Nigel Bird's Blog, page 26

Dancing With Myself: AIDAN THORN Interviews AIDAN THORN

Dancing with myself: An interview with Aidan Thorn by Aidan Thorn
It’s a sunny afternoon in Southampton and Aidan Thorn has decided to turn up to this interview in his underpants - as chance would have it so have I. We’re sat in Aidan’s living room sharing a pint glass of water. The sun has just set on the August bank holiday weekend and Aidan’s far too old for what he got up to during the course of it, he’s a little tired and grouchy which matches my mood perfectly. Neither of us really wants to be here but it was the only free slot in the diary that we could both make work so here we are.
A month or so ago Aidan released a story collection called Tales from the Underbelly (US) and so I’m going to find out what that’s all about and maybe, if we’re both in the mood, I’ll ask him some other stuff about writing too.
For those few (cough) people that don’t know do you want to tell the readers a little bit about yourself and your writing background?
What do you want? I like football, tennis, music and films? That sort of thing?
No, tell us about you
There’s really not much to say. I’m a couple of months shy of my 38th birthday, born and raised in Southampton, England and I remain there to this day. In my younger days I had a few half hearted (and that’s probably over-egging the effort) attempts at putting bands together, I dropped out of University, got myself a real job and have been lucky enough to work for an organisation that put me back through Uni a couple of times and gave me a great career doing something I love.
That said, the creative part of me always felt like an itch that I needed to scratch and so in 2008 on my first holiday to the USA I started plotting out a book idea in my head. I’m a terrible traveller and when I’m in a different time zone I rarely sleep, I only had one book with me and it was shite. So, I got out of bed and started sketching out an idea for a novel on a hotel logo headed notepad. Elements of those scribblings did eventually see the light of day in the 2015 release of my first novella, When the Music’s Over – but only elements of it. Turns out writing a novel isn’t as easy as I thought it would be and I made a right old meal of it. I decided that by way of practice I’d write a few short stories and see how they went. Turns out it went OK, my first ever attempt was published by Byker Books in their Radgepacket series and then I had story after story published online and in collections and for a while I forgot about trying to write a novel. I was enjoying the near instant recognition and reaction to stories I was putting out through various channels. But eventually I did complete a novel, Last Request. It was a decent story, but the writing was clearly in need of a polish and I was unsuccessful in trying to get it published, so I kept plodding away with the short stories until I came across Number 13 Press who were publishing great novellas and so I dusted off Last Request, trimmed it to novella length, sorted out the clunky writing, changed the title and in Sept 2015 it was published as When the Music’s Over. It got a great reaction, I knew the story was decent and once it was polished up I knew it would do OK, and the reviews have proven that to be the case.
So you’ve never written a novel then?
Well I have, but I cut it back to make it a novella
That’s a no then
I suppose so
Short stories have become your thing really and that’s basically what Tales from the Underbelly is right, a short story collection?
Yes and no. It’s a collection of stories of varying length, from very short to novella length that are all linked by characters. The whole thing revolves around two rival gangland bosses, Tony Ricco and Jimmy O’Keefe, but it’s not so much about them as the people whose lives they touch. Some of these people interact with them willingly, some by horrible accent and some don’t even know that they’re involved with them but have to deal with the consequences of their presence in their lives.
So, it’s a short story collection then?
Depends on your perspective I suppose, would you call Pulp Fiction a short story collection?
Oh behave, you’re not seriously comparing your work to Pulp Fiction are you?
I’m not making any comment on the quality of the work here, more the format. In Pulp Fiction everything that happens does so around or because of the mysterious Kingpin figure of Marsellus Wallace, he’s not in all of the scenes, and not all of the characters or stories in that film are linked but the thread that holds it all together is Wallace. In Tales from the Underbelly it’s Ricco and O’Keefe’s enterprises that weave the thread between the scenes that unfold. For me Tales from the Underbelly is more like a collection of linked scenes and stories that tell a bigger story about a criminal underworld, than a simple short story collection. That said, each story stands alone, but if you read the whole thing you’ll hopefully find it more satisfying that a standard collection of tales lumped together to make a book.
You self-published this collection, seem a bit sure of yourself, who are you to say people will want to read what you put out?
That’s a fair question, but strictly speaking I didn’t self publish this. The stories in Tales from the Underbellyhave all been published before in various collections and ezines. I just put them together into something that makes the whole thing link up. That said, a lot of people are self publishing these days and whilst there is some absolute shite out there some of the best work I’ve read in recent years has been self published. Sadly I haven’t had a lot of time to read this year but two of the best books I’ve read were self published, one by Robert Cowan (The Search for Ethan) and the other by Ryan Bracha (After Work Call). When I first got into writing I thought self publishing was bullshit but guys like Bracha and Cowan and many more have proven me wrong, it’s just a way of getting work that probably wouldn’t be picked up by mainstream publishers out for an audience that’s looking for something different from the run of the mill stuff you’ll see on the shelves and for me that can only be a good thing – as long as the quality is good.
Tales from the Underbelly is done now so what are you working on right now?
Right now, nothing. I haven’t really written an original word in 2017. It’s been a very strange year, I’ve been very busy in the real world and so writing has taken a back seat. I hope to get back to it again one day, but at the moment it’s just not happening for one reason and another. That said I do have another novella, Rival Sons that I finished on the last day of 2016 that I’m hoping to find a home for soon. I spent what spare time I had in the first half of 2017 tidying that up with edits and writing a synopsis getting it ready to send out to publishers – I’ve had a couple of nibbles on what I’ve sent out so far, so I have my fingers crossed that something might come of it, but I’m not holding my breath – never a good idea in this game.

Thanks for taking the time to talk to me, Aidan now go and put some clothes on

Oh, you’re one to talk

One Man's Opinion: COLD LONDON BLUES by PAUL D BRAZILL

It's a bank holiday. You're looking for something to read. You probably want something that's a little different. A book that will entertain as much as it thrills. If it's a bargain, so much the better. 

Well here's one that will tick your boxes and tickle your fancy.

Cold London Blues has an elongated title - Ealing Comedy meets Pulp Fiction and has a love child. I honestly think that says it better than I could by filling the page. 

The humour is everywhere, from the scenes and situations to the crazy pun-filled dialogue. Laugh-a-minute is what it is. It's also a good yarn. 

The grit is also there aplenty. It's a crime novel and a rather brutal one at that. What's unusual is the way the violence is often so matter-of-fact. It comes at you when you least expect it and is handled with deadpan weight.

And the characters? You'll not see the likes of these very often, not unless you pick up another Paul D Brazill. You'll encounter one of the most unusual coppers in fiction as you read. 

If you need your copy right now while you lie on a beach with the sun warming your skin, the kindle (US) version's for you. If you can wait a little longer, then the paperback's where the deal is - £2.84 ($1.89) brand new, which is just ridiculous. 

Now pick up a copy and enjoy the rest of your weekend. 

Free Books: Mystery and Thriller Reads

Here!

One Man's Opinion: FATBOY by PAUL HEATLEY

Joey’s wife has gone. She’s taken his son with her to live with her parents at the nice end of town. Joey’s drink problem and a short fuse mean it’s unlikely that she’s coming back and so Joey sinks back into the bottle and to his dull job tending bar in an establishment where there’s more on the menu than just booze. His only friend is prostitute, Lynne, and her time is often taken by the fat boy of the title, an arrogant racist who has money to burn.
Joey does his best to patch things up with his ex, but her resolve is strong and there isn’t a clear way for him to win her back. The problem for Joey is that his heart and his hope won’t give up. The only motivation he has in the world is to get back together to be with his son and the only way he can think of that might make that possible is for him to get hold of a large amount of cash.
Given that it’s unlikely he’s going to get a big pay rise anytime soon and that the tips will never take him to where he needs to be, he constructs a plan with Lynne to extract money from Fatboy and his family. Because the plan is driven by desperation, you can see that it’s unlikely that it will come off, but you can’t help rooting for the guy even so.  
The action plays out well and the tension is ratcheted up in just the right way. I won’t go into detail, but will point out that there’s a terrific mode of departure from the world for one of those involved. The finale is a beauty and brings a sobering reality to proceedings – you might want tissues here.
Fatboy(US) is a solid novella with a really satisfying pace and rhythm. The dialogue crackles along and the settings are brutally bleak. The characters are fleshed out and Joey himself walks the tightrope between being hateful and sympathetic with an uneasy balance. There’s also a great cameo in the form of bar owner Patrick O’Donoghue, a tough guy of the granite variety with a philosophical outlook, whom I would have liked to see more of.

A cracking noir. 

One Man's Opinion: THE FRIEND OF MADAME MAIGRET by GEORGES SIMENON

Following an anonymous tip-off, human teeth are found in the incinerator of a bookbinder in Paris. It’s puzzling given that the bookbinder and his wife spend all of their time together and that the victim remains unidentified.
To complicate matters further, and to add sprinkles to the icing on the cake, Madame Maigret becomes directly involved. While waiting for a dental appointment, a woman she has befriended on the square disappears to leave Maigret’s wife in charge of a child. Following on from this event, Mme Maigret plays detective for a while and her close observational skills are crucial in finally cracking the case.
A further layer of complication is added by an ambitious young defence lawyer who is publicly taunting Maigret about his investigation and another still in the way Jules handles a wet-behind-the-ears detective with almost paternal kid gloves.
Put all of this together and you have a recipe that’s entirely successful.

The Friend Of Madame Maigret (US) is a very stylish episode that shines a bright light on Maigret’s personal life. The piece is finished with a cherry of a twist in the form of the final sentence of the book.   

One Man's Opinion: MAIGRET IN COURT by GEORGES SIMENON

Before my thoughts on another Simenon marvel, I want to let you know that my novel, The Shallows (US), is free for kindle just now. It’s not up to the master’s standards, but I believe it’s worthy of your attention.
Maigret returns from holidaying in Meung-Sur-Loire having bought a retirement home with his wife. The thought of coming to the end of his career and leaving Paris makes him uncomfortable, as does the case he arrives in court to report on. The courtroom situation is thoroughly engrossing. Maigret goes into detail about the events from months earlier when an old lady and four-year-old girl were murdered with the woman’s life-savings being stolen.
In the dock sits Gaston Meurant. He’s a fine man who is doing the best to make a go of life and is easily contented by his simple life. The charge of murder came about after another of Simenon’s anonymous tip-offs entered the ring and another blue suit with bloodstains became crucial to the case.  After Meurat explains that he wasn’t the killer, his life is turned upside down when evidence relating to his wife confirms that she has been having a number of affairs over the years.
There are sneaky goings-on with slippery lawyers behind the scenes and the verdict allows for a new situation to be played out.
Maigret deploys his men to follow and probe Meurat wherever he goes. They end up in Toulouse where a thrilling climax is set up and played out.
There’s a question, in the end, about Maigret’s participation in the case and of his interpretation of justice. One senses that if he has any blood on his hands, it’s washed off easily before he takes another lunch with his wife.
This carries power because of the feelings whipped up for poor old Meurat and because the knowledge is there from the start that the conclusion is likely to be messy no matter how the cards fall upon the table.
First class.

Maigret In Court is available here.

One Man's Opinion: A MAN'S HEAD by GEORGES SIMENON

I read three Maigret novels while I was in France at the beginning of the month, each of which provided me with lots of the mood and atmosphere I was after. None of them disappointed, but they did vary between good and great.
I’ll start at the good end of things with A Man’s Head (US).
In this one, Maigret stakes his career on his instincts and arranges the escape of a prisoner from death row. The idea is that by following the prisoner, the true facts of the murder case concerned will come to light. Things don’t go entirely to plan when the prisoner ends up falling asleep for most of his first day of freedom.
Maigret hangs around in a bar full of well-to-do travellers from around the world to get his head round the murder. In doing so, he encounters a young man who taunts and goads the chief inspector by hinting that there is more to the case than has been understood thus far and that Maigret is unlikely to put the pieces of the puzzle into place.
This had echoes of Crime and Punishment as the elements of guilt drive the culprit to their downfall, yet it lacks a crisp punch or any real sense of weight. The strong opening loses some momentum and the conclusion, though almost perfectly dark, misses a beat or two.
My favourite section here was the insight into the backrooms of the Palais De Justice and the detailed obsessive forensic work of Moers.
Well worth a read, as always, but not top of the form.

While I’m here, I’ll point out that readers can pick up a very different kind of mystery story for free today . Recluse(US) looks at a creative genius during the sixties and the high cost of that free love. 

One Man's Opinion: DIE OF SHAME by MARK BILLINGHAM

Here’s one that made it onto the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year long list. It may not have made the cut into the final 6, but it was certainly a worthy contender.
For personal reasons, it took me a while to get into the spirit of this one. I spent seven years visiting hospital on a weekly basis to attend group therapy sessions. They were hard years and being reminded them of some doors that I prefer to keep shut. It meant that to watch another group working through their issues with their own sets of boundaries and dynamics wasn’t easy.
During my own therapy years, it occurred to me from time to time that the closed group setting of the situation would be perfect for a crime novel. Mark Billingham’s novel proved me right on that point and he’s written a far better piece than I would have managed in the process.
Die of Shame (US) explores many facets of life and death, with addiction taking centre stage. Here we have a group meeting weekly in North London. The tensions and alliances between the clients and the therapist are slowly revealed and then constantly reset while we get to know them. The therapist has his hands full when it comes to keeping his charges straight. His hands are also when it comes to keeping his family, a distant wife and an out of control daughter, afloat while dealing with his own drug fuelled past and his addictive nature.
When one of the group members is murdered, the police get involved and put pressure on all the survivors in turn, hoping to get them to break the rules of confidentiality and the trust that they’ve built up over time. Nicola Tanner is the DI charged with solving this one and the addiction aspect of the case resonates with her own personal life. Her sidekick, Dipak Chall, is a wonderful creation and I’d be more than happy to spend time with this pair in the future.
There’s a whiff of Agatha Christie to this one which is even flagged by the author. The list of suspects is finite, the group setting closed and each has their own motivation for getting rid of the victim, whether that’s being too close, blackmail, hatred or simply the crossing of boundaries. Billingham keeps the pot simmering for each of them as the information is slowly and expertly revealed. As the climax is reached, the interplay and the conclusion are perfectly handled.

I really enjoyed spending time with another group and reckon you will enjoy doing the same if you give it a go, regardless of your own personal experience. 

One Man's Opinion: THE CARTEL by DON WINSLOW

I chose Don Winslow’s The Cartel  (US)to take as a holiday read with every confidence that it was up to the job. Its reputation is huge and, weighing in at 600 plus pages, it seemed big enough to keep me busy. We left on Saturday lunchtime and the book was finished before lunch on Wednesday. I think that says a lot about the book. It’s been a great companion and was responsible for some very late nights. I also got to work out by carrying my copy down to the Med and back, so it wasn’t just an emotional workout.
The scale of The Cartel is huge. It follows a feud between US agent Art Keller and the super-powerful drug king Adan Barrera as each tries to pin each other down. This battle forms the body of the plot, but there are many tentacles leading from there. Key characters are introduced and within pages of meeting them we have their complete history nailed and understand their connections and motivations. There are journalists, politicians, agents, beauty queens, lovers, fighters, killers, soldiers, doctors and prostitutes among them and each plays their part with distinction.
There’s something circular about the way the story travels. Eras are defined by political intrigue, and violence. Body counts are listed. Torture and murders are graphically described. Negotiations and double-dealings map out treachery and devious intention. Like the Cartels, the cycle is relentless and seems unbreakable. As a reader, I became immune to the brutality of it all and if this was a deliberate attempt by Winslow to demonstrate how easily people can become numbed into submission by utter barbarity then he was totally successful. This, in some ways, made the journey a little tricky. At certain points, the prospect of another repeated history was rather uninviting. Overcoming that sense of déjà vu was always worth it, however. None of the plotlines lead to cul-de-sacs (although there a plenty of dead ends, I can assure you) and the author is skilled at bringing things to an emotional boil just when that’s required.
The plot here is huge. The characters are enormous – you could probably write a PhD on each, though you don’t necessarily always feel the warmth of their blood or the rate of their pulse. The sense of history brings added weight. Some of the detail feels unnecessary, but I believe that others will relish these elements of over-description. The world with the pages is total chaos – Hell, perhaps. The worst part of the whole piece is that it’s all so bloody real. The book is dedicated to journalists murdered or disappeared in Mexico during the decades covered by the novel and the list goes on forever. That speaks volumes about the world Winslow has fictionalised with such power.
And is it purely coincidence that a writer named Don has written a piece with the fingerprints of The Godfather all over the keyboard? Methinks not.  

Thanks Mr Winslow for the experience and the education.    

One Man's Opinion: RACE TO THE BOTTOM by CHRIS RHATIGAN

‘The scene looped in his head. He resisted at first, then let go until it became the background to his insomnia. He thought that maybe through constant remembrance he could remove himself from the situation, like it would be a clip from an old movie.No such luck.’
Roy wakes up with a hangover. It’s not just any hangover either. It’s probably the best described one I’ve come across.
All he wants is to lie still and let the pain wash over him until it becomes reduced to the constant hum of discomfort, only his girlfriend isn’t going to let him do that. Instead she’s going to kick him out onto the streets. We can’t be sure why she’s doing this, but can be pretty confident he deserves it. We can also be pretty certain that this is about as good as it’s going to get for Roy, for it’s unlikely good fortune is ever going to shine upon him.  
The only person he has left to turn to is Banksy. Banksy’s another waster. A dope sucking, computer game addicted drug pedlar who’s too lazy to do any deals. He’s so low, he’s even going to charge his only buddy rent to let him sleep on the couch.
Off they go to a nightclub. It’s thirsty work and Roy hits the drink in the same hard way he has to every day to keep functioning. And bad things happen.
This is a wonderful story, told with skill and the confidence to be uncompromising at every turn. Roy’s no angel. In fact, Rhatigan throws so much of the man’s crap at you that he should be utterly despised. Thing is, I kind of like him. It’s difficult not to be sympathetic to a guy who just wants to get through life with a drink in his hand and with a few smokes without hurting anyone along the way. His daily battle with the mundane routines of his job at the Bullseye store is brilliantly told and I doubt there’s anyone out there who had done a crappy job or one they’re stuck with who won’t recognise his pain and won’t blame him from wanting to escape in any way he can.
The twists and turns of Roy’s life as it circles the plughole are hypnotising. There’s no way he can avoid that gravitational force pulling him downwards, but it’s great watching him try.
A cop named Walsh adds a good deal to this story. He’s a fantastic creation and if there was a new detective I wanted to read more about, this guy would be the one. He wouldn’t play things by the book and there wouldn’t be a cliché in sight.

Race To The Bottom (US) is another Chris Rhatigan book to treasure. It’s scary how good the guy’s writing is and how it improves by notches with each new work. It’s also difficult to imagine the kind of aces he’ll be pulling from his sleeve in years to come. How wonderful it is to have such fiction to look forward to.  More please.