PLEASE NOTE: The Twitch is now in production so your name can no longer be listed in the back of the book. However, you are guaranteed a copy of the special Unbound edition that will not be available in the shops.

Edward J Banger is a man obsessed. The drudgery of a nine to five job and the pressures of maintaining a healthy marriage and raising teenage girls are unwelcome inconveniences. The real challenge is ticking boxes.

Anything.

The Twitch has evolved as a concept over the last four or five years – ever since a young white-tailed eagle left its nest in Finland, took a wrong turn, and ended up just outside Andover. I was passing one day and stopped to see if I could spot it. I failed, but did meet some fascinating people: twitchers.

These people possessed the kind of commitment and passion that would make for an excellent book, and my first thought was to sign up to the lifestyle and live among them – chasing rare birds and writing about the lives and stories of the people I encountered.

I went on another twitch – this time to Cornwall to see a snowy owl – and everyone I met seemed to have a story, some bordering on the fanatical. That initial idea developed as I delved deeper into the psyche of the twitcher. What if someone became so obsessed that they lost their sense of reason? What if they became completely, single-mindedly immersed – how far would they go? Murder? Wouldn’t that make a brilliant basis for a book?

The Twitch is very much a black comedy, and probably not an ideal bedtime story for your children (unless you want them to lie awake all night, or impress their teachers with their new but crude vocabulary skills). I have focused on the central character, Edward Banger, and his steady descent into darkness. He can be an obnoxious sod, but his drive and commitment to the cause are undeniable.

I am delighted to have this opportunity to publish with Unbound, especially as a first time author.

Please support me.

I’ll beg if I must.

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I am thirty-seven, and took a leap of faith last summer when I quit my nine to five job and the financial security that went with it. Though I have written for many years – as Angling Correspondent to The Idler and having my work featured in Anglers Mail and on the Caught by the River website – I have always wanted to have the time to write a book, and this was my opportunity. The book is almost finished, and I have loved every second of writing it, so much so that I have only fished twice since September – despite having a carp lake just yards from my door.

'If Kev doesn’t write a book before I die, I shall never speak to him again.'
So says Chris Yates, author and master angler.