The Quarantined City: sealed off from the outside world, with only the sight of the ocean to remind its inhabitants of life beyond. No one knows why the city has been quarantined and conspiracy theories abound.But for Fellows life continues largely as before. He walks the streets, hunts out rare books; the sun continues to shine and the gulls circle above.
There's the small matter of the ghost haunting his house, but Fellows doesn't let himself think of that.
But when he tracks down a story by the reclusive writer known as Boursier, his old certainties fade as he becomes aware that the secrets of the city, the ghostly child, and the quarantine itself, might be more connected than he thinks...
"There's a hint of Robert Aickman in the slow accretion of off-kilter detail and shades of Christopher Priest's enigmatic Dream Archipelago stories in the depiction of the nameless city... The triumph of Everington's first novel is that, while hinting at lofty literary precedents, it cumulatively takes on an unsettling voice all of its own." The Guardian
"James Everington used to be a writer to look out for. Now he's one you dare not miss." This is Horror
"I was blown away by The Quarantined City, loved its structure and its intelligence... a masterclass in technique... this is one of the most cleverly constructed novels I've had the pleasure of reading. The reader can't help but be drawn into Fellows' quest - the clues and riddles presented along the way heightening anticipation of the final reveal. And wow, what a reveal! Perfect." Dark Musings
"There is an edge of Murakami here, we are in a world just slightly skewed from our own but all the more foreign for that. Everington has a crystal clear prose style, reminiscent of JG Ballard but, like China Miéville, twisted toward the gothic..." Damien G Walter
"There is a wonderfully surreal quality to this story so far... the writing skill here and the narrative hooks are enough to keep readers coming back to see how it will all play out." The Geekiary
"This is the kind of thing Everington does better than just about anybody: the sense of contamination across the author-reader lines, the suggestion of the double... the nameless disquiet. We have our horror authors who focus on cosmic terror, who focus on physical distress, who focus on moral revulsion, but Everington is one of the few horror bards of unease - that prickling sensation that something must be wrong, even if you can't pinpoint it - and this story, a kind of liminal horror, is proof." Lauren James
"Good writing gives off fumes, the sort that induce dark visions, and Everington's elegant, sophisticated prose is a potent brew. Imbibe at your own risk." Robert Dunbar, author of The Pines and Martyrs & Monsters
"Everington is excellent at evoking a mounting sense of unease, turning to dread, that close, oppressive feeling when everything is still and ordinary, but the whole world is filled with the sense that something huge and terrible is just about to happen." Iain Rowan, author of One Of Us and Nowhere To Go
James Everington
I'm a writer from Nottingham, England and I mainly write short stories. Most of what I write is dark, supernatural fiction, although not necessarily 'horror' in the blood and guts sense. My main influences are writers like Ramsey Campbell, Shirley Jackson, and Robert Aickman.
I've had stories published in magazines like Supernatural Tales, Dark Moon Digest and Morpheus Tales, and the anthologies Pulp Ink 2 and Off The Record 2.
I enjoy the unexplained, the psychological, and the ambiguous in my weird fiction, and this is the kind of story I try and write.
I drink Guinness, if anyone's offering.
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