First published May 2013.
‘I remember my Nana once saying everyone should have at least one good summer in their lives, one summer that they never forget. I think, this is not a bad way to start my sixteenth year. This is not a bad way to start our summer. And I give Joe a slow smile.’
Sixteen-year-old Lou wants to be thinner. Joe is her best friend and last night they found something they shouldn’t have in his older brothers’ wardrobe. Leon and Travis are shady figures, living shadier lives, and one summer, Lou and Joe find themselves mixed up in the drama, the confusion and the violence. Will Lou’s weight loss obsession spiral out of control? Is Marianne, her self-harming friend, really her friend, or an enemy in disguise? And will Lou and Joe ever be more than just best friends?
Reluctant drug running, extreme dieting, kissing the wrong boys, family drama, and first love. Lou Carling is about to have one messy summer. Buy here
First published December 2014.
Jake Morgan has never been scared of dying. It’s living he can’t quite commit to. Homeless, jobless and aimless, he thinks he is happy. Then one night his estranged sister Gina calls him back to the home he ran away from as a teenager. Their father is suffering from dementia and she thinks it is about time Jake grew up. With nowhere else to go, and loan sharks on his back, Jake returns to the small village he grew up in. He goes back to help his father but ends up being forced to face the question he ran from. What really happened to his mother who vanished in 1996? Jake decides it’s time he had some answers if only to stop himself constantly wondering what the point of his existence is. Will he be able to get Gina on side to uncover the truth? Will his confused father be able to help him work out what was wrong with his mother? And when he finds it, will Jake really be able to handle the truth? This Is Nowhere is a story about a family blown apart by untold truths. A mystery that must be solved in order for a fragile young man to find some meaning in life. Buy here
First published May 2016
Boredom, loneliness, alienation, friendship, revenge, first love, violence, dreams, fractured families and broken communities. A twisted plot to exact revenge on a school bully, a teenage alcoholic who dreams of being a singer, a young girl’s developing obsession with a boy from the wrong side of town, a lonely boy’s attempt to collect strangers as friends, and a chilling glimpse into a future where owning seeds and growing food is banned. A unique collection of dark and edgy short stories and character snapshots, all connected in some way to the novels by Chantelle Atkins. Buy here
Published in August 2018 (Winner of a Chill With A Book Readers Award, January 2018 and a BRAG Medallion in July 2018)
‘There will always be those who say no, Lissie. There will always be those who do not believe what they are told. There will always be those who rebel.’ It’s 2145. 13-year-old Lissie Turner lives in the peaceful community of Province 5. Everyone is provided for and everyone is grateful. Everyone obeys the rules. Lissie has never questioned her society until she falls into a daydream and wanders beyond the fence that keeps them safe. She finds an apple tree which changes her life and threatens to blow her world apart. Growing food has been forbidden since the last war ended 70 years ago. All food is raised under the Domes. With the discovery of the tree, Lissie finds herself breaking the rules. And if she believes what her dying Great-Grandmother has been trying to tell her, she must question everything she has ever been told. Who really started the Endless War? And is it really over? As she uncovers the shocking truth, Lissie must choose between conformity and rebellion, between living a lie and tearing her peaceful community apart… A YA dystopian adventure about a future disconnected from nature. Buy here
Elliot Pie’s Guide To Human Nature
Released October 2018
(Winner of a Chill With A Book Readers Award March 2019 and Chill With A Book Cover of The Month March 2019)
One boy’s mission to find the good in people.
Twelve-year-old Elliot Pie lives a solitary life with his agoraphobic mother.
He is desperate to help her and he also wants to find out what happened to his Uncle Liam, who walked out one night leaving his dog and his car in the back garden.
While his mother sinks further into the darkness, Elliot finds comfort in people-watching.
He is determined to prove to her that good people still exist and when a stranger is kind to him one day, a plan is hatched. A plan to save his mother. A plan that might help him find Uncle Liam.
Elliot’s collection of strangers all have stories to tell about human nature, but is he placing his trust in the wrong people? Or is the real danger closer to home? Buy here
The Boy With The Thorn In His Side – Part One
First published in two parts; July & September 2013. Re-released April 2015. Revised, revamped and split back into parts to make a six book series – Nov 2018
‘I don’t have my headphones on yet, but the music is always there. I have a constant walking soundtrack to my life, you see. There is a song for everything.’
In the decade of Grunge and Britpop, 13-year-old music fan Danny is on a mission to deter unsuitable men from his beautiful single mother. With best friend Michael on board and first love on the horizon, things are looking good. But the good times are shattered when powerful nightclub owner Lee Howard sweeps Danny’s mother off her feet. Howard is a dangerous man who has twisted plans for Danny…Told from both Danny and Howard’s points of view, who is Howard and what does he ultimately want? As Danny seeks escape through music, he finds a loyal ally in troublemaker Michael, but are they making an enemy of a man who will be a thorn in their sides for years to come?
A dark and powerful drama about friendship, music and the choice between escaping or fighting back.
The dramatic story continues in The Boy With The Thorn In His Side Part 2 Buy here
The Boy With The Thorn In His Side – Part Two
As above, revamped and revised and re-released Nov 2018
‘I’d hear a song, and it would cause this utterly jolting and physical reaction inside of me. It would take me over, and it would take me somewhere else.’
Now that his mother has married psychotic nightclub owner Lee Howard, Danny is seeking escape in all the wrong places. Befriended by Howard’s creepy sidekick Jack Freeman, he keeps his friends at bay for their own safety, and spends his days in a drug-induced haze, relying only on music to keep him going. When Anthony is released from prison, he vows to help Danny escape, and with help from drug dealer Jaime, he soon discovers the vile truth about both men. But will Anthony and Michael be able to help Danny, without putting their own lives at risk? Told from Howard’s point of view as well as Danny’s; what is it Howard really wants and will Danny ever be able to give it to him? A brutal and violent climax is on the cards when Danny and his friends make a bid for a new life…Howard is not about to let them go that easily…
A gritty and uncompromising drama with a life-affirming soundtrack…The story continues in The Boy With The Thorn In His Side Part 3 Buy here
The Boy With The Thorn In His Side – Part Three
Brand new book released Feb 2019 – slots in between the first two parts and what was the sequel, This Is The Day (now renamed Part Four)
“Nevermind is playing on my Walkman, in my ears, in my head. I am lost inside the music of yesterday. I have placed the knives around my clothes just like I did before. I have drunk some wine and listened to some music. I am ready.”
Howard has pushed Danny to the brink, and now he has only murder on his mind. Anthony, however, disrupts his plans and offers an alternative. If Danny accepts Howard’s job offer, he can work undercover, and finally get Howard convicted and out of their lives. Desperate to please Anthony, Danny agrees to become what Howard wants. His employee, his son and his protégé. But his new life as a drug dealer is fraught with danger and the temptation of narcotics is too hard to resist. To play his part, Danny must distance himself from his friends, and as his drug use escalates, his grip on reality begins to slip.
When a devastating truth is revealed, both Howard and Danny hurtle towards a final brutal climax, where revelations, betrayals and the thin line between love and hate will determine who survives.
The dramatic story continues in The Boy With The Thorn In His Side Part Four… Buy here
The Boy With The Thorn In His Side – Part Four
Originally published as This Is The Day, now revamped and revised and republished as Part Four in the five book series. Released Feb 2019
Aged 17, Danny was sent to prison for committing a brutal and violent crime. Seven years later he is released, determined to put his disturbing past behind him.
He wants to lead a normal, decent life with the friends who stuck by him and his teenage sweetheart Lucy.
Danny knew life would be complicated on the outside, and he soon realises the past has not finished with him. His loved ones have all been damaged in different ways by his crime, a nosy reporter is desperate to hear the whole sordid story, and someone else does not think he has been punished enough. As a sinister hate campaign starts to target him and his loved ones, Danny is forced to face the reality of the choice he made seven years ago. When he finally discovers who is out to get him, he must decide how to make amends and whether to give them what they want, risking everything he holds dear in the process.
The dramatic story continues in The Boy With The Thorn In His Side Part Five… Buy here
The Boy With The Thorn In His Side – Part Five
‘Music had been my saviour back then…Something that gave me perpetual hope in a very dark and scary world. I always had music. He could never take that away from me. And in the end…he’d given it to me. He’d given me this place.’
Danny finally has the life he always wanted: Lucy, his new baby daughter, and ownership of Chaos – the nightclub he adores. His friends and family believe he has put his violent past behind him – but are they right?
To secure Chaos, his future and his life, Danny was forced to sign a deal with Jerry Howard, the father of the man he murdered. At first, Danny assumes it’s revenge Jerry is after, but it soon becomes clear that Jerry has a far darker plan for him. He intends to finish what his son started by moulding Danny into a fitting protégé and heir to his criminal underworld.
Whilst seeking help for his deteriorating mental health, Danny struggles to keep his darkest secrets from his loved ones and tries to appease Jerry. But at what cost? And is killing again the only way out? Buy here https://www.amazon.co.uk/Boy-Thorn-His-Side-Part-ebook/dp/B08GD2RQYL/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1616682771&sr=8-1
A Song For Bill Robinson – Book 1 in the Holds End series
Tensions are building on the notorious Holds End estate.
The local community centre is fighting for survival and the murder of 15-year-old Lewis Matthews remains unsolved…
Wannabe teenage singer, Bill Robinson, just got out of hospital after surviving a vicious attack. He thinks he knows who attacked him…and why. When a violent feud escalates between him and local thug Charlie McDonnal, Bill vows to find the killer and help save the community centre by taking part in the local singing contest.
Can music bring a shattered community together? And can Bill keep his own demons at bay long enough to win the singing contest and find out who killed Lewis Matthews?
Buy here – https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B081XC9P91/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0
Emily’s Baby – Book 2 in the Holds End series
e killer of 15-year-old Lewis Matthews is finally behind bars and life can return to normal on the notorious Holds End estate.
For Bill Robinson this means a complex relationship intimately involving his two best friends, as well as a reckless alcohol addiction he struggles to conceal; all while his band, The Rebel Anthem, grows in popularity.
But the muffled status quo is short-lived.
Bill’s 15-year-old sister Emily has some devastating news which leaves Bill permanently connected to his arch enemy Charlie McDonnal.
On top of that, Bill starts to suspect that a father lied to protect his son and the real killer is still among them…
Faced with the prospect of his little sister having a baby with a monster, Bill must do everything he can to get to the truth before it is too late.
Buy here – https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08WJPHQHC/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i1
The Search For Summer – Book 3 in the Holds End series
When Bill’s desire for the truth pushed Charlie into an impossible decision, he lashed out in horrifying fashion, stealing baby Gabriel and leaving Bill for dead.
Panic-stricken Charlie is now on the run with his three-day-old son. His hiding place reveals a mystery that will drive him further across the country.
Summer was involved with the set-up that pushed Charlie over the edge and she was there when he stole the baby…but where is she now?
As his band The Rebel Anthem attract a manager and a possible record deal, Bill has a lot on his mind. He cannot accept that Summer would run away and fears his own behaviour may have played a part in her disappearance.
In this dramatic climax to the YA trilogy, previous actions and decisions have consequences for all, while Bill and his friends must find Summer and baby Gabriel and finally bring a killer to justice.
Buy here – https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08ZNMGX2W/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i9
The Old Friend – A Collection of Tales and Poems
A sinister town that’s not on any map, mysterious black vans and missing people, a book that can kill you, a vengeful mother, an account of life after death, and your worst nightmares come true. This is a strange and dark collection of poems, short stories and musings on a variety of gritty subjects, such as revenge, body image, fear, death, life, motherhood, nature and writing.
Fortune’s Well Book 1 – Hangman’s Revenge
In the town of Fortune’s Well a dangerous storm is brewing, and two unsuspecting teenagers are standing right at the heart of it.
For JJ Carson, life has not been easy. His father is dead, his mother arrested for the murder, and he has been forced to live on the farm with his alcoholic uncle, Henry. Just when things could not get any worse, JJ discovers his living situation is not the only thing that makes him different from the other kids. A dark, swirling mist has made itself at home inside him and it is slowly changing him from the inside out.
Enter Darcie Duffield. Beautiful, popular, and incredibly misunderstood. Darcie is sick of the status quo and wants to make a difference. After a chance meeting with a strange boy at the river she becomes tangled in a web of lies and deceit as she tries to help save him from the darkness lurking within.
Why is this happening?Where has it come from?
And why is Darcie the only one who can see it?
Fortune’s Well Book 2 – Project Pandora
Evil doesn’t stay buried forever…
A few weeks have passed since that nightmarish summer, and for JJ Carson the future is uncertain.
Thrown into care and banned from seeing his uncle, the strange mist that follows him around has become his one and only companion.
Each day it grows stronger and more powerful, but that only draws the attention of a strange doctor with an even darker plan.
As for Darcie Duffield, life is back to normal, as she returns to school and desperately tries to forget the boy she met at the river, and the mysterious power he possessed.
But when her friend goes missing, and a ghost from the past returns, Darcie realises she’s barely scratched the surface of Fortune’s Well’s hidden secrets, and the sinister truth that lies beneath.
Buy here – https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0B78D4BQX?ref_=dbs_m_mng_rwt_calw_tkin_1&storeType=ebooks
Fortune’s Well Book 3 – Days End
All things must come to an end…
With the Organisation hot on their trail and their powers growing stronger by the day; JJ Carson and Darcie Duffield are more determined than ever to save Fortune’s Well from the looming darkness.
But when history threatens to repeat itself, and an unseen foe is watching their every move, who will make the ultimate sacrifice to save them all and bring about the end of days?
Days End is the highly anticipated conclusion to the Fortune’s Well trilogy.
Buy here – https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0C3498JR6?ref_=dbs_p_pwh_rwt_anx_cl_1&storeType=ebooks
The Glorious Outsiders 