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The Exiled Kindle Edition

by William Meikle (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 69 ratings
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Shall we talk about the black bird?

When several young girls are abducted from various locations in Edinburgh, Detective John Grainger and his brother Alan, a reporter, investigate the cases from different directions. The abductor is cunning, always one step ahead, and the only clue he leaves behind at each scene are the brutalized corpses of black swans.

When the brothers' investigations finally converge at a farmhouse in Central Scotland, they catch a glimpse of where the girls have been taken, a place both far away yet close enough to touch. A land known throughout Scottish history with many names: Faerie, Elfheim, and the Astral Plane. It is a place of legend and horror, a myth. But the brothers soon discover it's real, and, to catch the abductor, they will have to cross over themselves.

To catch a killer, John and Alan Grainger will have to battle the Cobbe, a strange and enigmatic creature that guards the realm, a creature of horrific power that demands a heavy price for entry into its world. The fate of both realms hangs in the balance...and time is running out...
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  1. Print length
    184 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publication date
    January 16, 2018
  5. File size
    2463 KB
  6. Page Flip
    Enabled
  7. Word Wise
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  8. Enhanced typesetting
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Editorial Reviews

Review

Totally gripping, The Exiled delivers a killer story that will appeal to fans of both crime fiction and dark fantasy. - GINGER NUTS OF HORROR

This book will appeal to people in the overlapping section of a Venn diagram showing Grimm Tales readers, Stephen King fans and crime fiction lovers. - THIS IS HORROR

Meikle proves that he is definitely in the upper echelon of talented writers today. - Examiner.com

A must-read for any fan of horror or truly dark fantasy. Highest possible recommendation. - Horror After Dark

A supernatural police procedural - I love it! Highly original, it grabbed me from the get go. - cayocosta72 Book Reviews

William Meikle has gifted us with something unique, fresh and exhilarating. This was dark fiction at its best and I believe you will enjoy every moment of it. - My Book Habit

A great read if you enjoy your fairy tales and dark fantasy. - Books and Tales

From the Author

The nightmare? I've been having it off and on since I was a boy. It's of a bird - a huge, black, swan. The stuff that dreams are made of.

In the nightmare I'm on the edge of a high sea cliff. I feel the wind on my face, taste salt spray, smell cut grass and flowers. I feel like if I could just give myself to the wind I could fly. Then it comes, from blue, snow covered mountains way to the north, a black speck at first, getting bigger fast. Before I know it it is on me, enfolding me in feathers. It lowers its head, almost like a dragon, and puts its beak near my ear. It whispers.

I had the dream many times, and always woke up at this point.

Then, in 1991, I heard what it said.

"Will we talk about the black bird?"

The next morning, for the first time, I wrote a story. It wasn't a very good story, but something had been woken up, and the day after that I wrote another, a wee ghost story. It didn't have a black bird in it, but it did have some jazz, and a sultry broad, a murder and some dancing. When that one made me 100 pounds in a ghost story competition, I was on my way.

The bird comes back and whispers to me every couple of years - I've come to think of it as my spirit guide. Although it terrifies me, it also reassures me in a weird kind of way. As long as it's around, I'll still be a writer and not just a drunk with weird ideas he can't express.

The bird came to me a few years back, and the next morning I had an idea forming, a murder mystery that led to a place of legend and horror, a myth. THE EXILED is a way of making sense of that dream - I think I got close to the heart of it.

Will we talk about the black bird?

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07935MVDH
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Crossroad Press (January 16, 2018)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ January 16, 2018
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 2463 KB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 184 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 69 ratings

About the author

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William Meikle

William Meikle

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I am a Scottish writer, now living in Canada, with over thirty novels published in the genre press and over 300 short story credits in thirteen countries. I have had books published with a variety of publishers including Dark Regions Press, DarkFuse and Severed Press, and my work has appeared in a number of professional anthologies and magazines.

I live in Newfoundland with whales, bald eagles and icebergs for company and when I'm not writing I drink beer, play guitar and dream of fortune and glory.

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
69 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Richard Christou
5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent and unusual tale.
Reviewed in the United States on October 13, 2021
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I follow William Meikle and have read most of his works. This one stands out. I think he works better in Novel length although I certainly enjoy his shorter stories. The characters are well drawn and the plot is an intriguing mix of detective story and fantasy. This is not a pastiche and here we get to enjoy Mekle’s own imagination at work. An enjoyable read.
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Kindle Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining fantasy listening ✨🏚
Reviewed in the United States on February 29, 2024
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This kindle e-book novella is from my Kindle Unlimited account stand alone book.

I have listened to a number of books by William Meikle and not been disappointed.

A Scottish Highland story looking into the pass form the present. The characters are interesting and will developed. There is lots of action, misdirection, and violence racing to the conclusion.

I would recommend this novella and author to readers of fantasy haunting horror mystery novels. 2024
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Elizabeth
5.0 out of 5 stars When Reality Isn't Enough
Reviewed in the United States on December 13, 2014
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I've known Willie as a fellow writer and was embarrassed that I'd never read any of his published work. So, I asked him which of his many books he would recommend. Before I was halfway through, I asked him if there were any more with this character, but alas, he hasn't turned this into a series. Yet. We can hope.

Imagine you're one of those people whose job requires a strong grasp on "reality," like a cop or an investigative reporter. Imagine you're confronted with what at first appears to be the horrific handiwork of a particularly nasty serial killer.

Now imagine you're confronted with irrefutable evidence your serial killer is a monster from another world.

Mr. Meikle skillfully creates two characters, brothers, whose feet are planted firmly on the ground then yanks that ground out from under them. The story never strikes a false note, and neither do the characters, and once you're caught up in the strange world Mr. Meikle has created you'd best have some snacks and beverages available because you won't want to leave it till that story is done.
2 people found this helpful
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Randy Stafford
4.0 out of 5 stars A Surpisingly Gripping Combination of Serial Killer Story and the Land of Faerie
Reviewed in the United States on December 7, 2018
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Meikle’s novel effectively blends a serial killer thriller with a vision of a fading Faerie realm guarded by a giant and malevolent beast.

Police detective John Grainger investigates a string of very public abduction of young girls, mutilated swans puzzlingly at the scenes. His brother Alan, a journalist in pursuit of a story, does his own research into the matter, and both began to experience visions of some deserted land of stone ruins.

Besides Meikle’s suspenseful pacing and depiction of that Faerie realm and how to cross into it from our world, I liked two specific elements.

First Alan and John aren’t hostile brothers reconciled by shared danger. Meikle doesn’t go that clichéd route. Rather, they are just two brothers who have drifted apart, casually encountering each other as they go about their lives in Edinburgh.

Second, there’s a wonderful conspiracy mongerer named Ferguson who provides some useful information to the brothers – if they can separate it from his anti-Masonic rantings.

There will be heroism and suffering in this novel as the brothers battle the forces of law and order in our world, the abductor, and the forces of Faerie.

I suppose Meikle intended the ending to be a definite resolution, but I thought it ambiguous enough to suggest more to come.
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Miss Lyn
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent
Reviewed in the United States on July 3, 2014
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This is such a wonderful book in so many ways! Two Scots brothers begin as a cop and reporter trying to . solve a perplexing case of missing little girls and find themselves on a quest in a new and dangerous world. I couldn't put it down! Don't miss this!
One person found this helpful
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Michigan Parents
3.0 out of 5 stars Well written story, just not my cup of tea
Reviewed in the United States on July 19, 2014
The Exiled by William Meikle
Opened, July 14, 2014. Closed, July 15, 2014
Pre-release from Dark Fuse
Encouraged by author's Goodreads Q&A

Starting this novella was exciting. I wanted to know immediately what was going on...more where did this little girl go and finding that out maybe I would know why the little girl was where she was. I was intrigued by the way our protagonist heard her voice. This beginning reminded me of a Twilight Zone show where a young girl was lost in the wall behind her bed and her parents could hear her calling them.

As I got more into the book, I discovered it was a fantasy book and honestly reminded me of young adult characters. I was actually surprised as I've read several books by Meikle and never felt his writing was for the immature or being marketed to teens. I think it was odd to me because of the crimes in the book. I felt all the main characters changed so much once the fantasy part of the book began. Maybe they were suppose to. Maybe I read something different in the beginning that wasn't there.

So now I'm trying to decide if I liked this fantasy or not. I'm pretty sure I have enjoyed Meikles other books a bit more than this one. However, this one was interesting and fun.

This book was well written and edited. I always knew what was happening. But I really did not care for the fantasy aspect. It is a personal preference of mine. I suppose if I am reading this sort of fantasy I want it in the YA genre.

A solid 3 stars, colored brightly

Recommended
3 people found this helpful
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Coetta
5.0 out of 5 stars Great read!
Reviewed in the United States on February 21, 2015
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This was my first of William's books, but definitely not the last. I really enjoyed the story, especially the characters.
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Ken
4.0 out of 5 stars Another well done story by Meikle!
Reviewed in the United States on July 1, 2014
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I like in Meikle's books when you can find one line that pretty much summarizes the odd situation that his characters have gotten themselves into:

"...you've just given your wee posh company car away to a known villain in exchange for an old banger and two bacon rolls, you're on the run accused of murder, and your only alibi is that you were away in Fairyland with a big black bird. It's hardly any wonder something smells...."

Yeah, its hardly any wonder!

Another well done story by Meikle!

4 STARS
One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Ginger Nuts
5.0 out of 5 stars Meikle Does it Again
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 27, 2014
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The Exiled by William Meikle starts of as a gruesome crime story centered around the disappearance of several young girls from in and around Edinburgh. The only thing that links these mysterious disappearances is the mutilated corpses of black swans. Leading the investigation is police detective John Granger who, when following his reporter brother to a farmhouse that may hold hold the answer to the abductions. There he discovers that the answer to these crimes is something beyond the scope of human reasoning, something far more dangerous than anyone could have imagined.
The Exiled takes one part Tony Black hard bitten crime novel and one part Raymond Feist Faerie Tale and combines them into one hell of a book that travels across the boundaries of genre fiction as though it is one of Fey folk.

The gritty realism of an Edinburgh based crime procedural is counterbalanced perfectly with the fantastical elements of the Faerie realm. The biggest problem facing books that try to merge the mundane with the fantastical is getting the two to merge seamlessly, if this isn't done correctly the story will jar and seem forced. Meikle has obviously taken great care in ensuring that this doesn't happen. For the first quarter or so of the book the reader is slowly introduced to the possibility that there is more than meets the eye to this story. It is only when we get to the farmhouse that things take a proper right turn into Narnia.

Rather than just slamming the reader in the face with the supernatural, Meikle gives this encounter an almost dreamlike quality, John and his brother are still unsure as to what actually happened. Which then leads them on a quest to find the truth about the Black Swan.

It's this quest that introduces us to my favourite character in the book, the slightly mad conspiracy theorist Brian Ferguson If you have ever walked the street of Edinburgh then you will have surely met a man like this. Meikle's characters live and breath in this book, from the downbeat Detective and his brother to the chilling serial killer. After reading this book you will keep your eyes peeled for a big man carrying a huge stone axe standing in your doorway for quire some time, such is the menacing power of him.

The story itself moves along with great speed barely allow the reader any time to draw breath. Totally gripping The Exiled delivers a killer story that will appeal to fans of both crime fiction and dark fantasy.

As a side note The Exiled is also a masterclass in how to write a Scottish book, the speech and mannerisms of the characters in the book are spot on. They never come across as cliched stereotypes. So if you are a writer looking at setting your book in Scotland then take a look at this book it will show you how to do it properly.
- See more at: http://www.gingernutsofhorror.com/4/post/2014/07/horror-novel-review-the-exiled-by-william-meikle.html#sthash.LkOabjTH.dpuf
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Steph Ellis
5.0 out of 5 stars If you just want a really good story, I would highly recommend The Exiled
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 20, 2014
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The first of William Meikle's books that I've read. Normally a reader of Scandi-crime I thought I'd try something different and was pleasantly surprised by this story. Initially it started out in traditional crime-thriller way, forcing you to keep turning the pages and then gradually it introduced the 'fantastical' element but in such a manner that did not appear contrived or forced, keeping me reading until the bitter end. I read this book in an afternoon. If you just want a really good story, I would highly recommend The Exiled. I also look forward to a sequel.
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