RADGEPACKET VOLUME FOUR: TALES FROM THE INNER CITIES

Radgepacket Volume Four, published by those nice people at Bykerbooks, arrived in the post a few days ago c/o Amazon.

Now, my TBR pile is a little daunting at present but I’d been eagerly awaiting this collection of short fiction and couldn’t resist sampling one straight away...

It had to be Paul Brazill’s The Night Watchman; featuring his Private Investigator from ‘Up North’, Peter Ord.

This was the first time I’d read an Ord story and Ord didn’t disappoint. It has all Paul’s hallmarks stamped over it; a wonderfully descriptive narrative, gritty dialogue sprinkled with deliciously dark humour plus those characters - I ask you, who else would describe a character with a face like a blackcurrant crumble!

I believe this is Paul’s debut in a print anthology although I know he has other stuff up and coming. It’s a fine debut from a talented and prolific writer who I know has a lot more to come in the way of published stories.

There are some super writers involved in this project: Ray Banks, Danny King and Andy Rivers to name just three more.

This should be an entertaining read and great value at £5.99 for 22 stories.

Have a good weekend folks.

GREAT CAR CHASES THAT ARE RIGHT UP MY STREET

I’ve been chewing the fat over the Blogosphere with Cormac Brown. Cormac, as you are no doubt aware, really knows his stuff and he has a post up at his blog on “Noir and San Francisco”. Pop over there if you have not read the post already and also here at The Rap Sheet. The subject is all about films that have been set in the fantastic city of San Francisco.

Cormac kindly posted a link for me (in the comments section) to that thrilling car chase from Bullitt, again shot in San Francisco, featuring the wonderful Steve McQueen.

Well, watching that chase scene stirred my old brain cells and up popped a memory of when I was a lad and the great John Wayne came to this part of South London to shoot a film called Brannigan.

I can recall queuing up with a load of other kids and getting an autographed card from the big man himself – oh the memories.

There is a super car chase in this film and, watching it again, at one point the two cars involved, a Jag and a Ford Capri, come flying down the very road where I now live – it’s a small world. Click HERE; it’s a belter.

The car chase scenes were stitched together around different areas of Battersea/Wandsworth but the chase suddenly concludes on Tower Bridge, which is a good six miles away from here as the crow flies – but I guess that’s show business folks!

TBR PILE

My TBR pile of books is not getting any smaller but during a shopping trip today I couldn’t resist treating myself to these three.

I’m really looking forward to cracking the spine on these books as soon as I can; I’m currently reading “Loss” by Tony Black, which is a super read.