Review: Worst Laid Plans/Bang Bang You’re Dead

Kicking off the Tête-bêche series from Fahrenheit Press (AKA 69Crime), it’s Aidan Thorn’s Worst Laid Plans and Nick Quantrill’s Bang Bang You’re Dead. While I am published by Fahrenheit, I paid for this book out of my own pocket, because I knew it would be a worthwhile read.

Thorn’s book has a fun premise:

Vinnie Travers, lead singer with The Down & Outs literally doesn’t know what’s hit him when his path crosses with four young lads on a night out in a borrowed Mercedes.

Andy Dickson, home alone while his parents are on holiday, is left trying to figure out how a simple night out with some mates ended with a dead body flung hastily into the backseat of his dad’s car.

But it’s not until the next morning that the fun really begins…

This fast-paced novella has a new twist around every corner. I was laughing out loud with the unexpected changes and the always brutal, black humour. It will keep you  guessing as things go from bad to worse and oh the clever plans that just go wrong. A hoot. I’ve got a soft spot for a heist gone wrong and this one just gets wronger.

Flip it over and you’ve got Quantrill’s gritty realism as a change of pace.

Fresh out of prison, Sam is back home and determined to turn his life around. Be the man his family needs him to be. But it’s not so easy going straight when you’re friends with Jonno. 

Drawn into a drugs deal involving petty local gangs, things quickly take a turn for the worse when he discovers the notorious Nolan brothers are involved. 

With simmering rivalries coming to the fore, Sam has to decide between new and old loyalties. And with old sores over his brother’s death being picked at, it’s not so simple. Especially when you have a gun in your pocket.

Things start off bad and then get worse. He’s got an eye for the downward spiral of a town run by thugs, where every choice lands you in ever hotter water. Just when you think you can’t trust anyone, help may come from an unexpected source.

Check out all the Fahrenistas and get yourself some hot sauce while it lasts.

Limited edition!

 

Another Great Review!

My #Fahrenbruary is kicking off well. A terrific review by Aidan Thorn and this one by Jason Beech (yeah, the old cover still turns up). Thanks, mates!

Aidan Thorn: Tales from the Underbelly

Aidan Thorn’s got a new book out and it’s something a little bit different from him. Typically Aidan’s been a short story writer or a novella man – this time he’s putting all that into one book. Tales from the Underbelly is a series of linked stories of varying length centered around a few criminal characters but more importantly it’s about the people that get caught up in their world, some willingly, some unfortunately and innocently, and some without ever realising it.

Tony Ricco and Jimmy O’Keefe are rival gang leaders running the streets of a gritty UK city. Throughout Tales from the Underbelly the reader follows the lives of those touched by Ricco and O’Keefe through Chinese takeaways, gyms, run down council estates and fancy suburban houses – the places you and I visit daily – but hopefully never encounter the underbelly that’s never far away.

Aidan’s linked collection includes six short stories, a novelette and the second half of the book is a novella, Worst Laid Plans. Throughout these stories we learn about the world in which Ricco and O’Keefe operate and their reach and influence over the city that they vie for power over. In many ways this collection is the British Pulp Fiction – 20 plus years after that Quentin chap came up with the idea, but you can’t blame Aidan for that, he was just a boy at the time.

Tales from the Underbelly is available now: get it here.

Exiles: An Outsider Anthology

The all new version of Exiles: An Outsider Anthology – now published by Artizan– is out now!

A powerful short story collection was edited by the Bukowski of Noir, Paul D. Brazill. Exiles features 26 outsiders-themed stories by some of the greatest crime and noir writers, K. A. Laity, Chris Rhatigan, Steven Porter, Patti Abbott, Ryan Sayles, Gareth Spark, Pamila Payne, Paul D. Brazill, Jason Michel, Carrie Clevenger, David Malcolm, Nick Sweeney, Sonia Kilvington, Rob Brunet, James A. Newman, Tess Makovesky, Chris Leek, McDroll, Renato Bratkovič, Walter Conley, Marietta Miles, Aidan Thorn, Benjamin Sobieck, Graham Wynd, Richard Godwin, Colin Graham, and an introduction by Heath Lowrance.

Grab it from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk and every other Amazon.

Paladins: Got Mine!

A good day in the mail! Got PALADINS and KILL ME QUICK! Lots of reading ahead for my break. Whoohoo! Get yourself copies, too. You deserve it.

Here’s my tale, Inevitable.

Paladins: Out Now!

Click on the image to buy: ebook or paperback, the choice is yours.

Paladin: noun, historical – a warrior that is fully devoted to kindness and ridding the universe of evil. Paladins is an apt description for the contributors to this charity anthology. This publication has been put together by a whole community of writers who have each written a story especially for this title. The stories all feature a person, or persons in distress and with someone, the knight-errant coming to their aid. Sounds cosy doesn’t it? Well, did I mention that the contributors write gritty tales and have crazed imaginations? Expect pain. Expect violence. Expect…the unexpected. But most of all, expect great stories, written with heart. This anthology was inspired by a very special lady called Henrietta Furchtenicht who was given six months to live when she was diagnosed with Mulitple Myeloma over four years ago – Henri’s battle continues. All proceeds from this book will be going to the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation.

Pre-order Paladins!

You can now pre-order the crime collection in honour of Henrietta Furchtenicht, for which all proceeds will be donated to the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation. A whole bunch of crime fiction writers who know the real hero is the one who has empathy for those who fight every day in small ways.

Pre-order here!

Also that man Darren Sant has been busy recording audio teasers for the collection; check them out [my story ‘Inevitable’ up soon]:

 

Paladins: Linda Angel

Coming soon: Paladains – Stories for Henri charity anthology in support of Craig and Henrietta Furchtenicht and the Multiple Myeloma Foundation.

On the latest featured author, editor Aidan Thorn says:

What I’ve loved most about putting this collection together is the variety. Deathsmell from Linda Nagle is a quite brilliant piece that I’ve really enjoyed reading… Imagine if Dr Seuss wrote stories for adults with imaginative swearyness… That!

“…a shitsack scumbag pantshitter…”

See the trailer:

Coming Soon: Paladins – David Jaggers

Look for the Paladins, warriors who protect. Balancing the scales of justice is just part of the job for David Jaggers. From a new anthology put together by Aidan Thorn to honour of the courage of Henrietta Furchtenicht. These gritty stories have one other thing in common: they’re all about people who step up to the fight because they see someone in need. All proceeds from the sales will be donated to Myeloma Foundation.

Stories for Henri: Cal Marcius

The next teaser image. Our editor Aidan Thorn says, ‘The Caller is a brilliant and creepy tale from Mr Cal Marcius… This one really gets under the skin.’

Coming in February!