Tagged: peter luther
Peter Luther - The Vanity Rooms - The Welsh Dan Brown sets new thriller in Cardiff Bay
By , 2013-02-02
Penarth author Peter Luther, whose supernatural thrillers have resulted in him being dubbed by critics as the Welsh Dan Brown, is about to launch his fourth novel.
A successful solicitor and an accomplished musician, Peter Luther’s first novel Dark Covenant became a word-of-mouth publishing sensation and has already been reprinted twice by Ceredigion-based publishers Y Lolfa. Following the success of the widely acclaimed Dark Covenant and his follow-up novels, The Mourning Vessels and Precious Cargo, the man critics have dubbed the Welsh Dan Brown will be launching his fourth novel in Cardiff Waterstones on Friday evening.
The Vanity Rooms is located in Cardiff Bay, in a decrepit building that offers free accommodation to wannabe actor Kris Knight. His room contains a chess game which has a life of its own, where the pieces come to resemble real people, and very soon the game becomes a ruthless one of life and death. The Vanity Rooms is the third in a series featuring Tristyn Honeyman, a Welsh minister and spiritual detective on the trail of a secret society.
Peter describes his books as supernatural thrillers with historical backdrops, but which have modern, relevant themes at their heart. “I write in an unfashionable genre – the supernatural thriller without vampires,” explains the author. “All of my stories are set in Wales, as it’s a beautiful, dramatic country with inexhaustible sources of inspiration. The majority of my scenes are, however, set in my home city of Cardiff, because of my familiarity with the area.”
He admits that his fictional work is influenced by his personal experiences. “I’m a great believer in writing what you know about, and this is true even of supernatural thrillers. My stories aren’t set on some alien planet or alternative reality. Cardiff is an important location in my books, and the characters are normal people with normal lives.”
Peter Luther has built a loyal band of followers, as testified by the response to his first three novels on his website, www.peterluther.co.uk . The Vanity Rooms will be launched in Cardiff Waterstones tomorrow night, Friday, 22 February at 6.30pm.
Acclaim for Peter Luther’s novels:
“This captivating story will keep you reading until the last page… Five stars.” Waterstones
“This is classic good versus evil horror stuff, enough to make you flinch at times, while admiring the imagination and accomplishment of a very fine author.” Western Mail
Precious Cargo promises couples beautiful and gifted children when all other means have failed, but it’s a lifetime deal. The newborn children are ruled by its Trustees’ baptism gifts, handcrafted toys that nurture their talent and aspirations. The toys also understand what’s at stake, for while two Precious Cargo children are born every year, only one survives past age sixteen. Their fate seems linked to a Fabergé egg with an impossible lock, the clue to an old, fanatic crime…
As with all Peter Luther novels, the concept behind the story is bizarrely original: handmade toys communicating with a terrifying code, and a mystery that reaches back to the era of Marie Stopes.
Peter says of his third novel, “This is my most ambitious work to date. I always feel a sense of trepidation when my books are released because the ideas are so left field, so I wonder how they will be received. Fortunately, my readers have shown themselves to be very receptive to something which doesn’t neatly fit into one particular genre. In truth, my novels are human interest stories masquerading as supernatural thrillers, albeit with some entertaining twists.
“As someone who has trod the bitter path of IVF, Precious Cargo is also inspired from experience. The book is dedicated to my wife, the most courageous person I know.”
Peter Luther , a successful solicitor and an accomplished musician, lives in Cardiff and has already published Dark Covenant and The Mourning Vessels , supernatural thrillers which have been widely acclaimed in Wales and beyond. He has been called the ‘Welsh Dan Brown’.
Precious Cargo is published by Y Lolfa and was launched at Waterstone’s, Cardiff on 16 April 2010.
Peter , a Cardiff solicitor, was delighted at the news, saying, “It’s wonderful to have received such a positive response in a genre that’s so difficult to penetrate for a new author. I believe Dark Covenant has appealed to a wide range of readers, notwithstanding its ‘supernatural’ tag. This is perhaps because it explores the oldest of stories, that of gaining the world to lose your soul.”
Peter writes completely original supernatural thrillers, which address real life themes. His second novel, The Mourning Vessels , was published in October 2008 to critical acclaim and is the first in a series featuring Tristyn Honeyman, a Welsh minister on the trail of a nefarious secret society. The next instalment in the series, Precious Cargo , will be published by Y Lolfa in February 2010.
Cardiff author Peter Luther has just launched his second novel, The Mourning Vessels . It is loosely located in his favourite town of Tenby. The fast paced supernatural thriller is based on the machinations of a Satanic coven –The Divine Sentiment and the story follows the main character Ellen’s quest to unriddle their sinister operations and free the souls of her dead parents.
Although he is a new face, he has built a loyal band of underground followers, as testified by the response to his first book on his website www.peterluther.co.uk . His fans will be pleased to hear that Peter revealed at the launch of Mourning Vessels, in Waterstone’s Cardiff , that he has already written his third novel Precious Cargo and hopes to see it published next year.
Peter Luther , a successful solicitor and an accomplished musician, admits that his fictional work is influenced by his personal experiences, his latest born from the tragic loss of both his parents and his next relates to his wife’s experiences of receiving IVF treatment. He will be touring bookshops throughout Britain in November and December.
The Mourning Vessels in available in bookshops and www.ylolfa.com priced at £7.95.
Peter Luther will be signing copies of Mourning Vessels at the following shops in November
November 1 November
Waterstones, 9-11 Regent Street Wrexham at 11:00am – 1:00pm
Waterstones, 14 Eastgate Row, Chester at 2:30pm – 4:30pm
8 November
Waterstones Nottingham, 1-5 Bridlesmith Gate, Nottingham at 11:00am – 1:00pm
15 November
Waterstones, 4a High Street, Abergavenny at 11:00am – 1:00pm
Borders, New Park Shopping Centre, Llantrisant at 2:30pm – 4:30pm
22 November
Borders, 14 The Hayes, Cardiff at 1:30pm – 3:30pm
29 November
Waterstones Chiswick, 220-226 Chiswick High Road, Chiswick at 11:30am – 1:30pm
December and January dates to be confirmed
The Vanity Rooms by Peter Luther - A Review
The Vanity Rooms is the third episode in the Honeyman saga in which a de-frocked Baptist minister battles an old, demonic Welsh priesthood.
...
..
The estate agent begins to pay attention when she learns that he is an aspiring writer and his name is Kris Knight. She remembers her client telling her:-
" He is wanting to be artist.
His name is chesspiece."
She drives at speed across Cardiff Bay to ''The Gathering'' an 18th century dwelling with stunning interior decor and a sinister past. An inscription in the hallway reads:-
" It became customary to gather in front of the Huts or around a large tree: song and dance, true children of Love and Leisure, became the amusement or rather occupation of idle men and women gathered together. Everyone began to look at everyone else and to wish to be looked at himself, and public esteem acquired a price. "
The one who sang or danced the best, the handsomest, the strongest, the most skilful, or the most eloquent came to be highly regarded, and this was the first step at once toward inequality and vice: from these preferences arose vanity and contempt on the one hand, shame and envy on the other. "
But there is no pressure to take the vacant room:-
" We can leave if you want ", she said.
" What? "
" Kris, " she said....." It's important that you know that. In fact they told me to say that. You dont have to see the room. You can just go. "
But Kris Knight does not leave soon enough and he becomes embroiled in the machinations of Temple 1313. Believing initially, that he has found a benign and benevolent sponsor for his artistic endeavours, he is convinced that his boundless ambition will be rewarded with success and popular acclaim under their guidance. The sinister ''cellphone'' he is given and the extraordinary ''real life'' chess game that he is forced to play soon disabuse him of this notion. He comes to realise that, in order to escape, he must master the game or face a life of hellish servitude.
This is ''sophisticated horror'' and Peter Luther continues to provide his growing audience with exquisitely crafted and electrifying supernatural thrillers.
Whatever your take on the authors fantastical plot devices and whatever you make of his twisted and macabre supernatural themes you will not be able to put this book down until you reach the last page. Be warned! You too will become a temporary tenant of ''The Gathering''.
... Peter Luther is an author of exquisitely crafted and electrifying supernatural thrillers. Peter, who lives in Cardiff has been referred to as the ''Welsh Dan Brown''. In 2010 AmeriCymru spoke to Peter about this comparison, and other matters including his new ( then forthcoming ) novel The Vanity Rooms Visit Peter''s website here
..
Peter: In my opinion there is no better training for writing fiction than being a lawyer. You meet interesting people and encounter a lot of unusual situations.
Dark Covenant mirrors the rough and tumble of my career as a practising solicitor, but the law does spill over to my other novels. There is an understanding probate solicitor in The Mourning Vessels , and a stressed criminal solicitor in Precious Cargo .
I also think being a lawyer hones your analytical skills: my stories have very tight plot structures, with strict rules within the bizarre world I have created. I’m sure this is partly as a result of my legal training.
On a general note, I think life experience is very important for being a novelist. I tried writing in my early twenties, but when I returned to it in my late thirties my perspective was far more rounded.
AmeriCymru: All your novels so far have been set in Wales. Is there any particular reason for that or is it just familiarity with the area?
Peter: I do a lot of signings in England, and the readers I meet are always pleased to see a story set in Wales. I don’t think there are enough of them east of the Severn Bridge. It’s a beautiful, dramatic country with inexhaustible sources of inspiration.
The Mourning Vessels is set in Tenby, probably my favourite place in the whole world.
The majority of my scenes are however set in my home city of Cardiff, which is because of my familiarity with the area.
AmeriCymru: Were you a horror fiction fan? Are there any particular horror writers whose style you admired or were inspired by?
Peter: I’m not a horror fiction fan per se, but I love anything that is original and well-conceived. In this respect I was very influenced, along with the rest of my generation, by the early Stephen King novels.
The Mourning Vessels involves bereavement counsellors visiting the recently bereaved and offering to ‘solve’ their grief, which they achieve by trapping the departed in the things they coveted in life. These objects - clocks, typewriters, even a bespoke Cluedo board (or is that Clue in America?) - then turn evil and leprous. This has more than an echo of Pet Semetery. It’s sort of a Pet Semetery with antiques...
AmeriCymru: You are quoted as saying that your novels are 'human interest stories masquerading as horror fiction' - what do you mean by that?
Peter: 100,000 words of things that go bump in the night would leave me asleep on my Mac. I need to write about the things that are important to me, which have relevance to my own experience. My characters are ordinary folk with all the ordinary problems: career, money, bereavement, fertility, parenthood. This gives the books what I would describe as their emotional heart, which hopefully leaves a mark on the reader even after all the paranormal conceits and puzzles have been digested, and which saves them from being left on train seats...
AmeriCymru: Could you have written your characters, their relationships and situations in a non-genre drama or in other genres? If so, what do you think you would have to change, if anything?
Peter: That’s a difficult question. If I have a talent, it is that I can take a completely off-the-wall concept and make it believable, and so I cannot really imagine writing in any other genre. With the supernatural anything is possible, and that’s what holds my interest.
That said, I can see myself writing a legal/corporate thriller one day, but it would need to have a very unusual angle.
AmeriCymru: You described your first novel, Dark Covenant , as "a parable of materialism" and your second, The Mourning Vessels, as "a parable of bereavement" - would you describe these as moral tales?
Peter: I wouldn’t be as pretentious to suggest my novels are moral tales, but they certainly have a message. Perhaps the message is a personal one, that I’m writing letters to myself.
In Dark Covenant a struggling lawyer makes a pact with the Devil through the crossword in a lifestyle magazine built from his desires. For me, the magazine represents the contracts we all make in life. We all bargain our time, and sometimes our principles, for the things that we need. For the things that we think that we need. The story is essentially Faust with a modern twist.
The Mourning Vessels was inspired by the loss of my parents. I lost my mum on Christmas Day 2004, and my dad succumbed to grief on Christmas Day 2005. During the year he was alone he created shrines to her memory, from photographs and the little things that she treasured. I didn’t think it was healthy. The book is very much about dealing with bereavement, and I suppose if there’s a message it’s that you need to let go. Remember the ones you loved with a smile, not with pain and torment.
Precious Cargo was based on another sad time in my life: my experience with IVF. There’s a chapter in the book called ‘the imagined child’, because I believed I could see my unborn child’s face, that the child was so close. We tried four times then gave up, because carrying on would have damaged us, I think. Sometimes you need to accept the cards life deals you, and be happy. Anyway, that’s what I believe.
AmeriCymru: how did you imagine the fantastical devices and sinister 'toys' in Precious Cargo?
Peter: I honestly don’t know. These screwball ideas come naturally, if that’s the right phrase...
AmeriCymru: You have been referred to as the 'Welsh Dan Brown'. How do you feel about the comparison?
Peter: My novels have some codes and puzzles, but that’s really where the similarity ends. Mr Brown has a very readable style, but I confess that I find his historical subject matter more interesting than the plot and the characters. That could be because I now read modern fiction with an editorial, critical eye; for this reason I much prefer reading classics or history, when I can completely turn off.
AmeriCymru: We learn from your website that you are working on a fourth novel ('The Vanity Rooms') at the moment. Care to tell us anything about that?
Peter: This is the third novel with my main character Tristyn Honeyman, an ex-Baptist minister from North Wales and a sort of spiritual detective.
The demonic society he encountered in the The Mourning Vessels and Precious Cargo are now posing as an arts charity, giving struggling artists free accomodation. This is in a building in Cardiff Bay once occupied by a chapter that escaped from Revolutionary France, who were obsessed with the Roussean concept of ‘amour propre’, or self image.
The apartment comes with a mobile phone, which has some unusual functions and a strange address book. Both apartment and mobile are infested by the eighteenth century chapter, who are determined to find the true meaning of celebrity, that exclusively human need to be admired.
I know, it’s not the work of a well man...
AmeriCymru: Any final message for the members and readers of ameriCymru?
Peter: Thank you so much. I’m trying to do something a little different, and I’m writing in a very unfashionable genre: the supernatural thriller without vampires. Your support means everything to me.
