Springfield: The Novel

"So why for God's sake," asked Mike Hanlin in his avuncular manner, "did Mary kill herself?" Hanlin, the seasoned ex-diplomat, perceptive but bewildered, finds himself stalking a dangerous unknown killer. The plot and setting are classically American with the pillars of the Catholic Church compromised and the establishment confused as crime piles on crime and sin on sin. The protagonists, some ruthless and some morally perplexed, fight to make sense of their own passions, hopes and fears. And at the center of it all, a young Catholic Priest, Father Sebastian, struggles to turn away from self-will and his obsession with his own appetites, and seeks only to know and to do the will of God. Through episodes of mounting revelation and a cast of curious, minor characters, the plot evolves to an unexpected climax, which revolves around the key question of who drove the Hummer that became the weapon of choice for the killer in his most audacious crime, a crime for which suspicion even falls on Hanlin himself. SPRINGFIELD THE NOVEL has all the ingredients of a classic thriller with its mouth-drying tension and cryptic style. All this alongside a landscape that sets adultery, lust and selfishness against the quest for absolute purity and a more principled world. William Morris has worked as a sheep farmer, coal miner and publisher and for the past twenty years has worked in conflict resolution, principally in the Middle East as Secretary General of The Next Century Foundation, an organization registered as a Not for Profit in London and Springfield, the city in which this novel is set. William is also Chairman of the International Communications Forum. In this capacity he has led press delegations to Iraq, Palestine, Israel, Egypt and Syria. Most recently William has been engaged in Syrian peace efforts. William also broadcasts to the Middle East on satellite television on which he has a slot that goes out weekly subtitled into Arabic. William believes that social deprivation is a key cause of many of the world's problems. He also believes in the mantra that change begins with ourselves and is a member of Initiatives of Change. He cites Oscar Wilde's maxim, "We all live in the gutter but some of us look at the Stars". William's wife Veronica was a teacher and now battles Multiple Sclerosis and works with him at the Next Century Foundation. They have three children, Joseph, Loveday and Samuel and two grandchildren, Florence and Paloma.