Michael Tyne
Shannon Lockyer thinks of herself as being rather dull.
But ten years ago, a tramp called Sharkey gave her a mantra which seems to work against all manner of inconvenient people - leafleters, sales people, train conductors and the like - and she’s used it, over and over. Now, Sharkey's gone missing and Shannon is a person of interest in a world which she never even knew existed. One which involves the rather splendid Henry Braxton (an actual historian who even gets paid for it); Seymour and Murphy, joint proprietors of the Magicians’ Institute (Cleckheaton Branch); and Shannon’s own grandmother, Ma Skelmersdale. A world overseen by the mysterious and all-knowing Queen Of Fucking Everything.
The story of this strange world reaches back into history, to the Workhouses and Casual Wards of the past and the lives of the tramps who frequented them; a world which ‘normal’ people might never see and one in which magic, of a very human kind, is real.
Just as everything starts to seem rather absurd, she is confronted with the bitter reality at the heart of that world - the tragedy of homelessness. Suddenly, Shannon Lockyer has something to care about.
There's only one way she can help. Find Sharkey...
"A magical story to make you think" - Heather Walker
AS FEATURED ON BBC RADIO
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Available in paperback and Kindle E-book
More Praise for Sharkey
"This is a great book. Very well written and an interesting and unusual take on the urban fantasy genre with some very thoughtful and nuanced points to make."
'TRIV' - Amazon Reviewer
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"I thoroughly enjoyed this, it straddles two worlds very nicely and has a wonderful element to it that reminded me strongly of the humanity in Terry Pratchett‘s work without being in the least derivative...The characters are strongly written, well rounded and you come to care about them very quickly. The social commentary is strong without being preachy and although the action is described in more broad strokes than the people it keeps you reading. The second reading has brought out lots that I missed the first time, (in my opinion the sign of a good book) and I’d recommend this to others even while it’s blimmin’ difficult to pigeonhole as to genre."
'Po Bear' - Amazon Reviewer
Thought provoking and moving
A beautiful, haunting book that brings back the magic of the tramps of old. This book was so beautifully written, I was gently enveloped into a different world. A world that exists all around us but we rarely notice. Michael Tyne is a wonderful wordsmith, and a magical storyteller. I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of this book.
'RW' - Amazon Reviewer
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Check out reader reviews for the Shattered Land trilogy here...
