An eerie genetic thriller has been causing shivers down the spines of readers near and far, thanks to an up and coming writer from the Colne Valley.

Not just skilled in moulding parts, engineer Andy Jarvis has proven skills as a talented wordsmith through his latest white knuckle novel, Solway Tide.

And he said that self-publishing and the e-book format which they are commonly released as, have helped him hone his new trade, following the success of his first book in 2008, Isobel’s Light.

Andy penned Solway Tide in an attempt to bring new ideas to the popular thriller genre, which he believes have become at times too formulaic due to big publishers’ ‘play- safe’ attitudes.

He said: “For a long time I’d thought that the contemporary thriller plot was becoming somewhat repetitive, in other words same ideas, different people, situations etc.

“It took me about a year in my spare time to write then another two years spent refining, researching and getting feedback.”

Set on the remote West Cumbrian coast, it tells the story of a genetic experiment that disappears at the same time as one of the lab’s workers and a girl’s body is found in the nets of a trawler boat. This instigates a tense and twisting murder case and a large scale struggle by the lab’s remaining scientists to keep their ethically dubious project secret.

He released it as an e-book on Amazon, where it can be downloaded on to e-readers and is already gaining positive reviews.

Andy said: “Self-publishing is now a respected industry with some of the top selling books on Amazon being from independent publishing.

“It used to be associated with failure, but that stigma is going away as many authors say they’re making more money through self-publishing than their counterparts doing it the traditional way and independent writers are free from what was once seen as a ‘closed shop’ of big publishing companies, which gives them the opportunity to test out innovative new ideas.

“Social media has helped to publicise self-published books and royalties from self-published sales can be a lot higher than by traditionally published books.

“However, the biggest effect of e-books and readers seems to be that those with a lesser audience don’t get squeezed off the bookshelves, so even those that take time to find their audience can still flourish.

He is planning to retire later this month to devote more time to his art.

“I’ve the synopsis for two more books, another murder/thriller included, and a book about my other passion in life, running.

“I’m currently writing my third novel and am going back to my roots to create a high adventure book.

The book is available at: www.amazon.co.uk/Solway-Tide-Andy-Jarvis-ebook/dp/B00KY6KJRY