Broken Ground

I love crop circles. Back in the late 90s and early 2000s, they appeared in late summer like magic. Overnight, whole fields would be covered in the most intricate formations.

Of course many were made by people. I even know a crop circle maker, these days often hired by film companies, who made some spectacular field art. But were all crop circles made by people? Some believe they were made by aliens – but what if they were made by something else, from under the land?

This is my folk horror version of the John Barleycorn myth, and a homage to the goddess Andraste, worshipped by Boudicca and the ancient Britons. All I can say is never make a land goddess angry…

Things aren't going well in Arlo's life, but they get a whole lot worse when a strange, heavily tattooed girl keeps appearing everywhere he goes.

Turns out she's even more sinister than he thought. Local rumour has it she's been seen in the village before, many times, over many lifetimes.

She only comes when something terrible is happening to the land - like the current plans for gas exploration on a local farm. Trouble is, the villagers say, she won't leave until a forfeit is paid in blood. And right now, the blood she seems to have in mind is Arlo's.

Arlo is sure it's all just stupid superstition. But is it? When he starts losing everything and everyone he cares about, is he prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice to save his friends and family?

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“I just loved Broken Ground ... reminded me of favourites by Susan Cooper, Alan Garner and Penelope Lively ... It has such a great atmosphere - lush at times, and then threatening. Beautiful details of the natural world and the crop circles and, when we actually go to Otherworld, it really does feel strangely vivid and pre-industrial. I bought into this world completely, and loved the characters - and I loved how it takes the genre of folk horror and brings it beautifully up to date with a political and satirical edge.”

-Paul Magrs, author of LOST ON MARS (TRILOGY)

"This story gripped me after two pages. Both the landscape setting and the characters are perfectly realised, and the narrative bowled me along from start to finish. It is literally one of those books for which I put tasks aside in order to find out what happened next."

-Ronald Hutton, historian, University professor, and well-known writer

“Broken Ground did that magical thing of drawing me into its world - now I’m sorry that I got to the end. It’s a great story - likeable and interesting characters, lots of magic and mystery woven into and around a modern folk horror, with a strong evocation of place and a compelling narrative driving the story forward."

-Sara Crowe, author of BONE JACK