Saccade - a novella "Chris Bell's Saccade is a beautifully constructed, heartfelt work. Expertly weaving in multiple plotlines, Bell creates a story of loss, love, and ultimately redemption ... It is, of course, a testament to his skill that he constructs such a complex plot without allowing too many threads to slip away, but that he is so precise with his diction is what sets him apart from other writers. He has a gift for emotionally loaded, short, concise statements." Sophia Ioannou, Seven Stories Press sac-cade (sa'ka: d) n. [French, twitch, from Old North French saqiuer, to pull] any of the rapid, involuntary jumps made by the eyes from one fixed point to another. Sam Kite is plagued by panic attacks, lives alone and works in a dead-end job. But like most of the people he knows, he only pretends to be working. His life is pathetic. He lives in fear of "The Almighty Crunch", which he senses is impending. His only release is his collection of films on DVD. When his half-hearted suicide attempt is foiled by a nameless 'guardian stranger', by chance Kite encounters "The White Woman", an eye-catching squatter whose grace is undeniable and unavoidable. Her name is Grace Starling. Grace is deep; a once seen, never to be forgotten kind of woman who lives with a loose collective of graffiti artists, environmentalists and political activists in a terrace of condemned buildings. The street is about to be redeveloped by billionaire industrialist Jeroboam Rort who made his fortune from Raubbau, a company that owes its growth to ethically questionable revenue streams. Government scientist Professor Darko Adnazhevsky is onto Raubbau and its attempted cover-ups until he is arrested. An encounter with an unusual street musician whose instrument has the power to connect people with its vibrations leads Sam to discover the primal, healing powers of music. Sam almost squares off with Rort until an omnipresent companion spoils things. In the end what do we have? A man who has been on a journey and reached a destination of sorts, overseen by a narrator who would like to remain angelic but who is as unreliable as he was at the outset.
About the Author: Chris Bell was born in the autumn of the 20th Century. Shrugging off this early setback, he moved from Holyhead to Hamburg, via London, in a futile search for any of the trappings of rock superstardom, before arriving in New Zealand where, having gone as far as he could, he now works as a writer. His short stories have appeared in 'The Third Alternative'; 'Postscripts'; 'Grotesque'; 'The Heidelberg Review'; 'TransVersions'; 'Not One of Us' and 'Takahe', as well as on the internet. 'The Cruel Countess' was anthologised in 'The Year's Best Fantasy & Horror (10th Annual Edition)', published by St Martin's Griffin Books, in which his collection 'The Bumper Book of Lies' received an Honourable Mention. 'Shem-el-Nessim' has appeared in 'This Is The Summer of Love' and 'The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror 21'. His poetry has appeared in 'Workshop New Poetry'; 'Snorkel'; and foam: e. 'Liquidambar', his first novel, won the UKAuthors/PADB 'Search For A Great Read' novel writing competition. He has described himself as "a glass-two-thirds-empty sort of a person".