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