The clash between Christianity and paganism in a dark and hostile world is at the heart of Time of the Beast. In the Dark Ages, Athwold, a young monk, leaves his monastery in disgrace, to seek spiritual redemption by becoming a hermit in the wild expanse of the dismal Fenlands. Here he experiences love, desire and also horror, leading him to join the warrior-monk Cadroc in his quest to hunt down a brutal and mysterious killer - supposedly a demon which stalks in the remotest reaches of the marshes, but whose true nature remains ominously unknown. It is a journey which takes Athwold deep into a world of pagan superstition and terror, on a blood-cursed trail of rage, revenge and madness; and to his final confrontation with darkness - both his own and the world's. AUTHOR: Geoff Smith is a businessman. 'Time of the Beast' is the result of his longstanding interest in anglo-Saxon history and literature SELLING POINTS: 'Time of the Beast' will appeal strongly to readers who like a dash of horror in their historical fiction and anyone interested in the Dark Ages and the Fens.
