The Wave
When the Wave hits, South Lancashire becomes a battlefield. A team of ex‑special forces must protect a fragile community—and the secret that could rebuild or destroy them all.
Steven Holmes
Steven Holmes
Gritty survival, military and supernatural thrillers shaped by real military service, frontline paramedicine and over a decade of paranormal investigations.
Excerpt — The Wave
Teaser: Before Callum could muster the words, Albert grabbed the landline and that was dead too. Everything Electrical had simply stopped working, suddenly Betty's old wireless radio crackled to life with nothing but static, Callum thought 'that awful sound' and quickly reminisced of his childhood, sat round the radio with his parents and siblings listening to the radio drama Citizens.
"Is that plugged into a wall?" questioned Callum, trying to over talk the white noise.
Betty shouted back "Noh love it's got batteries and a wind-up thingy!"
"Turn that god awful racket off, will yer Betty!" Screeched Albert.
Betty cranked the volume knob counter clockwise until the white noise died away, and then click, the radio was off. Looking outside, all the streetlamps were out, and an eerie silence had descended the land. The only time Callum had experienced anything similar was during his time in the jungles of South America, when a cartel used an EMP (electromagnetic pulse) to disable a rival drug lord’s security system. But who would use an EMP in the hills of South Lancashire, and Why?
"Alby, have you got any candles? any matches?" queried Callum in his usual calm and relaxed tone.
Albert uttered a reply in what sounded like another language, "Oh aye, ay ower peg leet sum candils will yer!"
"Keep thee bloomin hair on wil thee!" lashed Betty.
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About the Author
Steven Holmes writes gritty, authentic thrillers informed by military service and frontline medicine. His novels explore survival, moral ambiguity, and the human cost of conflict across three distinct universes: the post‑cataclysmic streets of South Lancashire (The Wave), the supernatural journals of The Withering Isles, and the battlefield politics of Daniel Mercer.
Steven served in the armed forces and currently works as a paramedic. He uses real procedure and hard experience to ground fast, visceral scenes and believable characters.
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