So we have now published our second novel by Tim Rees. It is no secret that at the heart of this story is a very strong argument for animal rights.
One lady in our readers group wrote such a powerful endorsement of the novel, we, with her permission, decided to use it for the back cover blurb, which reads:
Throughout history men and women have bravely stood up and sown the seed that creates the change they wish to see. This is a story about William and he sows a seed.
In William’s case he plants a seed in the form of a bullet in a trophy hunter’s head.
The murder sets off a national debate with regard animal rights.
One reader’s pre-launch review reads: “This is one novel I didn’t want to end. Trophy hunting is a subject I feel strongly about and it was as if the characters were talking directly to me. Animal rights is a huge and controversial topic, but Tim Rees is fearless in grasping that nettle. And William is a murderer, but I like him so much and his relationship with fifteen-year-old Ashley is emotionally engaging. Now I’ve finished the book, I’m missing that involvement. What’s troubling, though, is the fact we are talking about murder here. The police detective in pursuit of William is a wonderfully strong female character, but I wanted her to fail! Right up to the very last page Tim shone a new light on animal rights for me. I’ve learned a lot and even feel inspired to get actively involved in animal rights issues.”
Of course, some reviews fell short of an endorsement. One man expressed his dislike of the novel due to his religious belief that man has dominion, and another lady stated her understanding that trophy hunting was financially supporting conservation. There is a couple of passages that deal with that and we fully accept that some readers will not agree with all the arguments the fictional characters present, but we support the fictional characters right to assert those opinions.
This is a novel we are very proud to publish because we are completely in tune with the authors aspirations for the novel. Tim hopes it will prove a step forward for greater animal rights.
With that in mind we have agreed with Tim that a percentage of all sales for the novel will be donated to animal protection causes. We will donate 50p of our profit and Tim will donate 50p of his royalty, so that will be £1 per book sold. Charities supported will primarily be The Born Free Foundation and Sheldrick Trust (@SheldrickTrust). The donations to be sent by Tim as it was his idea. Tim also wants to support a variety of Hunt Saboteur groups, but he’ll need to sell some books 😉
The audiobook will be available as soon as Audible UK have cleared the recordings by Tim after quality assessment.
The novel is currently available as a paperback and ebook (Kindle).