Anthony Viney with a copy of his newly published novel.

Anthony’s story of the Road to Damascus

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Anthony Viney launches his debut novel, On the Road to Damascus, on Wednesday April 12 (7.30pm) in the Annebrook House Hotel. The book will be available at Just Books, Mullingar library and Millie’s Garage, as well as through Amazon.

A thriller, it charts the journey of two men, one a failed writer looking for excitement through conflict tourism; the other, his driver from Damascus, with a hidden agenda.

Together they journey through Syria as the Arab Spring and civil war take hold. Travelling a surreal landscape, where the threat of murder and mayhem lies around every corner, they distract themselves through storytelling.

They share tales that force them to confront harsh truths in a modern-day Arabian Nights brought to life under burning Syrian skies.

Anthony Viney, originally from London, lives in Mullingar. His debut novel is inspired by his real life journey through Syria, as an independent traveller, in 2011, during the early stage of the conflict.

He was subsequently encouraged to write the book, while in Beirut, by the war correspondent, the late Robert Fisk.

Anthony says he “looks forward to cracking on with” his next novel.

Anthony Viney with a copy of his newly published novel.
The late Robert Fisk (left), best known as a war correspondent, with Anthony Viney in Beirut, in a photo first published in the Fermanagh newspaper, the Impartial Reporter, in 2013.
Published: