The crime novelist biz if full of twists and turns, taking you across the paths of people you otherwise would never meet. One twist has been sharing a name with Susan Boyle’s brother Gerry (I’m sure we’re related. Would you be having any family in County Kerry, now Ger?) Anyway, being Gerry Boyle led to “meeting” Stevie MacDonald and his bros and mate in The Purple Doves, a rock band in Greenock, Scotland, outside Glasgow. Unlike my cuz Gerry Boyle, I can’t sign Stevie and the boys to a record deal. But as someone who has listened to rock for most of 40 years, sometimes at very high volume, I can point you to their MySpace page, the tunes up there. They remind me a little of the Kinks, sometimes the Clash. It’s massive, boys. Makes me reach for the guitar in the corner of the study, plug it into the amp, whale a bit. Check ‘em out. The Purple Doves. Tell ‘em Gerry sent yis.
Now back to the world of crime writing.














In PORT CITY SHAKEDOWN, the first Brandon Blake novel, Brandon gets a full dose of bad guys. A brawl in a funeral home introduces him to Joel Fuller, a sociopathic hustler. Fuller is fresh out of jail and determined to take Brandon out—after Fuller and his sidekick Kelvin shake him down.
Rocky isn’t a tough guy. He’s a skinny little kid with crooked glasses, and he shouldn’t be homeless in Portland, Maine. When McMorrow and Roxanne pluck him from under the stomping feet of a gang of street kids, Rocky latches onto McMorrow–and drags him into a world of murder, both old and new. Why is McMorrow protecting Rocky? The cops want to know. Why is Rocky on the run? McMorrow wants to know. Why does death follow in Rocky’s wake? Jack and Roxanne need to find out before they’re added to the list.