Some of the dark stuff ...

Two books to keep an eye out for if you're a noir aficionado, both released this month. Gerard Brennan's The Point and Nigel Bird's Smoke. Gerard writes the blog Crime Scene Northern Ireland and Nigel blogs at Sea Minor. Expect dark, dark reads. Here are the blurbs:

The Point
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.

Smoke
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.

As the last line of Nigel's blurb on Amazon says: Belts on and hold on to those hats.