Paul Finch is an English author and scriptwriter. He began his writing career on the British television programme The Bill.[1] His early scripts were for children's animation. He has written over 300 short stories which have appeared in magazines, such as All Hallows, the magazine of the Ghost Story Society[2] and Black Static.[3] He also edits anthologies of Horror stories with the overall title of Terror Tales.[4][5] He has written variously for the books and other spin-offs from Doctor Who.[6] He is the author of the ongoing series of DS Mark Heck Heckenberg novels.
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Finch is the son of British television scriptwriter and dramatist Brian Finch.[7] He was a police officer with the Greater Manchester Police until 1988[8] and later a journalist.[9]
In 1998 Finch wrote one episode of Little Hippo: Hippos Ahoy for Siriol Productions.[10] In 2002 he worked on fifty 6½ minute episodes of an animated TV series for children called Nora and the Magic Tree for Hogg's Back Films.[10]
Film
[edit]Filming The Devil's Rock at Wrights Hill Fortress, Karori, Wellington, New Zealand
Paul Finch writes for Abaddon Books, which publishes a number of books with similar themes or in a shared universe.
Stronghold is in the Tomes of the Dead series, with the linked theme of zombies; each book has an unusual twist on the theme. This story is set in mediaevalWales, where druids summon an army of the undead to attack the stronghold of the title. (2010, ISBN978-1907519109)
Detective Sergeant Mark Heckenberg, or "Heck", is a British Police Officer and a member of the fictional National Crime Group based at New Scotland Yard. The other constant character in the series is his immediate superior Detective Superintendent Gemma Piper, with whom he has an on and off romantic relationship. In the first book - Stalkers - they investigate the "Nice Guys Club"; a highly secretive organised crime group that provide highly unpleasant sexual services to the very rich. Stalkers became a number one e-book bestseller, selling almost 150,000 copies across e-book and paperback.[13] The second book - Sacrifice - concerns a group that is killing people in a highly graphic way on particular days of the year, such as being burned alive on Guy Fawkes Night. Sacrifice was the most pre-ordered ebook in HarperCollins’ history, with more than 12,825 pre-orders.[14]
Buttermere in the Lake District - renamed Witch Cradle Tarn in Dead Man Walking
The third book in the series was to have been Hunted and the first two chapters of this appear at the end of Sacrifice. However Paul Finch's publishers Avon Books wanted the return of the "Nice Guys Club" sooner than he had intended. Accordingly, they do in The Killing Club.[15] At the end of this book Heck transfers out of the National Crime Squad. The fourth book in the series is now Dead Man Walking, which is now followed by Hunted. Dead Man Walking is set in the Lake District.
The books are published as eBooks and paperback originals by Avon Books. In 2014 The Sun newspaper gave away free eBooks of Stalkers to its readers.[16] The first 6 chapters of The Killing Club were made available free to download onto Amazon Kindle.
The title character in the Lucy Clayburn series is an efficient detective, promoted from the uniformed constabulary of the Greater Manchester Police, who struggles to overcome the twin burdens of having once made a life-threatening mistake and the knowledge that her estranged father is a vicious gangster.
John Pelan in a review of After Shocks said, "I'll go out on a bit of a limb here and say that I think that Finch owes far more to Sheridan Le Fanu than to M R James. A main strength of Finch's work is his deft portrayal of classic supernatural creatures of myth such as the pooka, goblins and dandy dogs, and the incorporation of local legends and mythology was one that certainly served Le Fanu well."[23]
Dan Howarth in his review of Sparrowhawk for the website This Is Horror said, "One of the principal triumphs of Sparrowhawk is how the story captures the sense of Christmas. The images of deep snow drifts and produce on display in the markets are brilliantly festive, yet Finch still manages to create a sense of terror that holds true to the Victorian spirit of the Christmas ghost story. The scares in the book are sharp and perfectly accentuate a measured and believably atmosphere of dread."[24]
David Marshall[25] wrote about Dark North, "The chase away from the battlefield and into the foothills of the Alps is a magnificently sustained piece of writing."[26]
^Martin, Thomas L. (5 January 2011). "Black Static 14 Dec 2009/Jan 2010". SF Crowsnest. Archived from the original on 15 December 2014. Retrieved 23 November 2014. Issue 14 of 'Black Static' opens well with the excellent story "We, Who Live In The Wood" by Paul Finch.
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