Depth of Distortion
Rob Sanders, SAS team leader, lies face down in the dust, waiting to die. A friendly fire incident has brought the covert mission to a horrific end. People rarely, if ever, survive a missile attack from an Apache attack helicopter and he knows his own mortality. However, he never wanted to make it to old bones and he’s ready to meet his maker, certain that due to his actions, Sarah King is safe.
Back in the UK, her godfather and fellow war photographer George Wallis waits, desperate for news but when it comes, it is not that Sarah is safe – in fact, far from it. She’s missing, presumed dead; along with the patrol from the East Anglian Regiment who were supposed to be protecting her.
Eventually, the MoD confirmed that she’s been found. She’s injured, but alive and George hopes that she’ll return to the UK wiser, but otherwise intact. However, the news is worse than he could have imagined. Not only is she seriously injured, but is a broken woman and suffering with advanced PTSD.
She’s eventually well enough to return to her parent’s home in Cheshire, but she’s certain that war photography is in her past.
A chance encounter with the handsome Justin Farrington entices her into new path, but despite her best efforts, the call is still there and when an opportunity arises to go back, she decides to give it one last shot.... literally
I’d only ever intended to write one book, but as Exposure went on and I reached 150,000 words (and it still wasn’t finished), I realised that Sarah and Rob were demanding me to tell more of their story.
As you may have noticed, Distortion begins before Exposure finished. I was a little doubtful about this at first, but after I’d written it, I thought it worked well. It explains what happened to Rob and gives some insight into George who, until that point, had been a name more than a character.
I really didn't intend to write a third book! But when it was complete, I realised that I’d left the East Anglians without a second thought, and I felt that Andy in particular had a lot more to say! And so, one book became two... and then three.
It’s a cliché to say that the characters dictate your books for you, but that’s exactly what happened here! Of the three books, this was by far the easiest to write and I found myself letting them take over. In fact, when I was writing the last chapter, I actually cried for Sarah.
The tempo is a little different from Exposure – slower in places and with more insight into the deeper parts of the characters – but I hope you like it.
Best,
Alex.
A note from the Author:
