Wednesday 3 September 2008

Ten and Fifty Thousand


With the passing of the 10,000th page visit to Crime Scene NI (can I get a woo hoo?) comes news of Adrian McKinty's latest publishing development. Fifty Grand's UK release will be published by the ultra-cool Serpent's Tail; the UK independent publishers who brought us The Dead Trilogy by Adrian McKinty, Hidden River by Adrian McKinty, The Semantics of Murder by Aifric Campbell, The Red Riding Hood Quartet by David Peace and The Prophet Murders by Mehmet Murat Somer, among many others.

Nice.

Serpent's Tail have confirmed that they aim to publish Fifty Grand by next summer. Better get your finger out and finish the darn thing, Mister McKinty.

15 comments:

adrian mckinty said...

Look, will everyone stop telling me that! I'm doing me best.

Hey bro, thanks for the shout out, I think this is my most ambitious effort so far and by that I mean the f**king greatest kick ass one yet.

A...

adrian mckinty said...

Ger

Oh yes and of course

whoo hoo!

Michael Stone said...

And it's a woo-hoo from him, woo-hoo!

Adrian, started the first of the Dead trilogy yesterday-- our boys are in a Mexican cell --and I'm really digging the book so far. Gerard spoke very highly of you and now I see why. You've got yerself another fan.

Gerard Brennan said...

Adrian - The most kcikass yet? That's quite a claim. I just finished Hidden River, so I know how high that bar is set.

Mike - Cheers, man. I'm glad you've pushed DIWMB to the head of the queue. I know you've as big a reading list as I have. Bet you're tempted to read the whole trilogy in one go!

gb

Michael Stone said...

Gerard - Tempted I well may be (you set 'em up, son, I'll nod 'em in), but I won't. I like to spread my 'eagerly anticipated' books so I always have something to look forward to. I doubt it'll be long, though, before I succumb to reading The Dead Yard.

adrian mckinty said...

Ger,

Thanks for that man. Sometimes at readings I do get a certain type of person telling me that HR is their favourite book of mine. It definitely didnt get the attention of the Dead books (though PW went nuts) but I was pretty happy with what I tried to do in there.


Mike

You know I actually visited that very prison in the Yucatan. (Not as a prisoner I hasten to add.) For the price of some cheap rotgut I got the full guided tour. A horrible, horrible place entirely filled with Indians and 1 terrified Dutch guy who'd done bad things in Cancun. Filthy, medieval, smelly, barbaric. I couldnt have been happier. When you see something like that the book kind of writes itself dont ya think?

a...

Gerard Brennan said...

Mike - We'll see...

Adrian - Yeah, it's hard for me to pick a favourite of the four. I think The Dead Yard clinches it by a hair's breadth, but Hidden River is certainly no poor relation to the Dead books. And it's got its own flavour too. I'll elaborate in my review, but Alex's ketch problem really added a whole new dimension to the prose and the detective fiction genre.

Would have been quite an experience to see that Mexican prison. Closest I've got in the Kesh and the Prison Break boxed set.

gb

adrian mckinty said...

Ger

The Kesh?

But you were too young to be on the blanket. My two year old would have enjoyed that - she's going through a wee phase if you know what I mean.

A...

Michael Stone said...

Adrian - you answered the question I was too afraid to ask: how come you know what it's like in a Mexican prison? The place reads like a nightmare. Not sure I'd even want to se the place as a tourist.

Gerard Brennan said...

Adrian - Heh, I know what you mean. Our Jack's near two. No doubt he'll be attempting his own dirty protest soon.

Like most kids from our wee province, I was a visitor at the kesh more than once, though those memories are fuzzy. More recently, I went on one of the tours they've been running while the demolition goes on. Still two H-blocks standing, but I think one more will tumble and the other will get a lick of paint and become a museum.

gb

Anonymous said...

Massimo Carlotto beats that.
He actually experienced being a prisoner in Mexico
From this review:
"He describes his German cellmate in the Calle de Soto prison as foolhardy, because he is a platinum blond Viking, with light blue eyes, and a poor Spanish accent trying to travel round Central America on a Guatemalan passport under the name of Ramon. Then Ramon dies after brutal questioning by the prison guards."

colman said...

woo hoo from me also,

I've been round Kilmainham and that was fairly bleak, couldn't really imagine being banged up in Mexico or anywhere else come to think of it.

Ger have you read ORANGE RHYMES WITH EVERYTHING yet?

It's a toss-up between that next and HR

Stuart Neville said...

Congrats on the 10,000 vists, Ger, and also to Adrian on the news of the new book.

I was once an extra in a prison drama filmed in Armagh Gaol. That was a bloody grim place, I can tell you.

adrian mckinty said...

Stuart

Where can we rent that? Love to see your film debut.

Colman,

Problem with Orange is (as I confessed to Ger already) that its basically two short novellas I cobbled together to make 1 long novella. There might be a decent book in there somewhere but I feel that the whole thing is a bit of a scam. Iain Banks did that trick more successfully with his book Walking on Glass.

Hidden River though is the book I wanted to write and although its only ever gotten a cult audience I'm glad that I didnt compromise what I wanted to do.

ANON,

Handy tip for New York City. If you're ever arrested, plead with the arresting officer that your case can be handled as a DESK APPEARANCE. You do not want to go through CENTRAL BOOKING. Thats at least 24 hrs in the cells downtown and if they get too crowded they ship you to Rikers Island.

a...

Gerard Brennan said...

Adrian - Thanks for fielding those comments for me. I decided on an early night last night and I've been busy all day. Great to see you'd taken care of everything.

Stuart, Colman and Anon - Thanks for the comments!

gb