Still Life — Robin Anderson

Meet ETHELRED JONES, acclaimed film director of the bizarre; CLYTEMNESTRA, his beautiful 'bacterial' artist wife and the rest of this discordant quintet, the disgraced 'donor' doctor, CHARLES CONRAD CROSBY; the priapic black giant Man Friday named MONDAY and TRISOMY - a child old beyond her years - all melded together in the creation of the ultimate cinematic and art experience, STILL LIFE. Into this monstrous mélange comes the unsuspecting OSWALD ARGENT, an aspiring thespian more narcissus than actor, who finds himself - literally - taking 'a step too far' when accepting a misleading role in the meticulously planned STILL LIFE scenario. On entering the rarefied world of Bethlem Báthory, the JONES'S mysterious isolated country mansion known to the locals as Castle Dracula, the devious young OSWALD finds his film debut more gourmet than glamorous. Enter BRYAN SCIMA, his former lover who, by chance, ends up as Lady of the Manor with distant neighbour, SIR MILES ANSTRUTHER, a wealthy property developer. Coincidence follows coincidence through never-ending scenes of gratuitous violence mixed with glamour and the grotesque. Set in London, Italy and Morocco, STILL LIFE is an articulate, cynical novel filled with black humour at its most humorous; a volcanic-volatile hot bed of sex, greed, money and destruction. The story, which runs at a breath-taking pace, will keep the reader riveted in more ways than one. STILL LIFE is an 'up and down' ride which gathers momentum leading up to an unprecedented climax. Think EDGAR ALLAN POE meets FREUD, THE MARQUIS DE SADE and NOEL COWARD in a mind-blowing gang bang and you are almost there. To quote ETHELRED JONES, 'We stuff the snuff!'