A CHESTER author has penned a paranormal thriller for his debut published book.

Tony Fennell brings readers a tale of suspense, mystery and murder in McKay’s Nightmare.

The novel follows the exploits of one man and his personally handpicked team of government agents in determining his true identity.

McKay, at present, is an unknown man about 40 years of age who now lives the life of a hobo on the streets of Chester.

A gigantic city explosion he was involved in has left him with amnesia — a paranormal amnesia — and absolutely no memory of his past life or his identity.

Readers follow McKay as he attempts to recover his memory and face his demons, once and for all, whatever the outcome.

Tony said: “My intention and ambition was to write an unusual story that could mix tales of suspense, mystery, murder and the paranormal that would result in the lead character being interesting enough for readers.

“[The book] is a griping read for all ages, with unusual story and mix of characters eventually coming together to identify McKay.”

Tony has written five unpublished short stories: Terror in The Shed, The Cremona Apparitions, The Uninvited Guest, Joes Tea Rooms and Night Of The Prowler. He plans to collate these five in one book titled The Unexplained.

Explaining how he became an author, Tony, 74, said: "The idea of book writing for me came from my inquisitive grandchildren.

"After getting asked many questions by family members about my early life as a young boy and early childhood in Ireland, I had decided to try and put some story details together for them in chronological order and make it easy for them to follow.

"So I purchased a laptop even though I had never used one before, but I soon realised my book writing skills and my laptop ability were on the same level, absolute zero.

"So I now had more than enough on my plate to keep my daytime hours occupied and my grandchildren were happy with my little stories of my youth, but talking about your past with family or friends is one thing, but putting the stories in legible book form is quite something else.

"I had retired from being a general building contractor after 50 long years working and living in the city of Chester in 2010. I now needed something to fill my spare daytime hours.

"Always a very active and fit individual, having spent many years training and teaching Shotokan Karate for almost 35 years in the evenings and weekends, and I still do, but I just needed something more to do besides my evening karate instruction classes.

"Well I started, remembering, and writing, and learning, and now several years later alongside my ongoing autobiography several paranormal short stories were completed along the way that led to my first novel 'McKay’s Nightmare' and some more novels in the pipe line."

Tony would like to thank his wife Margaret for her endless patience and spelling corrections. He said: "Without her on my side from day one I would never have completed this book, but I think it’s fair to say she is very happy it's now completed."

He would also like to thank his friend, 3rd Dan karate instructor Dr Graham Read, Academy secretary for the Cheshire & North Wales Shotokan Karate Academy and also the Chief instructor and founder of the Llanarmon karate club in North Wales, for his endless club training, and proofreading the McKay novel, in spite of having a very busy workload himself.

  • McKay's Nightmare is available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.