Paying For It
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Cornerstone
Published:4th Jun '09
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
A brilliant thriller debut from Edinburgh journalist turned rising crime-writing star Tony Black, introducing Gus Dury, a compelling new hero in the great tradition of Scottish detective fiction.
But now he is living on the edge, a drink away from Edinburgh's down-and-outs, drifting from bar to bar, trying not to sign divorce papers.Gus Dury once had a high-flying career as a journalist and a wife he adored. But now he is living on the edge, a drink away from Edinburgh's down-and-outs, drifting from bar to bar, trying not to sign divorce papers. But the road takes an unexpected turn when a friend asks him to investigate the brutal torture and killing of his son, and Gus becomes embroiled in a much bigger story of political corruption and illegal people-trafficking. Seedy doss-houses, bleak wastelands and sudden violence contrast with the cobbled streets and cool bistros of fashionable Edinburgh, as the puzzle unravels to a truly shocking ending.
A fine debut. Black is the new noir -- Allan Guthrie
Tony Black's first novel hits the ground running, combining a sympathetic ear for the surreal dialogue of the dispossessed with a portrait of the belly of a city painted in the blackest of humour -- Guardian
Paying For It might just be the most aptly titled novel of the year. Rarely has a title worked on so many levels... the narrative blasts off the page like a triple malt... This is one adrenalin-pumped novel, as moving and compassionate as it is stylishly written -- Ken Bruen, author of The Guards novels
Assuming (and hoping) that this is the first of many featuring the tortured Gus Dury, we've never seen a series character so richly and honestly drawn from the get-go. The emotional punches connect solidly in Paying For It, as the pains of being a father and the pains of being a son are laid bare. The debut of the year * Thuglit.com *
Of all the new writers emerging this year, he is the one to watch * Martyn Waites, author of the Joe Donovan series *
Tony Black makes an amazing debut with this book, a dark and emotional piece of work ... [he] has managed in his first book to show a maturity in his writing that some authors chase for years. I'd put him up there with Rankin and Kernick and Billingham with just this first novel. I can't wait for more * Crimespree *
Tony Black is already one of my favourite living crime writers -- Nick Stone, author of Mr Clarinet
ISBN: 9781848090224
Dimensions: 198mm x 129mm x 22mm
Weight: 245g
352 pages