Who is really in control during a hypnotic session? The hypnotist or the subject?

Every practising hypnotherapist in the world will say it is the subject. Many others, however, disagree. They say it is the hypnotist. My argument has always been that the subject controls the initial process. It is his/her decision whether hypnosis will take place. But once hypnotised, especially in the deeper states, control rests with the hypnotist. And if this is the case, who can say what the hypnotist will do when his subject is under control?

Despite the hypnotists’ denials, there are countless cases of the criminal abuse of hypnosis, and from there it’s a short step in the novelist’s mind to a full length work of fiction: The Handshaker.

Re-released today with a fresh cover under the Crooked Cat imprint, it’s been about for a year or two now, and what never ceases to amuse me is the debate it has occasionally created.

IT’S A WORK OF FICTION!

Aside from the thin descriptions of Scarbeck, all based loosely on the area of North Manchester where I live, The Handshaker has no basis in reality. It’s hard and gritty, it pulls no punches, but it is a product of my imagination, and probably has more to say about me than hypnosis.

I’ve said before that this is not a cosy STAC Mystery. The whole ambience is dour. The sex and violence are graphic, the language representative of 21st century Great Britain. Described as a “compelling, rollercoaster of a read”, by one reviewer, and with “an ending that will leave you gasping for breath” by another, it is as dark as the cover suggests.

It’s not a police procedural, it’s more of a thriller than a mystery novel, but it’s one that asks daunting questions.

The Handshaker is available for download from;

Amazon UK (Kindle)

Amazon Worldwide (Kindle)

Smashwords (all formats)

Crooked Cat Books (MOBI, EPUB, PDF)

And in paperback from:

Amazon UK

Amazon Worldwide