A.F. McGuinness
Award-winning author. Fiction mentor. Lyme patient, campaigner & advocate.
“He has a wonderful talent. Sharp-eyed, poignant, convincing, finely focused, impressive…dark”
Alison MacLeod
A love story. A tragedy. An extraordinary journey to the heart of the human soul.
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For Londoners Jack and Alice Mann, moving to the coast is a dream come true, but when comedian Jack is struck down by a mysterious illness, a Kafkaesque nightmare unfolds. As the Manns navigate the maze of a healthcare system in crisis, humour turns to despair. With the clock ticking they must find their own answers, and brace themselves for the biggest fight of their lives...
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Inspired by true events, Anatomised cuts through flesh and bone, diving deep into the heart and soul of Lyme disease, one of the fastest-spreading tick-borne illnesses in the world: the controversies, the conspiracies and ultimately, the tragic human cost.
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From life-changing symptoms to the terror of misdiagnoses, from conflicts over treatment to the psychological fallout of abandonment, one thing seems certain: once bitten, you might die…
Everyone has their tipping point.
What’s yours..?
"Fluid and stylish, highly readable"
Will Mackie
"A powerful author of considerable distinction"
Michael Baldwin
"A distinctive voice, lyrical and very enjoyable"
Bookbag
"Subtle, intimate and haunting stories that resonate long after reading"
Danny Rhodes
Heid Seek and Other Stories is A. F. McGuinness's debut short story collection, featuring award-winning fiction alongside brand new work. Inspired by past masters of mystery and imagination - Edgar Allan Poe, M. R. James and Franz Kafka - these unsettling tales explore a twilight world where nothing and nobody is quite what they seem.
A deathbed confession rekindles shocking childhood memories; a weekend in Prague is interrupted by a mysterious femme fatale; a guilt-ridden priest meets a devilish dentist; a sweatshop worker falls through layers of hallucination, his life on a knife edge; adulterous lovers wake from bad dreams to find themselves in a nightmare; a macabre doll's head reveals hidden terrors beneath the surface of the everyday.
In this unpredictable landscape, you may hide, but they will seek you out ...
"Witty and intriguing"
Scott Pack
" A stylish and assured debut"
John Paul Holden
When a building is burned to the ground and and a young man dies in the blaze, nobody suspects Ben Tippet. He's just a harmless wannabe ... isn't he? But beneath his charming facade there lurks a compulsive liar.
Betrayed by his famous lover and awaiting trial, he pens his outrageous memoirs from his prison cell. With the trial nearly over, two devastating events shake Ben's universe, after which he stands to lose much more than his freedom.
Scratch the surface of this candid, darkly humorous self-portrait and a bolder canvas shines through - the landscape of a narcissistic society hooked on fame, fortune and celebrity.
In this stylish and suprising morality tale, The Talented Mr Ripley meets the Singing Detective as Ben welcomes you to his world, begging the question, "Are we all narcissists now?"