Eerie explanation for the Clearances in supernatural thriller.

THRILLER writer Ed James has an eerier than accepted explanation for the Highland Clearances.

In his latest independently published book, Shot Through The Heart, released appropriately on Hallowe’en, he suggests lairds evict ed their tenants in order to rid the Highlands of a rising tide of evil.

When an Edinburgh researcher disappears, the clues lead back to the 19th Century and the real — and ghoulish — reasons why Highlanders were forced from their homes — reasons which include devil worship, a savage wild dog and vampires on the loose.

"I’ve been fascinated by the Clearances for years and I didn’t intend to go this way with it originally," James said.

"However, 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 re-imagining 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 simply an artistic reinvention of an oft-told story, with a supernatural edge."

James’s works have been downloaded over 100 000 times on both sides of the Atlantic and his first novel, Ghost In The Machine, reached the Amazon top 50 in the USA and has been a mainstay in the UK Top Ten for two months.

He writes the majority of his books on public transport during his commute from East Lothian to London where he works in IT.