Location: United Kingdom
Member Since:
Feb. 12, 2010
22 readers have added this author as a 'Favorite Author'.
Richard Herley
Biography
I was born in England in 1950 and educated at Watford Boys' Grammar School and Sussex University, where my interest in natural history led me to read biology.
My first successful novel was "The Stone Arrow", which was published to critical acclaim in 1978. It subsequently won the Winifred Holtby Memorial Prize, administered by the Royal Society of Literature in London, and was the first in a trilogy. This was followed by "The Penal Colony" (1987), a futuristic thriller that formed the basis of the 1994 movie "No Escape", starring Ray Liotta.
The main difficulty for the author is making his voice heard in the roar of self-promotion. I believe that the work I am producing now is of higher quality than my prize-winning first, and ask you, the reader, to help spread the word by telling your friends if you have enjoyed one of my books.
My first successful novel was "The Stone Arrow", which was published to critical acclaim in 1978. It subsequently won the Winifred Holtby Memorial Prize, administered by the Royal Society of Literature in London, and was the first in a trilogy. This was followed by "The Penal Colony" (1987), a futuristic thriller that formed the basis of the 1994 movie "No Escape", starring Ray Liotta.
The main difficulty for the author is making his voice heard in the roar of self-promotion. I believe that the work I am producing now is of higher quality than my prize-winning first, and ask you, the reader, to help spread the word by telling your friends if you have enjoyed one of my books.
Where to find Richard Herley online
Series
The Flint Lord
The Earth Goddess
Books
Stephen’s Purpose
by Richard Herley
Price:
$2.99 USD.
Words: 100,810.
Language:
British English.
Published: December 12, 2021.
Categories:
Fiction » Literature » Literary, Fiction » Coming of age
Stephen Grove is a twelve-year-old schoolboy living in a small town on the south coast of England. He is shy, friendless and studious, and has become the target of bullies.
Their campaign against him is so vicious that he decides to hang himself. He chooses a tree and is about to climb up when a tiny bird appears above him in the foliage; from that moment on, Stephen’s life is not his own.
Phoebe Rising
by Richard Herley
Price:
$2.99 USD.
Words: 141,850.
Language:
British English.
Published: July 1, 2019.
Categories:
Fiction » Literature » Literary, Fiction » Coming of age
Phoebe Presswood is seventeen. Newly arrived in her native country to live with her father, whom she has not seen for nine years, she is struggling with the damage inflicted by her upbringing on the Côte d’Azur.
Her character is exemplary, and in her cousin Howard she finds an ally to her cause: but can these be enough to let her overcome her past and find happiness and her place in the world?
Adrian's Wall
by Richard Herley
Price:
$2.99 USD.
Words: 119,770.
Language:
English.
Published: August 11, 2017.
Categories:
Fiction » Literature » Literary
This is a story about the alienation wrought by the increasing fragmentation of modern society and the difficulty one modern man has in adjusting to it. He struggles besides with the sort of masculine mindset which was once critical to the rise of civilisation, but whose value is becoming more and more derided, even despised.
Dismemberment
by Richard Herley
Price:
$2.99 USD.
Words: 63,050.
Language:
British English.
Published: January 1, 2015.
Categories:
Fiction » Thriller & suspense » Crime thriller
(4.00 from 1 review)
The British conundrum: what do you do about an intruder in your house? No one is on your side, especially the state. And when things goes horribly wrong, and you have a nosy neighbour who sits on the Police Authority, your nightmare is only just beginning ...
The Secret Joy of Reading
by Richard Herley
Price:
Free!
Words: 14,410.
Language:
English.
Published: December 12, 2012.
Categories:
Essay » Literature
Richard Herley's introduction: Here are ten short pieces of non-fiction, some about reading and writing; most have already appeared on my blog. I hope you enjoy them.
Darling Brenda
by Richard Herley
Price:
$2.99 USD.
Words: 98,710.
Language:
English.
Published: June 22, 2012.
Categories:
Fiction » Humor & comedy » Black comedy, Fiction » Gay & lesbian fiction » General
Brenda Vale is 26, a nurse, very pretty and highly intelligent, with a newly acquired German girlfriend. Nigel Dodd is 23 and sole heir to the family fortune. Their story is a very black comedy indeed, a tale of seduction, bribery, and corruption in high places, set in England in 1955. But it is also about growing up, and innocence, and forgiveness and redemption; and what becomes of Brenda.
The Drowning
by Richard Herley
Price:
$2.99 USD.
Words: 125,130.
Language:
English.
Published: May 29, 2011.
Categories:
Fiction » Literature » Literary
(5.00 from 1 review)
Spanning seventy years, set in England and in Nigeria during the Biafran crisis, the latest novel from this award-winning author is a sweeping, compulsive story about conscience and selfishness and the far-reaching damage that cruelty can do.
Nature Writing
by Richard Herley
Price:
Free!
Words: 58,420.
Language:
English.
Published: December 5, 2010.
Categories:
Nonfiction » Science & Nature » Nature, Essay » Literature
Collected observations and essays on the English countryside and its flora and fauna from an award-winning novelist.
The Tide Mill
by Richard Herley
Price:
$2.99 USD.
Words: 125,190.
Language:
English.
Published: February 16, 2010.
Categories:
Fiction » Historical » General
(5.00 from 2 reviews)
In 13th-century Sussex, an illicit love-affair and ruthless power-politics find focus in a masterwork of medieval engineering.
The Stone Arrow
by Richard Herley
Series: The Pagans, Book 1.
Price:
Free!
Words: 70,830.
Language:
English.
Published: February 15, 2010.
Categories:
Fiction » Thriller & suspense » General
(5.00 from 2 reviews)
Stone Age England. The ancient, nomadic way of life is coming to an end; the agricultural revolution has begun. When the farmers of Burh attack the sleeping nomad tribe, Tagart is the only survivor. Twenty-five and heir to the chief, his sole inheritance now is his tribal honour – and it demands revenge. His ally is the forest itself: that, and his own ingenuity, courage and hunting skill.
The Flint Lord
by Richard Herley
Series: The Pagans, Book 2.
Price:
$2.99 USD.
Words: 71,710.
Language:
English.
Published: February 14, 2010.
Categories:
Fiction » Thriller & suspense » General
(4.50 from 2 reviews)
England, 5000 years ago. Brennis Gehan, Lord of Valdoe, is planning the genocide of the indigenous hunter-gatherers. Word has already reached them, but when their grand chieftain dies in a hunting accident it seems his successor will not heed the warning. Only Tagart understands the danger: but first he must win the battle for leadership, waged according to ancient and ruthless laws ...
The Earth Goddess
by Richard Herley
Series: The Pagans, Book 3.
Price:
$2.99 USD.
Words: 73,920.
Language:
English.
Published: February 14, 2010.
Categories:
Fiction » Historical » General
(5.00 from 2 reviews)
3000 BC. The cult of the Earth Goddess is controlled by a sinister priesthood. The island country has been annexed and its lord murdered. His consort has fled, carrying his heir, Paoul. Ignorant of his parentage, Paoul is orphaned and sold into the Red Order. His teachers predict a great destiny for him. Only later, beyond the point of no return, do his doubts begin ...
The Penal Colony
by Richard Herley
Price:
Free!
Words: 103,410.
Language:
English.
Published: February 13, 2010.
Categories:
Fiction » Thriller & suspense » General, Fiction » Adventure » Men’s adventure
(5.00 from 9 reviews)
The British government now runs island prisons for the worst offenders from its mainland jails. New arrivals are dumped by helicopter and must learn to survive as best they can. To Sert, one afternoon in July, is brought Anthony John Routledge, sentenced for a sex-murder he did not commit. Routledge knows he is he is here for ever. And he knows he must quickly forget the rules of civilized life.
Refuge
by Richard Herley
Price:
$2.99 USD.
Words: 83,790.
Language:
English.
Published: February 13, 2010.
Categories:
Fiction » Thriller & suspense » General
(4.80 from 5 reviews)
It is 2029, twelve years on from a global plague.
John Suter believes himself the sole survivor until he finds a mutilated body in the river near his house. He knows he has no choice but to investigate.
What he discovers upstream stretches his endurance to its limits and forces him to reassess not only his own humanity, but also his place within the human family he had once believed extinct.
Richard Herley's tag cloud
1950s
ancient
ancient civilizations
ancient societies
antibes
authorship
banking
bereavement
biafran war
birding
birdwatching
botany
britain
buddhism
bullying
council corruption
countryside
cultural marxism
divorce
economic collapse
engineering
england
england 1960s
estate agents
financial services
forgiveness
france
germany
grammar schools
hampshire
historical
historical fiction
historical novel
huntergatherers
kent england
literary fiction
london
loneliness
marriage
medieval
medieval england
morality and ethics
nature essays
nature writing
neolithic
nigeria
politics
postapocalypse
postcolonialism
prehistory
priesthood
prison camp
reading
reminiscence
sci fi
science fiction
stone age
thriller
thriller and suspense
thriller horror adventure action dark scifi
thrillers
uk university
village life
writing