Title
Forever Night
Author
Stephen B King
Genre
Thriller, Police Procedural, Psychological thriller
Publisher
The Wild Rose Press
Book Blurb
Paul Williams is an ex SAS soldier who suffered physical and psychological injuries during an Afghanistan battle. After his wife Amanda leaves him, Williams begins a search to find and murder her.
The army has trained him never to fail, never give up, and survive at all costs, and he is determined to succeed on his final, sacred mission.
Using disguises, Williams passes for 'normal,' but he strikes ruthlessly when he finds any woman who resembles Amanda because he is incapable of mercy.
Williams has quickly become the worst serial killer in the State's history, and Detective Inspector Dillon Bradley heads a task force to stop him. But Williams has his own agenda and intends to cause as much havoc as possible. He will succeed in locating Amanda or die trying and take as many police officers as possible with him.
Excerpt
Fortunately, when I arrived in Western Australia I had around three weeks until the SAS selection process began. I knew that fitness was a major component of the testing, so I trained nonstop. By the time day one rolled around, I intended to be fit and ready—but I was to learn that for the SAS, fitness has a whole new meaning. I trained twice a day, two to three-hour sessions, for seven days a week, in whatever weather was thrown at me.
Day after day saw me with a fully loaded backpack of around forty kilos, running, jogging or marching in the soft sand of Swanbourne Beach. Knowing that a test protocol involved being in the ocean worried me a little. Swimming never having been something I did well, so when I wasn’t on the beach working out I was in the water. I taught myself to swim and tread water wearing my boots, fatigues and a backpack.
I’d never enjoyed swimming as a child and I would certainly never win races for the regiment, but I was trying to ensure I would survive the selection rounds. Treading water fully dressed and wearing boots, I’d been told unofficially, was a must and a way of cutting recruits who were not fit enough. At night, after dinner, I would go to the gym and lift weights for an hour. Not necessarily heavy weights as I didn’t want to be a weightlifter, but a very fit soldier. I did lots of reps, sometimes combining weights and cardio. I would fall into bed by ten, my muscles aching, then be up at six a.m. to do it all again.
The SAS specialized in recon missions and working behind enemy lines. They are often small strike groups against specific targets, or advance observation posts to guide bombing operations and so on. Fitness was based on getting to the target by running, walking, climbing, swimming, or however was needed. Then doing the job when the operation could last hours, sometimes days, before evacuating. There was no such thing as having a rest when being chased by the enemy across a hostile terrain, you succeeded or died. Failure was not an option, and in the field you would live or die because of your physical and mental fitness and determination to succeed.
I was confident I would make it through the selection process as I stood on parade with nineteen other candidates, all of us determined not to drop out or be cut. We all knew that during this first phase, fifteen to twenty percent of us would be leaving.
The course was designed to whittle the numbers, so that only the best remained. It was also psychologically challenging to know some of us would be cut and we all looked at each other wondering which of us would make it and which wouldn’t. To me they all looked tough, mean and fit, and I steeled myself to be better.
My upbringing and insatiable desire firstly to please my father and secondly to excel at everything I did for fear of punishment got me through the barrier testing. That was a series of physical tests that were brutally demanding. When that phase was finished our numbers were down to seventeen.
Mental toughness and dogged determination were qualities that were not just wanted but demanded by the SAS instructors and trainers. Some tests were designed to make you fail. Our responses to failure, at what point that occurred, and how hard we tried to avoid the inevitable were all tested severely. Quite simply, some exercises went on until you could not continue any longer. The applicants who failed the earliest were dropped.
We were moved to the Special Forces Training Center at Bindoon, which is located a couple of hours northeast of Perth, for the next phase, which was to last twenty-one days. The focus here was to test our physical and mental strength further as well as endurance, and our ability to keep calm in stressful situations. A lot of testing was done under simulated, combat conditions with live ammunition being fired around us. Teamwork was vital, and in some cases more so than individual performance. Sleep and food deprivation were other areas tested. We were dropped into the bush by helicopter with nothing but a compass and a knife and a deadline to be at a pickup area. That was just one of the many challenges to get through.
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Author Biography
I left school very early to join a rock band, and spent a few years writing poems, short stories and music. I’ve won two short story writing competitions, had poems published, and enjoyed being a long-haired rock guitarist before life got in the way and I settled down, married and had children. I’ve owned my own businesses and managed large vehicle sales dealerships and observed people from all walks of life. It is these observations which has aided in creating characters.
Among my inspirations to become an author are the other slightly more famous Stephen King, Stieg Larsen, Val McDermid and Leonard Cohen.
Social Media Links
twitter: @stephenBKing1
Facebook: @stephenbkingauthor