Mere Mortals by Maynard Sims

JOHN BAIN is a US city detective who advances from being on the cusp of corruption to almost finding redemption.

He is initially selfish in his relationship with his wife – cheating on her. He is initially ambivalent to his career – using whichever methods he finds necessary to get the job done.

Yet he supports his sick mother, and he has his own set of moral codes that allow him to challenge the evils he sees on the streets on his own terms.

He begins to investigate a series of brutal killings that seemed linked to the Capelli crime family. The threads of the investigation run far and wide.

His wife disappears but they have been arguing; Bain assumes she has gone away for a few days. In fact Suzy has been kidnapped by a work colleague who is obsessed with her.

Eventually Bain realizes the truth about himself, and with the killings resolved he sets out to find Suzy, save her and their marriage.

This is the book publishers refused to publish: “There is just too much explicit sex, detailed and extreme violence.”

MERE MORTALS is available exclusively from Amazon.

*****

“…Maynard and Sims’ hauntingly lovely fiction.” ~SFSite, Lisa DuMond USA

“These writers know the form inside out and everything they write reveals the same care and delicate craftsmanship.” ~Peter Tennant, TTA UK

“Maynard & Sims write with a voice that is both uniquely entertaining and profoundly disturbing. Their fiction reflects classic old-school style themes told with a decidedly modern perspective. Creepy and wonderful stuff!” ~Brian Keene, Author, USA

“Not only has their influence shaped the supernatural fiction field in the United Kingdom over the past couple of years, but now they are making significant ingress across the Atlantic.” ~Stephen Jones, Costa Do Sauípe, Bahia, Brazil

*****

Four supernatural novels, Shelter, Demon Eyes, and the two Department 18 books, Black Cathedral and Night Souls, have been published mass market by Leisure in USA. Currently they have completed two standalone supernatural novels, one of which Nightmare City, is out from Samhain in 2012, and the third Department 18 novel, The Eighth Witch which Samhain have purchased. They are working on the fourth Department 18 book, and a screenplay based on Department 18..

They have completed two thrillers, one of which, Mere Mortals, they have published driect to Kindle, and are currently working on a third book. They have also completed two collections of supernatural stories, one of which, The Odd Ghosts, they have published direct to Kindle, and the other, Flame, is out from Sarob in 2012.

Numerous stories have been published in a variety of anthologies and magazines, including the Mammoth Book of Best New Horror, the anthology, Strange Tales, which won the World Fantasy Award 2004 and the Del Rey anthology, The Children Of Cthulhu

Collections include, Shadows At Midnight, 1979 and 1999 (revised and enlarged), Echoes Of Darkness, 2000, Incantations, 2002, two retrospective collections of their stories, essays and interviews, The Secret Geography Of Nightmare and Selling Dark Miracles, both 2002, one introduced by Hugh Lamb and the other by Stephen Jones, and Falling Into Heaven in 2004.

Novellas, Moths, The Hidden Language Of Demons, The Seminar, and Double Act, have been published in 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2007 respectively.

They worked as editors on the first seven volumes of Darkness Rising, and the two annual Darkness Rising anthologies. They co-edited and published F20 with The British Fantasy Society. As editors/publishers they ran Enigmatic Press in the UK, which produced Enigmatic Tales, and its sister titles. They wrote essays for the Mark Chadbourn website At The World’s End.

Personal contact can be made at Michael@micksims.f9.co.uk or len@lenmaynard.co.uk
3 Cutlers Close, St Michaels Mead, Bishops Stortford, Herts, CM23 4FW, England
And they can also be found at MySpace. On Facebook, separately under Len Maynard and Michael Sims. Twitter on @micksims. You can also visit their message board.