So after a bit of an unplanned blogging break (life got in the way), I am back with a very exciting extract from The Spider Dance by Nick Setchfield. This thrilling dark fantasy is certainly one to have on your watch list; I can not wait to pick it up! So sit dark with a cuppa, and let this extract draw you in..

Winter took the bullet a second before he heard the shot.

It tore into his chest, shredding skin, skimming bone.

For a moment he felt nothing. It was as if his body was simply noting the bullet’s arrival.

And then it came, the numbing, consuming punch. Winter swayed, one arm wheeling for balance, the other pressed to his chest. His hand covered the wound, trying to plug it. He felt a warm insistence of blood pumping against his palm.

The world tilted, the stars and the city blurring. Winter buckled and fell, hitting the terrace.

He sensed Alessandra cradling him, lifting his head from the tarmac.

The man with the gun was almost upon them, his breathing still ragged from the kick he had taken to the throat. Winter fought to keep focus as the figure loomed. The outline of the man rippled and warped as Winter’s eyes watered. He glanced at Alessandra and then moved his gaze to his left ankle.

He slid the heel of his right shoe against the trouser leg, hitching up the fabric.

She saw the knife strapped to his calf. With a nod she eased it from the sheath and hid it in her hand.

And then she spun at the waist, slashing upwards, targeting the man’s ribs. She corkscrewed the mean little blade, twisting it into his side until the blue waistcoat purpled with blood.

Winter lay there, curling into himself as he watched the man stagger and crash. Now their bodies lay parallel on the ground.

Alessandra withdrew the knife and tossed it away. She crouched over the fallen state security agent, easing her thighs across his chest. The man was clearly in agony but she smoothed her hands over him as if savouring each spasm of pain, stealing it into herself. As her nails traced down to the knife wound her skin began to shimmer.

The Hungarian screamed and there was an unmistakable shudder of pleasure in the sound.

Winter saw the world darken, the stars receding in his peripheral vision, turning the sky into something black and crushing. One last image lingered as he lost consciousness.

Alessandra’s eyes, bright and blind as gold.

The Spider Dance by Nick Setchfield, Paperback, £7.99, OUT NOW!