Was Jesus really a god? What if the gospel stories are colourful and distorted reimaginings of what actually happened? This is one of the central ideas in Million Eyes II: The Unraveller, a book that also connects the dinosaurs, the Gunpowder Plot and the Bermuda Triangle in a weird, twisty, timey wimey adventure.
Million Eyes II: The Unraveller is out today in good old paper form. If you’d like a physical copy, it’s available now from all good bookshops and Amazon.
Here’s a link to all the places you can buy it.
And here’s a quick link to Amazon.
You can also buy direct from Elsewhen Press’s portal on their website.
Or better yet, come to the launch!
Copies of Million Eyes II will be discounted from £11 to £9 at the book launch taking place at Chandlers cafe in Clanfield, Hampshire on 19th November. Event details here.
Meanwhile, the blog tour continues
The past week of the blog tour has included more reviews, extracts and Q&As. Here’s a roundup.
In an interview with The Scribe, a UK veterans writing group, I talked about R.L. Stine’s influence on my writing as I was growing up, why I’m a plotter not a pantser, and why I don’t agree with Stephen King’s aversion to adverbs. There’s also an extract featuring my main character in Million Eyes II, Dr Samantha Lester.
The next stop on the tour was on the website of writer Sarah Udoh-Grossfurthner. Her interview focused on how my time as a criminal defence lawyer has influenced my writing and whether I would ever go back to it. I haven’t been a lawyer since 2014 so it was really interesting to look back on this chapter of my life.
Sarah’s interview also came with an extract featuring Joseph of Arimathea, the dude who’s said to have buried Jesus in the tomb, and according to legend, travelled to Britain with the Holy Grail…
Then came another review, from Brown Flopsy’s Book Burrow. She calls the book “another madcap romp through time” and “even more ambitious in the scope of the events” than book one.
C.R. Berry makes a brilliant job once more of looking at events from history in a whole new, and darkly comic way, weaving them beautifully into an adventure that will appeal to lovers of both time travel and conspiracy novels.
That said, my favourite quote from Brown Flopsy’s review, the one that made me giggle, is this one 😉
I am undecided about the usefulness of the scattered sex scenes, which are a little cringeworthy, but even these weirdly fit with the quirky style of the book, and as it happens at least one of these did lead to events that made me chuckle.
Next came a review from Jazzy’s Book Reviews, who also had lots of good things to say.
This book has its moments where it packs a punch. It makes you think. It triggers a curiosity and need for more.
I then talked to writer Elizabeth Hirst in the next stop, about why I prefer writing female protagonists and antagonists (sorry, boys). I also discuss my favourite films, TV series and books and how they’ve influenced me, and how I approached my first car chase in Million Eyes II.
The interview includes an excerpt of an action scene from Million Eyes II, which takes place in the infirmary of Glastonbury Abbey during the Middle Ages and features an assassination attempt.
Fellow Elsewhen Press author Ira Nayman interviewed me for the next stop on the tour, although his interview was published again on the Scribe’s website due to some issues he was having with his own site. In this interview I talked about the allure of conspiracies, both to me and to readers. I also discussed the controversial retellings of the story of Jesus and Princess Diana’s death in the books, the grandfather paradox in time travel, and the Million Eyes short stories.
And finally today, Karen Cole at Hair Past a Freckle has posted a fabulous review of Million Eyes II.
The excellent characterisation ensures we care about some characters and are deeply suspicious of others but this is a fiendishly surprising storyline and things are unlikely to pan out as you’d predict! I’d describe Million Eyes II as Doctor Who and Back to the Future meets The Da Vinci Code. The intelligent, fast-paced plot is packed with shocks and surprises and despite obviously being a far-fetched scenario, C.R. Berry manages to make it all seem scarily plausible.
Keep an eye on my Facebook for more stops on the tour over the next week.
And if anyone reading is going to Novacon this weekend, I’ll see you there!
C.R. Berry 