This is the first book in the series "Mandy And The Missing". "Ascent Of The Absent" is the tale of an 18 year old Scottish-born girl, the titular Mandy Murray, who goes to college in Southampton, but soon finds her worries over leaving her old life behind pale into insignificance when an act of sabotage leads to the town - and her campus - being haunted by mysterious, invisible people with dangerous intentions.
I wrote the book as a comment on my time as a student in Southampton in the 1990s, and whilst it’s set in the present day (!) I wanted to tap into the experiences I had, some way from home, with a house full of strangers and a boarding-house type atmosphere, whilst the Missing themselves represent the feelings of alienation and ‘difference’ that adults and students can feel. The book’s themes are of a new start, and this theme links the protagonist (Mandy), the book’s antagonist (Merrick) and the series’ long-term villain (Jennyfer) : how will they deal with their new beginnings? For the guileless but good-hearted Mandy it’s her start in a new locale, and making a course she’s already dubious about work; for the self-loathing Merrick it’s a beginning to a social life which has always been limited back home and seems non-existent here, and for the troubled, seething Jennyfer it’s the start to her life as one of the Missing - having felt all but invisible to the man she secretly adores she has now literally disappeared - can she use her new ability to manipulate others and take revenge on the people who seem to be foiling her plans?
I hope that anyone who buys this book enjoys it, and if they’ve been to university or college they recognise the feelings within. It’s aimed at the young adult market but also at a general mainstream audience, with humour, drama and danger all thrown in. If you’d like to buy the book or read a sample please go to https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/554582
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