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Sports journalist publishes crime novel as e-book

A regional press sports journalist who spent his nights writing about spies, assassins and gangsters for his first novel has just published it as an e-book.

Neil Bonnar, the head of sport at The Bolton News and Bury Times, has published crime thriller Two Minds To Die after spending three years writing it in his spare time.

The book tells the story of Marcus Fieldman, a small-time journalist who meets a man who thinks and acts exactly like him – his mind clone – and instantly finds his life in danger.

To stay alive, and find out why he has a mind clone, he must take on a ruthless organisation and discovers that an old, deeply-buried family secret lies at the heart of the mystery.

Said Neil: “I’d be up all night working on it sometimes, I couldn’t let it go. I got hooked on the plot and the characters and I couldn’t wait to get back to them and move the story on.

“I’ve got to be honest, I quite miss the characters since I finished writing it. I’ve had some fantastic reaction to the book, including being asked whether there will be a follow-up which, I must admit, would be tempting.”

He initially tried to get the book published in the traditional way but gave up after 18 months of getting no replies, only later becoming interesting in publishing it after his wife enrolled him on a writing course.

Neil entered an international competition organised by the Association of Children’s Writers and came second out of more than 6,000 entries submitted.

He then decided to go down the e-book publishing route and has received positive feedback on the novel since then.

Added Neil: “It’s amazing that people are taking the time and effort to download and read it. People are giving responses on social networking sites that have absolutely blown me away.”

The book is available to download on Amazon for £1.03, or by visiting neilbonnarbooks.com.