The novel

I am currently querying INCURSION, a dark contemporary speculative novel, complete at about 140,000 words.

After the leaders of one nation decide that a mountain of a neighbouring people’s corpses is a fair price to pay to realise their utopia of racial “purity,” and other governments treat the inevitable genocide with indifference papered over with platitudes, something new appears in the world.

In front of the invaders there comes a man in black wreathed in terror, who shatters the earth before the soldiers and whispers to them their secrets. A man who turns them back. A man utterly broken. His name is Darren Green, and he has only begun his mission to reshape our civilisation.

But in nearby woods he is shocked to discover an invisible, sickening malevolence. He doesn’t know it yet, but a host of caged nightmares press against the fabric of reality, reaching out for an agent to help them escape, their only hope of restoring their lost kingdoms the unmaking of our universe.

This presence is maddeningly familiar, filling Darren with an inexplicable sense of urgency.

Like the unknown provenance of his powers, and the terror he sees in the eyes of those he tries to help, this apparent connection bears down upon the crumbling structure of his mind, Darren’s psyche built in desperate denial of the one thing he has always known, that no amount of good deeds can ever make up for.

That he is a monster.

Incursion delves into the dark side of our world and the value of humanity, and is run right through with cosmic horror—for Darren is more eldritch abomination than superhero. It is structurally inventive, with chapters that alternate between third-person past-tense and first-person present tense. It blends the intricacy of Scott Hawkin’s THE LIBRARY AT MOUNT CHAR with the brutality of Christopher Buehlman’s BETWEEN TWO FIRES.

The primary conflict in the novel is Darren’s struggle with depression. The novel provides a visceral portrayal of it, personified by a parasite within him that is the thinking and plotting carcass of a would-be god. Darren’s depression has convinced him that he is a monster, and he hopes desperately that he is not.

I am recovering from a successful career in the tech industry. I was born and lived most of my life in Ireland, but have made a home in Connecticut with my wife and two children. My experience with severe depression informs Darren’s emotional journey. This will be my debut.

If you are a literary agent, you can request the full manuscript below.

Blog posts about Incursion:

• The politics of the protagonist

• Destruction versus unmaking