AFTER THE BEACH (BEACH CRIME SERIES)

Promotional review by Stef on behalf of Coven Press. 

‘Many people have asked if they’re [the books] true. I admit that they might start with a truth but they soon take off on their own journey,’ G R Armstrong explains. ‘Most stories have some truth in them.’

Inspired by true crime events, After the Beach tells the history of an author’s introspection into the cold cases that rocked a nation, the truth buried beneath the surface and whether or not these crimes were connected more than we realised. ‘Both The Memory of the Beach and After the Beach follow true crime stories I have heard, followed and witnessed in the media. It’s human nature to wonder what really happened, and that’s what inspired me to write this series,’ Armstrong tells Coven Press. ‘It explores the corruption and confusion of these old cold cases, and the hope that answers will come in the future.’

Set in a South Australian beach town shroud in mysterious disappearances and kidnappings, this Aussie crime noir thriller explores the isolation and terror that intersects the harrowing quest for truth and the cost of illuminating the conspiracies that lurk in the shadows. Reeling from the events a year prior, Ricky Deal longs for the solace of the beach. But when a plea comes to solve another cold case, Rick is pulled from comfort into chaos. Shadows haunt and questions confound, and with his own reputation and future on the line, Rick turns to old friends to help him untangle fact from fiction. But just beneath the surface is a reality much more horrifying – a reality that implicates the furthest reaches of order and authority. With the darkness closing in, claiming the lives of those on the periphery, Rick must decide if the ultimate price is worth bringing everything into the light.

Crime noir elements permeate, while political and authoritative corruption heightening the tension already pulled taut in this novel. Armstrong’s deviation into the truth grows more sinister as the mystery unfolds, wrapping the reader in an escalating sense of dread and foreboding once they realise what it is the characters have discovered. After the Beach blends raw and gritty detective fiction at its finest with psychological suspense in a tale of discovery, corruption and cost of truth.

Despite the heavy theme that overarches After the Beach, G R Armstrong stands by the need for the book, and those similar, to be written. ‘It was a hard story to write but it was a story that I felt needed to be told,’ he said. ‘There’s so much evilness in this world.’ Armstrong’s desire to build hope in a dire situation is what moves through this novel, gripping the heartstrings of readers, forcing them to see through the lies of the real world and look deeper under the surface.. ‘This book is about perseverance, about fighting for the right things, even when you’re threatened.’

G R Armstrong is an emerging Canadian-born ex-touring musician-turned-author. He lives in Adelaide, South Australia. After the Beach is G R Armstrong’s second installment of this series, and fifth novel. In 2027, G R Armstrong will be teaming up with Paperwood Publishing and Coven Press for a second time to release his debut into science-fiction.

After the Beach will be available at major retailers and online bookstores in paperback, hardback and eBook formats. Media, book clubs, schools and reviewers interested in interviews, author talks or advanced reader copies are encouraged to reach out to G R Armstrong via www.garyrobertarmstrong.com.

GR Armstrong was born in Toronto Canada but has lived in Australia most of his life. He lives in the Adelaide Hills where he works and writes. For most of his adult life he travelled and toured with rock bands, recording and playing live all over Australia and occasionally Europe, Canada and the USA. But that is all behind him now. Rock and roll may not be as dignified as being a novelist, but it was fun while it lasted. Things are quieter now.