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Jan Needle

Goodreads Author

Website

http://www.janneedle.com/

Twitter

janneedle

Genre

Thriller, Historical Fiction, Children's

Member Since

September 2012

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Jan Needle has written more than forty books, including novels for adults and children and literary criticism. He also writes plays for stage, TV and radio, including serials and series like Grange Hill, The Bill and Brookside. His first novel, Wild Wood, is a retelling of The Wind in the Willows with Toad, Rat, Mole and Co as the ‘villains’ - a sort of undeserving rural squirearchy – and the stoats and weasels as heroes. A new version was brought out recently by Golden Duck, with the original wonderful illustrations by the late Willie Rushton.

Although he is currently working on a film of perhaps his most celebrated children’s book, My Mate Shofiq, Jan has recently been concentrating on historical novels about his first and most enduring lo Jan Needle has written more than forty books, including novels for adults and children and literary criticism. He also writes plays for stage, TV and radio, including serials and series like Grange Hill, The Bill and Brookside. His first novel, Wild Wood, is a retelling of The Wind in the Willows with Toad, Rat, Mole and Co as the ‘villains’ - a sort of undeserving rural squirearchy – and the stoats and weasels as heroes. A new version was brought out recently by Golden Duck, with the original wonderful illustrations by the late Willie Rushton.

Although he is currently working on a film of perhaps his most celebrated children’s book, My Mate Shofiq, Jan has recently been concentrating on historical novels about his first and most enduring love, the sea, and a series of extremely gritty thrillers. His aim has always been to transcend standard genre writing, which has sometimes brought him disapproval. The ‘hero’ of his first naval fiction, A Fine Boy for Killing, is a borderline sadist, and life on the frigate Welfare undermines almost every heroic myth popularized by earlier writers. Loved or hated, his novels refuse to be ignored.

His thrillers are also firmly in the ‘noir’ spectrum. The most recent is The Bonus Boys, which features a hard-as-nails investigator called Andrew Forbes and his Scottish lover Rosanna ‘the Mouse’ Nixon, who first appeared in Kicking Off, a chilling warning about the fissile state of Britain’s crumbling prisons. More are in the pipeline, as are additions to a series of novellas about crime, the 18th century navy, and the secret world of spies and spying. Even the possibility that Napoleon escaped from his exile on St Helena is examined. Like many ‘mere conspiracy theories’ it uncovers some extraordinary possibilities.

Jan also attempts, in conjunction with Walker Books, to widen the readership for certain classic novels. They include so far Moby Dick, Dracula, the Hunchback of Notre Dame, and The Woman in White, all aimed at a young adult audience . In his spare time, he sails boats and plays a variety of musical instruments.
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Jan Needle’s books

Average rating: 3.81 · 1,172 ratings · 120 reviews · 51 distinct works • Similar authors

	Moby-Dick by Jan Needle (Goodreads Author) (Adaptor), Patrick Benson (Illustrator) , Herman Melville 3.73 avg rating — 161 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Fine Boy for Killing 3.69 avg rating — 96 ratings — published 1983 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Undertaker's Wind (Sea Officer William Bentley Book 4) 3.90 avg rating — 39 ratings — published 2006 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Wicked Trade 3.58 avg rating — 52 ratings — published 1998 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Spithead Nymph 3.89 avg rating — 38 ratings — published 2004 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Devil's Luck 3.91 avg rating — 23 ratings — published 2013	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	El Ladrón 3.43 avg rating — 28 ratings — published 1990 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Wild Wood 4.13 avg rating — 30 ratings — published 1982 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Bully 3.48 avg rating — 29 ratings — published 1995 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Wagstaffe, The Wind Up Boy by Jan Needle (Goodreads Author), Roy Bentley 4.29 avg rating — 17 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Jan Needle…

2 posts
Jan Needle's Blog

History on the hoof...

The historic history festival is about to get underway, but the book of mine which is up for grabs in the competition - Death Order - only goes back to World War II.

Most of my historic work so far is nautical, although the most recent is a short adventure about Napoleon's supposed attempt to escape from St Helena in a submarine. Crazy though that sounds, there's lot of evidence that it was act... Read more of this blog post »

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Published on April 13, 2016 06:44 • 54 views

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Series by Jan Needle

Sea Officer William Bentley (4 books)
by

Jan Needle (Goodreads Author)

3.73 avg rating — 225 ratings

Nelson Chronicles (3 books)
by

Jan Needle (Goodreads Author)

3.33 avg rating — 33 ratings

The Size Spies (2 books)
by

Jan Needle (Goodreads Author),

Roy Bentley (Illustrator)

3.88 avg rating — 8 ratings

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Jan is now friends with Muahammad Asif
Dec 09, 2018 09:34AM · like
Jan rated a book it was amazing Pebble (Strong Winds Series Book 6) by Julia Jones	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
This book is the latest in a series set in the East Coast area of England and tackles all sorts of issues as well as being an exciting story .The characters, both adult and younger, develop and interact as their circumstances and relationships change ...more
Nov 25, 2018 05:18AM · like · see review
Jan recommended Hamelin's Child to Paula Williams Hamelin's Child by D.J. Bennett	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Nov 06, 2018 03:13AM · like
Jan joined the group Amazon Kindle & Fire
Jun 06, 2017 04:26AM · like
Jan made a comment on his recommendation of Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania to Andy Gambún Ó Cuinneagáin " totally gripping "
Feb 17, 2017 01:38AM
Jan made a comment on his recommendation of Ishmael Toffee to Billy Moore " this is fantastic "
Feb 16, 2017 02:05AM
Jan and 1 other person liked Catherine Czerkawska's blog post: Happy Birthday, Robert Burns! " There was a lad was born in Kyle, But whatna day o' whatna style, I doubt it's hardly worth the while To be sae nice wi Robin. Robin was a rovin' boy, Rantin', rovin', rantin', rovin', Robin was a rovin' boy, Rantin', rovin', Robin! Our monarc..." Read more of this blog post »
Jan 26, 2017 04:55AM
Jan wants to read The Likeness by Bill Kirton (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jan 26, 2017 04:54AM · like
Jan rated a book it was amazing Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jan 26, 2017 04:54AM · like
Jan rated a book it was amazing Hamelin's Child by D.J. Bennett	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jan 26, 2017 04:53AM · like