Wolf Tickets by Ray Banks

The scammer gets scammed.

Sean Farrell – thief, petrol smuggler and all-round scoundrel – just got shafted by the love of his life. Nora ran off with twenty grand, a gram of coke, and his favourite leather jacket, leaving him with little more than a hangover and a Dido soundtrack. But Nora’s sights are on the two hundred grand Farrell supposedly stashed somewhere in the middle of Northumberland, and she’s enlisted the help of her old boyfriend, a former hit man, to retrieve it.

Farrell hooks up with an old Army mate, the shoplifting, rotgut-swilling arsonist Jimmy Cobb and sets off after them. When this pair catch up with Nora and her ex, there’s going to be hell to pay, 'cause nobody messes with Farrell and Cobb ...

WOLF TICKETS is hardcore Ray Banks – ballsy, breathless and brutal.

Praise for RAY BANKS

"Ray Banks writes with harshness, humour and elegance, and his punchy dialogue teems with vigorous authenticity." – The Times

"Banks is one of the freshest voices in hard-boiled crime fiction today." – Library Journal

"Banks has an ear for the vernacular as sharp as, but a shade or two bluer than, that of George V. Higgins. Let the squeamish stick with Tony Soprano; this is the real tough stuff." – Kirkus

"Banks has a Cain-esque ability (James M., not Abel’s brother) to take well-drawn, realistic characters whose moral compass is wobbling, and let them slash and burn their way to ruin." – Spinetingler Magazine

"Most people sound a bit girly compared to Ray Banks" – Mark Billingham


Praise for DEAD MONEY

"Brimming with pitch-black humour and written with a claustrophobic mania to rival the finest noir exponents, it's compelling and finely honed stuff." – The Big Issue

"There’s not a beat missed or a word wasted in this beautifully bleak, absolutely pitch-black humorous look at a man in a deadly downward spiral." – Musings of an All Purpose Monkey

"dark, nasty, funny, and painfully human" – Spinetingler Magazine

"a tight and pacy read, the prose stripped to the bone and the dialogue pitch-perfect. Fans of Colin Bateman and Elmore Leonard will find it hits their sweet spot. Cohen brother lovers; one for you too." – Loitering With Intent

"rings so true in character and atmosphere that you’ll be unsticking your sole from the carpet as you press the button two stops after you were supposed to get off" –Bookrambler

"Dead Money is on the money, mainline Ray Banks, and sets expectations high for what the future brings for Banks' newest publisher, Blasted Heath" – Grift Magazine

"a great story. It's tight as hell and it's so deliberate that it's a complete joy to read... I loved DEAD MONEY" – Dead End Follies

"a pitch perfect novel" – Crime Fiction Lover

"an intensive masterclass in how to write ... People have been telling me to read Ray Banks for a long time. Now I understand why." – Helen FitzGerald

"Banks writes in a clean style, looped with inky black humor, and the plot goes at a lightning pace, heaping dread upon dread." – On The Book Beat

"DEAD MONEY is a quick read and a thoroughly enjoyable one, a Guy Ritchie film in prose, minus a lot of the showing off." – Kate of Mind

About the author:

Ray Banks is the author of the Cal Innes Quartet (SATURDAY'S CHILD, DONKEY PUNCH, NO MORE HEROES, BEAST OF BURDEN), DEAD MONEY, WOLF TICKETS and the novellas, GUN and CALIFORNIA. He lives in Edinburgh

CONSEQUENCES by RC Bridgestock

From the authors of ‘Deadly Focus’ comes their second book in the ‘D.I. Jack Dylan’ series.

Detective Inspector Jack Dylan’s list of things to do is getting out of control. He has two unconnected murders to solve. One victim is a small child and the other a young woman; plus a missing detective to find. Long hours are part of the job, but does he have the time to figure out the pieces to the crime jigsaws, and save his relationship?

With the pressure mounting, Dylan has to solve the murder of Liz, a young woman found burned alive in a public park. He also has to find out where half a million pounds of the young woman’s money has gone and how his missing sergeant may be involved in the whole sorry mess.

Usually the search for the murderer begins with the immediate family but the dead woman’s husband is in prison. CONSEQUENCES shows the steps the detectives must take to find the answer to the question - who killed Liz?

By

cleggy1966 - See all my reviews

This review is from: Consequences (Paperback)

Having read Deadly Focus on my holiday last year, I eagerly awaited the launch of Consequences. I was not disappointed!!! A real page turner that I couldn't put down and I am now waiting for book 3 - please don't leave us waiting long!!! The character development is great and the story lines excellent.

I also met Carol and Bob on their recent book signing tour and 2 nicer people you could not wish to meet

The much anticipated sequel to Black Shadows.

Like an old lover, gone bad...the return of Errol Black in a dark tale of treachery, betrayal and murder.

The much anticipated sequel to the best-selling crime thriller, Black Shadows.

It’s Summer, 1950, Casablanca. A once beautiful town, now riddled with infighting, corruption and murder.

Ten years ago the roads were paved with gold and private eye, Errol Black, thought he had found love that would last forever. He left not long after with a bullet in his shoulder, his life hanging by a thread and the love story shattered into a million bloody pieces.

Returning to find answers to the unexplained killing of his best friend, he finds himself haunted by the past. Digging deeper leads him right into the middle of a bloodbath, where nobody can be trusted and nothing is quite how it seems.
The Casablanca Case is a hardboiled piece of noir.

Praise for Simon Swift...

"Bodies pile up fast in Swift’s rollicking debut. Reads like a psychedelic ode to history and the cliché …and maybe that’s the point." ~ Andy Straka, bestselling author of Witness Above

"Just when you might think: they don’t write 'em like they used to…an author comes along with a true passion for classic rat-a-tat-tat, shoot 'em full o' holes, gumshoe crime fiction." ~ John Walker, Suspense Magazine.

*** 

Fast moving blast from the past 3 April 2012

By PaulineCumKristen

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Welcome back Errol Black - an older, smarter Errol, going back to his home town to find it much changed, not always for the better. This is another thrilling mystery with more twists than a roller coaster.
The one thing I felt about this book was that the true Simon Swift was writing it, his own style coming through even though the theme and the essence was old-style detective - and the book was better for this. Well done, Simon.
We get to know a little bit more about Errol in between the chasing of the bad guys. The end took me completely by surprise. A great read. Looking forward to the next!!



ABIDE WITH ME by Ian Ayris

Two boys. John and Kenny. One streetwise and football mad, the other cold and unfathomable.
It's nineteen-seventy-five. The heart of London's East End.
As John celebrates the Hammers beating Fulham in the Cup Final, Kenny tumbles out the door of the new people's house across the street having taken a beating of a different kind.
When the new school year begins, John befriends Kenny, defending him from the ridicule of his classmates.
But when you become mates with someone as odd, as downright terrifying as Kenny, nothing is ever straightforward.
Amidst the turbulent years of late seventies London, the lives of John and Kenny spiral out of control.
They meet again, years later, and local villain, Ronnie Swordfish, is after Kenny's head. All John can do is watch. Kenny, he ain't saying a word.

He never does.

So when Ronnie gives the order to fetch his three foot Samurai sword, John thinks the game's all but up.

Thing is, he don't know the half of it . . .

Abide With Me is a story of football, friendship, and hope.

And gangsters.

A story of how two boys walked blind into the darkness . . . and emerged as men.
***********************************************
'I absolutely loved Abide With Me and in places was very moved, to both laughter, and tears' Trevor Drane - Revelation Films

'It's literary, it's crime. Expect to be moved and taken to a whole different world that is as real as your own' Eric Beetner - Author of Dig Two Graves

'An absolute straight-in-the-back-of-the-net knockout of a story'Jason Michel - Pulp Metal Magazine

'One of the most memorable books I've read in a long time'Chris Rhatigan - Death By Killing

'A bruising, emotional roller coaster of a read, one Ian Ayris should be truly proud of - a remarkable debut novel' Alan Griffiths - Brit Grit

'An astounding story, with an original voice and style'
Crime Fiction Lover

'A remarkable first novel'
Naomi Johnson - The Drowning Machine

'The Late Greats' by Nick Quantrill. The second novel in the Joe Geraghty series

Having been convinced by their manager, Kane Major, to put their acrimonious break-up behind them and launch a comeback, New Holland, Hull’s most successful band of the 1990s, is reforming. Allowing one privileged journalist to document the process.
Joe Geraghty is employed to act as a liaison between the different camps. What appears to be a straightforward assignment sees him neck deep in trouble when singer, Greg Tasker, disappears leaving behind a trail of people who wanted him out of their lives.
Geraghty has to choose sides and the investigation penetrates deeper into the city. As the rich and famous rub shoulders with the poor and vulnerable, the stakes increase. Forced to keep his friends close but his enemies’ closer still, the case could see Joe Geraghty lose everything.

An unputdownable read by one of Hull's own greatest. Joe Geraghty belongs up there with the best in the genre. --Sheila Quigley (author of "Nowhere Man")

Great read, with pace, style and a good helping of northern grit. It is noir with salt in the air. --Neil White (author of "Cold Kill")

A cold blast of fresh northern air. Nick Quantrill's conflicted hero is as gritty and downtrodden as his home town --Howard Linskey (author of "The Drop")

Joe Geraghty is a wonderfully flawed hero and cements Nick Quantrill's position as Yorkshire's number one crime writer
--Russ Litten (author of "Scream If You Want To Go Faster")

"An unputdownable read by one of Hull's own greatest. Joe Geraghty belongs up there with the best in the genre." Sheila Quigley author of "Thorn In My Side". --caffeine-nights.com

"Great read, with pace, style and a good helping of northern grit. It is noir with salt in the air."
Neil White author of "Cold Kill". --caffeine-nights.com

"A cold blast of fresh northern air. Nick Quantrill's conflicted hero is as gritty and downtrodden as his home town." Howard Linskey author of "The Drop" --caffeine-nights.com

"Joe Geraghty is a wonderfully flawed hero and cements Nick Quantrill's position as Yorkshire's number one crime writer." Russ Litten author of "Scream If You Want To Go Faster"
--caffeine-nights.com

"Geraghty is as flawed and rugged as the tough northern landscape through which he prowls, and Quantrill's a terrific talent." Matt Hilton (author of the Joe Hunter thrillers)
--Matt Hilton (author of the Joe Hunter thrillers)

“An unputdownable read by one of Hull’s own greatest. Joe Geraghty belongs up there with the best in the genre.” Sheila Quigley author of “Thorn In My Side”.

“Great read, with pace, style and a good helping of northern grit. It is noir with salt in the air."
Neil White author of “Cold Kill”.

“A cold blast of fresh northern air. Nick Quantrill’s conflicted hero is as gritty and downtrodden as his home town.” Howard Linskey author of “The Drop”

"Joe Geraghty is a wonderfully flawed hero and cements Nick Quantrill's position as Yorkshire's number one crime writer." Russ Litten author of “Scream If You Want To Go Faster”



'Frank’s Wild Years' by Nick Triplow - an urban masterpiece

Frank’s Wild Years is a story of betrayal and last chances at the frayed and fading edges of the south London underworld.

IN THE TWILIGHT days between Christmas and New Year, ageing Frank Neaves is about to drink away his last tenner in a Deptford boozer. A former friend and associate of long-dead local villain Dave Price, Frank’s scotch-soaked meditation is interrupted when it’s discovered that Carl, Price’s son and the pub’s landlord, has disappeared leaving an oblique one line note for barmaid, Adeline.

After a visit to Carl’s mother, Rose, they discover he has gone to Hull to bring his young daughter, Grace, back to south London to celebrate New Year’s Eve. Adeline knows this means coming up against the malevolent James O’Keefe, Carl’s ex-wife’s new bloke and small time crook. Certain of a violent confrontation that the Carl can’t win, Adeline persuades Frank to join her and together they take a slow train for Humberside.

Over the course of the next few days, Frank, Carl and Adeline each have a chance to redeem past mistakes, none more so than Frank, whose past comes back to haunt him in ways he could never have imagined.

***********************************************************

'An urban masterpiece; riveting from first to last. Nick Triplow is the true successor to Ted Lewis.' Mike Hodges, Film Director - Get Carter

Tom Kendal - Private Eye

“Well, Mr Kendall, let us say you purchased twenty thousand shares in Rockford Metals today and sold them on Friday, you should make a profit of twenty, twenty-two per cent. Something like that,” Collier said. He paused and shook his head. “In other words, you'll make quite a killing.”

He paused once again and smiled. “But somehow, Mr Kendall, I don't think you came here to talk about investments, did you?”

Kendall smiled and shook his head. No, he hadn't. He had quite a different kind of killing on his mind … the killing of Robert Andrews.

Just one excellent Amazon review of many by Babs Morton.

The story of doggedly determined Kendall, the Miami detective who always gets his man. No manic car chases or shootouts, but simply, the very clever and subtly amusing antics of the outwardly slow witted but inwardly razor sharp, Kendall as he sets out to prove a fellow traveller was murdered. His long suffering secretary Mollie provides the perfect foil and straight woman for his dry humour, and the plot itself is topical and well executed.

The author reveals the clues and punchlines with perfect timing and also gives us a view of London as seen through the eyes of first time visitor's, which in itself is informative and amusing.

A deliciously corrupt baddie and an overworked inspector from New Scotland Yard, are added to the mix to give an entertaining story of good versus bad in a totally believable tale.

A thoroughly enjoyable read. Recommended!