Once upon a time in Milton Keynes part one

ExCo

It is the first of a trilogy of books that Gary aims to write and publish by the end of next year.

The story opens on November 5 in Milton Keynes, where a police siege unfolds outside The Hub luxury apartment complex the home of Paul Macalister, a local legend with a shadowy past.

One is dead and the other is holding the gun. As crowds gather below and a news crew rushes to cover the breaking story. The killer battles his demons and contemplates his limited options—either surrender to the authorities or end his own life.

The killer gazes at an old photograph of himself, his friend, and two young women, Mandy and Lisa.

The story goes back to the late eighties. Gary and Paul were inseparable as boys. Until Gary confided the terrible truth about Father O’Malley, the local priest. Paul manipulates Gary to use his trauma for money. Causing a rift that will fester.

Gary wants to be free of Paul's control, when he changes schools, he meets Tefal, and the Hells Angels at Shenley Manor. The pair become bonded by their shared victimisation from the school bullies. At Shenley Manor Gary finds a sense of belonging that he has never felt before. Life is looking up and when He meets Mandy and falls in love, he starts thinking that life is good.

Paul sees Gary's new popularity & friendships as betrayal, and plots revenge. A revenge that will kickstart a series of events. That will see Gary jailed for a crime he didn’t commit. As Well as a few other twists and turns.

Part two will follow Gary as he fights for his life in the prison system. He is consumed with desire for revenge. While Paul, obsessed with power, becomes the biggest gangster, this side of London. With the truth threatening to reveal itself. setting Gary free.

Part 3 will see Gary now free plot his revenge, Count of Monte Cristo style.

If I were asked to describe this book, part one. The analogy that I would use is that this book is like David Beckham picking up the ball to take a free kick for England, walking and setting the ball down, teeing it up on the top of the grass, and stepping back. That is it.

Parts two and three will see the run up, the strike followed by the billowing in the back of the next, as the crowd erupts and Beckham runs towards them.

The hope is to sell 2000 copies in the Milton Keynes area before Xmas. There are over 500,000 people living in Milton Keynes now so 2000 seems reasonable. I only have 1,970 to go as of this morning.

This will enable me to take the first few months of next year off work to complete part two, and have it published by June for the summer holidays.

The concept for "OUTIMK pt1" originated during the 1990s while I was in prison, where I began drafting ideas in a notebook. At that time, my life was deeply affected by addiction. In 2009, after losing everything to addiction, I was a resident in a local homeless hostel. This was where I got sober, after a period of sobriety I decided to volunteer with the social inclusion charity P3. With encouragement from my manager, Jen Devlin, I explored college courses as I couldn't even use a computer.

This encouragement led me to enrol in an Access to Higher Education course in social care at MK College, followed by a BSc (Hons) degree in Psychology and Criminal Behaviour at the University of Bedfordshire. Subsequently, I received an offer to pursue an MSc in Addiction Psychology and Counselling at London South Bank University, aspiring to become an addiction therapist.

During this period, I worked at the YMCA MK homeless hostel but had to withdraw from my studies due to my partner’s injury and financial constraints, prompting my return to carpentry work on local building sites. It was while working at the YMCA that I began drafting the first version of my story, approximately eight years ago.

The idea for the book was inspired by suggestions from others to document my life experiences. However, I couldn't think of anything more boring. Another bad boy overcomes addiction BLah, Blah, Blah.... so boring... Thus, the concept of Once upon a time in Milton Keynes evolved into its current form.

This book is complete fiction but some of the stories could be true-ish. I have received some great reviews on Amazon