The Dagenham Loop
The Dagenham Loop is a connected world of crime, secrets, and fractured justice — where ordinary people are pulled into extraordinary situations, and the line between right and wrong blurs with every step.
Set in and around the fictionalised edges of Dagenham, the series spans small-town mysteries, accidental cover-ups, underground groups, and the quiet tension of lives gone sideways. Each story stands alone but links into a larger web of characters, incidents, and shadowy forces.
From the vigilante acts of Vigilantes Anonymous to the spiraling consequences of a body gone missing in The Shack in the Woods, the stories are about people in over their heads, and not quite knowing what's going on.
Vigilantes Anonymous
Shortlisted for the Pen to Print Book Challenge 2025
Fiction
Todd’s life is uneventful, spent fixing IT problems for people who barely notice him. But one impulsive act of anger sets him on a path he never expected—straight into Vigilantes Anonymous, a group that isn't so much a help group as a helping group. Meeting weekly for tea and discussions. Giving each other fresh ideas of vigilante actions and holding court telling of their own stories.
What begins as small acts of justice soon spirals into something far greater, pulling Todd into a web of danger, unexpected camaraderie, and the thrill of rebellion. As he juggles his newfound purpose with the chaos it unleashes, he finds himself up against an adversary he never saw coming.
The Shack in the Woods
Dark Cosy Crime
One dead teacher. Two panicked teens. And a shack full of secrets no one was meant to find.
Jack didn’t mean to kill anyone. But when an attempt to help an old teacher goes horribly wrong, he and his best friend Ronnie find themselves in over their heads. Before they can even clean up the mess, the body disappears — and in its place, a bag of money and a reciept for its delivery.
Somewhere else in town, Jasper — quiet, observant, and not as harmless as he looks — Used to only follwing his orders he is given a task and to a insight into the wider elements of the shady business that goes on in the Shack. As he follows the loose threads, he crosses paths with Lou, the no-nonsense handler with a plan of her own, and Wyatt, a missing persons officer who’s starting to realise something is seriously off in his town.
The rest of the story unfolds following the good guys, the bad guys, and those in between who don't quite know what is going on.
Alternate Universe / Future
Within the City Walls
Young Adult (YA) / Speculative fiction
The City of London has separated from the rest of the UK. By retaking its total financial income it has allowed it to swell it's technical abilities and further it's money making prospects and in the process becoming a standalone entity in the otherwise poverty stricken UK.
Physically it is a surrounded City, not exactly under siege but always under threat.
Defending the City Walls, erected once more to protect the fragile financial bubble, is to become Noah Maxwell's new career. Living in Dagenham, one of the City's feeder towns, he is taking his first steps into the City of London's Defence Force. He joins a team of fellow apprentices to think and fight his way through the challenges faced by a City that has left the surrounding areas behind, a City that is the envy of international and local populations alike.
Being from a township rather than the City itself, Noah has much to learn about the Smart Technology that the City's financials has allowed to develop and prosper and learn about the ever present threats to the day to day lives of those around him.
