Tammy's Two Cents: Tim O'Rourke Review, Interview & Giveaway!

 

Detective Chief Inspector John Walker hasn’t a suspect or motive for the murders at Black Hill Farm. That is until sixteen-year-old Ben McCloud walks into Beechers Hope Police Station, asking to be arrested for the killings. During twelve police interviews, Ben gives a disturbing confession about his relationship with Andrea and how his love for her became a dangerous obsession.
Finding themselves alone on a remote farm and desperate to stay together, Ben and Andrea’s world spirals out of control. And as they fight for survival, every step they take leads them into an ever darker world of despair and murder.

But who is Ben? Where has he really come from? And can his confession be believed?

A dark psychological romance with a deadly twist.

This book is definitely a turn on all the lights and crawl under the covers whilst being freaked out kinda book!  I loved it; just when you think you know where the story is going your thrown in a different direction.  O'Rourke keeps you on the edge of your seat throughout both books in anticipation for what awaits around the next corner.

In this dark tale of Romance, Murder and Mystery you will be kept guessing right up until the very end when you will be shocked and blown away at the ending.

Our two main characters, Ben and Andrea, form an almost unbreakable bond in a relationship that is doomed before it even begins.  Quickly getting out of their control and ultimately leading to Murder as they struggle to stay alive and stay together.  It is difficult to say much more without giving something away!  You simply must read these books; Black Hill Farm book 1 is the beginning and ending of their journey together BUT it doesn't explain their entire story.  Black Hill Farm book 2, Andy's Diary, really brings the story to a climatic ending explaining some things that may have left you wondering in the first book.  The same story, told from 2 different POV and yet, it's almost as if O'Rourke has written a 2 book series here.

I am excited to read Tim O'Rourke's other works as the BHF books left my mouth watering for more! 

5 Feathers people, be warned, this is NOT a YA book.. it is an Adult Murder Mystery, sort of Twilight Zone-esque!

And now, the fun part!  Tim was kind enough to do and Interview for me and offer up a LOT of goodies for our Bloggers...  here is my Interview with the intriguing Tim O'Rourke (contest details to follow). 

*Tell me a bit about yourself.  I started writing when I was fourteen and haven’t stopped since. I have boxes of the stuff tucked away beneath the stairs in my house. I have written many novels, plays, most of which will never see the light of day. For many years I kept my work to myself although my family was always saying that I should share it. I was given a kindle last year for my birthday and I discovered that you could publish your work onto Amazon. I published my first book onto the Kindle last March and have loved every minute of the indie author experience. 

*Where were you born and where do you call home?  I was born in England and I live in Buckinghamshire. This where I feel most at home. 

*What was your inspiration for Black Hill Farm?  I wanted to write a dark paranormal romance that left the reader guessing right until the end of the book. I’d always wanted to write a good murder mystery, but with a difference. I’ve read lots of books where the young couple have a typical romance or a love triangle – but I wanted my story to be different. I wanted the relationship between Andrea (Andy) and Ben to be really intense. It needed to be quite suffocating and that’s why I used the remote setting of the farm.

*Was there a particular person that was the inspiration for Ben or Andy?  There was no one in particular that inspired those two characters, but I did want their roles to be reversed from other books that I had read. I didn’t want Andrea (Andy) to be one of those gushing young female leads that hangs off every word of her boyfriend. I wanted her to be strong, dominant and independent. I wanted Andy to lead and not to be led.   

*What are some of the Pro's and Con's to being an Indie Author?  The Pro’s and Con’s of being an Indie author? That’s a good question. The best thing about being an Indie author is that I have complete freedom over what I write – which is great. I can publish the books when I feel that I’m happy with them. I can release a book every six weeks if I wish, and that really helps when you are writing a series. I can keep the cost down and sell my books at low prices as there aren’t many overheads although I do pay for editing and cover designs. The thing about being an Indie writer for me is that I try and write the best books that I can and share them with as many people I can. It’s about getting my stories out there which can be hard without the aid of a big publishing company behind you. But you can do it. I’m really happy with the success that I’ve had as an Indie author.  I do love being an Indie author, but I still don’t rule out being published via the traditional route as that would be exciting too and open up other avenues for my work.

*For those who are unfamiliar with your novel; Black Hill Farm, how would you introduce it?

Black Hill Farm will keep you guessing until the end. I receive a lot of emails from people saying that they just didn’t see the twist coming. A lot have said that once reading both ‘Black hill Farm’ and ‘Andy’s diary’, they’ve gone back and read the books again to try and spot the clues. The clues are all in there I promise. The book is dark in content, but ultimately it is a love story – a tragic love story. The book does have a paranormal edge to it but I don’t want to give too much away. 

 

*Whom in your life would you say has influenced you the most?  A friend of mine called Patrick – he definitely had the biggest influence on me. He died some years ago, but as a boy he taught me that you can be anything that you want to be if you’re prepared to put in the work. He also told me that you should always follow you dreams even if people tell you that those dreams aren’t achievable.  

*What has been the most interesting comment (or review) about your book?  I had a review left for me on Amazon saying that the reviewer couldn’t finish the book because a dog died in the story. The dog wasn’t real! Most reviewers say that they were left shocked by the end of the story and that they never saw it coming. I’ve had emails from people stating that once they had finished ‘Black Hill Farm’ and ‘Andy’s Diary’ they couldn’t get the story out of their head and that they kept think about Andy and Ben. That’s nice to hear as a writer. It’s nice to know that you’ve created characters that people really believed in. 

 *Who is YOUR favorite Author?  Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is my favourite author and has been since I was about fourteen.

*What are you reading right now?  ‘The Others’ by James Herbert 

*Tell us your latest news.  I’m currently working on the first book in the second Kiera Hudson series. The book is called ‘Dead Flesh.’ Once I’ve finished that I’m going to go back and write the second book in my ‘Doorways’ series.  The Kiera Hudson series really took off for me and I owe the characters in that series a great debt of thanks as they brought attention to my work. Not only in the number of people that were kind enough to buy a copy but also to those book bloggers that wrote about the series and all the kind reviews that I received. 

*Please, do tell why we should read your book.  Why should people read ‘Black Hill Farm’? From all the reviews and feedback that I received most people say that they have never read a book like it before. The book is made up of twelve police interviews and notes made by the investigating officer. I think that’s a pretty unique way of telling a story and everybody who has read the book seem to have liked that. As I’ve said before in this interview, the characters are different and so is their love story. It is very dark in places and some people haven’t liked that and have left reviews saying that they were disturbed by the story. But if they were, I kind of take that as a compliment in the sense that the writing was strong enough to make them feel like that. 

*Black Hill Farm is not your only series...  The Kiera Hudson series, books about Vampires, looks very interesting as well.  Would you like to end by giving us a sneak peek, tell us why we should read this series as well.........   The Kiera Hudson series are the books that most people know me for. They are the books that get most of the attention and a lot of that is because of the vampires in them.  The vampires though are not like other vampires. They are different. There are six books in the first series and there is a mystery that runs throughout all six books. I get most emails about Kiera and Potter. For some reason those two characters caught the readers imagination. Just like Andy in ‘Black Hill Farm’, Kiera Hudson is her own person. She is strong willed, determined and confident.  She is smarter than most of the guys in the books and funny too. Potter became so popular that I wrote a book just about him which is linked to the series.  I’ve never had so much fun than when I was writing the Kiera Hudson series. Every time I sit down to write about Kiera and the other characters it’s like getting together with a group of old friends!

Thank you for taking the time to interview me and giving me such interesting questions to answer. 

And Thank you Tim, for taking the time to answer my questions and share your innermost thoughts with our followers!

 

Giveaway will run for 2 weeks (May 6th) and once chosen the winner's will have 24 hours to respond. Good luck guys, be sure to check out all Tim's books via Amazon or Smashwords!!