Unfinished Business

Thomas Hocknell's 2nd tale of The Life Assistance Agency is out now from Urbane Publications

Hocknell returns with the Agency eager to stay away from anything involving angels following the fallout of the first novel's conclusion in Prague.

Ben and Scott though are drawn into another angelic tale when the phone rings and they are asked to write the autobiography of a 1980s has-been pop star from the band Elev-8.  When they meet said pop star, they also encounter 'Blind' Billy Fury a wrestler and his pretty assistant, Amber.

What follows is a very droll and story which is full of witty observations of life itself, understanding your place in the role. Ben the main protagonist of the lead pair, becomes a puppy dog when he encounters Amber and while he is not looking for love, he did not know he was until he saw her.

The back and forth of dialogue is done cleverly without forcing narrative nor plot, the characters are the ones who force this plotline.  The reveal of the plot about forty pages from the end, is a nicely done twist which hits Ben and Scott over the head like an anvil falling from the sky upon Wily. E. Coyote.

This is written with a real clarity and brevity which is rare to see, partly because it is an intriguing set-up and Hocknell likes his characters; not treating them with disdain for being cynical at times but embracing that personality he has imparted upon them.

Unfinished Business is a win-win for Hocknell; a great continuation and sequel to his first book and the start of a true series to follow.

Out now from Urbane Books and available on all formats at Amazon.

Where The Dead Fall

MJ Lee's second DI Ridpath novel WHERE THE DEAD FALL is out from Canelo in April 2019

This exciting new novel is in keeping with a renaissance of British crime writing which had laid dormant following the unprecedented success of Inspector Rebus. Whereas, those memorable series of books by Ian Rankin where driven by the lead character at the helm; the resurgence spearheaded by A.A. Dhand and Joseph Knox has seen characters from different backgrounds come front and centre yet these men have been grafted from the landscape they reside in.

Away from the metropolitan mess of London; these novels are showing us a sign of Britain in dire straits - in Leeds and Manchester, crime is just as rampant and they need policemen to be the law.  The men though have their own demons to combat; whilst Rebus saw solace at the bottom of the bottle, Harry Virdek in Leeds most combat racial prejudice and Aidan Watts (Knox) in Manchester must overcome his drug affliction.

DI Ridpath in Manchester is no different, a long serving detective who has to overcome personal struggle and the pull of wanting to see his growing daughter more which is putting a strain on his married life.  Ridpath must overcome the cancer scare he suffered in the first novel, and we see him returning home.

At the start of Where The Dead Fall, we encounter Ridpath travelling back to Manchester from a rehab centre looking forward to seeing his family; travelling on the rush hour roads on the same night as a Manchester United match and stuck in traffic, he sees a near-naked man running across the carriageway running away from something. Ridpath sees a shooter tailing the man, or did he, and in an instant a life is crushed and Ridpath is slap bang in the middle of it all, when he just wants a quiet road back to balance.

Lee has woven a gripping rip-roaring novel that was devoured by this reader in four large chunks - characters are rendered efficiently and the everyman Ridpath is a sympathetic character to get behind.  Featuring a unique forensic pathologist who is a growing child in adult form; gang warfare and daily traffic gridlock this is a tale of our time - frustration for many with paperwork being tied up and the grind of office politics.

Lee crafts a picture of Manchester much like Lowry one of dourness, rain, darkness and yet one full of life and character with football very much (sometimes) the centre of the universe.  This may only be the second of the series but I cannot wait to read more of him in the future.

Grab this book for your holiday read or just a page turner to get away from the April showers.

Where The Dead Fall is out now from Canelo.

MJ Lee can be followed on Twitter @WriterMJLee

My thanks to Tracy Fenton for the review copy and opportunity to be on the Blog Tour

Tainted Love by TS Hunter

Tainted Love by T.S. Hunter is out now from Red Dog Press and is a new addition from an up and coming independent publisher.

Set in the mid-1980s, it follows the tale of young Joe; a young homosexual who has come to the big city to meet his friend Chris who has offered him a job and a pathway to come out to the world in these difficult socio-cultural times when homosexuality is still frowned upon.

We meet Joe at a gay club, dancing and having fun. Chris is with him and whilst going to the bathroom, he sees Chris in an altercation. Joe shies away, even when Chris tells him he has to leave. Very later that night/early morning, Joe returns to Chris' flat where he is staying over and finds Chris' body in the hallway beaten and bloodied, dead at the scene.

Joe connects with Chris' room-mate, Russell an ex-police officer - unceremoniously removed from the force after a bust exposed his own homosexuality - and they decide to solve the case of Chris' killer by doing the leg work around Soho themselves; as the prejudiced police see Chris' murder as another rent boy murder gone wrong.

The book is only 125 pages long, but it is written in a real whirling wind of detail and breeziness by Hunter. This promises to be a serious of Soho Noir as he has christened it; perhaps Russell and Joe will be the 'Cagney and Lacey' of the coming years in publication circles.  However, there is a lot to be said for this type of novel - short, sharp, easy to follow with convincing characters in a nostalgic age which is easy to place in a time and place as the AIDS epidemic starts to take hold.

Hunter has expertly crafted a group of characters you would like to return to again and again. The fact that it involves gay characters is neither here nor there, this is a story well told and gratefully received.

Tainted Love is out from Red Dog Press on April 18th, I shall be appearing in the book blog tour on April 15th.

Club Night 'What Life'

Oakland, California four-piece create an indie rock soundscape for today from Tiny Engines record label

Comprising of drummer Josiah Majetich, bassist Devin Trainer, guitarist Ian Tatum and guitarist/vocalist Josh Bertram; this band formed in 2016 and following the EP release in 2017 of Hell Ya, they return with their full-length album debut from Tiny Engines.

The band are all veterans of the punk rock scene in California; and there four distinct influences collide to create this unusual sonic soundscape that is both bold and uncompromising.

A collection of synths and beats rain down from the beginning in 'Path' and this continues with track 3, 'Mute' and track 5, 'Trance' which were both the lead singles. Featuring Bertram's soaring vocals these are songs that are ambitious, contangious and infectious.

Fuzzy guitars and synth melodies are married to create the songs that will make a change to the everyday; a cry to be heard by new fans. An elemental cacophony of beautiful collisions.

There is a sophistication to this music that is more polished than other bands of recent years. Another stellar addition to the Tiny Engines canon.

Club Night is out now from Tiny Engines
My thanks to Tiny Engines for the review link opportunity.

Holiday Ghosts 'West Bay Playroom'

The second album from Falmouth's own Holiday Ghosts is out now from PNKSLM Recordings

West Bay Playroom promises to be one of the most catchy, joyous, bouncy records of this year; considering they hail from Falmouth, Cornwall; this is a band with eyes across the pond to the shining seas of America.

With a sound that is buoyant, euphoric and full of sunshine, there will not be a listener is not overcome with smiling when they hear this 14-track album.

The punchiness of the basslines, the accompanying thump of drum beats and a springy vocal stylings comes to the fore on second track, 'Thinking of You' a song that is so full of young love and romance that it took me back to my youth.


Influences ranging from The Ramones, Violent Femmes and the newly infectious Goat Girl; this album needs to be heard by many and should be shared.

It made me recall of other works by such lesser known acts as Major Murphy and Frankie Cosmos; these acts that embrace the spirit as well as the tradition of punk by creating little nuggets of songs do not aim for gravitas just to be remembered.

West Bay Playroom is out now from PNKSLM Recordings

My thanks to One Beat PR for the review opportunity.

Thoughts on Liverpool

Liverpool Football Club has not won the top division title since 1990, there fans know this, all football fans know this, all of Manchester knows this. They have never won the Premier League title, whereas Manchester United has done, quite a few times. When Liverpool last won the League title it was their 18th triumph, the most in the English top ranks. Man United had only won six. Then the dawn of a new era heralded a changing of the guard and as Liverpool struggled to find a worthy successor to King Kenny Dalglish, United had Alex Ferguson to strike.

Man United now have 20 league titles in total, the 19th was cheered more than the 20th or the first under Ferguson's guidance in 1993 on that Monday night against Blackburn.

On Sunday, Liverpool were playing their game in hand over Manchester City (while they played in the League Cup final). This game was played at the old enemy's fortress Old Trafford - a place called the Theatre of Dreams but it has been anything but utopia recently under the stewardship of Jose Mourinho. Now Mourinho has gone, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is riding the rocky ship and guiding the Red Devils to an unlikely Champions League position which in November seemed unfathomable.

Liverpool had the opportunity to go three points clear of Manchester City, an important landmark in this tight season and with Tottenham Hotspur having been defeated on Saturday at Burnley, the chance for breathing space was paramount.

However, the chance slipped by as Liverpool who have fluffed lines recently away at West Ham and at home to Leicester and showed fallibility in a league victory over Crystal Palace. In a game where they played virtually their full strength side bar James Milner at right back over an ailing Trent Alexander-Arnold; Man United had an injury crisis culminating with them committing all three substitutes in the first half (Ander Herrera, Juan Mata and Jesse Lingard) and Marcus Rashford playing 75 minutes with an injury of his own and having to stay on the field in vain, this forced Romelu Lukaku to play out on the wing while Rashford committed sprints when required.

Liverpool were playing against 10 men in the second half, and yet they could not breakdown a resolute defence led by Luke Shaw's impressive display in nullifying the threat of Mo Salah.

Yet there in lies a problem with Liverpool - the front three of Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane - has been the lack of goal threat in times of stalemate.  The reliance upon goals from the trio is a problem as the midfield trio that started against Man United - Jordan Henderson, Gigi Winjaldum and Fabinho - have only scored six goals all season, that is not enough for any side with title aspirations.

This is Klopp's dilemma in not being totally gung-ho, the midfield trio affords him stability with Andrew Robertson marauding down the left when allowed but that midfield triangle offers no creative inspiration to unlock resolute defences. Firmino went off injured to be replaced by the lacklustre Daniel Sturridge.

When the game demanded invention, Klopp took off the captain Henderson for Xherdan Shaqiri to hopefully create a chance that never came.  The decision to withdraw Henderson made sense, the club captain coming back from injury had played 90 minutes midweek against Bayern Munich so resting muscles was Klopp's concern.  However, the reaction from Henderson to being substituted ignoring both Klopp and the incoming sub spoke volumes of possible upheaval behind the scenes and the problem with player power as individuals feel they should remain untouched. Salah was substituted with 10 minutes remaining and he afforded no ill will - he must have known he did not give his best.

Liverpool had the opportunity to make a statement and give the title another twist and some distance; yet with 11 games remaining they are only one point clear with games remaining against Everton, Tottenham and Chelsea.

Manchester City are on a roll, they have won the first trophy of a possible unprecedented quadruple, players are coming back from injury and the rotation of the squad allows goals to be scored by many parties whomever starts games. For instance, in the final on Sunday the front three was Sterling, Aguero and Bernardo Silva; for the league game on Wednesday at home to West Ham you can anticipate a front three of Sane, Jesus and perhaps Sterling.

This rotation will afford Guardiola to maintain momentum while the options for Liverpool are thin and if individuals play with such impotency as Mane did at Old Trafford, the chance for Liverpool to gain that 19th title may be gone.

Ben Kane 'Clash of Empires'

This is the first book in a new series by historical fiction author Ben Kane.

The historical details, which you can find at the end of the book in the Author's Note, concerning this wonderful story are very well researched and documented, and these details are superbly implemented within this great historical tale.

At the beginning of the book you'll notice two well-drawn maps of the Kingdom of Macedon and of Asia Minor and the Propontis, both in 202 BC, and besides that there's a short note from the author himself about the two maps at the end papers of the book, front Latin and back Greek.

The book starts with a very interesting prologue situated in the year 215 BC, before the book, which is divided into 4 parts, begins to flourish into a magnificent story that starts in the year 202 BC and will end in the year 198 BC.

Parts 1 and 2 are divided into 4 main streams; the first one being King Philip V of Macedon, who's trying to emulate his forebears King Philip II and his son Alexander the Great, by recapturing all of Greece and beyond; the second being Demetrios, after having been a rower in the army of King Philip is now due to a lucky encounter with Simonides a phalangist in that same Macedonian army; the third being Senator Flamininus, who's doing all he can to become Consul and win glory for himself by defeating Philip and the Macedonians; and finally fourth the brothers Felix and Antonius, who after having defeated the Carthaginians at Zama are dishonourably discharged after falling asleep on sentry duty, and now they've enlisted themselves with the Legions who will invade Greece and will be fighting the Macedonians.

In parts 3 and 4 we find King Philip V of Macedon and his Macedonians, with Demetrios in their midst, in war in Greece against the Roman legions, lead by Consul Flamininus, and with Felix and Antonius in their midst, where battles will be fought to the death, causing lots of casualties.

Kane, much like his peers Simon Scarrow and Bernard Cornwell, is able to structure a well told tale with characters you can sympathise for with dialogue that rips along as well as painting a great picture of a changing world.

Clash of Empires is out in paperback from Orion Books.

My thanks to Compulsive Readers book blog for the review copy.