Angus author gives Scottish history a Twilight twist

A Tayside author is set to divide historians and horror fans with the launch of a fangs-and-flintlocks novel about the Highland Clearances.

Carnoustie man Jamie Thompson hopes his take on one of Scotland’s defining periods will pump new blood into the historical chiller genre on Halloween.

Writing under the pen name Ed James, Mr Thompson’s book, Shot Through the Heart, is influenced by the popular Twilight novels as much as history.

He said: “The subject still hits a nerve and it was this idea of the Clearances being one of Scotland’s ghosts that got me thinking in terms of reimagining it completely.

“It is a subject which has left many scars and this book is not written as a historical commentary. Neither is it intended to belittle the subject. It is simplyan artistic reinvention of an oft-told story, with a supernatural edge.”

Devil worship, a savage wild dog and vampires on the loose in rural locations all feature in the novel.

Mr Thompson hopes it will encourage people to look anew at a divisive chapter in Scotland’s story.