When people ask me what's my favorite of the books I've written, this one often comes to mind. There's a lot of me in this one; it's Scottish, it's set in Edinburgh and rural Scotland, and there's a particularly Scottish flavor to the people and the dialogue. It's one of those books where I said what I meant to say, and was happy with the end result, which doesn't always happen.

Its origins are in a nightmare, in my childhood, and in the bars and alleyways of Edinburgh itself. Even the castle makes an appearance.

It's available again now in ebook at Crossroad Press having originally been published by DarkFuse, and there's an audiobook, masterfully done by fellow Scotsman Chris Barnes, who got the accents and banter exactly right.

The nightmare? I've been having it off and on since I was a boy. It's of a bird - a huge, black, swan. The stuff that dreams are made of.

In the nightmare I'm on the edge of a high sea cliff. I feel the wind on my face, taste salt spray, smell cut grass and flowers. I feel like if I could just give myself to the wind I could fly. Then it comes, from blue, snow covered mountains way to the north, a black speck at first, getting bigger fast. Before I know it it is on me, enfolding me in feathers. It lowers its head, almost like a dragon, and puts its beak near my ear. It whispers.

I had the dream many times, and always woke up at this point.

Then, in 1991, I heard what it said.

"Will we talk about the black bird?"

The next morning, for the first time, I wrote a story. It wasn't a very good story, but something had been woken up, and the day after that I wrote another, a wee ghost story. It didn't have a black bird in it, but it did have some jazz, and a sultry broad, a murder and some dancing. When that one made me 100 pounds in a ghost story competition, I was on my way.

The bird comes back and whispers to me every couple of years - I've come to think of it as my spirit guide. Although it terrifies me, it also reassures me in a weird kind of way. As long as it's around, I'll still be a writer and not just a drunk with weird ideas he can't express.

The bird came to me a few years back, and the next morning I had an idea forming, a murder mystery that led to a place of legend and horror, a myth. THE EXILED is a way of making sense of that dream - I think I got close to the heart of it.

Will we talk about the black bird?

When several young girls are abducted from various locations in Edinburgh, Detective John Grainger and his brother Alan, a reporter, investigate the cases from different directions. The abductor is cunning, always one step ahead, and the only clue he leaves behind at each scene are the brutalized corpses of black swans.

When the brothers' investigations finally converge at a farmhouse in Central Scotland, they catch a glimpse of where the girls have been taken, a place both far away yet close enough to touch. A land known throughout Scottish history with many names: Faerie, Elfheim, the Astral Plane - Brigadoon. It is a place of legend and horror, a myth. But the brothers soon discover it is real, and, to catch the abductor, they will have to cross over themselves.

You've just given your wee posh company car away to a known villain in exchange for an old banger and two bacon rolls, you're on the run accused of murder, and your only alibi is that you were away in Fairyland with a big black bird. It's hardly any wonder something smells of shite.

To catch a killer, John and Alan Grainger will have to battle the Cobbe, a strange and enigmatic creature that guards the realm, a creature of horrific power that demands a heavy price for entry into its world. The fate of both realms hangs in the balance… and time is running out...

Shall we talk about the Black Bird?

Totally gripping, The Exiled delivers a killer story that will appeal to fans of both crime fiction and dark fantasy. - GINGER NUTS OF HORROR

This book will appeal to people in the overlapping section of a Venn diagram showing Grimm Tales readers, Stephen King fans and crime fiction lovers. - THIS IS HORROR

Meikle takes the old tale of faerie abductions and puts a creative, harrowing spin on them. I really enjoyed the results! - ERRANT DREAMS

Meikle proves that he is definitely in the upper echelon of talented writers today. - Examiner.com

A must-read for any fan of horror or truly dark fantasy. Highest possible recommendation. - Horror After Dark

A supernatural police procedural – I love it! Highly original, it grabbed me from the get go. - cayocosta72 Book Reviews

William Meikle has gifted us with something unique, fresh and exhilarating. This was dark fiction at its best and I believe you will enjoy every moment of it. - My Book Habit

A great read if you enjoy your fairy tales and dark fantasy. - Books and Tales