I love anti-heroes. They are so much more versatile to work with than a cut-and-paste hero in shining armour.

Hence, when it came time to write The Dark Path, I didn't hesitate. Evil to the core, Vain drips malice with his emotionless actions. However, I was almost too successful with my creation of the main character.

Initially, The Dark Path was to be a story of retribution against a crime syndicate - probably the Mafia. But once I had finished creating Vain, I found myself with a dilemma; he was too efficient a killer.

I couldn't pit this merciless assassin against humans, they wouldn't stand a chance. He was too good at his chosen profession, and so I had to find him other opponents.

Thus the Souls of Sordarrah were born. A cult headed by the enigmatic Empeth, a man whose evil traces its way back through history back to Christ himself. Accompanied by a mysterious quartet known as The Four, I finally had my villains. The journey of writing the rest of the novel after this was more than a joy; I immersed myself completely into Vain's universe and found the man behind the assassin.

And he is a man I would want beside me on any Dark Path.