Ken Preston with his debut novel

A STOURBRIDGE author inspired by Victorian thrillers has seen his first magical novel published.

Ken Preston from Stourbridge's Old Quarter has always enjoyed reading and especially loves Victorian thrillers such as Dracula.

And now after two years working on his own book, Ken is proud to see his first novel Caxton Tempest at the end of the world' hit the shelves He said: "It could be described as Harry Potter meets Dracula via Oliver Twist."

Set in London in 1888, the book features two orphan brothers Jim Kerrigan and George - and centres on a series of events that thrust Jim into the mysterious, dangerous world of Caxton Tempest.

Ken added: "Caxton Tempest at the end of the world' is scary, gripping and unsettling and takes the reader on a journey into the sordid East End, the opium dens, the rookeries, slums and beyond into the world of magic and horror."

The father-of- two, who works as a medical photographer at Russells Hall Hospital and is planning to write six novels in total, is already working on his second masterpiece which sees Caxton Tempest investigating the Jack the Ripper murders.

Ken said he started writing at the aged of ten, when he decided to type out the whole of the Lord of the Rings trilogy on a typewriter.

He said: "I only managed half of chapter one before giving up.

"At the time, if asked, I wouldn't have been able to tell you why I wanted to do that.

"Looking back now, I think I was trying to find out how Tolkien had written his book, where the ideas came from, the characters, the narrative. I was trying to find a secret formula for writing a book. Of course no formula exists and the act of writing a novel is still as mysterious to me today as when I was ten years old."

Caxton Tempest at the end of the world' is available now from Books Unlimited in Lower High Street, Stourbridge, and from Amazon and other online retailers - priced £6.99.

For more information go to www.caxtontempest.com