Closing in on 50

I'd like my Amazon review-count for Fireproof to hit 50. Only 5 to go. Any volunteers? I'll send a free ebook. https://t.co/elIUtPnwfi

— Gerard Brennan (@gerardbrennan) March 31, 2016

FREEDOM!

THE POINT is currently free on Kindle. That's kind of all you need to know, isn't it? Go download it, okay? Not convinced? Right, cover, copy and blurbs, then:

Paul Morgan is a bad influence on his brother, Brian. When Paul crosses one thug too many, the cider-fuelled duo flee Belfast for Warrenpoint, the sleepy seaside resort of their childhood memories. For Brian a new life in The Point means going straight and falling in love with Rachel while Paul graduates from carjacking by unusual means to low-level racketeering. Brian can't help being dragged into his brother's bungling schemes, but Rachel can be violently persuasive herself . . . and she isn't the only one who wants to see an end to Paul's criminal career.

THE POINT is a 27,000-word novella by the author of WEE ROCKETS and FIREPROOF.

*** coming very soon -- BREAKING POINT (THE POINT: 2) ***

What They're Saying About THE POINT

"The Point is the real deal — the writing is razor sharp, the characters engaging, the ending a blast. From start to finish it's true Northern Noir, crafted with style and wit." – Brian McGilloway 

"The Point is top stuff. Engaging from the start, the characters are loveable, the story is strong and the pace never lets up." – Adrian McKinty 

…a Coen Brothers dream, via Belfast… Gerard Brennan grabs the mantle of the new mystery prince of Northern Ireland…" – Ken Bruen

"It needs to be said that Gerard Brennan's The Point is terrific. Scorchingly funny, black humour at its finest and the most inventive car theft ever!" – Arlene Hunt

"Noir from Norn Iron! A lean slice of grindhouse from Belfast's new crime hack." – Wayne Simmons

Links:

UK (and Norn Iron)
US (and ROI)
Canada

New Novella!

FIGHT CARD MMA: WELCOME TO THE OCTAGON

Belfast 2013

Mickey The Rage Rafferty has gone through some tough times, but he's not ready to tap-out just yet. The Belfast widower has to take care of his eight-year-old daughter, Lily. However, his main talent is fighting and the only way he can make enough money off it to support his girl is to take dodgy underground matches paying off in bloodstained cash. Mickey’s trainer, Eddie Smith, doesn't approve. He wants his most promising student to step into the cage as a real martial artist, not as a fool for thugs and gangsters.

With Eddie on the verge of cutting him loose, Mickey is up against the cage – crushed between fast cash and a legitimate career. Mickey has some big decisions to make and some even bigger opponents to face.

The MMA life can be harsh, and it’s never easy ... Welcome To The Octagon ...

Buy it now!

Amazon UK

Amazon US

New Blasted Heath Releases coming soon -- like, this month!

Check out these lovely covers. Danny Boy was designed by JT Lindroos and the reissue of THE POINT by Kyle MacRae. And thanks to Allan Guthrie for the edits. Blurbs to follow for both novellas when I'm happier with them, but I'm more than willing to answer any questions here or anywhere else you want to track me down. So long as they're easy questions, like.

(Click the images for a closer look)

Both books will be available for your Kindle, PC, Tablet and/or Smartphone super-soon.

Kindle Surprise

Last Saturday my wife surprised me with a lovely present. After the clan had demolished the bacon and eggs served up for our now traditional Saturday morning brunch, we cleaned the yolk out of the one-year-old's hair and fed the dog his share of the leftover bacon. Then I was handed a little cardboard box from Amazon. I knew what it was from the dimensions right away as me and my siblings had chipped in and bought one for my dad at Crimbo. Plus the product name was stamped on the box. It was a Kindle!

My wife thought it was a bit mad that I was pushing my novel, WEE ROCKETS, only available as an ebook, when I didn't own an ereader. And to be honest, I felt a bit bad about that too. I'd bought a few ebooks for the Kindle app on my iPod Touch but they were a pain in the arse to read that way. And while I tried out the Kindle for PC app, I found that wasn't for me either. But this thing... wow. I'm currently blazing through Anthony Neil Smith's All The Young Warriors (bloody brilliant it is too) and have lined up a host of exciting ebooks when I'm done with it. Yesterday I was able to eat a big sloppy sandwich and read at the same time as the Kindle sat on my desk without me having to battle a paperback spine with my thumb. And I love the font size I picked for my poor, punished eyes.

I say all this a little grudgingly, though. I'm usually a fan of the underdog, and these days Amazon is the alpha in most consumer packs. Maybe a different brand of ereader would salve my conscience a little, but I hear Kindle is simply the best in the price range, so why bother messing with an inferior product? What I can do, however, is support writers who haven't landed that mainstream publishing deal but are very much worth reading. Writers published by Blasted Heath, for example. That makes me feel a bit better.

I don't think I'll ever give up on real books, though. It's a different product than an ebook. Its packaging is part of its charm; part of the reading experience. And the feeling of calm I get simply browsing through a bookstore? It's a mini holiday for me. So, whether or not I'm a little giddy with techno-joy, I'm still a bibliophile at heart (but not really a book-sniffer).

If you think Kindle is the devil or that books are a dead god, do share your views. My interest in the subject is peaked right now.

The Point on Kindle

Here it is! My first Kindle outing.

Kindle UK

Kindle US

The Point, a novella by Gerard Brennan

Small time crook Paul Morgan is a bad influence on his brother, Brian. When Paul crosses one thug too many, the cider fuelled duo flee Belfast for Warrenpoint, the sleepy seaside resort of their childhood memories. For Brian a new life in The Point means going straight and falling in love with Rachel while Paul graduates to carjacking by unusual means and ‘borrowing’ firearms from his new boss. Brian can’t help being dragged into his brother’s bungling schemes but Rachel can be violently persuasive herself . . . and she isn’t the only one who wants to see an end to Paul’s criminal career.

Press Your Point

Today I bought copies of three local papers that had three different but equally flattering pieces on the release of The Point. If you can, pick up copies of The Newry Democrat, The Mourne Observer and The Newry Reporter. You'll get enough change for a decent jar of coffee if you pay with a fiver, or the Kindle edition of The Point. Fair warning. The £1.14 price for the Kindle edition is only going to be available for another week, possibly two, so don't put off buying a copy if you want to get it cheaper than chips. It'll still be cheap as a curry chip when the price goes up to £2.29, but why pay double when the novella is just a click or two away?

While I'm on the topic of publicity, I may as well throw out a question about self-promotion. How much is too much? The topic of this blog has narrowed somewhat in the past few months. It's been mostly about me. And sure, most blogs are completely about their authors, but this particular one was originally set up as a means to draw attention to the growing community of Irish crime writers; and lend a little more focus to those writers from the North. That's still something I'm keen to do, but in reality, I'm just not as good at it as Declan Burke over at Crime Always Pays.

Every so often, Declan will post an 'advertisement' for one of his books. That's great. It's only his blog, like, but he's subtly excusing his own intrusion onto it. But take today as a snapshot. I scroll down his blog and he's got a post about Stuart Neville, then Lee Child, then his own Irish Book Award nominated novel Absolute Zero Cool, an interview with some tube and a post about Colin Bateman's excellent Starkey series. Five posts in five days and only one of them about his own novel. Me? Bar a great interview with Nigel Bird (who isn't one wee bit Irish, BTW), my last five posts have been all about The Point and I haven't even posted those daily.

Now, don't get me wrong, Dec's cool and all, but I'm more than happy to be me and for him to be him. It's just that his is the most obvious blog to compare mine to. I'm sure if I looked at Rob Kitchin's very cool blog, The View from the Blue House, as a further example I'd be equally outclassed. But I'm too lazy to do that. And hey, I'm not beating myself up here. My mood is pretty damn chipper right now. I'm just wondering if this blog has really got anything to offer its remaining reader(s) these days... It's something I'll think about when I'm driving, I guess.

But hey! I won't end this on a bum note but instead (big surprise) I'll make this post all about me and my writing -- here's a link to the super swanky Blasted Heath website. Have a wee look around and you might find a little bit of it with me reading from Wee Rockets. Or just go here and you will find it.

Pulp Press

So, you wait your whole life to see what the cover for a book you wrote would look like, then two come along in the same week...

Behold, THE POINT!



Ain't it a beauty? The scene depicted actually happens in the book (something you can't always assume with some covers) and Pulp Press couldn't have done a better job with it. Right down to what the characters are wearing, it's as if they reached into my head and pulled that image right out.

So now I'm two for two with wicked covers I love. Best week ever, and it's only Tuesday.

The Point will be available on Kindle as of tomorrow and in print from 31st of October 2011 when I'll launch the novella from No Alibis Bookstore, Belfast. If you can't make it on the night, drop in to No Alibis before or after the launch. If anybody is going to have it stocked early, Dave Torrans will.

I'll post the link to the Kindle edition as soon as it goes live.

Hardback Super Sale, One Day Only...

That's right, the Irish crime anthology, chock full of top names in the crime field: Ken Bruen, Maxim Jakubowski, Stuart Neville, Brian McGilloway, Adrian McKinty, Sam Millar, John McAllister and many others... is on sale to you today, on not one but two formats:

The UK hardback edition price has been dropped from £12.99 (+ shipping) to only £7.99 (+ shipping). (To overseas buyers: if you contact me today, I will offer the book at a similar discount to your country - e-mail me a request and we can discuss.)

But not only that, the e-book edition (for all formats) is now $3.99 (USD) over at Smashswords! (Please make sure to use the coupon code: FA25T when ordering to get your $2 discount)

Remember, today only!

A History of the Paperbacks (accordin’ to the Times)

An interesting article from The Times Online the other day gave a brief history of the paperback in all its money-saving glory. It concluded with a paragraph on the perception of how the e-reader or Kindle may eventually replace it. The writer seemed to doubt that this may happen, but who knows what the future will hold, eh?

Sit down, Nostradamus.

Anyway, if you click on the link, you’ll also find a list of the top fifty paperbacks as judged by a triumvirate of Times-type folk. Only two of the fifty actually feature on my bookshelf, though. Bateman’s Mystery Man and The Reapers by John Connolly. I wonder if I should construct my own top fifty... Mightn’t be worth the effort. I mean, it’s not like I’m in a position to offer a cash prize to the top three or anything. Still, might mean more to the average CSNI reader, legion that you are.