On The Radar – British authors lead the charge again this week in our new books update with themes including both vigilante justice and night-time creepers. But we also have a novel set in Thailand where taking a break won’t involve sipping cocktails on the beach, but there may be one or two comedy moments as well. So why not sit back and let us guide you through some of the books we’ve been offered this week.
On a January day in Belfast in 2005, Acting DS John O’Neill has been called to a building site on the banks of the River Lagan where the body of a kneecapped teenager has been discovered. The Troubles are over and the paramilitaries are gone but nobody seems interested in who the boy is or why he’s been killed. For O’Neill this presents something of a problem as his own career depends on solving the case before he is busted back down to uniform. A heady mix of drug dealing, financial corruption and vigilante justice awaits.
Devil’s Chimney by Tin Larrick
Eastbourne, 2001. A deadly tidal wave has battered this English coastal town, collapsing the chalk tower known as the Devil’s Chimney. It’s a place full of superstition and old pains that many would sooner forget, but this scene of devastation at the foot of Beachy Head may just have opened a Pandora’s Box. When PC Chalvington Barnes catches a suspect the local police believe to be the serial night creeper, he finds himself promoted to CID. However celebrations are short-lived when a young police officer is brutally murdered. Barnes finds himself chasing a suspect who seems to have a water-tight alibi through a web of corruption, greed and chaos.
Pattaya in Thailand is a very busy place, especially when the annual Cobra Gold joint military operation rolls into town, bringing thousands of US naval and military personnel. At the same time, the Russian Mafia and local Chinese-Thai gangsters decide this is the moment to go and empty a warehouse full of weapons. What they don’t reckon on is a retired American, his aged Thai stepmother and a macaw being on their case. An ancient recipe for hell beer, double-crosses a plenty, and an outcome that rests in the hands of the winner of the Pattaya katoey beauty pageant, all combine in this entertaining new release from Christopher G Moore.
Bring a Shovel and a Gun by Rasheed Newson
Here’s a title that gets straight to the point. Ali Reed is a crook with a rather unusual talent – he can remember everything, which is a useful skill to have if you happen to be a conman. Born with a condition that gives him perfect recall of every sight, sound and comment he has ever made, and blended with his own natural charm, Ali has made a rather lucrative business as a con artist in Washington DC. Falling in love with a woman who is more intelligent and dangerous than he is, however, could prove to be his undoing.
