Two Penny Blue By R David

Out Now

Three years have passed since the boys disappeared. The small town mourns them as if in a fevered dream from which they cannot awaken.

—

WELCOME

Athan Press is an independent publisher of literary fiction, psychological drama and suspense, often with a supernatural element, and strong, clear storylines.

Learn More

“

They were all caught in the mesh of blood, loyalty, plans and vengeance. Prison diaspora. What, who could they blame? Circumstance, bad luck or the man waiting inside?

Excerpt from Two Penny Blue

Half asleep, he heard the cows going in for milking in the musket light and Gwyn’s gentle voice. It was as if nothing had happened, nothing had changed and the world had been stopped for the little boy tucked up in bed, kept safe, for now, by the soft Welsh night that was probing uncertainly at the verges of another day.

Excerpt from Aden to Zanzibar

His peaked cap threatened them like a plague’s beak.

Excerpt from Two Penny Blue

The terraced houses were piled on top of each other ready to tumble into the Rhondda Valley and the grey, lifeless river far below.

Excerpt from Aden to Zanzibar

Sunlight stabbed like a magician’s swords through the empty knotholes and skewered him where he sat.

Excerpt from Two Penny Blue

‘Mummy?’ he whispered, but she buried her face deeper into her hands and cried through her fingers. He leant against her shoulder and, as her body convulsed, his little body did the same, as if he was unborn and still tiny inside her. He didn’t know what to do or say except cling to her.

Excerpt from Aden to Zanzibar

Her limbs had drawn into her torso like a bony foetus; but her expression had the hint of a smile, like the face of a saint beneath a shroud, a knowingness that could not possibly be there.

Excerpt from Two Penny Blue

On top of the tallest dune, as stark as a war memorial, Sergeant Phillips shaded his eyes to see the now distant box-car, with police cars still circled around it.

Excerpt from Aden to Zanzibar

When they reached the pit, Wales’ cavitary agony, with the winding gear driven into its centre like a nail, Idris held Aled’s hand as they looked down at the men and machines moving like shadows in the dust that bellied to its lips.

Excerpt from Two Penny Blue

He heard the sound of waves above, washing away the mud, tide after tide, trying to set free the boy’s kindling bones.

Excerpt from Aden to Zanzibar

He swept over the playground like a harbinger crossing a dark plain and went through the open doors.

Excerpt from Two Penny Blue

Sergeant Phillips interrupted. The air shimmered around his mouth as he spoke. His voice descended and his eyes did not move because he looked down on reporters: they were for his convenience and, from such a height, they knew he saw everything.

Excerpt from Aden to Zanzibar

She went into the garden where the moon was resting in a tree like a giant egg, its light falling onto the immoveable, patient church, radiating kindness like a holy battery.

Excerpt from Two Penny Blue

They said he was a copper’s copper, old school, but he was anthracite, hard as glass, without ash or dust.

Excerpt from Aden to Zanzibar

Unseen beyond the dunes, the sea was singing the lullaby of small waves, ‘Hush… hush…’

Two Penny Blue By R David

Out Now

Three years have passed since the boys disappeared. The small town mourns them as if in a fevered dream from which they cannot awaken.

—

WELCOME

“

They were all caught in the mesh of blood, loyalty, plans and vengeance. Prison diaspora. What, who could they blame? Circumstance, bad luck or the man waiting inside?

Excerpt from Two Penny Blue

Excerpt from Aden to Zanzibar

His peaked cap threatened them like a plague’s beak.

Excerpt from Two Penny Blue

The terraced houses were piled on top of each other ready to tumble into the Rhondda Valley and the grey, lifeless river far below.

Excerpt from Aden to Zanzibar

Sunlight stabbed like a magician’s swords through the empty knotholes and skewered him where he sat.

Excerpt from Two Penny Blue

‘Mummy?’ he whispered, but she buried her face deeper into her hands and cried through her fingers. He leant against her shoulder and, as her body convulsed, his little body did the same, as if he was unborn and still tiny inside her. He didn’t know what to do or say except cling to her.

Excerpt from Aden to Zanzibar

Her limbs had drawn into her torso like a bony foetus; but her expression had the hint of a smile, like the face of a saint beneath a shroud, a knowingness that could not possibly be there.

Excerpt from Two Penny Blue

On top of the tallest dune, as stark as a war memorial, Sergeant Phillips shaded his eyes to see the now distant box-car, with police cars still circled around it.

Excerpt from Aden to Zanzibar

When they reached the pit, Wales’ cavitary agony, with the winding gear driven into its centre like a nail, Idris held Aled’s hand as they looked down at the men and machines moving like shadows in the dust that bellied to its lips.

Excerpt from Two Penny Blue

He heard the sound of waves above, washing away the mud, tide after tide, trying to set free the boy’s kindling bones.

Excerpt from Aden to Zanzibar

He swept over the playground like a harbinger crossing a dark plain and went through the open doors.

Excerpt from Two Penny Blue

Sergeant Phillips interrupted. The air shimmered around his mouth as he spoke. His voice descended and his eyes did not move because he looked down on reporters: they were for his convenience and, from such a height, they knew he saw everything.

Excerpt from Aden to Zanzibar

She went into the garden where the moon was resting in a tree like a giant egg, its light falling onto the immoveable, patient church, radiating kindness like a holy battery.

Excerpt from Two Penny Blue

They said he was a copper’s copper, old school, but he was anthracite, hard as glass, without ash or dust.

Excerpt from Aden to Zanzibar

Unseen beyond the dunes, the sea was singing the lullaby of small waves, ‘Hush… hush…’

Excerpt from Two Penny Blue

—

Latest Tweets

—

Get In Contact