Why a Booktrail?
2000s: In a community, is everyone who you think they are?
The Old Religion
What you need to know before your trail
The Cornish village of St Petroc is the sort of place where people come to hide. Tom Killgannon is one such person. An ex-undercover cop, Tom is in the Witness Protection Programme hiding from some very violent people and St Petroc’s offers him a chance to live a safe and quiet life.
Until he meets Lila.
Lila is a seventeen-year-old runaway. When she breaks into Tom’s house she takes more than just his money. His wallet holds everything about his new identity. He also knows that Lila is in danger from the travellers’ commune she’s been living at. Something sinister has been going on there and Lila knows more than she realises.
But to find her he risks not only giving away his location to the gangs he’s in hiding from, but also becoming a target for whoever is hunting Lila.
Travel Guide
St Petroc/New quay
“St Petroc” – Cornwall
St Petroc is fictional and you’ll be pleased when reading this as it’s not the kind of place you’d probably visit. Certainly no the one and only pub incase you bump into Pirate John or any other of the strange members of the community. You might bump into one of the travellers from the local site too. No one in the village even seems to know who they are, but there are those who have been in the group for ages…. but is this because one you’re in this tight-knit group, there is no escape? Part of the story takes place in Newquay, but the setting is in the background rather than at the forefront of the novel.
The place might be fictional but the setting of old Cornwall and the old religion is very much a reality of Cornish history. The author first became interested in paganism as a way of how thoughts and traditions can have an affect on a community and play on their fear and beliefs. “It’s about what would happen if a convincing , charismatic fanatic took hold of a scared and impressionable populace.
There is also a true story behind the novel, Charles Walton, a seventy-four year old labourer, was murdered in the village o f Lower Quinton in Warwickshire in February 1945. Despite suspicions his killer was never prosecuted although it was strongly suspected Walton had been murdered as part of a blood ritual for the land in a witchcraft ceremony. 1945 isn’t that long ago,. Especially in remote rural areas…
Booktrail Boarding Pass: The Old Religion
Destination : Cornwall, Newquay Author/Guide: Martyn Waites Departure Time: 2000s
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