COMMUNIY INTEREST
‘SCRAVIR: WHILE WHITBY SLEEPS’ BOOK REVIEW & COMPETITION
An email dropped into my Inbox a couple of weeks ago announcing the publication of a new contemporary gothic novel set in Whitby. We literally get dozens of emails from publishing companies and online retailers every day, and often I simply hit the ‘Delete’ key without even reading them, but an astounding claim in the opening sentence of this email caught my eye: ‘This novel is selling faster than fish & chips.’ Hooked, I emailed the chap back at Injini Press asking if a book can really outsell fish & chips in Whitby, the No 1 Staycation destination, where quite literally tons of this popular staple meal are served every week the many restaurants, cafes and takeaways?
There followed a climbdown - the claim was indeed a grotesque exaggeration, but the book was selling very well, and fish & chips seemed infinitely more appropriate than a reference to hot cakes! A couple of days later, a copy for review landed on my desk...
So what’s the storyline? Well, it is November 2016 and the famous Goth Weekend is in full swing in Whitby and a mysterious guest star is rocking the Pavilion. But all is not good in the town - emaciated corpses are appearing in the narrow windswept streets, cobbled yards and murky alleyways as dark forces mingle with the crowds. At the novel’s core is Daniel Murray, who comes from London for the Goth Weekend, and doesn’t believe in the supernatural, then there is local Whitby lass Tiffany Harrek who isn’t so sure. They both need to wise up, sort themselves out and so survive the challenges of this darkest of Whitby’s Goth Weekends, the weekend when true evil comes to town. Described in one review as ‘the explosive reimagining of Whitby’s darkest hour’, the novel is a real page turner full of intense moments and plot twists, one that will not let go of you until you reach the final page. Much of the novel is based in and around Henrietta Street, near to Fortune’s Kippers. This I particularly enjoyed about the novel, reading the pages and imagining it playing out in the familiar streets and places of the town. The central characters are very engaging too, and the novel is told from different viewpoints which helps with the 12
Book review by Peter Cooper exciting plot twists and also creates the suspense and tension that keeps the reader on the edge of their seat…
You can buy SCRAVIR from Holman’s Bookshop on Skinner St and both The Whitby Shop (opposite Great Reads) and The Whitby Bookshop on Church Street for just £9.99 - great value for a 416-page novel with a beautifully illustrated cover! Signed copies are also available on the publisher’s website https://injinipress.co.uk/shop/ where you can also read the first two chapters https://injinipress. co.uk/scravir-sea-inside/. Act fast though - the second printing of the first edition is selling quickly, almost outselling fish and chips in Whitby!
WIN A SIGNED FIRST EDITION OF SCRAVIR! Injini Press would love to give away three signed first edition copies of SCRAVIR to readers of the Whitby Advertiser who correctly identify two of the four other animals mentioned in ‘The Travels of Three English Gentlemen from Venice to Hamburgh, being the Grand Tour of Germany, in the year 1734.’ (have a look at the blog on INjini’s website if you are not sure!).
To enter this fabulous competition, simply post your answers with your name address and telephone number to Whitby Advertiser, Scravir Competition, PO Box 120, Whitby, YO21 3ED. You can also email your entry to competitions@ whitbyadvertiser.co.uk
