Synopsis/blurb....
When a teenage boy shoots a young woman dead in the middle of a busy Glasgow street and then commits suicide, Detective Harry McCoy is sure of one thing. It wasn't a random act of violence.
With his new partner in tow, McCoy uses his underworld network to lead the investigation but soon runs up against a secret society led by Glasgow's wealthiest family, the Dunlops.
McCoy's boss doesn't want him to investigate. The Dunlops seem untouchable. But McCoy has other ideas . . .
In a helter-skelter tale – winding from moneyed elite to hipster music groupies to the brutal gangs of the urban wasteland – Bloody January brings to life the dark underbelly of 1970s Glasgow and introduces a dark and electrifying new voice in Scottish noir.
Seventies Glasgow and a public murder which our lead character, Detective McCoy had been warned about but which he was unable to prevent, has Bloody January off and running at a ferocious clip. Alan Parks had me hooked early and cliche or not it was a struggle to put the book down.
Murder, suicide, manipulation, drugs, prostitution, sordid sex parties, sick minds and cameras, films and photographs, blackmail, S&M, cops consorting with gangsters, a good time girl as a girlfriend, more deaths and disappearances, an untouchable family, political interference, corruption, police rivalries and affiliations, a young recruit, a failed relationship with child bereavement a huge shadow, a disturbing upbringing at the hands of the Church, a lifelong friendship forged in terror under abuse, two different paths, massage parlours, beatings and torture, poverty, a stop start investigation and a relentless doggedness to ensure those responsible pay one way or another.
Interesting dynamics throughout - especially Harry and his childhood friend and Glaswegian criminal terror Stevie. A shared history and a perceived debt binds them together and forces Harry to overlook Stevie's criminality, despite the possible cost to his career.
Not a book for the faint of heart, very dark and graphic in places, very in your face in the descriptions of a long ago Glasgow where poverty and crime seemed prevalent. A different time when police and thieves had arrangements and understandings.
Setting - tick.Pace - tick.
Storyline - tick.
Characters - tick.
Grim and gritty quota - double tick.
Resolution - tick.
Debut novel from author - tick (unbelievable)
More books from Alan Parks - yes please.
A second McCoy book drops early next year - February's Son
Alan Parks might just usurp Malcolm Mackay as my favourite Scottish crime writer.
Overall verdict - bloody marvellous!
5 from 5
Read in July, 2018
Published - 2017
Page count - 336
Source - Edelweiss early reviewer's site courtesy of publisher, World Noir
Format - kindle
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