The Church of Black Sparrows was published in October 2020 to critical acclaim.
It has been variously described by readers as “intense”, “shocking”, “horrific,” scary”, “insane” and” totally gripping”.
Two customer reviews on Amazon gave it five stars.
It had a very successful Halloween Bookstagram tour last year which garnered further great reviews for the book.
Dr Geoff Watts who presented Medicine New on BBC Radio 4 for many years summed the book up in one word: “Devilry”. Dr Watts continues, “I have just finished reading The Church of Black Sparrows. Shocked, I was. Shocked. I never dreamed your mind was seething with suppressed images of bloodthirsty violence, supernatural horror and all round mayhem. I am lucky I escaped our meetings alive! Anyway this is to let you know I enjoyed your foray into Gothic fantasy.”
David, a former managing director and chairman, writes: “I have just finished reading your Magnus Opus which I thoroughly enjoyed. I am delighted that you have left the door open for a sequel. Well done. Your creative juices are undiluted.”
James from Central London writes: “I loved it. It was a lot of fun. The sequence in the animal hospital was particularly memorable and the dancing on cloven hoofs was a nice surrealist touch.”
From the author himself:
I write novels because they are something inside me looking for an audience. Some of my ideas come to me in dreams. But once I exorcise them by getting them published on the printed page I find it hard to analyse and discuss my own work to death. Once I had a modest amount of fame for The Church of Black Sparrows I found myself besieged by readers looking for advice on how to write and how to get published.
I have no easy answers. If you want to be an author badly enough you have to keep trying, I tell them. For me the easy part was the writing. Getting published was much harder. So many of them thought that once they had written their masterpiece publishers would be queuing up to publish it. All I can say is try to stay positive and you can’t be shy of hard work!
You can visit Alan’s website at here for more information about the author and his books.
The Church of Black Sparrows is available from all major retailers!
