Today it's an absolute pleasure to take part in the BlogTour Draca by Geoffrey Gudgion.
Please Note: Draca was released by Unbound on 14th May. Coronavirus logistics issues may result in Amazon being temporarily out of stock of paperback copies until early June. During this period Unbound will accept orders directly and will ship free of UK postage via https://unbound.com/books/draca/
Author royalties from Draca are shared equally with the veterans’ charity Combat Stress.
Geoffrey Gudgion served for over 10 years in the armed forces, and made his first attempts at writing fiction during quiet moments on deployment. He later stepped off the corporate ladder, in the midst of a career in marketing and general management, specifically to release time to write. His first novel, Saxon’s Bane, reached #1 in Amazon Kindle’s ‘Ghost’ category, and he now writes full time. When not crafting words he is an enthusiastic amateur equestrian and a very bad pianist.
Follow @geoffreygudgion on Twitter, on Goodreads, on Amazon, Visit geoffreygudgion.com/, Buy Draca
About the book
Jack's a war hero, haunted by his past... or is he just haunted?
A war-damaged veteran on a mission to self-destruct…a controlling father pushing him ever closer to the edge...and a yachtswoman who gives all she has to hold him back.
And between them all, there’s an old boat with dark secrets, and perhaps a mind of its own.
Jack is devastated to lose his grandfather, the only father figure he wants to remember, because his own is an abusive small man filled with rage. It was time for Eddie to go though, the pain was made tenfold worse by the nightmares that plagued him. Hallucinations of violent dark malevolent forces trying to seep into his very being and destroy him.
Old Eddie leaves his pride and joy, Draca, to Jack, which is the beginning of his own journey with something he can't quite explain, and it creates the kind of cracks in his family that don't heal.
In my head the Draca looks different than on the cover of the book. A dark, rough, wooden structure imposing, majestic and yet threatening at the same time. Very much reflecting the figurehead of the boat and the insidious threat that simmers just below the surface.
It's a compelling story of a man tortured by his experiences as a soldier, his fractured relationship with his father and the darkness that consumed his grandfather.
Gudgion delivers a gripping and emotional read. His portrayal of a veteran sinking slowly into his own quagmire of nightmares, guilt and feelings of self-loathing are spot on. The scenes where his PTSD rears its ugly head are both heartbreaking and an eye-opener in equal measures. One has to imagine being the observer, as opposed to the person experiencing the flashbacks, and then the scenario becomes something entirely different. Perspective and interpretation are everything in this read. Each character's own frame of reference determines their reactions and actions.
Kudos to Gudgion for giving readers the kind of ending the majority of us encounter. There is no peace after trauma so deep you can see the wounds in the air around the person - there is either a continuation of hell or a tentatively balanced acceptance.
I could talk about this book for ages. It is so nuanced and poignant - an excellent read.
Buy Draca at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer.Publisher: Unbound; pub date 14 May 2020 - Paperback - £9.99. Buy at Amazon com. Buy at Unbound.
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