Sign in with Facebook
33rd out of 36 books
—
14 voters
The Hanging Shed (Douglas Brodie #1)
Glasgow 1946. Brodie's back in Scotland to try and save childhood friend Shug Donovan from the gallows. Everyone thought Donovan was dead, shot down in the war. The man who eventually returns is horribly burned, only venturing out for heroin to deaden his pain. When a local boy is found raped and murdered, there is only one suspect, but Donovan claims he's innocent. Ex-pol...more
Kindle Edition, 314 pages
Published
(first published December 25th 2010)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
1,021)
Dec 12, 2012
Sho
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Michael Gillespie
I read the 2nd Brodie book because I got it as a "deal of the day" for my Kindle*, so I ordered this from their marketplace so I could find out how the Brodie books began. Well, they began with a bang, that's for sure.
In this one, the relatively recently demobbed and near-alcoholic Brodie lives in London barely making a living as a freelance journalist. He gets a call, out of the blue, from an old friend who needs help. Hugh is sitting in Barlinnie jail and will be executed (by hanging, hence th...more
In this one, the relatively recently demobbed and near-alcoholic Brodie lives in London barely making a living as a freelance journalist. He gets a call, out of the blue, from an old friend who needs help. Hugh is sitting in Barlinnie jail and will be executed (by hanging, hence th...more
‘The Hanging Shed’ by Gordon Ferris
Published by Corvus, March 2011. ISBN: 978-1-84887-768-9
Douglas Brodie a former police man who enlisted to fight for King and country is now in 1946 returning to Scotland. Demobbed, Brodie has secured a job in London as a reporter, where he intended to stay, but news from Hugh Donovan, a childhood friend who is sentenced to be hanged within the month convicted of the murder of a child, has him bound for home.
But Brodie is not travelling to Glasgow as a knight w...more
Published by Corvus, March 2011. ISBN: 978-1-84887-768-9
Douglas Brodie a former police man who enlisted to fight for King and country is now in 1946 returning to Scotland. Demobbed, Brodie has secured a job in London as a reporter, where he intended to stay, but news from Hugh Donovan, a childhood friend who is sentenced to be hanged within the month convicted of the murder of a child, has him bound for home.
But Brodie is not travelling to Glasgow as a knight w...more
Gordon Ferris has written a gritty thriller set in post-war Glasgow. His description of the deprivation of the area, the rats, and the razor-wielding gangs of the Gorbals have the ring of authenticity. This was a time whenTB, rickets, polio, and malnutrition were all part of daily life, and families were often living ten to a room in crumbling tenements, which have now all gone.
His story describes how the main character, Brodie, freshly demobbed from the army and an expoliceman, and now a report...more
His story describes how the main character, Brodie, freshly demobbed from the army and an expoliceman, and now a report...more
GreenMetropolis.com
Description:
'Glasgow 1946. The last time Brodie came home it was 1942 and he was a proud young man in a paratrooper's uniform. Now, the war is over but victory's wine has soured and Brodie's back in Scotland to try and save childhood friend Shug Donovan from the gallows. Everyone thought Donovan was dead, shot down in the war. Perhaps it would have been kinder if he had been killed. The man who returns from the war is unrecognisable: mutilated, horribly burned. Donovan keeps h...more
Description:
'Glasgow 1946. The last time Brodie came home it was 1942 and he was a proud young man in a paratrooper's uniform. Now, the war is over but victory's wine has soured and Brodie's back in Scotland to try and save childhood friend Shug Donovan from the gallows. Everyone thought Donovan was dead, shot down in the war. Perhaps it would have been kinder if he had been killed. The man who returns from the war is unrecognisable: mutilated, horribly burned. Donovan keeps h...more
This was a book which had you gripped from the beginning. I only began reading it as it was in Amazon’s £1 kindle list but it was definitely a great buy as I finished it in a matter of days. A good crime book with a not so obvious plot however there is some Scottish lingo in it so reading it on my kindle definitely helped as I could look up the words, but there are not enough to ruin the story if just reading it in paperback.
The Plot
It is set in Glasgow in 1946. Douglas Brodie has been contact b...more
The Plot
It is set in Glasgow in 1946. Douglas Brodie has been contact b...more
This book has a good feel for time and place. It's set primarily in Glasgow after the second world war. Douglas Brodie is demobbed and is a fledgling reporter when he receives a phone call from childhood friend/nemesis Hugh Donovon. Because of their past history Douglas is reluctant to visit Hugh, who is awaiting a sentence of execution for the murder of several boys.
This is one of those stories that has a lone gunman taking on the villans of the piece against all odds. The book has a bit of eve...more
This is one of those stories that has a lone gunman taking on the villans of the piece against all odds. The book has a bit of eve...more
what a page turner! set in post-WWII Scotland, former cop, former soldier Douglas Brodie is called upon to help an old frenemy who is on death row. (i don't think i've ever used the word 'frenemy' before) they were great pals until Hugh stole his first love. now Hugh wants his help and Brodie reluctantly heads back to his home town from his new life as a reporter in London. he starts looking into the horrible crime that his old friend was convicted of, working with the defense attorney, and he q...more
The book is set in the later forties in Glasgow. Douglas Brodie is drifting in London after leaving the army when he gets a call from his old friend Hugh (Shug) Donovon. Hugh is in prison, destined to hang for murder. Brodie travels north, reluctant to help because he and Hugh fell out before the war, over a woman. Brodie is rapidly drawn into a world he thought he had left behind as his roots overwhelm him with memories, and also a new world of murdered children, drug dealers and the underbelly...more
This is one of those books that a lot of people read and are going to say they liked. Judging from the reviews, I'm in the minority for disliking it, but I think it's that people aren't looking deep enough.
The best part of the book is the setting. The Scottish accents and words bring the area to life in the 1940's.
There's SPOILERS from here on, so be warned.
First off, the plot. Someone is abusing young boys in Scotland. Three guesses who, first two don't count.
Second, this was read as part of a...more
The best part of the book is the setting. The Scottish accents and words bring the area to life in the 1940's.
There's SPOILERS from here on, so be warned.
First off, the plot. Someone is abusing young boys in Scotland. Three guesses who, first two don't count.
Second, this was read as part of a...more
The Hanging Shed has all the ingredients of a successful crime novel - strong characters, a compelling plot, good pace, credible dialogue and action, and good contextualisation and back story. The tale very quickly grabs the reader's attention and the pages fly by. And yet there was something that didn't quite feel right. The storytelling seemed a little formulaic. Ferris structures the story into short chapters, each typically six to eight pages long, with each chapter ending on a mini-cliff ha...more
"Glasgow 1946. The last time Brodie came home it was 1942 and he was a proud young man in a paratrooper's uniform. Now, the war is over but victory's wine has soured and Brodie's back in Scotland to try and save childhood friend Shug Donovan from the gallows."
This book is the first of hopefully a long line of Douglas Brodie books, written by Scottish author Gordon Ferris. The Hanging Shed introduces us to a man who has seen it all, from his poor upbringing in pre war Kilmarnock and bursary to Un...more
This book is the first of hopefully a long line of Douglas Brodie books, written by Scottish author Gordon Ferris. The Hanging Shed introduces us to a man who has seen it all, from his poor upbringing in pre war Kilmarnock and bursary to Un...more
I'm sure the author hates the comparison but this is a fresh crime/thriller very much in the style of Ian Rankin's Rebus novels (especially the first). The similarities: Scotland, ex-military efficient protagonist, somewhat tortures past. The differences: Glasgow, not Edinburgh; 1946 not contemporary; semi-journalist not cop.
This book was a pleasure to read except in the gruesomeness of some of the plot elements (no spoilers) which serve to drive the story along but should make any sane and nor...more
This book was a pleasure to read except in the gruesomeness of some of the plot elements (no spoilers) which serve to drive the story along but should make any sane and nor...more
I picked this book as the blurb in the product description sounded like something I would enjoy not realising it is the first book in a series. I bought the second book Bitter Water before I finished this one - an indication of how much I enjoyed it - and will be eagerly anticipating the third installment set for publication in Spring 2013.
Gordon Ferris has written a gritty crime thriller set in 1946 Scotland where ex army man Douglas Brodie is asked by childhood friend Hugh Donovan to help solv...more
Gordon Ferris has written a gritty crime thriller set in 1946 Scotland where ex army man Douglas Brodie is asked by childhood friend Hugh Donovan to help solv...more
I did not seem it get into this book for a while, however, I feel the problem was not the author' s fault , but lies with me due to things on my mind etc. Once I really got going in the last couple of days I stormed through it.
Set in Glasgow post-war it is about the hunt to find the truth about a horrible child murder where the alleged murderer contacts a childhood friend to aid his defence lawyer to put together an appeal case. The deadline is date of the hanging. Brodie, the exfriend, ex war...more
Set in Glasgow post-war it is about the hunt to find the truth about a horrible child murder where the alleged murderer contacts a childhood friend to aid his defence lawyer to put together an appeal case. The deadline is date of the hanging. Brodie, the exfriend, ex war...more
This is a book that I would return to again and again.
It is set in post war Glasgow but takes in Arran and Ireland as well.
Basically it is a crime novel about a man that is accused of kidnapping and murdering a young boy. He is found guilty and sentenced to hang. His old childhood buddy used to be a policeman but after the war he became a crime reporter in London. Hugh gets in contact with Brodie to ask him to prove his innocence even though they haven't spoken to each other for years after they...more
It is set in post war Glasgow but takes in Arran and Ireland as well.
Basically it is a crime novel about a man that is accused of kidnapping and murdering a young boy. He is found guilty and sentenced to hang. His old childhood buddy used to be a policeman but after the war he became a crime reporter in London. Hugh gets in contact with Brodie to ask him to prove his innocence even though they haven't spoken to each other for years after they...more
I enjoyed this book because it was set just after the end of the Second World War so there was no modern technology such as mobile phones. This meant that if someone was in danger they couldn't just phone someone for help or let anyone know where they were.
It begins with a condemned man calling a friend, Brodie, for help after he is found guilty of murdering a child in Glasgow. Brodie helps his friend's lawyer with his appeal but is drawn into the seedy Glasgow underworld. witnesses disappear a...more
It begins with a condemned man calling a friend, Brodie, for help after he is found guilty of murdering a child in Glasgow. Brodie helps his friend's lawyer with his appeal but is drawn into the seedy Glasgow underworld. witnesses disappear a...more
The Hanging Shed is set in post-WWII Glasgow and area. Douglas Brodie is home from the war, but is feeling lost and aimless in London. When his childhood friend calls from a Scottish prison, he goes to visit. He finds his friend Hugh Donovan set to be hanged for the murder of a young boy. Brodie teams up with Donovan's advocate Sam Campbell to revisit the shoddy case against his friend. As Brodie digs deeper into the case against his friend, he uncovers more questions than answers.
The mystery r...more
The mystery r...more
Douglas Brodie arrives in post war Glasgow in response tos a desperate phone call from a man he hasn't seen in years, Shug Donovan. He's been sentenced to hang for the kidnapping and murder of a young boy and 4 others. He swears he didn't do it but the court doesn't believe it.
When he sees Shug with his burn scars and hears about his dependency on morphine to relieve the pain Doug realises that Shug couldn't have done it and sets out to prove it. But other interested parties want Shug to hang an...more
When he sees Shug with his burn scars and hears about his dependency on morphine to relieve the pain Doug realises that Shug couldn't have done it and sets out to prove it. But other interested parties want Shug to hang an...more
Very nice book. Well done if a bit young adult in its writing. The dialog and characters were well drawn and the ending was consistent with the plot and not contrived. One very big clanger was the addition of a Webley Mark VI revolver to the plot. The protagonist, an experienced soldier, carefully checked the safety. There is no setable safety on a Webley Mark VI revolver. Setable safeties exist on only a very few and very old revolvers. Writers please do your research! This sort of error can ru...more
Brodie returns to Scotland in 1946 after the War to find a friend of his youth awaits death by hanging in a Glasgow prison. Joining with the friend's advocate to try and beat the four-week deadline to prove the wrong man has been convicted, Brodie, fresh from the horrors of the Nazi camps, uncovers an evil, alike in degree if less in scope, in his own country.
THE HANGING SHED is a superb novel. The characters, the dialogue, the Scottish people, the travesty so often made of justice in the legal...more
THE HANGING SHED is a superb novel. The characters, the dialogue, the Scottish people, the travesty so often made of justice in the legal...more
This isnt really 'modern' crime - its set post 1940's in the rough parts of Glasgow. An ex-detective returns to Glasgow with his life at a low ebb after the war. He is returning because his old friend is on death row for the murder of the child of his - and the ex-detective's - old girlfriend.
Our main character has to prove his friend's innocence.
The book is fast and slick with plenty of action and nothing turns out as you expect - this is the first of a new series and I will read more of them.
Our main character has to prove his friend's innocence.
The book is fast and slick with plenty of action and nothing turns out as you expect - this is the first of a new series and I will read more of them.
1 like · like · see review
I am fast becoming a fan of Gordon Ferris; here is his post war incarnation - Douglas Brodie, ex army Major, ex copper and university graduate. Happy to be lost in London drinking and demobbed depressed, reluctant to return "home" to Scotland. He is stirred back to action in part by an offer of a job on a newspaper and then a call from a long-standing "friend" he thought was dead. He's alive however and needs his help as he has been found guilty of a capital crime and faces the death sentence in...more
THE HANGING SHED is a thriller. It's a searing portrayal of post-war Scotland, a haunting story of the personal after-effects of war, dislocation, friendship, loyalties, and mistakes. It's powerful, atmospheric, uplifting, sad, violent, and compassionate.
The central character, Douglas Brodie, is a former policeman, who on returning from fighting for King and Country in the Second World War, secures a job in London as a reporter. News from his native Glasgow that childhood friend Hugh Donovan is...more
The central character, Douglas Brodie, is a former policeman, who on returning from fighting for King and Country in the Second World War, secures a job in London as a reporter. News from his native Glasgow that childhood friend Hugh Donovan is...more
Why haven't I discovered this superb author before?
Unusually for me, I was engaged right from the first page. The descriptive passages are just right: not so long that you're tempted to skim-read them, but long enough that you can actually visualise the places & the people.
Almost all the way through the book I felt drawn along by the story, & it was all quite credible - but I did feel a bit cheated towards the end, as I really had to suspend belief in order to accept that it could end s...more
Unusually for me, I was engaged right from the first page. The descriptive passages are just right: not so long that you're tempted to skim-read them, but long enough that you can actually visualise the places & the people.
Almost all the way through the book I felt drawn along by the story, & it was all quite credible - but I did feel a bit cheated towards the end, as I really had to suspend belief in order to accept that it could end s...more
I think this book probably deserved 3.5 stars. It wasn't really, really good, but it was very atmospheric and is the first in a series so there were bound to be some initial background which won't be needed in future books. Set immediately post 2nd World War the detective work depends on getting people to talk and working out what the truth must be. It's all rather grim, but the ending is satisfying and I would definitely read the next book in the series.
Brilliant read! Had to admit that I was a little worried that I wouldn't enjoy this as much as the two novels with 'Danny McRae' as the hero but as always Ferris doesn't disappoint and 'Douglas Brodie' picks up the mantle of 'post war hero' with relish and the pages turn at the spped of light.
I found it hard to put down and found myself pre-ordering the next in the series....much to the annoyance of the wife! Buy it, download it, read it; it's just great!
I found it hard to put down and found myself pre-ordering the next in the series....much to the annoyance of the wife! Buy it, download it, read it; it's just great!
Doulas Brodie is a hard-drinking ex-cop, ex-soldier wasting his life in post war London when he gets a call from an old mate. He's in prison charged with child murder, and worse, and due to hang in four weeks time. Soon Brodie is off to Glasgow to see what he can do. He meets advocate Samantha Campbell and the pair of them become involved with some very evil people as they attempt to save an innocent man from the gallows in the notorious hanging shed.
This post-war thriller set in Glasgow was fantastic. I'm not a major book reader as i find it hard to find one that totally captures me.......but this did the trick. Kept my head down for nearly 2 weeks. There were so many twists that every chapter had me in awe! Struggled at first with the Glaswegian, but my partner is Scottish, so had a translator on tap........all in all a very enjoyable book, just crushed the next one's not out till next year!
First novel I've read by this author. I loved his writing style and his use of dialect that really emphasised the gritty nature of post war poverty stricken Glasgow. An intricately plotted tale that grabs your attention but sort of runs out of steam 3/4 of the way though as the hero becomes too much of a superhero for my tastes. Having said that, I would still recommend it and will certainly be trying out another of his efforts sometime soon.
I think I paid £1 for this in the Kindle edition and it helped while away an otherwise dreary train journey.
The author took up writing after retirement and sold a shed load of cheaply priced copies on e-books on his first outing, so he must have got something right.
I thought his sense of time and place was good. He can build tension in a reasonable way. A very competent effort.
The author took up writing after retirement and sold a shed load of cheaply priced copies on e-books on his first outing, so he must have got something right.
I thought his sense of time and place was good. He can build tension in a reasonable way. A very competent effort.
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kindle English My...: The Hanging Shed, by Gordon Ferris | 2 | 14 | Apr 26, 2013 05:53am |
Gordon Sloan Kirkpatrick Ferris was born and grew up in Scotland. His first love was writing, but he took the long way round to becoming an author. He now writes thrillers set in post-war Britain; a natural 'noir' period of rationing and violence.
More about Gordon Ferris...
Share This Book
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
Dec 12, 2012 11:33pm