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Birthdays for the Dead

3.73 of 5 stars 3.73 · rating details · 689 ratings · 149 reviews

De kranten noemen hem 'Birthday Boy'. Al twaalf jaar kidnapt hij meisjes vlak voor hun dertiende verjaardag. Hij eist geen losgeld en laat geen enkel spoor na. Tot de gedupeerde ouders een jaar later een zelfgemaakte verjaardagskaart ontvangen met een foto van hun vermiste dochter ? gekneveld, vastgebonden en gemarteld. Elk jaar stuurt Birthday Boy een nieuwe kaart om de o...more

Hardcover, 472 pages

Published January 5th 2012 by HarperCollins (first published January 1st 2012)

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Jan 03, 2013 Andrea rated it 1 of 5 stars

Ash Henderson is a tough cop who doesn't follow the rules. He owes some bad people a buttload of money.

Alice McDonald is a "delightfully quirky" (her own words) superintelligent psychologist who talks. A lot.

Some 13-year-olds get kidnapped, abducted, and photographed into birthday cards for their parents. It's up to Alice and Ash to--

Fuck, dude! How did MacBride get this premise past the drawing board? The most interesting part of the story was my mental image of a girl who'd been decapitated an...more

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Mar 12, 2012 Vikki Petraitis rated it 2 of 5 stars

Ahhhh, Stuart. You have to give the reader something to hold on to, and your dark-to-laughs ratio has to be even. If you kill your protagonist's older daughter, you have to leave the other one alone. Got about a third through and couldn't keep going. In saying this, it is with a heavy heart because I LOVE Stuart MacBride and have read all of his Logan McRae novels. He is a brilliant writer and usually has an amazing mix of dark and humor. His Inspector Steele is without literary peer.

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May 18, 2013 Mike Gabor rated it 5 of 5 stars

To call the main character of this book, DC Ash Henderson, an anti-hero or loose cannon would be a vast understatement. He's on the trail of a serial killer known as the Birthday Boy. The killer abducts young girls a few days before their 13th birthday and tortures and kills them. Then every year on the victims birthday he mails a birthday card to the parents along with a photo of the victim showing them bound and gagged as he was torturing them. Henderson's daughter, Rebecca, was also a victim...more

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Mar 30, 2013 James Thane rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: crime-fiction

This is a relentlessly dark book featuring a very flawed protagonist. A serial killer is stalking twelve-year-old girls in Scotland. He abducts the children a few days before their thirteenth birthdays, then tortures them over a period of days, killing them on their birthdays. Every year thereafter, he sends a "birthday" card to the parents, with a Polaroid photo attached, showing their daughter's progressive torture and ultimate death.

The newspapers call the killer the "Birthday Boy," and DC A...more This is a relentlessly dark book featuring a very flawed protagonist. A serial killer is stalking twelve-year-old girls in Scotland. He abducts the children a few days before their thirteenth birthdays, then tortures them over a period of days, killing them on their birthdays. Every year thereafter, he sends a "birthday" card to the parents, with a Polaroid photo attached, showing their daughter's progressive torture and ultimate death.

The newspapers call the killer the "Birthday Boy," and DC Ash Henderson is one of the detectives on the case. But Henderson has a dark, well-kept secret. His own daughter, Rebecca, disappeared five years earlier and a year after that, Henderson received a card from the Birthday Boy. Henderson allows everyone, including his ex-wife, to believe that Rebecca is simply a runaway. He desperately wants to remain on the case to find justice for Rebecca and he knows that he will be removed from the case if the other investigators learn that his daughter is a victim.

Henderson is also deeply indebted to vicious loan sharks who are looking to beat him up, or worse. He's dating strippers, drinking way too much and getting beaten up a lot, all of which also gets in the way of the investigation. As the book opens he is paired with a new profiler who has joined the team and who has to be one of the wierder members of this profession ever to grace the pages of crime fiction.

As the investigation continues, more victims will be abducted, adding pressure to an already tense investigation, and Henderson, especially given his personal stake, will adopt whatever tactics seem appropriate to finding the Birthday Boy before he can kill again.

It's clear from this book that Stuart MacBride is an excellent writer, but I found it otherwise hard to enjoy this book. As I suggested above, Ash Henderson is a deeply flawed character and a lot of his troubles are self-inflicted. As a cop desperately trying to find the person who tortured and killed his own daughter, he should be the object of a tremendous amount of sympathy. But he behaves in such alarming ways that it becomes difficult to empathize with him even under these tragic circumstances.

Additionally, there are the crimes themselves. Frankly, the idea of a serial killer targeting children and torturing them in the ways described in this book is very hard to take, even for someone accustomed to reading a lot of hard-boiled crime fiction.

Finally, as much as Henderson wants to remain on the case, it seems inconceivable that he would withhold the fact that his own daughter has been a victim of the killer. The police investigators and profilers are working desperately with all the information at hand. And the fact that they do not know that Rebecca Henderson is a victim is skewing and ultimately compromising the investigation. It simply makes no sense that an intelligent detective would allow this to happen. In the end, while I appreciated MacBride's obvious skills as a writer, I think I would have been happier reading one of the books in his Logan McRae series, which I understand is very well done and not nearly as unsettling.
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Mar 17, 2013 Charty rated it 3 of 5 stars

If you've read and liked MacBride's Logan McRae series, you will no doubt find yourself at home here. Ash is another downtrodden policemen with dubious morals, bucking the well-meaning but often ineffective policing structure. Unlike Logan, who has decent morals but is often compelled by circumstance (and superiors) into compromising situations, Ash is a darker characters, a gambling, cheating ex-bare knuckle fighter who it's implied worked for a local hood, and who isn't above shaking down susp...more

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Mar 04, 2013 Kelly Hager rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is my first Stuart MacBride book, but it won't be my last. First, a caveat: this book is not for the faint of heart. It is grim. Hardcore grim. Some may even say bleak. And it's got the scariest serial killer ever. (Because who DOES that? Who sends parents pictures of their daughters being tortured to death? On their daughter's BIRTHDAY? For YEARS?!

But it's also incredibly funny (it helps if you have a dark sense of humor).

Ash Henderson is the very definition of anti-hero. He's not a very n...more

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Feb 20, 2013 Luanne Ollivier rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Stuart MacBride is another author whose name I was familiar with, but hadn't sampled yet. Well, that's all changed. I just read Birthdays for the Dead and I am hooked.

MacBride grabs you by the throat in the opening prologue and only eases his grip long enough to let you take a breath and then the pressure is back on. Non-stop.

The day's mail includes a birthday card for Detective Constable Ash Henderson's daughter Rebecca - she would have been eighteen. Rebecca went missing days before her thirte...more Stuart MacBride is another author whose name I was familiar with, but hadn't sampled yet. Well, that's all changed. I just read Birthdays for the Dead and I am hooked.

MacBride grabs you by the throat in the opening prologue and only eases his grip long enough to let you take a breath and then the pressure is back on. Non-stop.

The day's mail includes a birthday card for Detective Constable Ash Henderson's daughter Rebecca - she would have been eighteen. Rebecca went missing days before her thirteenth birthday and it's assumed she ran away. But, Ash knows differently. She was a victim of The Birthday Boy - a sadistic killer who sends parents horrific photos of their dead daughters in a yearly birthday card. And Ash has just received his latest. The Oldcastle police have been chasing this maniac for over eight years and they may have just caught a break - a body has been found. Ash has withheld his cards and daughter's death from everyone as he doesn't want to be taken off the case. But, it's taken a toll - he's divorced, lives in a dive, is dangerously in debt to the local mob, eats painkillers constantly and is a little too quick with his fists. He's a train wreck of a man - and you can't help but hoping he comes out on top.

Whew. Where to start? It took me the first few chapters to catch on to MacBride's style - fast and furious, but also with some funny bits. I know, after what I just described, funny doesn't seem possible. But Ash is paired up with Alice, a very 'different' psychologist, who has her own set of issues. The dialogue between the two is quite witty. On the flip side, Mrs. Kerrigan scared the bejesus out of me. The action truly never stops, the tension never lets up and I was unable to predict where the plot was headed next. Or the ending.

Gentle readers be warned - Birthdays for the Dead is dark, gritty and violent. But, boy oh boy crime fans - it's oh so good! This was my first MacBride, but definitely won't be my last. Read an excerpt of Birthdays for the Dead. I was glad that this was a stand alone book. (But I would like to see more of this character) as MacBride also writes a crime series featuring Logan McRae that I want to start from the beginning.
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Dec 16, 2012 TAMMY CUEVAS rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery-thriller

It's every parent's worst nightmare. A serial killer is abducting girls just prior to their thirteenth birthdays, killing them, and then sending their parents pictures of the torture and murder every year on their birthday. Detective Constable Ash Henderson doesn't just want to solve the mystery; he wants to find the body of his daughter. Unfortunately, time does not seem to be on his side, as his younger daughter is approaching her thirteenth birthday.

First, just let me say that readers who are...more

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Oct 10, 2012 Simone Sinna rated it 4 of 5 stars

I read a lot of crime and psychological thrillers−there are a lot out there! These days most have flawed characters, and I’m referring to the heroes not just the criminals. This is no expectation, but it is different to the others I’ve read. It took a little while for me to get into it. The hero, DC Ash Henderson is to be blunt, a brut. I do wonder at what real cops think about this sort of representation of solving problems with fist first, ask questions later (a real issue as he often beats up...more

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Jul 17, 2012 Gloria Feit rated it 5 of 5 stars

Stuart MacBride’s writing has been called “gritty,” and “brilliant.” Understatements both.

In his new standalone mystery/thriller, the author introduces DC Ash Henderson of the Oldcastle Police, formerly DI Ash Henderson – he was busted down to Constable following a particularly horrific phase of an investigation into murders committed by a killer dubbed by the tabloids the “Birthday Boy,” an investigation now eight years old. The victims have all been young girls, abducted within a few days of t...more Stuart MacBride’s writing has been called “gritty,” and “brilliant.” Understatements both.

In his new standalone mystery/thriller, the author introduces DC Ash Henderson of the Oldcastle Police, formerly DI Ash Henderson – he was busted down to Constable following a particularly horrific phase of an investigation into murders committed by a killer dubbed by the tabloids the “Birthday Boy,” an investigation now eight years old. The victims have all been young girls, abducted within a few days of their thirteenth birthday, their parents tormented with photos mailed to them every year on the ensuing birthdays, each one increasingly grotesque in its images of torture, mutilation and, finally, death. What no one else knows – not the detectives with whom he works, not even his wife – is that Henderson’s daughter, Rebecca, who went missing five years before, is another of those victims. The rest of the world believes that she has simply gone missing; Ash has hidden the truth so that he can continue to hunt for the killer, in the quite-correct belief that he would otherwise be pulled off the case, placed on compassionate leave and given grief counseling.

Henderson is a fascinating protagonist, 45 years old, with an ex-wife and twelve-year-old daughter and now living in a dilapidated council estate, he is not one to shy away from exacting revenge, or justice, when called for. But the most fascinating of the characters created by Mr. MacBride for this novel is Dr. Alice McDonald, brilliant forensic psychologist, somewhat mentally unstable, self-described as “delightfully quirky” - - a more objective viewpoint might include OCD and perhaps agoraphobia.

The book takes place over a period of ten excruciating days, as the victim list mounts, and bodies are suddenly found, and the hunt for the Birthday Boy has suddenly become more intense, if possible. With canny plotting, and a stunning ending, this is a book which will stay with you long after the cover is closed. I made the mistake of coming within 100 pages of finishing it late one night, something I definitely do NOT recommend – unlike the novel itself, which I most definitely do.

[The book also has a paperback edition, 12.99 BPS, ISBN 978-0-00-734418-5]
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Sep 07, 2012 Judie Holliday rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: guilty-pleasures, scottish

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jan 13, 2012 Andrea (Cozy Up With A Good Read) rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-i-own

This review was originally posted on Cozy Up With A Good Read

I have to say Stuart Macbride is a genius with his writing. This is one of the best crime novels I have read! Stuart is such a gritty writer, there were times I wanted to put this book down because I was a tad disturbed but found myself so enthralled with his writing. I also really love the setting of this book (I really enjoy books that take place in other countries, especially the UK) it's fun getting around a new area and getting us...more This review was originally posted on Cozy Up With A Good Read

I have to say Stuart Macbride is a genius with his writing. This is one of the best crime novels I have read! Stuart is such a gritty writer, there were times I wanted to put this book down because I was a tad disturbed but found myself so enthralled with his writing. I also really love the setting of this book (I really enjoy books that take place in other countries, especially the UK) it's fun getting around a new area and getting used to the accents of the characters.

The opening chapter is gruesome and really captures the reader's attention (and he keeps your attention throughout!) While reading I found myself saying, "Okay I think I know who it is", and then I turn the page and come to find out something new and I love that. His characters are so much fun to read, my favourite has to be Dr McDonald because she has such a quriky personality and I found myself always laughing when she was in a scene (no matter what was going on). I found myself picturing a younger version of Temperance Brennan from the TV show (not the books).

One part of the book makes me have a love/hate relationship with this story and that is the ending! I can't go into detail or else it will spoil it but it was definitely amazing. I absolutely loved it because it does something different from other crime novels, it was so unexpected and usually I find that most always end on the same kind of note. Stuart Macbride definitely takes his story in a different way.

I got to meet Stuart at a wonderful event over at Harper Collins in October and he was so much fun. It's hard to imagine that someone so funny can write such dark things. He was so much fun to listen to (he is definitely a talker!) and he even signed all the books and tried to personalize them (he drew a cat in mine). We even had fun attempting to do a plot map (though we didn't get to far). If you haven't read any Staurt Macbride I suggest you start with his creepy but funny short story "The Princess and the Pervert" (it's hilarious to hear him read it).

I feel like I need to go out and buy up all his other books to see if they are just as good as this standalone novel.(less)

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Nov 01, 2012 Melody rated it 3 of 5 stars

Dark, VERY dark. Gripping... with more twists than the highland coastline.

This review was originally posted on Up All Night Novels

MacBride takes us on a race against the clock, the good guys versus a mad-man in this novel. While this book isn't my preferred genre, I decided to give it a fair shake.

The characters were enjoyable, if a bit over exaggerated. The dialogue was witty. The plot was solid and well thought out. Even the psychology was mostly on point. But the biggest hang-up for me pers...more

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Feb 17, 2013 Lucie rated it 3 of 5 stars

The first few sentences are stunning!
The author manages to set the mood by putting himself in the head of one of the victims, aged of twelve, facing a serial killer who kills little girls the day of their 13th birthday.

Then, the reader is following an investigation lead by Ash, a detective whose daughter was also removed. Unfortunately in order to stay on the case, he never revealed the disappearance of his own daughter preferring to say she had fled. Because the killer is sadistic enough, he s...more

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Mar 08, 2013 Frances rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: contemporary, crime, novel, owned, noir

Was looking for some relaxing reading, and decided that rather than continue Strange Things and Stranger Places, I'd pick up MacBride. Because apparently gritty and rather gruesome Scottish crime fiction is my go-to when I'm stressed and need to unwind.

Some day I will figure this out. Right now I'm just going to kick back and enjoy it working.

========

Finished reading this this morning. It was actually grimmer than I expected, and yes, that's saying something. I was sort of staring at the page,...more

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Feb 15, 2012 Matt Holbrook rated it 5 of 5 stars

My First Macbride... Will not be my last!

I've been a fan of Lee Child and his Jack Reacher novels for a few years, but Birthday's for the Dead is the grittiest crime novel I've read in a long time. With Jack Reacher you often get interaction with the FBI, or other government agencies, ultimately in some nice part of the world. Birthdays for the dead is a totally different kettle of fish. Think gloomy glaswegian skies, heroine junkies and cops that didn't know a rule book existed, let alone read...more

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Feb 18, 2012 Kell rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Fans of crime thrillers and Scottish fiction

Shelves: read-in-2012

Ash Henderson isn't a bad cop; he's one of the good guys, but if there's a bad way to do something for the right reasons, he'll find it. He'd never take a bribe, but it's not unusual for him to put the squeeze on the bad guys to get something out of a situation for him, and he tends to mix with a crowd that means he's permanently in a sticky situation. In short, he's a complete screw-up. Despite all this, there's something very likeable about this train wreck of a man. He's fiercely loyal and pr...more

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Jan 22, 2012 MN rated it 2 of 5 stars

It's not McBride's best. It's significantly more readable than the last two of his I've read (*Halfhead, (which I absolutely loathed) and *Dark Blood) because unmanageable levels of graphic violence are less endemic. However, the book's written in the first person and the net effect is that the characters are more blurred than in the Logan McRae books - with the narrator the most indefinite because his narratorial style (e.g. the kinds of descriptions he gives of weather/places) sits uneasily wi...more

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Apr 22, 2013 Adrienne rated it 1 of 5 stars

I started disliking this book right away, but I was determined to give it a chance and read the whole thing. I wish I hadn't. It was just a very difficult read. Not because of the subject matter (which was incredibly dark and depressing), but because the book itself was just difficult to pay attention to.

My main criticisms:

1. There was not even one character I liked or felt invested in.
2. The writing was disjointed and I had a hard time paying attention to the story and keeping track of what was...more

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Oct 10, 2012 Russell Taylor rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This all seems a bit odd to me. If Stuart Macbride was going to write another gritty murder novel from the policeman’s point of view, setting in the North East of Scotland, making it follow the same general pattern as he normally uses, then surely it would make sense to make it another Logan McRae story? I didn't care for it being set in a fictional city just outside his usual hunting ground, as all this did was make me pine for Logan McRae to appear and help out the main character. Having said...more

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Nov 24, 2011 Linda rated it 5 of 5 stars

I actually preferred this book to the later Logan McRae novels. Ash Henderson is as ruthless as the criminals he hunts. In debt to some nasty people, dating a pole dancer, and pretty quick to maim anyone he suspects of harming his daughter, this was a gritty standalone. The Birthday Boy is so called because he abducts girls before their 13th Birthday, then on their birthday, sends a birthday card to the parents with a picture of the girl being tortured on the front. It doesn't stop there, the pa...more

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Apr 02, 2012 Furny rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book has been suggested to me quite a lot recently so I was very keen to try it.
I felt the story for my liking had too many characters, I got a bit lost and confused as to who was who and had to back track quite a bit. The story just didn't flow well for me and I found his style/prose complicated and at times the story was all a bit over the top.
I did like the grittiness,action and plot twists of the book and the ending was very good.
I can tell MacBride is a good crime writer and now wish...more

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Mar 20, 2012 Joanne Parkington rated it 5 of 5 stars

In my rush to order this new Stuart MacBride i hadnt read anything about it & presumed it was the new Logan book so i was bitterly disappointed when i soon realised it wasnt .... however, that feeling didnt last for long ... Ash Henderson is another brilliant character, superb story .. i was surprised at some of the reveiws on here which thought the book was too violent ... if you are a fan of Mr Macbride you should know & if you are a newbie you need to know that his main characters sta...more

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May 16, 2013 Susie Vavasour rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book is gross. The hero is a violent jerk and the main female character is a caricature. Adorable and all, but a caricature. I've read most of the Logan McRae books and liked them, but the portrayal of Dr. McDonald made me realize that I've gotten more and more tired of the portrayal of McRae's boss - also a kind of caricature. And I don't mind violence - but this crossed some kind of line for me. I guess I expect the "hero" to be someone I empathize with and root for, but Ash Henderson mos...more

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Jan 06, 2013 Julie Chamay rated it 1 of 5 stars

I had a hard time even finishing this book.

The main plot about the serial killer is remotely interesting, but all the subplots are superfluous, when not completely unbelievable. The main character (narrator) is entangled in a lot of complex stories, but he remains shallow and is absolutely not credible. Other characters are caricatural, and none of them is likable either.

A lot of the times, you don't even understand what's going on in the story, it is so messy!

I finished it in a hurry just to k...more

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Sep 06, 2012 Barry Hutchison rated it 3 of 5 stars

I was really hooked by the concept of this and found it a quick, easy read despite crime fiction not being a genre I generally have any real interest in. The tension built well after a bit of early waffle, but I never felt it really reached its full potential, and a whole segment about the protagonist being sidetracked to Bath felt needlessly tacked on, as if Macbride needed to up his word count a bit.

That said, everything more or less ties up well at the end, including the jaunt to Bath, but ev...more

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Dec 10, 2012 Bill Kupersmith rated it 4 of 5 stars

Rather violent and nasty, and the narrator is quite the same. He does indeed get treated pretty roughly himself. He also drives a crap car. The only character who appealed to me was Alice MacDonald, the forensic psychologist. Like to see her as a narrator someday.

Rule on villains seems to be to trot them out as very minor characters earlier in the book, so that when we discover that they are the villains we readers cannot complain that they came out of nowhere. But as we are given no clues that...more

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Apr 23, 2013 Emma rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

EVERYTHING about this book was awful, absolutely everything!

- The plot is... unplausible is far too weak to describe its craziness. I seriously don't expect crime books to be 100% real but this was so totally out-this-world... I mean, if Ash had at some point been abducted by aliens, I'm not sure I would have raised an eyebrow.

- Too many side stories. One or two can be nice, but not so many... at some points, all names start to blur in.

- Too much unnecessary violence. I read and enjoy dark, go...more

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Feb 06, 2013 Tori smexys_sidekick added it

Shelves: arc, dark, e-book, edelweiss, horror, mystery, read-in-2013, violence, dnf

DNF-I was a huge MacBride fan when I was younger. Crime/Mystery fiction was my genre. Birthdays for the Dead doesn't seem like it was written by the same author. The dark and forbidding premise is what drew me in but we get little of the actual mystery and more of day to day lives of the two protagonists and their thoughts and the various what nots involving the mystery. I wasn't able to connect with either of them and it made it hard to continue with the story. I'm pushing it off to the side fo...more

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Apr 14, 2013 Rachel rated it 4 of 5 stars

The cover attracted me in the bookshop and then after reading the blurb, it sounded right up my street so I bought it, and I wasn't disappointed.

The premise that there is a serial killer out there who snatches girls and then every year sends a birthday card with a torture photo to the parents is interesting enough, but Ash, the Detective on the case is what made this book, along with Dr Alice McDonald, who for a lot of the book is like a babbling child.

Ash's oldest daughter Rebecca, is an unkn...more

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About Stuart MacBride

Aka Stuart B. MacBride

The life and times of a bearded write-ist.

Stuart MacBride (that's me) was born in Dumbarton -- which is Glasgow as far as I'm concerned -- moving up to Aberdeen at the tender age of two, when fashions were questionable. Nothing much happened for years and years and years: learned to play the recorder, then forgot how when they changed from little coloured dots to proper music...more Aka Stuart B. MacBride

The life and times of a bearded write-ist.

Stuart MacBride (that's me) was born in Dumbarton -- which is Glasgow as far as I'm concerned -- moving up to Aberdeen at the tender age of two, when fashions were questionable. Nothing much happened for years and years and years: learned to play the recorder, then forgot how when they changed from little coloured dots to proper musical notes (why the hell couldn't they have taught us the notes in the first bloody place? I could have been performing my earth-shattering rendition of 'Three Blind Mice' at the Albert Hall by now!); appeared in some bizarre World War Two musical production; did my best to avoid eating haggis and generally ran about the place a lot.

Next up was an elongated spell in Westhill -- a small suburb seven miles west of Aberdeen -- where I embarked upon a mediocre academic career, hindered by a complete inability to spell and an attention span the length of a gnat's doodad.

And so to UNIVERSITY, far too young, naive and stupid to be away from the family home, sharing a subterranean flat in one of the seedier bits of Edinburgh with a mad Irishman, and four other bizarre individuals. The highlight of walking to the art school in the mornings (yes: we were students, but we still did mornings) was trying not to tread in the fresh bloodstains outside our front door, and dodging the undercover CID officers trying to buy drugs. Lovely place.

But university and I did not see eye to eye, so off I went to work offshore. Like many all-male environments, working offshore was the intellectual equivalent of Animal House, only without the clever bits. Swearing, smoking, eating, more swearing, pornography, swearing, drinking endless plastic cups of tea... and did I mention the swearing? But it was more money than I'd seen in my life! There's something about being handed a wadge of cash as you clamber off the minibus from the heliport, having spent the last two weeks offshore and the last two hours in an orange, rubber romper suit / body bag, then blowing most of it in the pubs and clubs of Aberdeen. And being young enough to get away without a hangover.

Then came a spell of working for myself as a graphic designer, which went the way of all flesh and into the heady world of studio management for a nation-wide marketing company. Then some more freelance design work, a handful of voiceovers for local radio and video production companies and a bash at being an actor (with a small 'a'), giving it up when it became clear there was no way I was ever going to be good enough to earn a decent living.

It was about this time I fell into bad company -- a blonde from Fife who conned me into marrying her -- and started producing websites for a friend's fledgling Internet company. From there it was a roller coaster ride (in that it made a lot of people feel decidedly unwell) from web designer to web manager, lead programmer, team lead and other assorted technical bollocks with three different companies, eventually ending up as a project manager for a global IT company.

But there was always the writing (well, that's not true, the writing only started two chapters above this one). I fell victim to that most dreadful of things: peer pressure. Two friends were writing novels and I thought, 'why not? I could do that'.

Took a few years though...
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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12679411-birthdays-for-the-dead?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1329572801l/12679411.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12679411-birthdays-for-the-dead?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Birthdays for the Dead by Stuart MacBride[/url]

Birthdays for the Dead

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