The Faces of the Fiend of Breydon by Charles Reader

A psychological thriller set in Victorian Norfolk

Published by Paul Dickson Books, 4 April 2023, price £12 www.pauldicksonbooks.co.uk

The Faces of the Fiend of Breydon by local author, Charles Reader, is a tale of fear, obsession, passion, greed, folly, and death. It plays itself out against a vast backdrop of marsh and sky – empty, but for distant, shadowy forms. This psychological thriller is primarily set in Victorian Great Yarmouth and the Broads.

The novel was shortlisted out of an entry of 13,500 in WH Smith’s Raw Talent competition in 2002, and is published for the first time in paperback by Norwich publisher Paul Dickson.

Charles Reader explained: “In 1961, my family came to live near Halvergate marshes. I was just two years old and so, as I grew up, this landscape was home. In later life I often returned to stay with my parents – yet each time I did so, I realised that more of the old Norfolk speech and ways I’d grown up with had disappeared, and were in danger of being forgotten. So, I began writing about this area, using my childhood memories and conversations with our oldest neighbours. This eventually resulted in my novel, The Faces of the Fiend of Breydon.”

“It was a great boost to me to reach the final six of WH Smith’s Raw Talent competition back in 2002 and it is now a great pleasure to see my book in print, published by Paul Dickson Books.”

The Faces of the Fiend of Breydon

For John Sayer – wildfowler, sailor, and naturalist – the wilderness of his East Anglian home should be a paradise. For John Sayer – thief, and bringer of death to many – the same wilderness is haunted by his nemesis. It follows him around the marshes and rivers in many guises. It chases him across the open oceans, around the foetid streets of Rio de Janeiro and back through the dark alleys of old Yarmouth. He knows this Demon will eventually catch up. Then it will drop all of its masks for the final reckoning.

Watch three short films about the landscape that inspired The Faces of the Fiend of Breydon:  

Halvergate Marshes:

Burgh Castle:

and Breydon Water:

The Faces of the Fiend of Breydon is on sale at www.allthingsnorfolk.com and Amazon.

Contact: Paul Dickson, [email protected], 07801 103737