Vince was full of quips and rude one-liners, but Pickle didn't know for sure what Vince was like when he was on his own, when he was lying in bed and staring at the ceiling. Maybe Vince cried every night. Maybe Vince Kindl had wept for his parents, for Jack, Rosemary, Lisa and Kyle. Pickle wasn't sure.
Harry Branston didn't want to look back with regret, but to move on with hope. He was once told that hope was being able to see that there was light despite all of the darkness.
He wanted to continue and be alive, but he didn't want to do it on his own; he wanted to do it with Karen.
Still standing on the doorstep, Pickle jumped when he heard Karen yell from inside the house, “You coming in, or what?”
Pickle smiled and went inside, shutting the door behind him.
THE END
If you enjoyed reading SNATCHERS 11: The Dead Don't Knock, feel free to mail me your thoughts on facebook or Twitter, or leave a review where you've downloaded the book.
Very kind regards,
Shaun Whittington
Author’s Notes
I said to myself that I wouldn’t do any more notes at the end of these books because I tend to change my mind every month. One month I’ve had enough of the series and want to try something else, and the next I fall back in love with the characters. I think from now on I’m going to leave every Snatchers book with an ambiguous ending and no more cliffhangers. At least then it gives me the option of adding more books to the series, and if I get hit by a bus one day, then at least the series wouldn’t be left incomplete.
The last two or three Snatcher books have gone down the reminiscing road, and this one is no exception. I don’t go over the old books as a page-filler. I just think when you’re into a series and only three Snatcher books come out every year, sometimes you can forget what’s happened. I don’t go into too much detail when reminiscing, because I don’t want to be patronising to the reader, as the reader knows the characters better than I do.
My nod to previous books starts halfway through Chapter Eleven, when Paul Dickson wakes up after being abducted by James Thomson and Stephen Bonser. Paul's journey back to Haywood sees us getting flashbacks of book one.
He walked by a shallow grave that had a poorly made crucifix stuck into the ground, and descended downwards.
The grave he had walked by was Davina Pointer's, made by Pickle and KP. She had been bitten and KP had shot her in the back of the head, making her husband, David, and his daughter, Isobel, leave the beauty spot. We also experience Paul Dickson going by Wolf’s now burnt out cabin from books three and four, and then he arrives back on Sandy Lane and the Lea Hall building.
After the books Snatchers 9 and 10 mentioning Drake once in a while, we finally get to meet him. You readers were probably expecting some psychotic, murderous thug (especially if you believe what Jez has said about him). I think it’s fair to say that most readers will probably be disappointed with Drake, but I did this on purpose. I didn’t want to turn him into some kind of cartoon character villain that was violent. He’s just a man that has done inexplicable things to survive, like everybody else. Maybe he’s not as bad as some people think and could be a future ally for Pickle and the rest, despite the killing of some of the people in the street.
Despite dying in the first ever Snatchers book, the mention of KP has appeared in every book and no one knew for sure if he did really kill himself. The finding of his Browning in Snatchers 8 with the round in the chamber confirmed that he didn’t, and I thought it was a nice touch that Paul finally got to meet him, although in Snatcher form.
Like I had mentioned earlier, these books will now have an ending that will be vague (unless I really decide to never do one again) just so that it gives me the option of doing another book.
These books are not easy to write and do take up a lot of my evenings and weekends, and I only continue writing because you guys are still purchasing the books, so thanks very much. What has taken you a week or two to read, has taken me four to five months to write. So, a big thank you for sticking by the series. Much appreciated.
Very kind Regards,
Shaun
Snatchers (Book 11): The Dead Don't Knock Page 28
