MEDIA ASSETS
Alder Markson
Alder Markson • Author
Author Bio
Born long before the internet was even a glimmer of an idea, Alder Markson grew up in Newcastle and left the city in 1983 to begin carving out his own path. Over the past twenty-five years, he has built a successful career in the IT and telephony industries, specializing in service delivery and project management. He continues to work in the field today, bringing a wealth of real-world experience and insight into systems, people, and communication.
Alongside his professional career, Alder has nurtured a passion for storytelling. He recently graduated from Teesside University with a BA in Creative Writing, completing the degree with the goal of sharpening his craft and bringing his ideas to life on the page. His writing reflects a keen observation of human nature, shaped by decades of working with diverse people and navigating complex environments.
Now based in North Yorkshire, Alder draws inspiration from both his Northern roots and the changing world around him. His work blends realism with imagination, offering thoughtful, character-driven stories that explore the intersections of modern life, technology, and the human experience.
a dark autumn evening.
a traffic jam.
something ancient….waits.
On a gridlocked motorway in modern Britain, a standstill becomes anything but still. As traffic stretches endlessly ahead, lives collide in unexpected ways—each car holding a story of struggle, hope, and human connection. At the center is a high-stakes police operation led by National Crime Agency officer Tina Rawson, tracking a drug courier trapped in the jam. As tension builds and the situation spirals toward a devastating explosion, the motorway transforms into a pressure cooker of danger, secrets, and moral dilemmas.
Beyond the crime, the novel weaves together deeply personal stories: a coerced courier desperate for a way out, a teacher facing a fractured system, a woman rediscovering love, and a family navigating the heartbreak of early-onset dementia. From refugees and recovering addicts to unlikely friendships and moments of quiet courage, each voice adds emotional depth to a world where isolation and connection exist side by side.
Both literal and symbolic, the traffic jam becomes a powerful reflection of modern life—where people feel stuck, searching for meaning, and longing for movement. Blending suspense with poignant social insight, this richly layered story explores identity, resilience, and the fragile threads that bind us together, reminding us that even in life’s standstill moments, change is always possible.
In the normally simple, uncluttered and unhindered world of Tina Rawson, the current situation she found herself in was now ranking as one of the biggest wastes of her time yet. Here she was, a senior executive officer for the much-heralded National Crime Agency, and what was she doing? She was tailing someone, which in itself was something she was more than used to being engaged with, but what made this so frustrating was that at the moment her target was in a car about two metres in front of her own company Volvo. Her skills at following and observing were hardly needed here. Tina was so close she could have exited her car, walked a few feet and had a chat with the object of her surveillance.