We all sometimes feel lost and confused in time and space. Here are some of my visions I had while meditating on my fears and insecurities while being lost in my existential horrors. Whether that's a chess match that lasts for eternity, eyes taking over reality, a monster in a human form or just a simple room.

What if it came to the starkest of all choices: kill, or else suffer the loss of a loved one? Readers' comments: 'simply the best', 'one of the best books I've read', 'loved it', 'amazing', 'great reading', 'stumped me to the very end' and others Plot: When a pregnant doctor is brutally murdered in her own kitchen, the husband claims to have some weeks earlier received an anonymous and darkly menacing letter. For the small town of Ravensby, it's just the start of a living nightmare - one in which nobody is spared from the murderous cross hairs, and which will drive Detective Inspector Kubič to the edge of his own sanity... Genre: suspense/thriller Status: completed Length: 70,000 words (approx. 275 standard novel pages) Target readership: Though aimed primarily at adults, the novel features several teenage characters and so may also appeal to a younger audience Extract: "Warn you sir, not a pretty sight in there." Kubič took a deep, preparatory breath, his footsteps slow and leaden as he moved towards the kitchen door. Not for the first time over the years, he found himself wishing he'd chosen an entirely different sort of career. Paper-pushing, something out of doors. Anything at all. He'd always been reasonable enough at woodwork back at school, he recalled. Why hadn't he done that, he thought? Become a cabinet maker or some damn thing. A reluctant hand pushed open the door... "Oh dear Christ." The words escaped his mouth forcefully, involuntarily, like blood gushing from an open wound

When all hope is lost. When there's no-one else left to call... Dudley the Labrador is a cadaver dog specifically trained to sniff out human remains. His handler, Jennifer, suffers from an unusual phobia which has left her socially isolated. When together they uncover the corpse of a missing child, Jennifer begins to feel a deep, personal connection to the case. Dissatisfied by the direction of the official police investigation, she resolves to unravel the mystery herself. In doing so, she must first unravel herself... Readers' comments (final chapter): 'great book', 'superb' 'wonderful, incredible, fantastic!' 'wow, just wow', 'wonderfully satisfying', 'I love this book' Status: completed Genre: mystery/suspense Target readership: adults Narrative style: psychological depth, frequent twists, semi-literary Length: 75,000 words (approximately 300 standard novel pages) Author: Michael D Smith, Wattys award winner (The Painted Altar, 2020, literary fiction) Extract: It was then that the barking came, somewhere a hundred or so metres off to my right. Not his usual playful response, but instead a focused, constant noise - a quick-fire volley of woofs like rounds from a machine gun. His 'found something' bark. My heart quickened along with my step, the flashlight boring through the darkness. The moist barks of the trees deflected against my outstretched hand; pernicious branches whipped at my thighs, my chest, my face. "Stay there boy! You just stay right there." The barking was incessant, grew louder with each step. At last the thick maze of tree trunks relented and there he was, framed in the soft-edged beam of the torchlight in the centre of a small clearing. His tail swooshing manically, snout directed at the ground. Stooping myself down beside him, I slanted the flashlight to the earth, squinted in close examination. Nothing - just dirt, twigs and damp leaves. A shallow grave. The lifeless body of Meghan Shaw had been tossed into a shallow grave.