Song of the Psychopath by Mark Tilbury

Today I’m sharing my thoughts on the latest dark thriller from Mark Tilbury, Song of the Psychopath. My thanks to the author for providing me an advance copy of the book. Here’s what it’s all about:

About the Book

A year after going missing from home, Tommy Scarlett is found unconscious in an isolated country road. He has a fractured skull, broken wrist, and numerous other injuries. Recovering in hospital, Tommy has no recollection of the past. He doesn’t even recognize his own family.

After returning home, Tommy suffers severe headaches and acute depression. Desperate to help him, his father puts him into the care of a private therapist. But Tommy soon learns his troubles are far from over.

As the past is slowly unlocked, it becomes increasingly clear that Tommy has suffered an ordeal so horrendous it beggars belief. And those responsible are determined to silence him by any means possible.

Can Tommy find out what really happened to him and bring those responsible to justice?

Or will the past finally catch up with him and finish him off for good?

My Thoughts

If you are looking for warm and fuzzy, or even a light crime thriller with a little bit of a twist, then walk away. Yes you will get a twist from this book, immediately followed by -ed. They don’t call him Twisted Tilbury for nothing. This book has a really dark heart, but don’t despair as there is perhaps a touch of hope at the end of the story too. The author isn’t quite that cruel to his characters.

This is a story of Tommy, a young boy who is discovered in a country road, suffering from very severe injuries. Tommy has been missing for a year but, due to his injuries and the knock to his brain, he cannot remember where he has been or how he came by so many of the injuries to his body that are not so easily explained. It is clear from his nightmares that something terrible has happened to Tommy, and the author slowly reveals the truth of his ordeal using both these and scenes that are told from the point of view of a group of people who are determined that Tommy never remembers.

As a reader we are kept shielded to a degree from the depravity of the people who took and abused Tommy, in as much as the story is told through conversation or memory as opposed to being necessarily present as the abuse takes place. We are never in any doubt as to the nature of the abuse though and so if this is a subject that you find uncomfortable or triggering then you may not want to read as this is not an easy subject to digest or accept at all.

There will come a point in. the story where you think you know exactly what is going on, understand who Tommy should trust and who he should avoid, and it is with almost claxon like clarity that the alarm bells rang in my head when it came to one such character in Tommy’s life. That said Mark Tilbury still managed to blindside me as whilst I expected the connection, I didn’t see what eventually came to pass. There are some very evil characters in this book, and whilst the reasons for one character’s actions are explored, they are never excused. The almost clinical nature of their actions is perhaps more chilling than the atrocities they carry out.

As I say, this is a very dark and twisted thriller and some may find it a difficult read for that very reason. Perhaps it is the very plausible nature of the abuse that makes this a such difficult read, almost amplified by point of view of Tommy as he struggles to not only regain his memories, but also to deal with the abuse that takes him to a very, very dark place psychologically. Definitely one of the darkest books for this author yet.

About the Author

Mark lives in a small village in the lovely county of Cumbria, although his books are set in Oxfordshire where he was born and raised.

He’s always had a keen interest in writing and after being widowed and raising his two daughters, Mark finally took the plunge and began self-publishing. After being published by an indie publisher Mark has now returned to self-publishing and is re-launching his back catalogue, before a new thriller is due out March 2021

When he’s not writing, Mark can be found playing guitar, reading and walking.