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WORK TITLE: Troll
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: http://www.davidthornecri.me/
CITY: Essex
STATE:
COUNTRY: United Kingdom
NATIONALITY:
RESEARCHER NOTES: N/A
PERSONAL
Male.
EDUCATION:Queen Mary’s College.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer. Worked formerly in advertising and writing comedy for BBC, Channel Four.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
D.B. Thorne is a writer of crime and psychological thrillers. Thorne studied literature at Queen Mary’s in London, after which he got a job in advertising. He claims that writing ads for the press, television, and radio taught him how to write succinctly and quickly. Next he wrote comedy for BBC, Channel Four in the form of sketches, gags, and scripts. In 2010 he moved to Essex, where he was inspired to write the “Daniel Connell Series,” an Essex noir trilogy. Thorne then grew interested in psychological thrillers. Troll is his first standalone thriller.
Fortune, a British bank executive in Dubai, has made some personal sacrifices to achieve his career successes. He chose a career opportunity abroad over staying home with his wife and daughter, and his relationship with both is strained. His wife is seeking a divorce, and he essentially has no relationship with Sophie, his daughter. Sophie had a troubled adolescence, having attempted suicide multiple times. Instead of emotionally providing to his family during this difficult time, he left, throwing himself into his work and abandoning his daughter.
When Fortune receives a call from the U.S. explaining that his now-adult daughter has gone missing, he is filled with guilt. He rushes home and begins a frantic search for the young woman. Family and friends are sure Sophie has finally followed through with her plans to end her life, and the police have even found evidence suggesting as such. Fortune is convinced there is more to the story, and he continues to investigate.
He learns that his daughter had been examining the life of a celebrity for a magazine article she was writing, and was being harassed on her blog by a mysterious online persona. He reads her notes, and discovers that she believed someone was setting her up to appear unstable and dangerous. While he uncovers more clues, his career in Dubai is suffering; ninety million dollars has gone mysteriously missing from his bank. With his daughter still missing, his health and his finances suffering, Fortune must decide whether to ignore his work duties, or abandon any hope of finding his daughter.
Angela Woltman in Foreword Reviews wrote: “Troll is a hard-hitting cat-and-mouse game that never lets up; it is as emotionally affecting as it is chilling.” A contributor to Publishers Weekly described Troll as an “impressive thriller,” while Lynsey Summers, on the Very Pink Notebook website, made note of Thorne’s “clear and clever structure, flawless writing, strong characters and excellent use of locations.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Publishers Weekly, April 23, 2018, review of Troll, p. 67.
ONLINE
Foreword Review, https://www.forewordreviews.com/ (September 19, 2018), Angela Woltman, review of Troll.
Very Pink Notebook, http://theverypinknotebook.blogspot.com/ (May 30, 2017), Lynsey Summers, review of Troll.
D. B. Thorne
I studied English Literature at Queen Mary's in London. Everything I was taught there was wonderful - except learning how to write academically, which, frankly, is a bit of a curse for a writer.
Then I got a job in advertising, writing ads for the press and TV and radio and those horrible things which get shoved through your door. But it taught me economy. Less is more. Comes in handy, when you want to keep the pace up. And sell teabags. And shampoo.
Still, advertising. It’s a bit... grubby. So I got into writing comedy, for the BBC, Channel Four. Sketches, gags, scripts. This was invaluable for writing character. You can’t do decent comedy if you can’t come up with good characters. Oh, and taking risks. Sketches have to be absurd, bonkers, but believable. I suppose that’s what you’d call a transferable skill. Thrillers need to be pretty out there, too. But still believable.
Then in 2010 I moved to Essex, and was immediately inspired to write East Of Innocence. Whatever you read about Essex, the reality is bigger, louder and more in-your-face. With Range Rovers.
After I finished my Essex noir trilogy, I switched my attention to psychological thrillers. Troll is my first standalone novel, and one I hope will keep people awake at night (for all the right reasons).
I am proud to be represented by Tina Betts at Andrew Mann.
Print Marked Items
Troll
Publishers Weekly.
265.17 (Apr. 23, 2018): p67.
COPYRIGHT 2018 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
* Troll
D.B. Thorne. Corvus (IPG, dist.), $13.95 trade
paper (400p) ISBN 978-1-7823959-4-2
In this impressive thriller from Thorne (the Essex Noir trilogy), Fortune, a British bank executive in Dubai, returns to London to look for his
missing daughter, Sophie. The emotionally unavailable Fortune, whose wife is seeking a divorce, has had a strained relationship with Sophie,
who has been troubled since adolescence and attempted suicide several times. Fortune is called back to Dubai because $90 million has gone
missing from his bank, but he refuses to go until he unravels the mystery of Sophie's disappearance. Certain evidence has led the police to believe
that she has killed herself, though no body has surfaced. Looking into people who might have wished Sophie harm, Fortune discovers a troll is
threatening her on the blog she writes. He also discovers that his daughter was investigating and allegedly stalking a celebrity for a magazine
article she was writing. In addition, he finds notes on her computer maintaining that someone is setting her up to appear erratic and dangerous to
her co-workers and the police. Fully realized characters and Fortune's exciting quest for the truth make this a standout. (June)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Troll." Publishers Weekly, 23 Apr. 2018, p. 67. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A536532892/ITOF?
u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=1c3b2136. Accessed 19 Aug. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A536532892
TROLL
D. B. Thorne
Corvus (Jun 1, 2018)
Softcover $13.95 (400pp)
978-1-78239-596-6
Troll is a fast-paced psychological thriller about what we choose to pursue and what we leave behind. Fortune made his livelihood in international banking; his determined focus on his career left his personal life in ruins. He abandoned his difficult daughter and a wife who deserved so much more, burying himself in work in Dubai. When the call comes that his now-adult daughter Sophie has disappeared, Fortune can no longer escape the ghosts of his past.
Returning to the US, he begins a frantic search for the girl he gave up on years before. Though everyone else involved in the search believes that troubled Sophie has finally followed through on her many suicide threats, Fortune knows there has to be more behind the story. As he searches for answers, his health and career begin to fail. Fortune won’t stop until Sophie is found.
Pinballing back and forth between Fortune’s thoughts, Sophie’s blog, and Sophie’s memory, Troll is a furiously paced mystery that takes an unflinching look at a failed father’s hope for redemption. Clues are dropped at just the right pace; as the story unfolds, it comes with the heartbreaking truth about how Sophie and Fortune were ripped apart by their own flawed natures. The contrast between the past and the present works well and allows for empathy toward the often unsympathetic Fortune.
Written in spare prose that wastes not a single word, Troll is a hard-hitting cat-and-mouse game that never lets up; it is as emotionally affecting as it is chilling.
Reviewed by Angela Woltman
May/June 2018
Tuesday, 30 May 2017
Tour and Review : Troll by D.B. Thorne
The Very Pink Notebook is thrilled to be part of the Troll by D. B. Thorne
blog tour. With thanks to Kate at Atlantic Books (Corvus) for involving me in the tour and for an advance copy of the book.
34007676
Published by : Corvus Books
01 June 2017
Copy : Paperback provided by the publisher
The Blurb
Years ago, Fortune gave up on his daughter, Sophie, after a troubled adolescence. Now she's gone missing, vanished without trace. And after weeks of investigation, the police have given up on her, too.
Driven by guilt, and a determination to atone for his failures as a father, he takes on the search himself. He soon finds that his daughter had been living in fear of a vicious online troll who seemed to know far too much about her. Could Sophie's disappearance be linked to this unknown predator? Fortune is about to discovers that monsters which live online don't always stay there...
The Very Pink Notebook Review
If you want a psychological thriller of epic proportions then Troll by D. B. Thorne is a must read.
This novel starts unsettling and bit by bit gets darker and more twisted, but in a very real and also moving way.
Told in a two-fold narrative, the story is pinned together by Fortune, a 54 year old successful businessman, but failed father and husband and Sophie, Fortune's daughter who is missing, presumed dead.
It is difficult to try and review this book because I do not want to give anything away, so all I will say is the author has done an amazing job of deconstructing and reconstructing a very intricate and complicated plot in a way that will make it impossible to put down (Case in point - I read this in one day!) It is so clever and well thought out, I would love to know, from a writers perspective, how the author went about planning and plotting for this one because I am not sure I would have known where to start.
I also said that although dark, this is a moving book. And it really is. It looks at the dynamics of dysfunctional families, the relationships between husband and wife, parents and children, in a deep way.
The novel tackles several difficult themes - again I won't mention specifics because I do not want to hint or reveal anything, but just to say they are handled well, so you can feel the power of them but you are not left with a stomach turned. Again, this is done through excellent writing by D. B. Thorne.
With it's clear and clever structure, flawless writing, strong characters and excellent use of locations this is definitely one of the best psychological thrillers I have read this year and I will certainly be making a point of picking up the other books by this author.
Troll by D. B. Thorne receives nothing less than a Very Pink Notebook rating of :
About the Author
D. B. Thorne has worked as a writer for the last 15 years, originally in advertising, then in television and radio comedy. He has written material for many comedians, including Jimmy Carr, Alan Carr, David Mitchell and Bob Mortimer. He was a major contributor to the BAFTA-winning Armstrong and Miller Show, and has worked on shows including Facejacker, Harry and Paul and Alan Carr : Chatty Man. Troll is his fourth novel.