PRESS RELEASE

Self-published mystery drama turns the spotlight on self-publishing

What if you self-published a mystery drama online, basing it loosely on a true story, and readers jumped to wrong conclusions about what you knew about the real events in question?

That's one of the key premises behind a newly-published novel, Alternative Outcome, by Peter Rowlands, a long-time logistics journalist turned novelist.

Alternative Outcome is now available on Amazon Kindle at http://www.amazon.co.uk/Alternative-Outcome-Peter-Rowlands-ebook/dp/B01CK1XVHK/.

Mike, the leading character in the book, has self-published his own mystery thriller online, and gradually starts to realise that this has triggered a sequence of events in which fact and fiction are starting to become intertwined.

The self-publishing theme in turn opens the door to a wry look at the trials experienced by a would-be author seeking a voice in the wilderness of the e-book revolution. Mike yearns for a "real" print publisher to save the day, and his attempts to find one eventually become part of the plot.

Alternative Outcome takes as its setting the logistics world familiar to the Peter (the real author). A parcels carrier confronts a cash flow crisis. A regional logistics group strives to extend its national coverage. A haulage company boss gets caught up in people smuggling. Gradually all these themes converge as the Mike tries to track down a woman from his past, while simultaneously falling for a woman from his present.

Mike is a logistics journalist like Peter himself - but as Peter puts it, "That's where the similarities end." He says Mike is much more resourceful than he could ever be, though when the book opens Mike has allowed his commitment to slide.

In the course of this intricately plotted "semi-thriller" a range of issues are raised. Is there anywhere to hide from the ubiquity of the internet? Should thieves be subject to a different moral framework from other people? How far should one go to track down people from one's past, given that they might not want to be found? However, none of these themes is over-worked to the detriment of the lively dialogue and increasingly relentless pace of the book.

The result is what one reviewer has described as "a triumph of imaginative dexterity: not just one set of Russian dolls that we see unpacked, but a whole shelfful of them".

As Peter himself sums it up: "In a way the whole of Alternative Outcome is a mirror on itself." But he adds: "That said, my prime objective was to come up with something lively, contemporary and engaging - basically the kind of fast-moving mystery that I would buy for myself."

Peter Rowlands worked as a freelance journalist in the transport and logistics press for many years, contributing numerous feature articles to publications such as Commercial Motor and Motor Transport, as well as submitting many non-attributed press releases on behalf of suppliers. In the 1990s he edited Distribution Business magazine, then in recent years he edited and co-owned Fulfilment & e.logistics, which merged with eDelivery in 2015.

Peter's first published novel, Alternative Outcome, is available now as an e-book on Amazon Kindle, and will later be released in other formats. Sample chapters, further information and a link to Peter's Amazon Kindle page can be found on his web site, www.peterrowlands.com.
 
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Note to editors

Book title: Alternative Outcome
Author: Peter Rowlands
ASN: B01CK1XVHK
Published: 4 March 2016
Availability: Amazon Kindle (worldwide)
Page equivalent: 399 pages
Price (UK): £2.99
Amazon page:http://www.amazon.co.uk/Alternative-Outcome-Peter-Rowlands-ebook/dp/B01CK1XVHK/
Author website:www.peterrowlands.com.
Review copies: Available in .mobi or .ePub format. Please ask!
Sample chapters:
See Amazon "See inside", or read ten chapters at www.peterrowlands.com.