10 things I learned from the movies and TV
We’ve all learned from the movies. Films and TV shows are a faithful reproduction of real life, aren’t they? After a year or more locked away for our own safety, even more of what we…
Thriller
Get best-seller Room 15 for just 99p/99c this week
Fed up with the virus? Bloodhound Books are promoting my amnesia thriller Room 15 for 99p/99c just this week. Room 15 is a psychological thriller about a police detective who has amnesia and believes he…
Why are books and movies fascinated by forgetting?
Is it me, or are novels and movies fascinated by forgetting? This century, amnesia is very in. I was invited to talk about this and my new amnesia-based psychological thriller Room 15 at Milim Leeds…
Why I love writing thrillers
My twice award-nominated noir thriller The Breaking of Liam Glass officially comes out in its second edition today. And I’m delighted to announce the winner of this week’s competition for a signed hardback souvenir edition…
Win a personally signed hardback copy of The Breaking of Liam Glass
To celebrate the launch of the second edition of my 5* darkly humorous thriller The Breaking of Liam Glass, I’m delighted to give away one of the very first hardback copies, which I’ll sign to…
Room 15 out today
It’s here. Publication day for Room 15 – psychological mystery thriller. And to celebrate the day Bloodhound Books have reduced the ebook price for a very short time to 99p/99c. Already the novel is rising…
Room 15 launch competition
Room 15 is almost here. Publication day arrives tomorrow – Monday July 27 2020 – and as promised I have a launch competition for you. Because sales in the first week are so important to…
Room 15 launch events
At last, it’s preorder day and I can share the cover of my new psychological mystery thriller Room 15 with the world, along with the events planned for publication day. Room 15 launch events Publication…
Spies like us – review of Kate Atkinson’s Transcription
Fiction writers are liars by trade and spy novelists are the biggest liars of all. Their entire genre is based on deception and betrayal of trust. And I don’t just mean the characters. As with…
Collateral damage – review of Berta Isla by Javier Marías
Last month I reviewed the latest, possibly last, novel by one of the giants of spy fiction, Agent Running in the Field by John le Carré. Today a very different, indeed very unusual, spy novel.…
Angry movies at the Baftas
We live in angry times, it seems. So I shouldn’t have been surprised when I had a load of angry movies to watch for this year’s Bafta awards. Now, I don’t mean the controversy over…
John le Carré’s new novel Agent Running in the Field – review
There’s something about books written by masters of their craft towards the end of their careers. It’s a kind of poise, an ease, that you can see in (say) Philip Roth’s late books. (Which isn’t…
Dark night of the soul? Review of Louise Doughty’s Platform Seven
I like dark stories. I have no problem with light stories, either, but there’s something about a novel or a film that is unafraid of the night, literal or metaphorical. Louise Doughty is one of…
Review: Joe Country by Mick Herron
Publishers, agents and readers love a running series. Like a fast food outlet a good series promises a regular supply of what you love. A McNovel. Mick Herron hit a rich vein of dark spy…
Paris by noir – Review: Clementina by Simon Cann
Last week I wrote about honesty in writing – how it is the difference that makes the difference. No amount of clever plotting or literary fireworks will make up for a lack of truth. Today…
Death by Monet: Black Water Lilies by Michel Bussi
Black Water Lilies review The struggles of three women – a child, a school-teacher and an elderly woman about to be widowed – intertwine in this award-winning crime thriller which takes place over 13 days…
Liam Glass gets a BookBub recommendation
This week I have exciting news: my novel has landed a prestigiousBOOKBUB RECOMMENDATION. They’re putting my debut noir thriller The Breaking of Liam Glass out to their massive mailing list for 99p/99c – for only a…
The one sentence at the heart of all horror stories
I’d hoped to avoid Halloween and horror stories… But I just got sucked in. It must be all the skeletons, zombies and pumpkin lanterns around here. I started thinking about what horrifies people and how…