Blog Tour: THE PATH OF REVENGE by Tom Haward
THE PATH OF REVENGE
Tom Haward
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GENRE: Historical Fiction/ Alternative History
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BLURB:
Therebellion is in hiding. It has been a year since Boatman King attempted tooverthrow the Empire, but instead had to escape London with his wife and theirclosest allies.
Notall of Boatman King’s allies are in hiding. Maverick “The Beast” Kirabo is on amission to finish what he started on the streets of London. The formergladiator has a score to settle and revenge to unleash: Rome will fear him asthey once adored him.
Despiteits failure, Boatman King’s rebellion has spread disquiet in Rome’s politicalcircles. Grand Protector Faust dispatches a pair of hunters to search thecountry and bring Boatman and his followers back to London for reckoning.Although Faust is the official face of Rome’s leadership, Emperor Maximus isthirsty to stamp his mark on the world and step out from his dead father’sshadow.
Unbeknownstto Faust and Maximus, a terrifying presence is watching the unrest andrelishing in the vulnerabilities it’s causing.
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ExcerptTwo:
It was a chilly Autumn morning with barely a breath of wind.He gazed over to the other side of the channel to see a seal lazing on the mud.A heron landed a few metres away from Boatman, unperturbed by the man’spresence. It only took ten minutes to leave shore and get to the oyster beds byboat, but it felt like a wilderness. For a moment, Boatman felt like the traumaand stress of the past few months had evaporated, out here in this tinywilderness.
“I definitely prefer hitting a Roman in the face to this.”Tobias’s words brought Boatman back to reality.
“Being out here is good for the soul,” said Boatman.
“What the fuck happened to your soul? It’s muddy, wet andcold. If I wanted that combination, I would have gone to fight in the Aestiiregion.”
“You need an open mind, Tobias.”
“No, I need to be somewhere hot. I used to have a gorgeous,golden tan. Do you remember that? Do you remember my tan? I looked good.”Tobias looked down at himself, mud splattered up his oilskin overalls, “Now Ilook like a pale hobo.”
“Did Maverick know where your off switch was? Because itwould be really handy right now.”
“I came out here with you. Voluntarily.”
“Only because Bella didn’t want you.”
“I’m offended she didn’t want me to go with her.”
“She’s hunting birds. It needs to be done quietly. As in, noconstant talking,” said Boatman.
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Please describe acompelling scene in your story and why it's important.
Bjorn Askå is the major villain in The Path of Revenge. Hisorigin and his history is a mystery, but I wanted to write a scene whichdepicts the horror he personifies. I also wanted to bring together theconnections between certain characters to highlight that although the reach ofthe Roman Empire is huge, the thread that runs through humanity actually makeit a small world. Therefore one scene in question describes Askå’s veryintimate connection with the highest powers of Roman government.
Askå is a terrifying presence, but for fear to be realisedit comes from the unknown. A lot of our fears are more based on what we don’tknow and that not knowing makes our hearts beat faster and irrational thoughtsto come through. I wanted a scene with Askå to highlight that, but then put aslight twist on it where knowing Askå was just as horrific.
The Path of Revenge is very much about visual action andexcitement, so this scene, with Askå is a deliberate jarring of that and bringsan element of horror in to the book. I was conscious of doing such a thing soto grab the reader by the scruff and make the reader sit up and take note ofAskå and what he’s capable of. I’m really proud of it as I think it not onlycements Askå as a great villain, it also highlights the humanity of othercharacters, which may not have been noticeable previously.
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Tomwas born in Essex and, at 4 months old, he and his identical twin were adoptedinto an oyster farming family. Tom now runs the business as generation eight ofHaward oyster farmers. He has a fiancée,baby daughter and a cockapoo.
Tomhas an MA in Creative Writing and The Path of Chaos (Cinnabar Moth Publishing)is his debut novel, which was released August 2023. The Path of Revenge is thesequel in The Path of Chaos series and will be released August 6th 2024.
Website:https://tomhaward.co.uk/
Twitter:https://x.com/HawardTom
Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/tomhawardauthor
Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/hawardtom
AmazonBuy Link:https://www.amazon.com/Path-Revenge-Tom-Haward/dp/1962308138/ref=sr_1_1
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