Moreton Scientific Investigation Series – Book 1
Moreton Scientific Investigation Series
Beneath – Book 1 – Published July 2023
Marooned, deserted on Earth by its alien masters from a distant galaxy and trapped underground by a cataclysmic earthquake. Here to wipe out all life forms from the face or the Earth, hidden for millennia, hibernating in a sealed cave.
Once awoken the showdown is inevitable with the new dominant species and humanity faces the deadliest threat it has ever known. The sci-fi mystery unfolds as local folk, farm animals and wildlife inexplicably vanish after quarry blasting exposes a labyrinth of caves and tunnels. Lethal extra-terrestrial power and technology has evolved beneath the small Cotswold town into something far more sinister.
The unbelievable becomes plausible and the impossible emerges as a mind-blowing reality. Alien abduction and murder ramps up the horror of what lives beneath.
The Moreton Scientific Investigation team battle to find the Achilles heel of the most frightening and deadly predator the planet has ever seen, while battling political will and military agendas that threaten their own lives.
After writing my 5 book U-Sam series for the Sci-fi Young Adult genre, I decided to up my game and write for all ages and base the series on earth but still sci-fi with it developing into alien investigation. Beneath kicks off the Moreton Scientific Investigation series with Ben Sharman, running his own small Scientific Investigation business, being hurled into the work=ld on alien first contact on his door step. My main emphasis was to create interesting characters, a creative and intriguing storyline and avoid being over the top descriptive, which I see too much in other authors books. I like to read books where the characters and the story is important and where the author gives you enough descriptive information allowing you to fill in the blanks with your own imagination, totally immersing you into the story with the backdrop largely created by the vision of how it appears to you. I hope I have achieved that.
The first first book in this brand new scifi mystery thriller series, Ben Sharman heads up the talented team of forensic scientists, drawn into the unthinkable world of alien invasion and potential takeover of planet Earth. First contact with alien life on their own back yard.Terrifying alien action adventure at its very best.
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Where I got the idea from for Beneath
Many years ago my English teacher read the class a story by American Author Arthur Porges called ‘The Ruum’. A sci-fi tale located in a remote valley in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. The story is based around an alien spacecraft depositing an android ‘Ruum’ designed to collect live specimens of a certain size and weight and keep them subdued until its alien masters returned to collect the specimens. The ship never returned and over millions of years the Ruum went about its business collecting hundreds of animals stretching back to the age of the dinosaurs. Jim Irwin, a mineral prospector, happened to chance upon the Ruum, and unfortunately was the right weight and size and the Ruum gave chase to add him to the bizarre collection. I won’t spoil the outcome for you, but if you like short sci-fi, that’s really well written and intriguing – it is available on Amazon.
The story stayed with me for over 40 years and when I decided to start writing sci-fi it was an itch that just wouldn’t go away and needed some serious scratching. I asked myself, what if an android or some other alien being was deposited on earth, not to collect life forms but to eliminate them prior to an invasion – clearing the Earth ready for alien occupation? And as in Arthur Porges story – what if the aliens did not return?
This spark led to ‘Beneath’, and I chose a location I know extremely well. Moreton in Marsh is a stunning historical town in the heart of the Cotswolds, Gloucestershire, in the UK. During the early 90’s I spent 6 months on various Fire Service courses at Moreton in Marsh, and explored as much of that stunning part of the British Isles as I could on my trusty steed – a clapped out bicycle.
Beneath Book 1, Moreton Scientific Investigation- Reader 5 Star Reviews
‘One of the best alien monster tales I have read in quite a while. I liked how the depredations of the alien and the escalating response of humans was what one would expect in a real-world growing crisis. Also experiencing what the alien monster was thinking and planning was creepy but satisfying. A great read’
‘Rob Nesbitt has crafted a story that skillfully combines science and horror like a master. Imagine the xenomorph from the Alien films, but more intelligent, increasing its crafty deadliness.’
‘The visual storytelling in this book is like watching a blockbuster film. I began reading it last Sunday morning and couldn’t put it down! It’s gripping with crisp dialogue and characters who are both relatable and move the story at a quick pace. I really enjoyed it!’
‘First few pages set the story out perfectly and the anticipation grew and grew as the strange events unfolded. Loved the main characters who weren’t overburdened with useless facts often seen in other sci fi books. This was a refreshing and totally different experience reading this book which I devoured in one sitting – bit of a cliche to say I couldn’t put it down but in this case it was absolutely true – I couldn’t! ‘
‘Science horror of the best kind’
Locations – ‘Beneath’ and the Moreton Scientific Investigation Series
I thought you might find it interesting to see some of the locations I used for the story, in and around moreton in Marsh.
Church Street and St davids Church
The headquarters of Moreton Scientific Investigation is located in Church Street, also the location of St David’s Church. Of course, the Moreton Scientific Investigation HQ does not exist in reality, although having written almost half a million words in the series so far I sometimes believe it actually exists!
On the other hand St David’s Church, which features in Beneath on several occasions is very much of this world and not a fictitious place of worship. Unfortunately, while researching the locations for the book, I didn’t manage to get a look inside but that is scheduled for another visit as I really want to immerse myself in its interior as it’s such a key landmark in the story, not just in Beneath but other books in the series.
Church Street is real enough and very oldy worldy (see the image below) where Ben Sharman has built his soon to be globally successful scientific Investigation business.
Fire Service College
The Fire Service College, on the outskirts of Moreton in Marsh, on the road to Chipping Norton, was a WW2 airfield and the existing runways were perfect for practical fire service exercises and also features in several chapters of the book. This is where I spent months of my life back in the early 90s and got to know this part of the Cotswolds and the surrounding areas really well. If you have never been to this part of England – you really must. It has spectacular rolling countryside, quirky shops, pubs and restaurants and picture postcard towns such as Stow on the Wold, Bourton on the water, Broadway and of course Moreton in Marsh. There are some interesting names to some of the outlying hamlets and villages – Upper and Lower Slaughter, Upper and Lower Swell, and Great Rollright.
Knowing the college as well as I do and having revisited recently on a fire extinguisher maintenance course, I was able to picture, place and write with confidence when describing the various scenes.
The Black Bear
The black Bear, located in High Street , Moreton in marsh, is a frequent haunt of Ben Sharman and the team and features several times throughout the series, There were some significant scenes within this oldy worldy pub.
Lemington Lakes
This was a location where I had to bend reality to fit the story and drama and is the key site in the investigation in Beneath.
Moreton allotments
Not far from Church Street – the allotments feature in one of the later chapters involving a horrific chase.
Bourton on the Hill
Bourton in the Hill, just outside Morton is a small village on a steep hill, this was used a few times in the storyline at the fictitious ‘Bourton Hill Farm’.
High Street, Moreton in Marsh
Features heavily throughout the series. Opposite the shops is the market square and the Black Bear public House. Martha’s Coffee Shop is a frequent feature and one of the team in Book 3 – ‘Transformation’, take up residence here in a first floor flat.
