LAG ATHA CHRISTIE
Jailbird Bronson pens thriller
CHARLES Bronson has written an Agatha Christie-style crime thriller novel.
Broadmarsh is about a murderer who is locked up in a mental asylum but escapes and goes on a killing spree.
It is the first novel from long-term lag Bronson, 68, who has previously had 19 non-fiction books published.
The prison hardman was inspired by his own five-year stay at Broadmoor after he was declared insane in 1978.
He wrote the book with author Richard Booth, who described it as “a cross between queen of crime Christie and a Stephen King horror”.
Bronson said: “It’s essentially a horror ride through the journey of a madman.
“Nobody has written a novel like this before. It is relentless and you don’t know what is coming next. The way it’s written is so realistic, by the end of the book you’ll think it’s a real place.”
He continued: “I came up with Broadmarsh because of Broadmoor.
“It’s like a mix of there and Belmarsh
[prison].
“I used some of the horrific stories from my time there and things that happened to me as inspiration.”
Bronson, who now uses the surname Salvador, claims he was drugged and beaten in Broadmoor.
At his fictional institution of the 1950s, patients are used as guinea pigs for horrifying treatments such as lobotomies.
The lifer, who is coming up for parole soon, wrote it as “an outlet” during the coronavirus pandemic.
He said it turned the long hours in his cell at HMP Woodhill, in Milton Keynes, Bucks, into a positive.
Co-author Richard, who has been a friend of Bronson for several years, said: “It is the first book we’ve written together and won’t be the last, we’re really proud of it.”
Broadmarsh will be available to buy on Amazon on February 15.
PAL: Writer Booth