Ben Aaronovitch's Blog, page 9
June 14, 2016
Night Wish Issue #4
Out TodayNight Witch Issue #4
June 9, 2016
Friday Comic Tease
Coloured Panel
Night Witch Issue 4
What Have You Been Smoking Comrade?
Night Witch Issue 4
What Have You Been Smoking Comrade?June 2, 2016
Friday Comic Tease
Coloured PanelsNight Witch Issue #4
May 31, 2016
Nomad by James Swallow
My friend James Swallow has a book out this Thursday, I read it long before it was published and enjoyed it immensely (see pullquote) and read it again now that it's coming out and enjoyed it even more.
NOMADJames Swallow
Published by Bonnier Zaffre.
WHERE DO YOU TURN WHEN YOUR COUNTRY TURNS ON YOU?
Marc Dane is a MI6 field agent at home behind a computer screen, one step away from the action. But when a brutal attack on his team leaves Marc as the only survivor - and with the shocking knowledge that there are traitors inside MI6 - he's forced into the front line.
But when the evidence seems to point towards Marc as the perpetrator of the attack, he is accused of betraying his country and must race against time to clear his name.
With nowhere to turn to for help and no one left to trust, Marc is forced to rely on the enigmatic Rubicon group and their operative Lucy Keyes. Ex-US Army, Lucy also knows what it's like to be an outsider, and she's got the resources that Marc is sorely lacking.
A terrorist attack is coming, one bigger and more deadly than has ever been seen before. With the eyes of the security establishment elsewhere, only Lucy and Marc can stop the attack before it is too late...
A DEVASTATING TERRORIST ATTACK IN CENTRAL BARCELONA.
AN ELITE UNIT FATALLY AMBUSHED IN NORTHERN FRANCE.
A SINISTER ORPHANAGE IN THE HEART OF THE DESERT.
A TRAITOR BURIED IN THE BRITISH SECURITY SERVICES.
Only one man can unmask the conspiracy - but only if he survives long enough...
'An intelligent, likable and, above all, believable hero is faced with a frighteningly credible threat in a thriller that hits the tarmac running and doesn't stop accelerating until its terrifying conclusion.' - Ben Aaronovitch
'A terrific white-knuckle, lip-chewing thriller. Marc Dane is the British Jason Bourne. About bloody time!' - Rhianna Pratchett, WGA Award-winning writer of Tomb Raider and Mirror's Edge.
'Exciting and thought-provoking in equal measure, NOMAD is a thinking reader's white knuckle thrill ride. James Swallow has written a benchmark technothriller for the 21st century, one that's as engrossing as it is plausible.' - Richard Dansky, Central Tom Clancy writer on Splinter Cell, Ghost Recon, Rainbow Sixand The Division.
It is buyable from Amazon here.
NOMADJames SwallowPublished by Bonnier Zaffre.
WHERE DO YOU TURN WHEN YOUR COUNTRY TURNS ON YOU?
Marc Dane is a MI6 field agent at home behind a computer screen, one step away from the action. But when a brutal attack on his team leaves Marc as the only survivor - and with the shocking knowledge that there are traitors inside MI6 - he's forced into the front line.
But when the evidence seems to point towards Marc as the perpetrator of the attack, he is accused of betraying his country and must race against time to clear his name.
With nowhere to turn to for help and no one left to trust, Marc is forced to rely on the enigmatic Rubicon group and their operative Lucy Keyes. Ex-US Army, Lucy also knows what it's like to be an outsider, and she's got the resources that Marc is sorely lacking.
A terrorist attack is coming, one bigger and more deadly than has ever been seen before. With the eyes of the security establishment elsewhere, only Lucy and Marc can stop the attack before it is too late...
A DEVASTATING TERRORIST ATTACK IN CENTRAL BARCELONA.
AN ELITE UNIT FATALLY AMBUSHED IN NORTHERN FRANCE.
A SINISTER ORPHANAGE IN THE HEART OF THE DESERT.
A TRAITOR BURIED IN THE BRITISH SECURITY SERVICES.
Only one man can unmask the conspiracy - but only if he survives long enough...
'An intelligent, likable and, above all, believable hero is faced with a frighteningly credible threat in a thriller that hits the tarmac running and doesn't stop accelerating until its terrifying conclusion.' - Ben Aaronovitch
'A terrific white-knuckle, lip-chewing thriller. Marc Dane is the British Jason Bourne. About bloody time!' - Rhianna Pratchett, WGA Award-winning writer of Tomb Raider and Mirror's Edge.
'Exciting and thought-provoking in equal measure, NOMAD is a thinking reader's white knuckle thrill ride. James Swallow has written a benchmark technothriller for the 21st century, one that's as engrossing as it is plausible.' - Richard Dansky, Central Tom Clancy writer on Splinter Cell, Ghost Recon, Rainbow Sixand The Division.
It is buyable from Amazon here.
May 19, 2016
Friday Comic Tease
Coloured PanelNight Witch Issue #4
May 17, 2016
Night Witch Issue 3
Out TodayNight Witch Issue #3
May 12, 2016
Friday Comic Tease
Lettered Final PanelNight Witch Issue #3
May 8, 2016
Written in Dead Wax by Andrew Cartmel
WARNING: SHAMELESS PLUGAndrew Cartmel is one of my closest friends and gave me first writing job and has a book out tomorrow.
Now I actually read each chapter as it was written and by the end I had to taken to calling Andrew and begging him to get a move on.
So despite the fact that this is a friend and a colleague I want to say - this is a really good book and you might want to give it a whirl.
I particularly like Tinkler's coma, the cats, the Aryan assassins and the high quality red herrings that will have you second guessing the resolution until the last chapter.
BLURB FROM THE PUBLISHER
He is a record collector — a connoisseur of vinyl, hunting out rare and elusive LPs. His business card describes him as the “Vinyl Detective” and some people take this more literally than others.
Like the beautiful, mysterious woman who wants to pay him a large sum of money to find a priceless lost recording — on behalf of an extremely wealthy (and rather sinister) shadowy client.
Given that he’s just about to run out of cat biscuits, this gets our hero’s full attention. So begins a painful and dangerous odyssey in search of the rarest jazz record of them all…
AVAILABLE IN ALL GOOD BOOSTORES AND ONLINE VIA THE USUAL SUSPECTS
May 5, 2016
Friday Comic Tease
Panel Progression FromNight Witch Issue #3
May 3, 2016
Much Less Schadenfreude Than I Was Led To Expect
The Almost Perfect PeopleBehind the Myth of the Scandinavian UtopiaBy Michael BoothI've been to Sweden and it's hard to square such a pleasant country with the cascade of gloomy chunky jumper wearing detectives that invade our television and bookshops.
And given that every new scandinoir conjures up a seedy world of moral compromise, secret historical shame and the certainty that society is in a state of terminal decline just why, in survey after survey, do the people of the region vote themselves the happiest in the world.
Michael Booth who is both married to a Dane and living in Denmark sets out to examine the roots of this contradiction. He tackles each Nordic country in turn, Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Finland in turn - providing a useful insight into their history, culture and idiosyncrasies.
The blurb, misleadingly, stresses the 'hidden dark side' of the Nordic utopia but the book is in fact much more balanced and nuanced than that. Less schadenfreude and more wry humour.
Recommended.
