Shaking off the thought, Ross Redman pressed on, his boots sinking into the rain-drenched mud. The question gnawed at him. How does an old man escape a Category A prison, dodge the police, kill civilians along the way, and magically show up 150 miles from London on the Norfolk coast? It didn’t make sense.

Aubrey had done just that.

Neil Hannam’s novel Aubrey: Nukeville Book 1 unravels this mystery piece by piece. The novel demonstrates how an elderly man defies reason and convention, prompting us to think of plausible justifications. From the way he moves to the way he kills and the way he seems to anticipate his hunters, every move of this evil and terror suggests that he is not what he seems. He is playing a different game, one that we could not possibly imagine.

For a man as old as Aubrey, we should be experiencing physical difficulties when we first see him following the escape—right? Raged skin, matted hair, and difficulty breathing. But this is not what Aubrey is made of. Despite the harsh conditions, his muscles remain taut, wiry, and unyielding. His grip is steady despite the rain-washed blood coating his fingers. There is no sign of weakness in his actions or in his gestures. It feels like that even as his body wears the marks of time. It moves as if time has no hold on him.

Aubrey does not simply flee. He kills with terrifying precision, leaving behind a trail of victims marked not just by death but by something more sinister. When he slashes the throat of an officer chasing him, there is no hesitation, no wasted motion, and no regret. He casually watches the blood seep into the mud with the detached air of a man who has done this too many times to count. His kills are calculated. Deliberate.

For example, the scene in the storm-drenched forest is one of the most chilling in the novel. As the police close in, Aubrey stands motionless, weighing his options. The rain slicks down his face, mixing with the blood already staining his skin. The sounds of pursuit grow louder: urgent voices, the barks of a dog, the crunch of boots through the undergrowth. Yet he does not panic. He does not run. Instead, he kneels beside his most recent kill, running a hand through the dead man’s blood-matted hair. Then, with eerie precision, he carves something into the corpse’s forehead. The storm rages on, the shadows flicker under lightning’s glare, and still, he takes his time. By the time his pursuers reach the scene, he is gone. He has vanished into the darkness like a ghost, leaving no clue or imprint behind.

Ross Redman and his team are left with nothing but a corpse and a growing sense of dread. Their radios are down. Their support is limited. And their enemy is something they cannot even begin to understand or see clearly. When they finally regroup, the tension is thick enough to cut the silence. They argue, frustration and fear colliding in the storm, only to be met with another surprise!

Then Betty, their tracking dog, stiffens. A low growl rumbles from her chest.

They realize that something is watching them. But from where?

Neil Hannam’s writing makes you feel the weight of every moment, the creeping realization that Aubrey is no ordinary man. Every piece of evidence defies logic. Be it his escape, his endurance, or his uncanny ability to disappear without a trace, even the hardened officers begin to fear that they are dealing with something far more sinister and omnivorous than a monster.

But the question remains: What does Aubrey want? And how far will he go to get what he wants?

The answer is far worse than anyone is prepared for, and you can only know this by reading Aubrey: Nukeville Book 1. Get your copy on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DVTGH4LY