Nigel Bird "Smoke"

[Giovanni Gelati]

 

I have come to really enjoy the British fiction I have been finding lately. It goes deeper than just my love for Monty Python; it is the way the authors write about life, the manner in which they embrace the struggles, the toughness they exude, and the rawness of their emotions. I find that missing in much of what I read that is produced here in the good old US of A. I know it is there also but the style seems to be, to just gloss over it. The writing I have found of some of Bird’s contemporaries: Paul D.Brazill, Darren Sant, Luca Veste, Jochem Vandersteen, and Mark Cooper to a name a few (I could go on if you want),  go so much further in pulling that out and making it a main element in the story, to focus on it more and to make it so much more tangible. The violence then becomes much more of a tool and device in their hands for me at that point .It is not senseless, but sensible. Don’t get me wrong; I enjoy more explosions, more car chases, more of any of that type of stuff in general, but why is it there. Nigel Bird makes it part of the rhythm of the story, it flows, and it’s smooth. I hope to get more to read of Nigel Bird; I enjoy the honesty in his writing. That for me was well worth the time and money.

Here is the synopsis:

“People from Tranent aren’t called ‘the Belters’ for nothing. It didn’t take Carlo Salvino long to find that out the first time around and, now he’s out of the hospital, he’s all set for revenge.

The Ramsay brothers, on the other hand, are keen to rise up in the world and get the hell out of town. They gather all their hopes in the one basket, ‘The Scottish Open’ dog-fighting tournament. In Leo they have the dog to win it, now all they need is a fair wind.

The Hooks, well they’re just a maladjusted family caught up in the middle of it all.

A tale of justice, injustice and misunderstanding, ‘Smoke’ takes us along for a ride with the characters introduced in ‘An Arm And A Leg’ (first published by ‘Crimespree Magazine’ and later in ‘The Mammoth Best British Crime Stories 8’). Belts on and hold on to those hats.”

About The Author

Nigel Bird has released two collections of short crime fiction, the critically acclaimed ‘Dirty Old Town (and other stories)’ and ‘Beat On The Brat (and other stories)’.

His work has appeared in the anthologies ‘Speedloader’ and ‘The Mammoth Book Of Best British Crime Stories 8’ and will soon appear in the collection ‘Grim Tales’ to be published by Untreed Reads.

His story ‘Beat On The Brat’ was the winner of the Watery Grave Invitational Contest in 2010 and was also nominated for the Spinetingler Awards in the Best Online Story earlier this year.

He is also the co-editor, along with Chris Rhatigan, of the outstanding collection ‘Pulp Ink’.

His blog can be found at http://nigelpbird.blogspot.com  where he runs the series ‘Dancing With Myself’.