Nathan Dreslin, professional con-man, was murdered and came back to life. But he didn’t come back alone. In the corners of his vision lurks a dark, fanged thing that whispers to him… Driven now by unearthly minions and pursued across the country, he must join forces with a scientist and a priest. Together they will unravel a horrifying mystery and confront a timeless evil that lies in wait in the Australian Outback.
Adversary
by Joel Green
339 pages
Publisher: Independently published
February 9th 2018
Genre: Occult Fiction | Psychological | Horror
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Excerpt
Nathan Dreslin thought about his name.
Today it would be Michael Chambers and what’s in a name? A con-man by any other name would be just as slip-pery. Slippery as the icy blacktop of Grampians Road winding through Western Victoria toward Halls Gap. Snow was falling and in the Australia of the mind that seemed odd – land of red dirt, blazing sun and… fucking snow.
Not so uncommon, he supposed. Not in the high-country in July. But Nathan Dreslin had grown up on the coast and the sight of the big fat flakes drifting down like the ashes of a post-nuclear wasteland was still weird to him.
He’d seen snow piled up on the ground, dirty and wet, only once as a child on one of the enforced access visits with his biological father – one of those extravagant trips designed to win hearts and minds in the war of the ex-spouses. But he’d never seen the stuff fall from the sky.
The rented Corolla’s front wheels spun in the icy slush. It was a relatively professional-looking sort of car; that was the point of it. His own big black XA Falcon wouldn’t have suited the job and in the snow the big V8 would probably have wound up sideways in a ditch anyway. The Pax sat beside him. Chris Paxton, buddy since high school, always good for a boastful claim but rarely one to actually do anything.
High school was ten years past now and the Pax was running to fat and starting to go prematurely bald while Nathan remained lean with a full head of jet-black hair. Although he was twenty-eight, after a close shave and a good night’s sleep he could still halfway pass for a teenager. He and the Pax had been a pair of outsiders in school; black coats and cargo pants. The two most likely to turn up one day with rifles and start shooting, or so the wankers in their year teased. Nathan always considered that it seemed a dumb fucking idea to make fun of the guys you thought might actually end up snapping and pulling a Columbine, but teen-agers are morons and he’d thought so even when he was one. They hadn’t turned up with rifles, of course, and never contemplated anything of the sort. But they let those rumours fly about anyway because it made them edgy and dangerous and anything but the insecure, terrified misfits they’d really been.
Chris was looking insecure and terrified now, fidgeting in the passenger seat, and Nathan felt quite proud of himself for being so genuinely cool about the whole thing. This was his deal, him in his element, because while the Pax had gone on to become a wildly unsuccessful property manager for the small- town real estate agency, Nathan Dreslin had turned into some- one edgy and dangerous for real. A con-artist. A slick, slip-pery trickster who fleeced the unwary with impunity, and why the fuck not? Anybody stupid enough to get taken in deserved to lose their money.
Ignorance was a choice.
In the ten years since they strode out of the depressing, artfully corrugated prison box of a high school, giving the place the finger as they went, the Pax had become a card-carrying drone plodding to the corporate beat.
Nathan had become a shark.
Joel Green was born in 1984 in Australia. He works as a carer for people with intellectual disabilities and in his spare time he is an author of adventure thrillers, horror and science fiction novels.
Author’s Website | Twitter | Amazon | Facebook
The Tired Buyer’s Review
Adversary by Joel GreenMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Firstly a special thank you to Joel Green for providing me with a copy of this publication, which allows me to provide you with an unbiased review.
This slow-boil psychological horror leaves the reader questioning what is real. There happens to be a sense of crawling dread accompanied by the growing awareness that something is out there, beyond the circle of firelight, watching your every move….
Green can write, let me tell you, within a few chapters I could not put the book down. If I didn’t have someone physically there to make me stop or a newborn whom needed my attention I would of finished it in one sitting. What a outstanding story and I never read anything like it – and I read books!! Intense story-telling with humor within every decent moment to break the tension I was feeling at the edge of my seat.
I could say SOOOO much more but that would provide way to much spoilers but YOU need to read this book. I feel if Green got with any top end horror writers, any of them, something horrifyingly beautiful would emerge and I would be signed up like a fan girl. As someone who watches horror stuff at any time of the day and my Fiance thinks I’m crazy – Yeah I should of just stayed to my horror scary roots but no.. – whoa that is a tangent!!
The characters are so well thought out- Nathan is a DICK and the something bigger and super frightening – OOOOOH BOY!
Yeah you need to read this book! Worrrrth it.
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Interview with Mr. Green
Thank you for taking the time and answering us at The Tired Buyer along with taking the time to answer SO many questions!
What inspired you to start writing?
I was inspired as a kid to begin writing my own stories by the works of the late, legendary David Gemmell. Fantasy was my jam back then, and his uncomplicated emphasis on the immediate and deeply-flawed human element grounded realms of magic and monsters onto a more believable and gritty footing than most of his peers. I wanted to tell stories like that – about vast and awe-inspiring happenings viewed through the limited and bleary-eyed perspective of ordinary folk.
How long have you been writing? – I first began fooling around with some stories back in the late 90s when I was still in high school. They were mostly rubbish, but practice makes… less rubbish.
Have you always wanted to be a writer? – No! When I was a kid, I wanted to be Spider-Man.
How do you handle writer’s block? – Stay up bloody late. Sometime around three in the morning, I find the obstructionist, over-thinking conscious of the pre-fontal cortex begins sliding toward a state of somnolescence, allowing the less rational, unselfconscious midbrain to lean forward and take the wheel for a while. Those are the times when characters start doing and saying things that come as a complete surprise to me, and I suddenly thrash out weird solutions to problems I would never have thought of.
What comes first, the plot or characters?
The characters, absolutely. They come first. The plot is just a method I’ve come up with to ruin their day. It’s all about the characters. Without them it would all be just so much scenery.
How do you come up with the titles to your books?
The Blake Drysdale novels owe their titles to old and obscure proverbs.
What time of the day do you usually write?
I am a night owl. And not your 9pm ‘night’ – my night doesn’t start until midnight.
What is the most difficult part about writing for you?
Figuring out how to market my books while overcoming the crippling self-consciousness that prohibits me from ever talking myself up.
Is writing your full-time career? Or would you like it to be?
No, my full-time job is as a carer for people with intellectual disabilities. I’ve been doing it for nearly seventeen years. It is rewarding work, but ideally I would like to be able to make a career in writing novels at some point.
Are you on social media and can your readers interact with you?
Yes, I am. You will find me on Facebook at facebook.com/authorjoelgreen/ and on twitter @AuthorJoelGreen
How do you handle literary criticism?
With a broad smile plastered on my face while my teeth grind away.
How many books have you written? Which is your favourite?
I have written three full-length novels so far; two in the Blake Drysdale adventure series as well as my horror novel ‘Adversary’. Hard to choose a favourite, but gun to my head I’d have to say ‘A Sword to a Fool’, the second Drysdale novel.
What is the most surprising thing you discovered while writing your book(s)?
That fictional characters can begin to form a dissociative, semi-independent life of their own in my brain and actually start writing themselves. I’d heard other authors remark on this phenomenon before, but I always assumed they were taking the piss.
Do you have a favorite character that you have written? If so, who? And what makes them so special.
Blake Drysdale. He’s my most human hero – endearingly flawed and fallible. I’d conceived him as kind of an anti-Bond – the dude who isn’t as suave and debonair as he thinks he is, who makes mistakes, buggers things up, gets the snot beaten out of him and rarely, if ever, gets the girl. His morality and dedication are both very limited and yet he prevails. He does so not because he’s a superman, but in spite of his many glaring deficiencies. That’s something admirable.
Where can readers purchase your books?
At present, my books are available exclusively on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B07B2PBZ4P
Are you working on anything at the present you would like to share with your readers about?
I’m making slow progress on a third Blake Drysdale adventure. I’m about halfway through it. This new book will find Blake in a pretty dark place and his efforts to climb out of it are rudely interrupted by a deadly new foe and a plot that could threaten the tenuous peace between East and West, not to mention Blake’s profit margins.
Do you have any new series planned?
More than I could ever reasonably write in a lifetime.
What are you reading now?
Presently I’m re-reading ‘The Mad King’ by Edgar Rice Burroughs. One of my favourites.
What books or authors have most influenced your own writing?
Some of my favourite authors, and those who have inspired me, include (but are not limited to): Alistair MacLean, Ian Fleming, David Gemmell, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Peter Watts, Neal Asher, Peter F. Hamilton, Ann Leckie, Stephen King, Wilbur Smith, Terry Pratchett, William Gibson, Connie Willis Frederick Forsyth, Robert Ludlum and Clive Cussler.
What famous author do you wish would be your mentor?
I would kill hang out with Peter Wattsand pick his brain. That guy has huge ideas. If you like your sci-fi hard and weird and breath-taking, pick up one of his books.
How many bookshelves are in your house? –
Glancing at the overstuffed boxes, I’d have to say not enough.
Your hero?
Jack Chruchill – AKA ‘Mad Jack’ – who fought against the Nazis armed with a longbow, bagpipes, and a bloody great sword.
If you could only have one season, what would it be?
Winter. I’m one of those peculiar folk who thrives in the cold.
If you could cure a disease, what would it be?
Daftness.
If you could choose celebrity parents, who would you choose?
Tina Fey and Amy Poehler.
Tea or coffee – COFFEE. Always coffee. Never anything but coffee. Coffee.
Kri
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