Tim Willocks

Tim Willocks has had a rather more interesting life than the average novelist - which probably explains why his writing is so distinctive. As a doctor to drug addicts and the criminally insane he's had the chance to research the depths; in his writing he plumbs those depths to produce works of power and hardness.



Born in suburban Cheshire, England, Willocks became a medical doctor and gained a black belt in karate. Along the way he produced fringe theatre and then began writing novels. These were well received and he began part-time commuting to Hollywood, though with less success than his writing talent merited. Possibly the brutality and pure evil that characterise his early books were too much for the cautious cinema moguls.

After twenty years as a doctor he and his colleagues were investigated for mistreatment of addicts - he was acquitted but naturally embittered by the action. Since then he has been a near full time writer, though sadly not as proficient on the novel front as I'd have liked, instead concentrating on screenwriting and some producing.

Tim Willocks' novels are not for the faint-hearted. They're brutal, violent and graphic. They portray man at his basest and most evil. However, the violence isn't the cartoon fake-blood rubbish, it's black and it's a part of his characters - difficult for a novelist to achieve but Willocks pulls it off perfectly.


See my reviews of Green River Rising and The Religion.

---

---