Emotional, Erotic And Brutal New Thriller, The Art Of Killing By C.R. Clarke, Shocks To The Core

On The Table Read Magazine, “the best book magazine in the UK“, in C.R. Clarke’s The Art of Killing, DI Gutteridge and his partner DS Keaton must decode the warped messages of an anonymous graffiti artist in Gloucester before they become reality.

The Art Of Killing

C.R. Clarke has worked in SFX and creature FX on over sixty films before successfully transferring those skills to bring his dark and shocking thriller, The Art of Killing, to life. This plausible, shocking and unexpectedly erotic novel delivers on everything readers want in a good thriller, whilst also encouraging the reader to look deeper into the psychology and fragility of us all. The layering of the connections and backstories of his two detectives, DI Gutteridge and his partner DS Keaton, ensures readers are invested in their wellbeing as they investigate such a horrific case.

Detective Patrick Gutteridge’s life is steered down a path littered with memories of his past, memories he’s spent a decade trying to forget after the chance discovery of something unimaginable.

For two years, an anonymous graffiti artist, Tick-Tock, has attracted media interest by decorating Gloucester’s provincial streets with works of art. But the art is changing, distorting, each piece becoming more perverse and contentious than the last. DI Gutteridge sees a pattern forming, pointing to something far worse looming on the horizon. Who is Tick-Tock, the artist turned killer? What malevolent force drives them? Can Gutteridge decipher the code in time, or will the city be forced to endure the infamy of a series of events so shocking that it threatens to stain the streets forever? Only time will tell, but time, is fast running out!

With a conclusion left sufficiently open for Gutteridge and Keaton to be sent on further adventures, thrillers don’t get much better than The Art of Killing.

Christopher Clarke

The Art Of Killing is a dark book, an examination of the weaknesses inherent in the human condition, and the fragility of a developing mind.

Although the main focus if the novel is murder, there are themes of love, romance and the eroticism present in the human mind woven throughout the whole narrative to help give balance and relevance to what is a grim subject matter. The perversions of man are few, but the paths they can lead you down are many!

-C.R. Clarke

A thirty-year veteran of the film industry, C.R. Clarke has worked on more than 60 movies, primarily in the SFX/Creature FX field. You’ve probably seen something he’s created, watched something he’s puppeteered, or even heard his voice.

Despite being dyslexic, creative writing came from discovering his ability to write poetry, and through the continual exercising of this creative outlet, he has all but conquered what many see as a debilitating affliction. Clarke’s particular form of dyslexia affected more his ability to communicate through the pen than his ability to read. He loved books as a child and read Stig Of The Dump at least twenty times. 

By his chosen career, his passion for movies is clear, but he also loves the immersive experience that reading can gift you. Readers are forced to use their own imagination to fill in the blanks, and Clarke finds that carries them further into the narrative of the story. He loves the idea that three people can read and absorb the exact same text, descriptions and prose, but create three entirely different perceptions of the world you’ve been instrumental in crafting. This alone has been the greatest factor in forging his writing style, setting the scenes in ways that ignite the readers own imagination, as opposed to micro-managing details, making them feel more like a participant rather than a witness.

Find more from C.R. Clarke now:

Published by Matador, The Art of Killing is available in paperback (ISBN No: 978-1805140122) and Kindle format.

Kindle: https://amzn.to/489v5sg

Paperback: https://amzn.to/45I72PI

It is also available to purchase at Blackwell’s , WH Smith and Troubador Publishing

Website:      https://www.crclarkethrillers.com/

Twitter:         https://twitter.com/CRClarkeAuthor

Instagram:    https://www.instagram.com/crclarkethrillers/

Facebook:     https://www.facebook.com/chris.clarke.7315/

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