Acclaimed Wigan author moves into fantasy novel territory

David Darbyshire, who writes under the guise of his sinister alter-ego, Jon Richter, wiill be bringing out Scarred on June 28 and is published by Collective Ink's fantasy imprint Roundfire Books.

It is his first foray into the fantasy genre after previously publishing critically-acclaimed crime thrillers like 2020's Rabbit Hole, techno-thriller The Warden during the same year, and 2023's collection of short horror stories Dark Fiction.

David, 41, studied English at Standish Community High School in the late 1990s and his work has been in print since 2017, receiving extremely positive reviews, including from fellow writers.

Scarred has been described as "relentlessly inventive” by bestselling crime thriller writer Valerie Keogh, and by horror writer Jacob Mohr as “a bizarre, acid-soaked odyssey across a hostile Wonderland.”

The novel, set in a mist-shrouded and desolate world, tells the story of the Enclave, a crumbling city whose inhabitants are tormented by a terrible plague that swirls within the fog beyond its walls.

Utterly reliant upon the kindness of their inscrutable god for survival, the people of the Enclave are threatened with chaos and starvation when the deity's mysterious food-bearing emissaries cease to appear.

Now Freya, a brave but lowly servant, must journey across the barren landscape in search of salvation for her people. Her journey will bring her face to face with courageous knights, terrifying dragons, monstrous giants and enigmatic wizards... and ultimately with her god himself.

Evoking classic quest sagas such as The Wizard Of Oz and Stephen King's Dark Tower series, with a dash of Kazuo Ichiguro's The Buried Giant and Hugh Howey's Wool, Scarred balances stirring prose with a fast pace and gripping narrative.

Speaking about the challenges of writing in different genres, David says that "it can be difficult because you often find you're selling to very different audiences.

"While I enjoy a range of different genres (all dark and creepy of course!), many readers prefer to stick to their favourite, so you find that people who love your crime thrillers won't necessarily touch a science fiction novel with a barge pole, and vice versa.

"But it certainly keeps me on my toes and suits the way my brain works - I'd get bored of writing in the same genre all the time!"

Seven years have passed since Wigan Today first reported on David/Jon’s work in 2017 when he brought out the ebook of his debut novel Deadly Burial set in the world of pro wrestling.

While accountancy has been his career for years now, he says he has always had a creative said which was manifested in his teens when making several small screen appearances as an actor.

Scarred is available for preorder now by searching on Amazon or on David's website at www.jon-richter.com, where you can also find details of his other books.

He can also be found on Twitter @RichterWrites, or co-hosting two fortnightly podcasts (Dark Natter and Hosts In The Shell, light-hearted discussions about dark fiction and cyberpunk fiction respectively).