The Shadow Rises
Witch-Hunter #1
by K.S. Marsden
Genre: Urban Fantasy
When a new witch threat rises, only Hunter Astley can stop them...
In the face of dark magic and evil witches, a secret witch-hunting society works tirelessly to keep them at
bay. The Malleus Maleficarum Council have strict rules and practises for eradicating magic.
Due to their work, witches have been almost forgotten, relegated to myth; but the rumours are starting to
emerge of a new power that will throw the world into chaos.
As the only 7th generation witch-hunter, Hunter Astley is the best the MMC has to offer. With the help of
his colleagues, it’s a race to track down this new threat and stop them... in any way he can.
Part one of the Witch-Hunter trilogy.
**Get it FREE! **
The Shadow Reigns
Witch-Hunter #2
The world has been thrown into darkness by the Shadow Witch's revolution. The witch-hunters are
scattered, but still strong. The race is now on to gather allies and win the war.
New enemies will arise; loyalties will be pushed to the limit. And an important question will be answered:
can a witch-hunter that practices magic ever be trusted, or will he be persecuted?
It is said that 'love conquers all', but this twisted love must stay secret, locked away with the past.
The Shadow Falls
Witch-Hunter #3
Hunter Astley has always known that he is different: being a witch-hunter that can use magic has sealed
his fate. He must destroy the Shadow Witch once and for all, with the help of some unlikely allies.
We delve even deeper into the world of the Malleus Maleficarum; into myth, rumour and history that
refuses to stay in the past.
James: Witch-Hunter
Prequel to the Witch-Hunter Trilogy
James Bennett is a Yorkshire lad, making the big move to Oxford to start university.
His ambitions involve getting a good education; impressing the Rugby Club; and not throttling his
roommate. All perfectly normal drama, until Hallowe'en.
A girl's murder throws James into the dangerous world of witches, and those that hunt them.
After playing a sidekick in the Witch-Hunter trilogy, it's only fair that James gets to be centre stage in his
own prequel.
This can be read as a stand-alone, and does not contain any spoilers. It may contain witches, bad jokes
and cringe-worthy scenes; but definitely no spoilers.
Sophie: Witch-Hunter
Prequel to the Witch-Hunter Trilogy
Everyone will betray you...
Sophie has always had a high opinion of herself. She is smart, beautiful, and meant for something more
than a mundane, human life.
From a young age she’s had to weigh duty against selfish desires. Her new friend Izzy starts to break
down her carefully-constructed walls, and makes Sophie question everything she thought she
knew.
With witch-hunters and witches vying for a place in her future, Sophie has to decide who she can
trust.
This is a prequel to the Witch-Hunter trilogy, and contains spoilers from the very beginning.
We highly recommend you read The Shadow Rises,
before finding out more about everybody's favourite cold-hearted bitch.
Kelly Marsden grew up in Yorkshire, and there were two constants in her life - books and horses.
Graduating with an equine degree from Aberystwyth University, she has spent most of her life since
trying to experience everything the horse world has to offer. She is currently settled into a Nutritionist role
for a horse feed company in Doncaster, South Yorkshire.
Her first book, The Shadow Rises, was published in January 2013, and she now has several successful
series under her belt.
GUEST POST
What inspired you to write about this book?
This story
started with the villain.
I
was learning about Wicca at the time, and I wondered what would
happen if a witch broke all of their rules. In fact, what would
happen if the witches were a different breed, with their own set of
rules?
Their
champion would be the most powerful witch in history, whose magic was
beyond all rules, and they would come to free the Witchkind from
persecution.
From
there, I was able to create the ‘hero’. The person that would
stop the Big Bad.
I
looked into the history of witches, the witch craze, the
witch-hunters and their bible, the Malleus Maleficarum. (When I say
‘looked into’, I was at university at the time, so I was in
full-research-mode)
From
there I created the Malleus Maleficarum Council (MMC), who after the
disaster of the witch craze, knew that the general public couldn’t
be trusted with hunting witches. So, they formed a society that
worked in secret to keep people safe from real witches.
Fast
forward to the modern-day, and you have the best the MMC has to
offer. Hunter is from the highly-regarded witch-hunting Astley
family, with all the benefits that come from seven generations of
fighting witches.
There’s
a long-running joke that all the women in my family are witches.
Perhaps
unsurprisingly, started by my dad, who said his Scottish
mother-in-law was a wicked witch who would turn us into toads if we
didn’t behave.
As
kids, we loved this story, and fully embraced the joke, buying my
Nanna cauldrons, brooms and all sorts of witchy-paraphernalia every
Christmas and birthday.
Without
meaning to, I picked up a lot of witchy information over the years
and it was natural that witches and magic would feature heavily in my
books.
Unfortunately, my
Nanna passed away before I started writing; but I think she would
have really enjoyed these stories of evil and/or kooky witches.
Where did you
come up with the names in the story?
Out of our three
main characters, I probably spent the least amount of effort coming
up with Hunter’s name. I honestly had no idea what I wanted to call
our lead man, so I put the temporary title of ‘Hunter’ in whilst
I wrote the story. In the end, it kinda stuck, because Hunter was
arrogant enough to carry it off.
His real name is
George Astley VII, which does provide a few moments of humour
throughout the series.
With Sophie
Murphy, our leading lady, I purposefully wanted a name that did
not suit her. Throughout the series, she proves herself to be
strong and cold-hearted, but loyal to Hunter. So, I gave her a very
normal name; something that sounds soft and feminine – the complete
opposite of our Sophie.
I wanted a name
that didn’t hint at what fate has in store for her.
James Bennett is
the best friend, and often a source of humour. He’s a Yorkshire lad
(my home county), as I swore that every book I wrote would contain
Yorkshire characters or settings, as none of the books I read growing
up had them in and I felt very underrepresented.
I
named him Bennett because the Bennetts are like an extended family to
me. They own the local riding school in Yorkshire (where I
practically lived), they inspired my love for horses, and my love of
teaching. They also gave a very shy and socially awkward me, the
confidence to go after my dreams of a career with horses and writing.
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