The Path of Revenge
The Path of Chaos Series
Book Two
by Tom Haward
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GENRE: Historical Fiction / Alternative History
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BOOK BLURB:
The rebellion is in hiding. It has been a year since Boatman King attempted to overthrow the Empire, but instead had to escape London with his wife and their closest allies.
Not all of Boatman King’s allies are in hiding. Maverick “The Beast” Kirabo is on a mission to finish what he started on the streets of London. The former gladiator has a score to settle and revenge to unleash: Rome will fear him as they once adored him.
Despite its failure, Boatman King’s rebellion has spread disquiet in Rome’s political circles. Grand Protector Faust dispatches a pair of hunters to search the country and bring Boatman and his followers back to London for reckoning. Although Faust is the official face of Rome’s leadership, Emperor Maximus is thirsty to stamp his mark on the world and step out from his dead father’s shadow.
Unbeknownst to Faust and Maximus, a terrifying presence is watching the unrest and relishing in the vulnerabilities it’s causing.
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EXCERPT ONE:
Maximus called for the nurse. Well, called was a rather generous word for the animalistic noise that his mouth emitted. Ever since his head had been caved in by a hammer, he wasn’t able to vocalise much that made any sense. In his head, though, in his head, everything made sense and the words that bounced around his brain were as clear as the hatred that bubbled in his gut. The hatred was centred on Maverick Kirabo, the man who had wielded the hammer that had left a permanent dent in Maximus’s skull.
It had been eleven months since Max had one minute been enjoying crucifying Olivia King, feeling the butterflies in his belly as he smashed nails through her wrists, and the next minute waking up in this gods-forsaken room, fluorescent lights causing splinters of pain in his skull and tubes sprouting from his body like a plastic porcupine.
Maximus made a guttural noise again to try and get the nurse’s attention. Eventually she appeared; she tried to conceal a look of disgust, but she was either a poor actor or disinterested in trying. Maximus had assumed his face was a picture of horror from his injuries, which it was, but the nurse’s disgust didn’t come from the patient’s wounds but from the patient’s personality.
Maximus Nero was infamous for his sadism. He made no secret of the pleasure he derived from other people’s pain. It was that pleasure that had motivated him to travel to Britannia to track down Olivia King.
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GUEST POST:
Putting Yourself on a Page: What It’s Like to Share Your Most Personal Words with the World
I think writing anything is deeply personal, regardless of the genre. When sharing what your imagination creates, there’s a sense of bravery in giving another person access to that. I also think there’s a vulnerability to being a writer because I know I regularly have imposter’s syndrome and think I’ll get caught out and exposed for being a poor writer.
I used to write a lot of content related to my mental health struggles and the journey I went on through extreme darkness, to healing. It was very personal and very difficult to read, but the honesty meant I never worried about what people thought of the writing. It was almost ironic in being so honest that it almost made me not worried about criticism.
When it comes to writing fiction though, it sometimes feels like it’s much more personal. Crafting characters you want to feel authentic can be very difficult and therefore when people meet these characters, there’s a nervousness about how people will respond to the characters. Also, as a writer, you have an expectation of how you would like the reader to respond to characters and situations so it’s interesting to find out when readers have a very different response. But that’s the beauty of books; they’re so subjective it’s fascinating how your work is interpreted.
The most significant part to sharing my words with the world is the joy of doing it. Even though it’s scary, it’s an honour to have the opportunity to breathe into life what my imagination has been creating, and humbling with each and every page that is read by someone.
I would say that anyone aiming to be a published writer is to embrace the fear about what people might think, as it’s part of being a creative.
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AUTHOR BIO:
Tom was born in Essex and, at 4 months old, he and his identical twin were adopted into an oyster farming family. Tom now runs the business as generation eight of Haward oyster farmers. He has a fiancée, baby daughter and a cockapoo.
Tom has an MA in Creative Writing and The Path of Chaos (Cinnabar Moth Publishing) is his debut novel, which was released August 2023. The Path of Revenge is the sequel in The Path of Chaos series and will be released August 6th 2024.
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GIVEAWAY INFO:
Tom will be awarding a $10 Amazon OR Barnes and Noble Gift Card (Winner's Choice!!!) to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
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