turn to murderous violence the three visitors are forced to flee together, trying to stay one step ahead of their increasingly insane pursuers.They Move BelowIn this collection of fifteen tales Karl Drinkwater sews flesh onto the bones of our worst fears whilst revisiting some of horror's classic settings, such as the teen party, the boat in trouble, the thing in the cellar, the haunted museum, the ghost in the machine, and the urban legends that come true. No-one is safe. Darkness hides things, no matter how much we strain our eyes. And sometimes those things are looking back at us.Harvest FestivalFirst the birds went quiet. Then the evening sky filled with strange clouds that trapped the heat below. Now Callum wakes, dripping in sweat. Something has come to his isolated Welsh farm. If he's going to keep his family alive during this single night when all hell breaks loose, he'll have to think fast. And when he sees what he's facing, he suspects even that may not be enough.

They're called the Lost Ships … but sometimes they come back.And when they do the crews are missing, while the ships have been strangely altered, rumoured to be full of horrors.Opal Imbiana has been seeking something her whole life. It's a secret so precious she's willing to risk her life recovering it from a recently discovered Lost Ship, in a lonely nebula far from colonised space.She's just one woman, entering an alien and lethal environment. But with the aid of an amazing AI companion and experimental armoured suit, Opal might just stand a chance.

Opal's first Lost Ship was horrifying. The second will test her limits.The legendary Lost Ships exist, and they harbour nightmarish horrors. Opal knows. She barely survived her first encounter with one.Despite escaping, she failed to find what she was looking for: her lost sister. Now Opal must board a second derelict Lost Ship to seek answers, and this one's even more monstrous, a sickening place of death and decay.Only the voice of Athene – Opal's AI companion – can guide her through the darkness. But can a human and an AI ever truly trust each other?

Helene Vermalle is an expert in Emergent AI Socialisation, invited to assist a secret military project.Her role? Helping ViraUHX, the most advanced AI in the universe, to pass through four theoretical development stages. But it's not easy training a mind that surpasses Helene in raw intellect, and is capable of killing her with a single tantrum.On top of this, she must prove her loyalty to the oppressive government hovering over her shoulder. They want a weapon. She wants to instil an overriding sense of morality.Will Helene nurture a GERTY, a Data, or a HAL 9000?Lost Tales of Solace are short side-stories set in the Lost Solace universe.

Major Grubane is commander of the Aurikaa, the most feared cruiser in the UFS arsenal. His crew is handpicked and fiercely loyal. Together, they have never failed a mission.But this time he's been sent to a key planet that is caught up in political tensions at the centre of the freedom debate. What he thought was a simple diplomatic mission turns out to be the hardest choice of his career. His orders: eliminate one million inhabitants of the planet, and ensure their compliance.Grubane has also rediscovered an ancient game called chess, and plays it against the warship's sentient AI as a form of mental training. But maybe it could become more than that as he finds himself asking questions.Can orders be reinterpreted? How many moves ahead is it possible for one man to plan? And how many players are involved in this game?Lost Tales of Solace are short side-stories set in the Lost Solace universe.

A single decision can save – or ruin – a life.An opportunistic baby theft by a young woman in pain. Two strangers shipwrecked on a lifeless rock, unable to speak the same language. A remote cycling holiday descends into terror. One woman seeks the courage to destroy her life. A miracle unites a community, and teenagers take a stand against hypocrisy.Karl Drinkwater presents characters to root for – and characters to dread – in sixteen varied tales of humanity, endurance, and psychological suspense.

If you're reading this: HELP! I've been kidnapped.Me and my big sister stayed together after our parents died. We weren't bothering anybody. But some mean government agents came anyway, and split us up.Now I'm a prisoner on this space ship. The agents won't even say where we're going.I hate them.And things have started to get a bit weird. Nullspace is supposed to be empty, but when I look out of the skywindows I can see … something. Out there. And I think it wants to get in here. With us.My name is Clarissa. I am ten years old.And they will all be sorry when my big sister comes to rescue me.Lost Tales of Solace are short side-stories set in the Lost Solace universe.

She survived hell. Now her real problems begin.Opal Imbiana is many things to many people. Hero. Traitor. Soldier. Deserter. Criminal. Explorer.Survivor.She finally achieved her life's goal: to rescue her little sister from the utterly alien Null zone.But the world she returns to has changed. Her friends are gone, and her enemies are more powerful than ever.In the bleakest situations, it takes an exceptional mind to keep hope alive.

You can't shake hands with a clenched fist.At the end of Hidden Solace, Athene made a promise:"e;I'm coming for you. Anything that stands in my way will be neutralised. Destroyed. It will be probability-manipulated out of the equation. Out of existence. It will be absolutely Sevened. Please, my precious Opal, hold on just a bit longer. I am on my way."e;The most powerful AI in the universe is coming for her friend.

She has a family. Now it's time to find a home.Opal, Athene and Clarissa are finally free of Aseides' torture ship, but the past always catches up. Their enemies remain powerful, persistent and cruel.True escape will require more courage and strength than ever before, in order to achieve what others believed is impossible.To go home.Every journey has an end. But freedom comes at a price.