Col Bury's Crime Fiction Choice...

Col Bury's Crime Fiction Choice #10

CHARLES IN CHARGE - by Sean Patrick Reardon

Sean chose the rarely used 2nd POV for this Halloween short over at TKnC, and expertly pulled it off.

When a family man fighting his demons takes a trip to the fairground with his teenage daughter, things go horribly wrong, culminating in an unexpected denouement.

Col Bury's Crime Fiction Choice #11

PILLOW TALK - by Jodi MacArthur

Found this beaut over at Beat to a Pulp. From the title, I initially thought it was gonna be a cosy number, but how wrong could I be?

The central character, Henrietta, has to be one of the most disturbing female protags I've read in any short around. Fierce, yet unembellished, in its delivery, this creepy tale will keep you shuddering long after the final word.

Col Bury's Crime Fiction Choice #12

SLASH AND BURN - by Matt Hilton

In the third of the Joe Hunter crime thriller series, Matt Hilton provides the compulsory action, bullets, explosions and body count. However this time, not only is it sprinkled with dark humour, but also a pleasantly surprising touch of romance for tough guy Hunter, which adds further story depth.

In this adventure, Hunter is up against a murderous businessman (Huffman) who has kidnapped Hunter's dead, Special Forces friend's sister in a bid to save the former's corrupt empire from crumbling. If this isn't enough, the formidable Bolan twins on Hunter's tail remind me of Heavyweight Champs, the Klitschko brothers.

When reading a novel it's preferable to learn something new, and here I could certainly tell from the face-to-face combat that it was penned by a martial arts expert. The author is the first to concede it won't be everyone's cuppa, but if you like escaping via entertaining, dynamic prose and the thrill of the chase - in this case, from Florida through to Little Fork, Kentucky - then look no further than Slash and Burn.

Col Bury's Crime Fiction Choice... resurrected!

A little over a year ago I started punchy reviews of short stories and flash fiction I'd enjoyed around the net. However, with my own novel writing, added to hectic family life, a demanding full-time job, plus co-editing Thrillers, Killers 'n' Chillers, although I enjoyed doing it, I had no 'choice' - pardon the pun - and it was placed on the proverbial back burner.

Well, it's back! But this time I'll be including crime thriller/mystery novels. Check back later in the week for Col Bury's Crime Fiction Choice numbers 10, 11 & 12.

If you can't wait (yeah, right!), see the first nine here. And remember, I only choose stuff I really loved reading and want to recommend to friends.

REMEMBER...

PLEASE GOD....

Manchester features heavily in the crime novel I've written, and my Detective Inspector Jack Striker is obviously a fanatical blue (well, they say write what you know).

Currently the city is abuzz with banter regarding tonight's Manchester derby versus our illustrious (and somewhat spoilt!) neighbours, Man.United. As always my beloved Man.City are underdogs, so I've got everything crossed they don't 'do us' by snatching a last minute winner (in Fergie time!), like they did in three of the four derbies last season.

Just setting off with my lad now... please God...

UPDATE:
What an anti-climax. For those of you interested, it was a bore-draw...nil-nil... orchestrated by two fearful managers, especially ours sadly. But at least we didn't lose and the pee-taking will be tempered somewhat... THANK GOD.