When the Siren Calls
by Tom Barry
(Click here for UK purchase)
BOOK DESCRIPTION
A story of seduction, deception and betrayal...
When restless and neglected Isobel is invited to an idyllic Tuscan retreat by the suave and streetwise Jay, she imagines a life of excitement outside her stagnant marriage. Despite fear and guilt, she abandons herself in a passionate love affair, but is soon trapped in a web of feminine manipulation, business intrigue, and ruthless ambition, while controlling Jay encourages conservative Isobel to push beyond her sexual boundaries.
But all is not as it seems in the hilltop paradise and as her lover battles for survival, she finds herself a player in a dangerous love triangle. Unable to know who she can trust, she must fight to control both her own cravings and to save what little of herself is left. As her life falls apart, she is torn between the consequences of infidelity, her love for Jay, and fear that he will be her nemesis. For both Isobel and Jay, the excesses and confusions of an uncertain and largely amoral age are about to be brought home to roost, right in the heart of their lives.
Witty and smattered with the best sort of irony, with twists and turns that keep you guessing, When the Siren Calls is a sensual and moving emotional drama that titillates the senses while racing along like a Grisham thriller.
AUTHOR BIO
When the pen is your sword
A published writer at University, Tom Barry spent 20 years in management consultancy with Accenture, Deloitte, and PwC, advising the Boards of leading global brands such as Apple, Disney, Toyota and Vodafone. His career prompted a specific interest in the art of persuasive communication. He is passionate about nurturing young talent and has supported a number of UK and overseas schools, including the Nordoff Robbins Centre for Music Therapy. He lives near London and is currently working with the Brit Writers' Awards, a charitable initiative to promote creative writing in our schools. His debut novel, When the Siren Calls, is set in Tuscany and is both a sensual emotional drama and a page turning thriller.
Five things about me...
- one of eight kids, lifestory is the classic immigrant tale of seeking to live up to parental expectations, while working to mark out your own trail.
- I have aspects of an obsessive personality, establishing a work-life balance was a major challenge
- I gave up on my business career in my mid-forties, I just didn't tell my boss! Find something you enjoy doing, and you'll never work another day.
- I tell my kids education is the best gift I can give them, it's no weight to carry and no-one can take it off you.
- I believe almost everyone has an agenda; explore perspectives outside the mainstream, and beware suppliers bearing gifts.
From consultant to author
You become a writer because you think you've got something to say worth listening to. I chose to be a novelist because I want to entertain my readers, not preach to them. The challenge is to transport readers to times, places and events where they can lose themselves in stories about heroes they can identify with, who triumph against the odds and who change and grow in the process; but most of all readers want to enjoy the ride. "Back in my consulting days, it was a great buzz to work for household name companies and to meet industry icons like Bill Gates. Not many careers offer that opportunity to you when you are in your twenties and thirties. But like your first born, few things beat the thrill of holding your debut novel in your hand."
When the Siren Calls
Tom's first novel, "When the Siren Calls", is Book One in the Siren Calls trilogy. It is the story of two driven characters -Isobel and Jay - and their passionate and cathartic affair. Isobel's struggle is to live a life true to herself, not the one others expect. It pits the naive against the machiavellian, and asks searching questions about what life and money can do to love.
You don't start a novel with messages in mind, they just surface from the writing process. Established authors like Tom Fletcher, Alana Siegel and Matthew Branton, who read earlier drafts, tell me some of the talking points the story raised for them was :
- when a woman with high ideals falls in love with a man with low morals, she better watch out
- wealth and boredom can lead to a search for the exotic and a descent into decadence
- can infidelity be justified? Is it better to leave a devoted husband or waste a life?
- you reap what you sow. (Your sins will find you out.)
- dreams of living and retiring overseas often turn into nightmares, beware the siren call of the expat life and a home in the sun
You can't write all the time
Tom is married with three children and currently divides his time between his main home outside London, and San Diego. He is also a lover of all things Italian, and counts Tuscany as amongst his favourite places. He has been an active supporter of a number of UK and overseas charities, and has visited Kenya many times in recent years where he has sponsored individual students and been involved in improving education in village schools. He is delighted to be now supporting the Brit Writers' Awards to promote creative Writing in our schools. His work with UK charities brought him to the attention of Michael Parkinson, and in recognition for Tom's support to the Nordoff Robbins Centre for Music Therapy, Michael invited him for interview on his show. "To sit in the same seat as some of my greatest idols and heroes, people like Muhammad Ali, John Lennon, and Shirley Maclaine, being interviewed by a legend, in front of your family, well it doesn't get much better than that."
REVIEWS
5.0 out of 5 stars A
little bit of everything January 9, 2013
By April Reynolds
Format:Paperback
Just received this book via Netgalley.com and got to reading
it immediately. I got so deeply involved it only took me a few hours to finish
the entire novel. I do not believe I have ever read a book so quickly. I am not
a real big fan of love or lust novels but this was different there were so many
different things going on I could not put the book down. The main characters in
the story keep you captivated wandering what they will do next, what it will
take to push them to a level they never thought they could go. These characters
within this book could so easily be real it makes you wonder how many people
there are out there just like them and have they ever had to make these types of
decisions. The author has found a way to take his readers into the lives of
several couples without compromising the story and joining them together so well
that it keeps you wanting to read more.
5.0 out of 5 stars Isobel's
Sorrow December 8, 2012
By Figbee
Format:Kindle
Edition
"When the Siren Calls" is not my normal genre of books.
However, I was immediately struck by the depth of Tom Barry's word pictures. He
also has an exceptional ability to show how a desperate woman launches into
destructive behavior to find someone in her life that loves her.
Isobel
is a wowan bereft of love in her marriage. She rushes headlong into a pathway
that leaves her emotionally distraught and wanting further escapades to ease her
personal emptiness. So much of his book is real life- so many women follow in
Isobel's footsteps and end up longing for greener pastures. They so often do not
find them, but fall into a maze of broken hearts and hopeless
futures.
Tom Barry's Isobel is a woman of personal sorrow who acts out
her desperation. He has done a masterful job of capturing the woman's plight. I
recommend this book- the sex is not gross or disgusting, but done with a modicum
of tact though explicit. Nice job!
OTHER WORKS
Saving Jay - Prequel (Siren Series)
When
the Siren Calls - Prequel
