Thought provoking fiction rooted in reality
Enter a world where the extraordinary feels possible, the ordinary becomes intriguing and nothing is quite what it seems. Discover stories that entertain, feel real and leave you looking at the world a little differently.
“Makes you think from beginning to end…well written, excellent pace…” extract from the Online Book Club review of ‘The Shape of Rain’.
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Nick Hirst is the author of ‘The Shape of Rain’ and ‘Second Spider from the Right’ – conspiracy thrillers rooted in reality. And stories that pose mysteries and puzzles for you to solve before you get to the end.
The Books
Stories rooted in reality. Possibilities you won’t see coming.
Nick Hirst’s novels take familiar places, real events and recognisable human experiences and weave them into stories of mystery, suspense and discovery.
Second Spider from the Right
When Mundance ‘call me Mundy’ Holyford discovers that his dead uncle had a child no one knew existed, he sets out to find them. But someone is watching him – and the closer he gets to the truth, the more dangerous his search becomes.
His journey takes him from Avalon (formerly southern England) to Ireland, across America and ultimately to Italy where a mysterious message spelled out in stones suggests that the secret he is pursuing may be far bigger than he imagined.
The Shape of Rain
Cracking the hidden code – a conspiracy concealed in a song.
Were the moon landings real or faked? Was the war in Iraq necessary? And could these apparently unrelated events be connected? A coded message hidden in the lyrics of a thirty-year old song hides a shocking secret that appears to show they could.
An innocent chat at a baggage carousel at Prague airport catapults music journalist Jack Conrad into a race against time to decipher the secret of this song. He is immediately plunged into a murky world of counter-intelligence, international security, misinformation and extreme violence, surviving various attempts on his life through his own unpredictable behaviour.
Fiction Rooted in Reality
Stories that make you question what you think you know.
Nick Hirst writes novels that weave fictional conspiracies through real places and real events, inviting readers to question assumptions and see familiar history from a different perspective.
His stories follow ordinary people caught in extraordinary situations, uncovering truths that challenge what they thought they knew about the world.
The aim is simple: to entertain, to feel believable, and to leave you thinking about and questioning the world around them.
Do you believe everything you read or see in the news – or that the government tells you?
About Nick
The author behind the stories
Nick Hirst is an author, writer and former BBC producer whose career has always centred on storytelling.
He has written more than 200 magazine and internet articles and has worked across broadcasting, journalism, acting and podcasting. His experience as a BBC producer and writer has taken him through many different forms of storytelling, from factual broadcasting and journalism to novels and podcast conversations.
In his novels the protagonists are ordinary people who find themselves caught up in extraordinary circumstances, discovering that the world that they thought they understood may have another story to tell.
Nick is the author of ‘The Shape of Rain’ and ‘Second Spider from the Right’, and co-host of the podcast ‘Life Happens’, where he and Micheller R Williams explore the psychology, relationships and everyday experiences that shape our lives.
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PODCAST: LIFE HAPPENS*
*but you can too!
What happens when two generations sit down and talk about the things we all experience – but don’t always understand?
Co-hosted by Nick Hirst and Michelle R Williams, Life Happens* explores psychology, relationships, identity, every day dilemmas and the things nobody quite prepares us for.
If you enjoy conversations that make you laugh, think and occasionally question your own behaviour, take a listen.
LISTEN TO LIFE HAPPENS* – choose your preferred platform below
From the Writing Desk
Follow the journey behind the books
Research, ideas discoveries, the realities of writing and the occasional unexpected detour.
Follow Nick’s writing journey, explore the real-world stories behind his fiction and discover what happens between that first idea and the finished novel.
Latest blog post:
Why real settings make fiction come alive
Real places will inevitably make fiction feel more believable, relatable For example Seattle (pictured left) plays a very important part of the climax of ‘The Shape of Rain’. You don’t have to have been there to relate, let me take you in words and your imagination...read more
READY TO QUESTION THE FAMILIAR?
Discover the books of Nick Hirst.