Humble apologies for the long delay in posting on here. There are very good reasons for this, which I’m not yet at liberty to discuss in full, but I can’t wait for that day to arrive. In the meantime, it’s still an announcements day today. A few things are coming up, both of which I’m a little stoked about. I also have more thumbnail book reviews for you, a bunch of dark fiction titles that I’ve recently read and enjoyed. As usual, you’ll find those at the lower end of today’s blogpost in the Thrillers/Chillers section.
First of all …
I’m very pleased that my most recent Heck novel, NO QUARTER, is now available on Audible (see above), as read by the one and only Paul Thornley, who so many readers have written in and been complimentary about.
Other work Paul has done on my behalf includes the last but one Heck novel, ROGUE. I was literally buried by fan mail after that one, all of it wildly appreciating that the original actor who brought Heck to life on Audible way back in 2013 is still on the job for us.
In case you’re not quite sure what NO QUARTER is about, it was published in paperback and ebook formats last May, the Audible now out as well, as I’ve just said, and is selling very nicely.
Here’s the official blurb:
Just to quickly remind you that best-selling thriller novelist, MW Craven, described the Mark Heckenburg novels as: ‘Exceptional crime-writing’.
And what the esteemed Neil Lancaster , another ex-cop turned bestselling author, said of NO QUARTER: ‘Paul always delivers’.
In case you’re not quite sure what NO QUARTER is about, it was published in paperback and ebook formats last May, the Audible now out as well, as I’ve just said, and is selling very nicely.
Here’s the official blurb:
Welcome to the Crazyhouse. Where unwilling contestants play the game of death
The north of England is rocked by two horrifying but bewildering crimes: a £600,000 drugs heist, the couriers and the buyers all slain. And the abduction of an entire stag party, a bunch of strapping young men lured away by two pretty girls and never seen again.
While northern police forces struggle to cope, go-it-alone Detective Sergeant Mark Heckenburg, still under suspension, is given a stark choice. Infiltrate the Crew, Manchester’s overarching crime syndicate, as an undercover asset, or lose his job permanently.
With the assistance of out-of-favour Manchester cop, Lucy Clayburn, Heck undertakes the onerous task, soon discovering evidence linking the two heinous crimes together. But he has a very serious and pressing problem. The Crew’s ruthless Chairman of the Board, Frank McCracken, is increasingly suspicious and determined to test his loyalty to the max.
Meanwhile, another bunch of guileless young men have gone missing, and are now awaiting their fate in the architectural nightmare that is the Crazyhouse ...
Just to quickly remind you that best-selling thriller novelist, MW Craven, described the Mark Heckenburg novels as: ‘Exceptional crime-writing’.
And what the esteemed Neil Lancaster , another ex-cop turned bestselling author, said of NO QUARTER: ‘Paul always delivers’.
Which brings me neatly onto ...
Spring has now definitely sprung, at long last (I know, it always seems to take an age to get here in the UK), and with it is coming the festival season. We’ve got no CrimeFest at Bristol this year, sadly, but the rest of the programme is already rolling.
Last weekend, I was honoured to be invited to sit on a panel at the Warrington Crime Festival. It was only a one-day affair, but very enjoyable nevertheless, and it enabled me to reacquaint with the legendary Ramsey Campbell (not just Britain’s great living horror author, but also a battle-hardened veteran of the crime/thriller story as well).
And to hook up with other such luminaries as fellow scriptwriter on The Bill and million-selling novelist, Simon McCleave (above left), Caroline England (right), Liz Mistry and Donna Morfett, among many others.
Future organisers of other festivals take note. It was an all-round success for chief organiser, Conrad Jones, himself a writer of multiple successful novels, and I hope he’s encouraged to arrange further such conventions.
Anyway, as I’ve already mentioned, once we get into festival season, it’s a rolling programme, and other similar literary jamborees are now coming at us fast and furious.
Next week, I’m flattered to have been asked to address one of our local book clubs about my 2016 novel, STRANGERS. In quick recap, STRANGERS follows the fortunes of a young female police detective in Manchester who is forced to go undercover as a prostitute to try and catch a serial sex-murderer, though turning the genre on its head a little bit, in this case the killer is believed to be a fellow streetwalker, who is brutally and sexually murdering her male clients.
My own police experience didn’t extend to undercover work like this (thank God!), surely one of the most onerous duties any police officer can undertake, so I remain very thankful for the piles of notes I obtained from another ex-cop, Effie Meryl, now an author in her own right, who undertook this dangerous duty on many occasions in real life.
The book did very well, finding its way into the Sunday Time Top 10 bestseller list.
I’m always happy to talk to local book clubs. It’ a great honour to think that people are so affected by something you’ve written that they want to sit you down and hold a formal discussion about it.
Also coming up in the near future, on June 11, I’ll be doing an author talk at Longton Library, Preston. On this occasion, I’ll be extrapolating on my entire career and explaining how a Manchester street-cop like me became a journalist and then a bestselling author, I’ll additionally focus on my interest in dark fiction, horror and crime in particular, and why I think it is that, even during my earliest days, I wasn’t interested in bedtime stories like Goldilocks or the Elves and the Shoemaker, but preferred Jack the Giant Killer, Beowulf and Grendel, Theseus and the Minotaur, Dracula, the Wolfman and the Mummy.
That should be fun. And now ...
I haven’t got as full a schedule this year as I had last year, but at this time of writing, there are still two more Paul Finch books due in 2026, with possibly more to follow (who knows?). First up, and the only one I can really talk about yet, is IN THE FOREST OF THE NIGHT, a collection of five horror stories from Black Shuck Press’s SHADOWS series. Four of them are reprints, though the most recent of those dates from 2015, so I doubt here’ll be too many readers who are overly familiar with them. The fifth story in the book, BEYOND THE SEA OF PAIN is a crime/horror mashup that runs to novella length. I’m particularly proud of this one and can’t wait for dark fiction fans to get hold of it.
Okay, that’s it for now. Sorry again that I’ve been away from this blog for a couple of months. I reiterate that I have more announcements to make, which are currently classified, but I’ve been working full tilt to meet deadlines etc. That said, it could always be worse. The alternative is that I could have no deadlines, and therefore no work. Ugh.
In a Maryland town in the 1990s, a tightknit group of teen boys take it on themselves to capture a fearsome child-killer. An over-density of detail, but a fun cast of characters bring great life to another nostalgic vision of childhood’s end from the pen of a classy American author. Terrifying in only minor dollops but moving and affecting in its depiction of loyalty among friends and the innocence and optimism of youth. Wistful, melancholic and an all-round satisfying read. (Not for kids).
A straight-talking London cop is the cat among pigeons in a quiet rural community where the disappearance of a beloved local woman is clearly being covered up. Hardboiled British noir alternates with existentialist horror in this third in the ‘Factory Series’, in which an unnamed police hero pursues justice even if it isn’t always in line with the law. An eerie tragedy rather than a typical mystery-thriller. Depressing in parts, uplifting in others, and a hero who retreats into his own head to make sense of a harrowing world. Grim but insightful stuff.
In Scotland of the 1860s, a new governess arrives at a big old house on a Hebridean isle, to find wild weather, several ghosts, hints of black magic, and mysteries within mysteries. Made-to-measure Gothic chiller, richly atmospheric and crammed with Victorian-era menace. A tad slow in parts, but immense effort has gone into character-building, which carries its own reward. Great debut from Netley, with hopefully many more to come.
Intimate portrait of prototype serial killer, Peter Kürten, written by the forensic psychiatrist who investigated the case and interviewed the maniac many times before he was guillotined. Novella-length but intricately detailed. Not a great work of literature, but a True Crime classic nevertheless, packed with disturbing but fascinating facts, its most alarming feature the depiction of a nondescript man who became a practised killer capable of running rings around the most experienced Homicide division. Hardly entertaining, but an invaluable research document.
In 330 BC, a young Greek enlists in Alexander the Great’s army and disembarks for the deserts and mountains of Afghanistan for what will be one of the most gruelling campaigns in history. Brutal, gritty, ground-level view of men stretched to their limits, bloodbath battles and cultures clashing in a firestorm of fabulous prose and gruesome violence. Pressfield’s usual meld of fascinating detail, intricate characters and picturesque grimness. Historical action-fiction as it should be.
Festivals
Spring has now definitely sprung, at long last (I know, it always seems to take an age to get here in the UK), and with it is coming the festival season. We’ve got no CrimeFest at Bristol this year, sadly, but the rest of the programme is already rolling.
The event was held at The Village Hotel, Warrington, which is a grand venue for this sort of thing: easily accessible, sitting as it does on both the M6 and the West Coast Mainline, with extensive function areas and a huge car park.
Left is another shot from the Warrington event.
I’m sure that Jo Turner could not have been killing herself laughing at something I'd just said here, because I'm not that funny.
Anyway, as I’ve already mentioned, once we get into festival season, it’s a rolling programme, and other similar literary jamborees are now coming at us fast and furious.
My own police experience didn’t extend to undercover work like this (thank God!), surely one of the most onerous duties any police officer can undertake, so I remain very thankful for the piles of notes I obtained from another ex-cop, Effie Meryl, now an author in her own right, who undertook this dangerous duty on many occasions in real life.
The book did very well, finding its way into the Sunday Time Top 10 bestseller list.
I’m always happy to talk to local book clubs. It’ a great honour to think that people are so affected by something you’ve written that they want to sit you down and hold a formal discussion about it.
Also coming up in the near future, on June 11, I’ll be doing an author talk at Longton Library, Preston. On this occasion, I’ll be extrapolating on my entire career and explaining how a Manchester street-cop like me became a journalist and then a bestselling author, I’ll additionally focus on my interest in dark fiction, horror and crime in particular, and why I think it is that, even during my earliest days, I wasn’t interested in bedtime stories like Goldilocks or the Elves and the Shoemaker, but preferred Jack the Giant Killer, Beowulf and Grendel, Theseus and the Minotaur, Dracula, the Wolfman and the Mummy.
That should be fun. And now ...
Coming soon
I haven’t got as full a schedule this year as I had last year, but at this time of writing, there are still two more Paul Finch books due in 2026, with possibly more to follow (who knows?). First up, and the only one I can really talk about yet, is IN THE FOREST OF THE NIGHT, a collection of five horror stories from Black Shuck Press’s SHADOWS series. Four of them are reprints, though the most recent of those dates from 2015, so I doubt here’ll be too many readers who are overly familiar with them. The fifth story in the book, BEYOND THE SEA OF PAIN is a crime/horror mashup that runs to novella length. I’m particularly proud of this one and can’t wait for dark fiction fans to get hold of it.
Okay, that’s it for now. Sorry again that I’ve been away from this blog for a couple of months. I reiterate that I have more announcements to make, which are currently classified, but I’ve been working full tilt to meet deadlines etc. That said, it could always be worse. The alternative is that I could have no deadlines, and therefore no work. Ugh.
THRILLERS, CHILLERS, SHOCKERS AND KILLERS
Works of dark literature that I have recently read, massively enjoyed and heartily recommend (sometimes with a few historical adventures mixed in).
DECEMBER PARK by Ronald Malfi (2014)
In a Maryland town in the 1990s, a tightknit group of teen boys take it on themselves to capture a fearsome child-killer. An over-density of detail, but a fun cast of characters bring great life to another nostalgic vision of childhood’s end from the pen of a classy American author. Terrifying in only minor dollops but moving and affecting in its depiction of loyalty among friends and the innocence and optimism of youth. Wistful, melancholic and an all-round satisfying read. (Not for kids).
HOW THE DEAD LIVE by Derek Raymond, aka Robin Cook (1986)
A straight-talking London cop is the cat among pigeons in a quiet rural community where the disappearance of a beloved local woman is clearly being covered up. Hardboiled British noir alternates with existentialist horror in this third in the ‘Factory Series’, in which an unnamed police hero pursues justice even if it isn’t always in line with the law. An eerie tragedy rather than a typical mystery-thriller. Depressing in parts, uplifting in others, and a hero who retreats into his own head to make sense of a harrowing world. Grim but insightful stuff.
THE WHISTLING by Rebecca Netley (2021)
In Scotland of the 1860s, a new governess arrives at a big old house on a Hebridean isle, to find wild weather, several ghosts, hints of black magic, and mysteries within mysteries. Made-to-measure Gothic chiller, richly atmospheric and crammed with Victorian-era menace. A tad slow in parts, but immense effort has gone into character-building, which carries its own reward. Great debut from Netley, with hopefully many more to come.
THE DÜSSELDORF VAMPIRE (formerly titled THE SADIST) by Karl Berg (translated by Olga Illner and George Godwin) (1932)
Intimate portrait of prototype serial killer, Peter Kürten, written by the forensic psychiatrist who investigated the case and interviewed the maniac many times before he was guillotined. Novella-length but intricately detailed. Not a great work of literature, but a True Crime classic nevertheless, packed with disturbing but fascinating facts, its most alarming feature the depiction of a nondescript man who became a practised killer capable of running rings around the most experienced Homicide division. Hardly entertaining, but an invaluable research document.
THE AFGHAN CAMPAIGN by Steven Pressfield (2009)
In 330 BC, a young Greek enlists in Alexander the Great’s army and disembarks for the deserts and mountains of Afghanistan for what will be one of the most gruelling campaigns in history. Brutal, gritty, ground-level view of men stretched to their limits, bloodbath battles and cultures clashing in a firestorm of fabulous prose and gruesome violence. Pressfield’s usual meld of fascinating detail, intricate characters and picturesque grimness. Historical action-fiction as it should be.
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