Simon's Helter Skelter by Karl Morris

In the late 1990s, Michael ‘Mickey’ Bridle was one of the first criminals to successfully cultivate marijuana in the UK. When all other criminal gangs were exposing themselves to high-risk smuggling, Mickey set up an industrial-scale cannabis factory in the northern town of Widnes, on the outskirts of Liverpool.

Embroiled in bitter disputes in the criminal underworld, Mickey sought the help of his friend and ex-doorman Stuart, who already had a reputation for extreme violence. Together they opened a martial arts academy to hire and train a private army of enforcers to protect their illegal enterprise.

Ambitious martial artist Chris, whose ability with a sword has caught the attention of the gang’s leaders, is slowly rising through the ranks, gaining his own reputation as a ruthless enforcer. But the further up he gets, the more he realises that there’s more to the firm that just cannabis. Stuart is hiding a dark secret, a secret that could tear the business apart. And when a rival gang threatens all-out war, Chris is called on to settle the score.

A work of sublime story-telling, Simon’s Helter Skelter is a crime thriller that breaks the mould, breaking out of the genre to include aspects of horror, psychological suspense, the occult and supernatural. At its heart, it is a gothic tale of revenge, which challenges the reader to take their own journey into this underworld.