FFB - Steel Gods

Scott Grønmark has written (as Nick Sharman, nothing to do with author Mark Timlin’s fictional character) books such as The Cats, The Surrogate, Switch and Next. Steel Gods (1990), under his real name, was his last novel to be published and it isn’t strictly horror, unlike its predecessors. It’s more a blend of horror-sci-fi thriller. It’s a bit like Dennis Wheatley without the verbiage, fast-paced, unputdownable, with plenty of plot-twists to keep the pages turning.

David Cauley is the father of Anna, whose unusual powers and talents make her the target of two bitterly opposed factions. The realisation that there are people with remarkable earth-shaking powers unfolds gradually for David and the reader: people who shaped – and still shape – the world, for good or ill, who thirsted – and still thirst – for power, for dominion over lesser mortals: Gods, steely gods pitched against each other, seemingly heedless of who they hurt in their titanic struggle. You can believe the gods were (or are) like these!

Among those gods is James Lord, an American destined for the White House – if he can survive the conniving faction led by the sinister Dragon Man, Spear. The brooding menace of Spear permeates the pages, his presence is felt even when he is pages away from the text you’re reading. The villain’s two henchmen are almost as reprehensible, evil ignorant killers. Certain scenes may not be for the squeamish, but Grønmark has created characters about whom you care.

Some of the plot twists may seem inevitable and can be out-guessed, but you will still carry on reading because you care about the people: the twists and turns are always logical, hardly ever contrived or strained.

Good value, a good chilling read. It would probably make an edge-of-seat movie.

The blurb tells us that Grønmark is a ‘chilling new talent’ – and so he was (though he’d produced eight horror novels under a different name!). A pity that he chose not to write any novel since.

***

Scott Grønmark is a retired broadcaster, writer, and online and interactive TV exec who lives in a pleasant part of West London with his wife and son.

He was born in Norway and spent the first six years of his life there, mainly on Air Force bases. After his family moved to London he attended King's College School in Wimbledon, and then read Philosophy at Cambridge.

His first job was with the publisher, Academic Press, in Camden Town. He  swiftly moved to New English Library in Holborn - a far racier proposition. He wrote some genre novels for them in his spare time, and after four years had enough saved to become a full-time writer. He did that for seven years, publishing nine novels in all.

 
Eventually, he ran out of ideas and, thanks to a friend, got a job with BBC Radio 2's John Dunn Show, which led to a research job with BBC TV’s Nine O'Clock News, where he ended up as a producer. He spent ten years with BBC News & Current Affairs, finishing as the editor of a live BBC2 political talk show, Midnight Hour.

The above bio is taken from his blog: http://scottgronmark.blogspot.com.es/p/biography.html