Heart

by Simon Morden

Robert and Marianne Newton die within minutes of each he is killed on his doorstep, she is hit by a speeding car in broad daylight. Gideon Smith - the only witness - remembers nothing. Torsten Neubauer - a detective from Berlin - looks where his British colleagues dare not. He uncovers corruption reaching to the very top of government, a plot that is to end in a coup, and a man who slays his victims with cursed bullets. Gideon Smith holds the key to a mystery he doesn't understand, despite the dead rising to explain it. Only he stands between a mad man and the end of the world. After a gap of ten years, Heart is available again.

416 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2002

About the author

Aka S.J. Morden
Dr. Simon Morden, B.Sc. (Hons., Sheffield) Ph.D (Newcastle) is a bona fide rocket scientist, having degrees in geology and planetary geophysics. Unfortunately, that sort of thing doesn’t exactly prepare a person for the big wide world of work: he’s been a school caretaker, admin assistant, and PA to a financial advisor. He’s now employed as a part-time teaching assistant at a Gateshead primary school, which he combines with his duties as a house-husband, attempting to keep a crumbling pile of Edwardian masonry upright, wrangling his two children and providing warm places to sleep for the family cats.

His not-so-secret identity as journeyman writer started when he sold the short story Bell, Book and Candle to an anthology, and a chaotic mix of science fiction, fantasy and horror followed. Heart came out to critical acclaim, and Another War was shortlisted for a World Fantasy Award, but with The Lost Art, things suddenly got serious. Contracts. Agents. Deadlines. Responsibility. Scary stuff. The Lost Art was subsequently a finalist for the Catalyst Award for best teen fiction.

As well as a writer, he’s been the editor of the British Science Fiction Association's writers’ magazine Focus, a judge for the Arthur C Clarke awards, and is a regular speaker at the Greenbelt Arts Festival on matters of faith and fiction. In 2009, he was in the winning team for the Rolls Royce Science Prize.

Reviews

[Katie Daniels · Rating 5 out of 5]

What do Excalibur, Enoch, and Lord of the Rings all have in common? The answer is "Heart" by Simon Morden. The plot starts out deceptively simple. An almost cheesy prologue eventually turns into a rather straightforward detective story and almost a third of the way through the story the reader is rather perplexed as to what the author is driving at. I didn't expect this novel to be a King Arthur story--it really surprised me when I found it that it was. Surprised and skeptical. But this is one of the best retellings I have ever read, and one of the most moving and riveting novels I've laid my hands on. And as the final icing on the cake it's been rereleased under Creative Commons and the ebook is available for free on the author's website. There was nothing I didn't like about this book. Go read it.

[Jonathan Oliver · Rating 4 out of 5]

A story rich with legend and myth but even with these big themes it manages to quietly moving and human.

[Lushr · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has a mysterious package more important than anyone's life, a character over a thousand years old, a Berliner finding himself fighting for Britain. A tattoo and secret clan. And a secret.

It's hard to tell this story without giving anything away. If you like Simon Mordens work (and you should) this is one of his earliest pieces. Still has great characters, great ideas, and is only slightly less polished due to inexperience.

[Derek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good for a first novel. Very difficult to put down, and satisfyingly English.