DAVID ROBINSON

If this face is not yet familiar to you, it soon will be! People have said that my book is non-put-down-able…  Well – here is a SEVERE HEALTH  WARNING!!  Don’t start The Deep Secret unless you have several hours ahead of you. The book took me two intensive sessions to read this past weekend, and you can see my review HERE.

I am privileged to present David on my blog today, he offers some intriguing background thoughts on this newly released detective thriller.

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My latest thriller, The Deep Secret details a trail of rape and murder based on the idea that some of the victims were deeply hypnotised. But could it really happen?

Hypnotism enjoys (or suffers) a variable reputation. Some say it is a reliable alternative medical practice. Others see it as a panacea, a cure-all, and yet others insist it is a huge con trick.

Getting to the truth is no easy matter. A friend of mine invested over £5,000 (about $8,000US) in training and enjoys great success in areas such as pain and stress relief, weight control, smoking. But the fact remains that whatever he can do for his clients, they could do themselves without hypnotism. Therein lies the basis of the claim that it is a con, but such claims ignore the fact that many people do not have the necessary willpower to effect such life changes.

I became involved with hypnosis thanks to my arthritis. My body will not tolerate the NSAIDs (Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs) to contain the flares up, and because my job at the time involved a lot of driving, I couldn’t take strong painkillers. So I went to a hypnotist, and learned to control pain with the power of my mind. I was so fascinated by this phenomenon that I took a short training course in hypnotism, and if I so wished, I could legitimately call myself a hypnotherapist.

As a writer of fiction, however, I found it much more interesting and in the course of my researches, I came across the Heidelberg Case.

Briefly, back in 1927, a young woman came under the influence of a criminal hypnotist who used and abused her for seven years. He had her make six attempts to murder her husband, and three attempts to commit suicide, both of which, according to all authorities, should be impossible.

Today, over 80 years on, the case remains largely unexplained, but precious little original data is available, as result of which it will probably remain the subject of debate for many years to come.

The notion of a hypnotist with the power to completely subdue and dominate a woman in this manner, moreover, one who achieved it simply by touching her hand, fascinated me, and it wasn’t long before I produced the first novel with the Heidelberg Case as the catalyst.

The Handshaker is very violent and sexually graphic, and not to everyone’s taste, but both that volume, and the sequel, The Deep Secret, beg the question: is it possible? Could a hypnotist really do all this and remain undetected for so many years?

Theoretically, the answer is yes, but my research leads me to the conclusion that it would require a deep state of hypnosis which could take so long to achieve, that it would be hardly worth the hypnotist’s while.

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The Handshaker is published by Crooked Cat Books and available as an e-book and paperback from Amazon at http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00B1FLYXK

The Deep Secret was released on October 25th and is available from Crooked Cat Books. You can pre-order the paperback on Amazon at http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Deep-Secret-David-Robinson/dp/1909841234