Saxon's Bane

Solaris is pleased to present a supernatural thriller by a debut author that blends the Dark Ages and the present into a chilling rural nightmare.

Fergus’s world changes forever the day his car crashes. Traumatised by his near-death experience, he tries to discover a gentler pace of life, fall in love – and be targeted for human sacrifice.

Clare Harvey’s life will never be the same either. The archaeologist’s dream find – the preserved body of a ritually murdered Saxon warrior and the nearby partial skeleton of a young woman – is giving her nightmares. Fergus discovers that his crash is linked to the excavation, and that the countryside harbours dark secrets. As Clare’s investigation reveals the full horror of a Dark Age war crime, the couple seem destined to share the Saxon bodies’ bloody fate.

Gudgion’s first novel is a terrifying glimpse into countryside saturated by dark history and the fears of the modern mind, which evokes the works of authors such as Phil Rickman and MR James.

“Once there was a great classical tradition of rural British horror from MR James to The Wicker Man. Now Geoffrey Gudgion has revived the style, proving there’s still nothing as creepy as the countryside”

– Christopher Fowler, author of the Bryant and May mysteries