My Sister And I: A dark, violent, gripping and twisted tale of horrifying terror in the Scottish Highlands.
Page 20
3in1Drama (Coming soon)
As a bonus, please find an excerpt from my books - The Old Man and The Princess, Ugly Beautiful, Lust for Life, and The Wrath of David.
The Old Man and The Princess
'EVERYONE SHOULD READ THIS BOOK.' Chesca, Goodreads blogger
A Raven Award Finalist. A Nashville Film Festival Screenplay Finalist. And now soon to be a major motion picture.
'Is the old man really who he says he is? And is he telling Sersha the truth about where she is truly from?'
A mysterious old man kidnaps Sersha, a young, headstrong, Irish girl, from the streets of Galway and tries to convince her that her life's destiny is tied to a seemingly random cave in the Scottish Highlands.
But with half of the Irish criminal underworld violently on their trail, the kidnapped Sersha, struggles back and forth with the old man's real identity and far-fetched intentions to whether he truly is genuine in his wild and fantastical beliefs. Or is he just some kind of mad, demented, old fool, having a mental breakdown in his twilight years?
What readers are saying about this witty and thrilling, action-packed mystery –
'I can easily call this a classic of psychological thrillers or a very-well-grounded SF adventure/mystery. Pick and choose. You'll still have your surprise at the end and I'm not gonna spoil it.'
'I honestly have not much to say about this exquisite treasure, because I suck at reviewing works that astound me, but it’s the best Sean-Paul Thomas book I’ve ever read yet.'
'Reading this was like solving a riddle. Some parts were misleading but brought me surprises I didn’t expect.'
'The ending was just perfect. I was not able to put it down when all the truth started spilling. It was genuinely thought-provoking and heart-breaking. I think I was crying in the wee hours of the morning, or maybe it was just my eyes sweating.'
'I highly recommend this. It is absolutely one of my best reads this year. If you’re looking for a thriller with a touch of science fiction, then hurry up and read it'
'It's unique, entertaining and quite a thrilling read.'
'As a book reviewer, I have read many novels. The Old Man and the Princess will always be one of my favorites. I can gift it to friends, assured that they will love it. This novel is a keeper and deserves multiple reads. I don’t think I will ever part with the novel. In fact, I would ask one and all to read it.'
'I loved Old Man and the Princess by Sean-Paul Thomas. However much I try as a book reviewer, I can’t remain objective towards the novel. That’s because I loved it. I loved it so much that even after months of reading it, I think about it every day. I have already read it more than once and I am looking forward to a re-read.'
'This novel is for the keeps and for re-reads. To sum it up, Old Man and the Princess by Sean-Paul Thomas absolutely deserves a five star.'
'Oh my goodness where do I even start with this book? This was such fun and heartbreaking story to read. I found myself dying to know what was going to happen to the old man and then crying in the waiting room at the doctor's office waiting for my husband. So beautifully written.'
'I really believe everyone should read this book. I absolutely adored this book. I honestly didn't know what to expect going in. It started kind of dark and up in the air and turned in to a beautiful story.'
'Once you get the cadence of the speech, you can’t put it down, wondering if this is sci-fi or reality with a twist. I’m not telling which it is, you’ll have to read the book.'
'Sean Paul Thomas is a talented writer. His clever plot exposes the reader to many different "truths," which means we are unable to put the book down until we learn which truth is actually true. Nothing about this novel was cliched or predictable, including the ending which had a definite O. Henry aura about it. Without question, Thomas has his own unique voice and style. Five stars, I really enjoyed this book.'
'The story has a metaphor in there and you'll find out what it all means by the end of the book. On a side note, I laughed my a** off at some of the Irish-style banter, I mean I really laughed harder than I have in a long time. Tears were streaming down my face, you can ask those who were in the room with me at the time I was reading. And of course, I had to read the dialogue out loud to them too, I just had to share it'
Sample
The old man drove his car west and well out of Galway. It was the early hours of the morning and still very dark all around. The roads were quiet, just the way the old man liked them, but that didn't stop him from driving with great care, and just below the speed limit too.
The life he'd led up until that point, caution and calm in the face of adversity, had always been his best friend. And on those old Galway country back roads there was no telling what late-night patrol cars were kicking about, just looking for any excuse to take their frustrations of ‘shite pay’ and another ‘week of night shifts’ out on the next speeding motorist.
Sersha lay in the backseat of the old man's car, still unconscious. She had masking tape wrapped around her mouth leaving her nostrils free, while her arms and ankles were bound tightly with rope.
The old man continued to drive humbly through the dark hills and pleasant countryside. Suddenly Sersha's phone began vibrating and flashing wildly, then ringing loudly from inside the pocket of her jeans. The old man glanced back at her, then down at her buzzing pocket. He cursed himself for not checking her more thoroughly back in Galway, after he’d taken her, but it had made him feel uncomfortable. He wasn't used to kidnapping young teenage girls, then rubbing his hands up and down their young, firm bodies, checking for unwanted items.
Sersha stirred. The intoxicating effects of the chloroform were beginning to wear off. She opened her eyes, just a little at first, disturbed by the vibrating movements against her thigh. She was still in the haziness of dreamland and unaware of her predicament, even though her unconscious mind desperately screamed at her that something was terribly wrong and she wasn't safe and sound at home, inside her comfy bed, as she'd firstly imagined herself to be.
The old man swiftly pulled over to the side of the road. He had to get rid of that blasted phone. He stepped out of the car and opened the back door. He leaned in over Sersha. She stirred again, becoming more and more restless in her dazed state.
The old man reached into her tight jeans’ pocket and grabbed the noisy, vibrating culprit. He was just about to throw the damn thing into a nearby muddy farm field when he studied it for a second. ‘Mary' was calling. So, someone does care for the young girl after all. And it only took you half the bleedin' night, the old man thought, frowning to himself as he powered down the phone and threw it hard and far, into the dark, murky field.
The old man kept driving. He drove deep and slowly, into the heart of a thick, dark forest. He drove at a crawling pace down a single dirt road for a good ten minutes before his headlights revealed an old, hidden tunnel just up ahead.
The tunnel entrance had weeds massively overgrowing from every conceivable angle. He pulled up beside the old tunnel, which looked just big enough to fit a small lorry inside. He turned off his headlights and took a small flashlight from underneath the passenger seat. He took a quick glance into the back seat again and at Sersha. At first glance, with her eyes firmly shut and her body completely still, she looked out for the count and away with the fairies in dreamland.
Satisfied with his observations, the old man opened his driver-side door and left the vehicle. When the door slammed shut, Sersha opened her eyes wide with fear. She was very much awake and had been for quite some time. She watched the old man hovering around outside for a few, hesitant moments. Eventually he walked out of her line of sight an she relaxed just a little.
Sersha tried hard to remember just what the hell had happened to her that night. One minute she'd been in a good mood, walking cheerfully home after her dance auditions at the community center had gone reasonably well. She had almost made it back to her house too, she felt sure of that. She remembered hazily getting off the
bus, and then... the next moment she'd felt someone, some dirty, impure creature, grabbing her hard from behind with a filthy towel covering her mouth with that god awful-smelling substance drenched all over it.
She could remember nothing else after that. She had completely blacked out and lost all track of time. And now here she lay, tied and bound, in the backseat of some old pervert's car.
Sersha's anxious mind raced with all kinds of horrendous thoughts and images of what would become of her if she didn't at least try to get the hell away from this raging pervert. She frantically struggled to free herself. She moaned wildly as she pulled and tugged at the tight rope around her hands and ankles. It was useless, though. She had been tied up too damned tight and proper. She could roll from side to side no bother, but what good would that do her in such a tight space and nowhere to roll away to?
Outside, in the thick of night, the old man approached the dark tunnel. He shone his flashlight a few yards inside until it fell upon a huge camouflaged canvas. It covered something big underneath, bigger than two cars piled on top each other. The old man approached the canvas and pulled it roughly from the object. Underneath, a large white transit van sat in wait.
The old man pulled a set of keys from his pocket and opened the back doors of the van. He shone his torch inside to reveal a double mattress, some water bottles and a couple of empty buckets.
Back inside the car, a determined Sersha continued to frantically struggle with her ropes. She rolled back and forth, over and over again, desperately trying to loosen them and free herself. She knew deep down in her heart that it was all for nothing, but for the young fiery life inside her, she had to try something, anything at all.
Suddenly, the back door just beside her head, opened up. A startled Sersha ceased struggling instantly and turned onto her back to face her kidnapper. She gazed up at the old man with her gagged and startled face. Her eyes were wide with fear and pleading for any kind of mercy. The old man showed little and immediately pulled her out from the backseat like an old, rolled-up carpet. She moaned and groaned through her gag as the old man continued to yank and pull.
After the old man had dragged Sersha out of the car, he made a great effort to stand her upright. Sersha took a second to compose herself, then quickly glanced around at her surroundings. All she could see were dozens upon dozens of thick, dark trees and another thousand branches and bushes.
Suddenly she caught a glimpse of the dark tunnel behind the old man and the back of the old white van, its doors hanging disturbingly wide open. So, this was where it would all end, she anxiously thought. This would be where her short and sweet, innocent life would be taken away from her.
For a fleeting moment she felt that losing her virginity to Stephen Fletcher in the youth club utility cupboard last month had been the right call. She knew she would be kicking herself now if she'd stood by her morals, just like Betty McDougal had begged her to do so, and remained a virgin until the day she married the man of her dreams, whoever that may be.
Before she could reflect any further though on her virginity loss, the old man swiftly picked her up off the wet, muddy ground and slung her over his right shoulder in a fireman's lift. Sersha squealed. She wriggled and moaned as the old man carried her awkwardly towards the tunnel and the waiting van.
When he reached the open doors, he lowered her abruptly from his shoulder back onto the muddy ground again. Sersha caught a quick glimpse of the mattress inside the van and panicked even more. She shook her head back and forth, over and over, desperately fighting the horrid and nasty thoughts that now flickered through her mind like a burning candle left out in a hurricane wind. Her assumptions were right. She was going to be the victim of a brutal sex crime at the hands of this old pervert, and there was absolutely nothing her strong, youthful body could do about it.
She’d never felt so frustrated in her entire life. She knew that without the restraints she'd have a great fighting chance of doing some serious damage to the old man, but tied up and at his mercy she was as good as his. He could do whatever the hell he liked to her and there didn’t seem to be a damn thing she could do to stop him.
Out of the blue, the old man did something totally unexpected. He turned Sersha around to face him, urging her to sit down upon the edge of the van's rear bumper. She'd been one-hundred-percent certain that he was going to bundle her into the back of the van as quickly as he’d dragged her out of the car, and onto that mattress to begin his dirty deeds.
The old man crouched gently down in front of Sersha so that he was exactly eye level with the young teenage girl. After a slight hesitation, he spoke to her in a very calm and composed manner.
'Sersha? Listen to me now, all right lass?'
But Sersha did not want to listen to anything the dirty old man had to say. Especially if it was anything about all the filthy, mad and disgusting things he was going to do to her innocent little body in the back of this here, grotty little van and right on top of that big, dirty mattress too. A mattress that had probably been lying in there for god knows how many years, and used upon how many other countless innocent victims.
Sersha started breathing hard, almost hyperventilating. She tried to focus on anywhere and anything except the old man.
'Sersha? Are you listening to me now?' continued the old man, shaking her a little harder. Sersha froze and glared at him with ice cold eyes. It was the first time she had truly looked at his old, wrinkled and hardened, rough-shaven face.
She stared with great disgust too, right into his raw blue, yet deep and concerned, eyes. A little confused by his new gentle and concerned manner, Sersha quickly pondered too just how on earth the dirty old creep bag had known her name? And why had he taken her? Had he been following her and watching her for some time? And exactly how long had he been following her before grabbing her off the streets like a stray dog? A day, a week? Months, perhaps?
'I'm gonna take this here tape off your mouth now, but only for a few seconds, all right, lass?' the old man stated, still very calm and composed.
Sersha nodded. Her eyes glazed wide with terror.
'But don't you scream or make any bleedin' sudden movements now, ya hear?' the old man stated with a hearty warning.
Sersha nodded again, still looking very confused at just what the hell was happening.
The old man pulled the tape from her mouth. He had to pull it hard, right across her lips in order to get it off. Sersha screamed with the sting of the tape ripping over her mouth and upper lip. She'd never felt anything quite like it before. All thoughts of the kidnapping, rape and murder of her of lovely, innocent young body, evaporated from her mind like steam from a boiling pot of soup. She felt truly pissed off.
'Jesus fekin' Christ. Can I have me bleedin' lips back now, please?' Sersha cried, feeling more annoyed than she'd ever felt.
'I told ya not to scream or I'll put it straight back on again,' the old man threatened. 'Didn't I just say that now?'
'Well it was fekin' sore. Why don't you let me try ripping some masking tape from your hairy-arsed face and see if you scream any less now, will ya?'
The old man chuckled. She was a feisty wee lass, all right. Just as he imagined she would be. Sersha certainly wasn’t expecting to hear his gentle laughter, though.
'I'm sorry. It's really strong stuff this, no?' said the old man, still smiling.
'You don't fekin' say, mister,' Sersha snapped as she stretched her lips and mouth wide, like she was participating in some kind of aerobics session for the face. Then she exploded into a fit of uncontrollable, verbal rage, as she tried to condense everything running around her mind - all those anxious, horrible thoughts and feelings - into words and sentences.
'What the hell do you feckin’ want with me, anyhow? Why did you kidnap me from the streets, you dirty old creep bag, ya? Are you going to rape me now in the back of this here van? Is that what this is all about, aye? Is that why you brought me all the way out here in the middle of nowhere? You dirty, filthy
, rotten, bleedin', perverted bastard, ya.' Sersha raged before spitting right into the old man's face.
She hesitated for a second, instantly regretting that action. Her emotions had gotten the better of her. She motioned her head back a little, waiting for the old man's retaliation. Like he might slap her in the face and grab her by the throat before spitting right back at her again. Just like her third foster father had done when she was eleven years old, and for the pure, simple reason of not being able to finish her vegetables at the dinner table.
As night follows day, surely some retaliation would come from the old man, like it always did with the majority of the men who had come and gone from her crazy life in the past.
She took a deep breath, expecting the worst.
The old man remained quiet and unemotional. He took a short moment to wipe the saliva away from his face.
'Now, that wasn't a very nice thing to do now, was it, Princess?' the old man finally replied, still cool, calm and composed.
Sersha felt even more shocked at the man's calmness and utter lack of retaliation. To tell the truth, it made her feel even more angry.
'Not a nice thing to do?’ Sersha exploded again. ‘You just drugged me and abducted me right off the fekin' streets of Galway, ya bleedin' head case.'
'Look! I don't have time for these wee amateur dramatics, right now, Princess. I have to go soon and leave you here on your own for a wee while.'
'You're leaving me here? On me own?' Sersha cried. Now that was unexpected. What happened to the raping or mutilation of her body? If the old man was going to do something gruesome and repulsive, she'd rather he'd just get bloody well on with it and do it right there and then. Just get it over and done with.
'Would you rather I stay here with ya, like? the old man replied with a cheeky grin. 'I thought you'd be glad to see the back of me, for a few hours there at least.'