North Wales landmark is one of the main 'characters' in dark, psychological thriller

North Wales Live

20-07-2025

A Welsh author has revealed how he has woven the plot of his debut novel around one of North Wales' most iconic landmarks. Llandudno's Great Orme is the setting for a dark, psychological thriller by Paul D. Coombs.
The novel - called The Great Orme - was described as "Agatha Christie meets Stephen King" by one reviewer. The story revolves around one man's desire - Zacharay Llewellyn - to finally confess for the murders he and his friends committed as teenagers.
Then years later, as their grizzly brand of retribution followed them into their new lives away from the Great Orme, Zac summons them all to return home under the gaze of The Great Orme headland and join his confession. Join the North Wales Live Whatsapp community now
But not everyone wants to lose everything they have built and someone is still out there killing. Paul says it's a "taut psychological thriller laced with moral ambiguity".
Paul, who is originally from Cardiff, told North Wales Live: 'Being Welsh, I have a natural affinity for Wales, and particularly North Wales which is a relatively short drive from my home in Cheshire. I couldn't help but be inspired by the place.
"The landscape, at the same time both beautiful and treacherous, seems to keep its own time, its own truths. I was thinking about the kind of people who do something terrible, carry it with them, and try to live like it never happened.
"But what if one of them can't? What if one of them starts to unravel-because the truth won't stay quiet?
"The landscape becomes part of the psyche, part of the punishment. Because in the end, I think it's less about the crime itself… and more about what it does to the soul of the person who can't let go of it.'
He has long harboured an ambition to write a thriller. 'I had always wanted to write an Agatha Christie-style murder-mystery, with secrets and consequences... but darker," said Paul.
"I love the Great Orme and it was crucial that the power of the setting is as much a principal character as any of the other characters.'
Since its release, The Great Orme has had an amazing reception both home and abroad, but none more-so than in North Wales, said the author.
He added: "The people here have a natural affinity with the ancient rhythm of the land, the Great Orme itself a place where the earth meets sky and sea, a place where you can feel like you are standing at the edge of the world. I have always been fascinated with landscape and its power to haunt."
Paul added: "The name 'Great Orme' itself is thought to have Norse origins, meaning "sea serpent", and anyone who sees it or climbs its windswept crown, will sense it, wild, alive and unknowingly deep."
* The Great Orme published by Northodox Press, out now, is available in bookshops including from the Great Orme Summit Complex shop, and the North Wales Wildlife Trust gift shop). Waterstones in Liverpool has made it a 'favourite read'. "The Great Orme" is currently in consideration for the Book Bloggers Novel of the Year Award.
Paul has had numerous short stories published in anthologies, magazines, and on podcasts. His collection of dark and speculative short stories, For Strangers Only, is available to purchase on Amazon.
Paul's second novel, The Deadly Lives of Windsor, is slated for release in 2026 and is now available to pre-order from Northodox Press. It is described as "a futuristic Orwellian Animal Farm for our times".