The opportunity to become involved in painting and constructing scenery for some of the major theatrical productions of the day was an opportunity too good for an ambitious young artist to miss, so at the tender young age of sixteen, Ken Holdsworth, quit art school for the bright lights of London’s West End.
Two years later the National Service Act put him in uniform. This was the time of the Cold War, the Iron Curtain and the Berlin Wall, and he found himself in the Royal Air Force policing a divided Germany.
Returning to the world of art, he became a structural and graphic designer of packaging, mainly for the cosmetic and confectionary industries, where many of his original creations are still in everyday use.
A published author of articles and short stories, Possessed, is his first novel.
The Books:
Possessed
The year is 1752 and His Britannic Majesty’s sixty-gun, ship-of-the-line, Indefatigable, drops anchor at Fort St George, Madras, a trading post of the British East India Company.
Discover why Thomas Neville, an officer in the 22nd Regiment of Foot and heir to a title and estates back in England, is serving on board as a common deckhand.
Follow his adventures in India, his friendship with the legendary military hero and Empire builder, Robert Clive, his clash with the agents of Suraja Dowla, the sadistic Newab of Bengal… and back in England, of his continuing struggle against the sinister devil worshipper, the Reverend Edwin Cruikshank… in this action-packed tale of love and adventure.
With shoulder-length blond hair and cornflower-blue eyes, Ronnie Simmons was quite irresistible to his fellow actors – of both sexes – and in the jaundiced opinion of his boyhood friend, TV soap actor, Nick Carter, he loses his heart with boring regularity. So it came as something of a surprise when Ronnie’s sister, Susan, begs him to talk her brother out of his latest relationship. Being between jobs, Nick sets out for the rural backwater where Ronnie is appearing with an Arts Council sponsored touring company, but behind the idyllic pastoral façade lies a disturbing mystery and Nick is soon involved in violence and murder.
Both books are available to purchase in our online bookshop.
Possessed and The Final Curtain have been accepted for publication in large print format by Ullverscroft.
Watch out for the third book by Ken Holdsworth: Nevill's Quest is due to enter production in early March 2010.
Crewe Chronicle January 23rd 2008
