What's it about?

The Shaft is a crime thriller with a difference. It incorporates elements of mild horror, but with a fair bit of subtle humour too. There are three main strands to the plot:                                     1) the discovery and re-sealing of an old mine back in the 1890s, involving a wealthy industrialist and his rough and ready builder                                                                                                   2) a young couple buying a flat with a cellar and discovering a mine shaft in it, leading to an accidental death which plunges them into an unimaginable nightmare                                   3) the appearance and progress of a top secret Home Office team sent to contain the challenge of dealing with a dreadful discovery in the mine that leads to four more deaths,                and keeping all of it under wraps so as not to create general panic.                                                                                                                                                                                                      It could never happen in real life though, could it? Or could it?


The Book

The Shaft took about a year to write, but only because I have no set routine and just write whenever the urge takes me. This can be dictated by whether or not I am slightly stuck, or conversely have just been struck by inspiration and am excited to get it all down before I forget. On average, though, I would guess that I only write for an hour or two every day, and when I say every day, I mean not every day.

The Inspiration

My method is to write the first sentence and take it from there. So my only thought when starting the book was 'what if a very deep hole suddenly appeared in the lawn of a big house?' From that point the story wrote itself and I created the plot as I went along. Well that was dull wasn't it.

The Process

I write one first draft, and do not let it see the light of day until I have eradicated every typo or plot hole I can find. One or two beta readers give me some feedback. I act on that and embark on some improvements. By this time there should be no typos left. I have not used ediotrs. And yes, that mis-spelling was a poor attempt at humour.

Marketing

Marketing your book can be an intensive job for a self-published author, especially one with no existing fan base. In most cases it seems you have to spend more on it than you will ever get in royalties for the book. But once I have had all the traditional rejections from agents and publishers, I think The Shaft is worth promoting, so watch this space.

EarlyReviews

"A heart-pounding thriller... that's fun, and rolls along at a good pace. It has plenty of suspense and twists and turns and offers ample action
once the story is set. It starts as an unlikely monster thriller but turns into
something you can wholly believe. This highly suspenseful and
enjoyable story is recommended for anyone who fancies reading
something just that little bit different."

Readers' Favorite

USA

A TERRIFIC Read.  I started this book yesterday and just finished (1:45 AM). It's exciting to discover a writer who excels so outstandingly in his craft. This is a strange tale of what happens to a young couple when they move into a stately manor home now turned into a multi dwelling. The story and characters grabbed me from the start, but along the way, I lost count of the times I unexpectedly laughed out loud. Mr Silvie has an understated, dry sense of humor. What happens to the residents of Ridley Manor is terrifying. But you'll have a lot of fun along the way, mainly because Mr Silvie has a wonderful way of turning a phrase. Thanks for the ride, Angus!

Laura

GoodReads

"It was an enjoyable read. Once the foundation is set and the story takes off, it sucks you in and maintains a good pace throughout. There is a diverse range of characters that all play their parts well. The mystery/reveal balance is well executed. And perhaps my favorite aspect is how the author turned a monster thriller set in the modern world, into a very believable premise. You don't have to greatly bend your scope on reality to buy into this one.

If you're looking for a fun thriller with a splash of monster mystery, I highly recommend this book."

Bryan

USA


"I LOVED your book. So gripping! Definitely your best yet."

My sister

London

Where Can I Buy It?

Great question. Let me think. Oh yes, here.

Unimportant background

English was my best subject at school yet despite this I ended up, as so many do, in IT, via 8 years in retail managing supermarket departments. I primarily managed test environments, and being an unappreciated perfectionist led to some very long hours that left no time for writing.

Taking advantage of a redundancy programme I retired early and focused on writing. The Mysterious Fall took four years to write, and involved a huge amount of research on Victorian life. It's a bit of an epic, and was recently described by one reviewer as an 'enthralling drama' and a 'masterpiece of time travel and crime-mystery fiction that will satisfy readers of all sorts of different genres because of its multi-layered approach'. 

I then embarked on a sequel, called The Slightly Mysterious Death. Again time travel, but this time to the 1950s. It took far less time to write as it was completed during covid lockdown years so there were fewer distractions. It can be read on its own but better to read The Mysterious Fall first. When the writing bug struck again, I tackled The Shaft, and won. Here I am reflecting on that, on a bridge.

This is me, on the Windsor Bridge in Gibraltar

© Copyright The Shaft