Bloody January

by Alan Parks Narrated by Andrew McIntosh

Overview

An exciting, evocative first-in-series noir novel set in 1973 Glasgow, a city on the cusp of a heroin epidemic, featuring detective Harry McCoy.



When an eighteen-year-old boy shoots a young woman dead in the middle of a busy Glasgow street and then commits suicide, McCoy knows it can't be a random act of violence. With a newbie partner in tow, McCoy uses his underworld network to build a picture of a secret society run by Glasgow's wealthiest family, the Dunlops. Drugs, sex, incest; every nefarious predilection is catered to, at the expense of the lower echelon of society, an underclass that includes McCoy's best friend from reformatory school-drug-Tsar Stevie Cooper-and his on-off girlfriend, a prostitute, Janey. But with McCoy's boss calling off the hounds, and his boss's boss unleashing their own, the Dunlops are apparently untouchable. McCoy has other ideas.



Fans of William McIlvanney's Laidlaw books and Oliver Harris's The Hollow Man, Ian Rankin's and Dennis Lehane's fiction, and TV shows like Luther will find themselves thoroughly satisfied here.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

01/29/2018
Det. Harry McCoy, the protagonist of Scottish author Parks’s tautly woven first novel set in 1973, doesn’t put much stock in information he gets from a criminal like Howie Nairn, but when Nairn—locked up in Glasgow’s Barlinnie Prison—tells McCoy that a woman named Lorna is going to die the next day, the copper takes notice. The subsequent murder of 19-year-old waitress Lorna Skirving at a bus station by 17-year-old small-time thief Tommy Malone, immediately followed by Malone’s suicide, sends McCoy on a hunt through the city’s dankest slums and brothels all the way up to one of Glasgow’s richest families, the Dunlops. McCoy’s personal connection to the Dunlops—who are nearly untouchable when it comes to the police—makes him all the more determined to find a link between them and not only Lorna but also the other bodies that soon pile up. Stevie Cooper, McCoy’s childhood friend who now makes less than savory business deals in the city, gives even the good guys a glossy sheen of blood and corruption. A worthy addition to the tartan noir canon, McCoy is a flawed hero to watch, as is his creator. Agent: Tom Witcomb, Blake Friedmann (Mar.)

JOHN NIVEN

A brilliant debut. Taut, violent and as close as you'll get to 1970s Glasgow without a TARDIS. Parks is a natural successor to William McIIvanney

Evening Standard

[McCoy] is a great character and his patch and period are vividly and skilfully portrayed. Denise Mina and Ian Rankin had better watch out

Daily Mail

The latest star of Tartan noir - perhaps even a successor to the late, great William McIlvanney . . . Gripping, utterly authentic and nerve-jangling, this novel announces a fine new voice in crime writing

BRET EASTON ELLIS

Gripping and violent, dark and satisfying. I flew through it

QUINTIN JARDINE

Gripping and well-crafted

SARAH PINBOROUGH

A blistering plot, unforgettable characters and writing so sharp it's like it's been written with a knife . . . Detective McCoy is a true noir antihero and the perfect guide through the vice and violence of Glasgow's underbelly. Bloody January firmly sets Alan Parks in the same league as Ian Rankin and Louise Welsh

Herald

Gripping . . . McCoy's Glasgow is a dark, brooding city, where the line between the police and the underworld is frequently blurred . . . An intriguing addition to the canon

Book of the Month The Times

A potent tale of death . . . Alan Parks's excellent first novel propels him into the top class of Scottish noir authors . . . Detective Harry McCoy . . . is so noir that he makes most other Scottish cops seem light grey

PETER MAY

1970s Glasgow hewn from flesh and drawn in blood

LOUISE WELSH

Bloody and brilliant. This smasher from Alan Parks is a reminder of how dark Glasgow used to be

IAN RANKIN

An old-school cop novel written with wit and economy . . . Think McIlvanney or Get Carter

From the Publisher

Praise for Bloody January

“Alan Parks’s grisly debut novel, Bloody January , is also set in Glasgow—in the first month of 1973. Though snow is blanketing the streets, it can’t hide the corruption in a city where cops and criminals are often forced to keep each other’s secrets.”— Wall Street Journal

“Told over the course of 20 days, Bloody January never flags in pace. Bundled with a myriad of personal flaws, Harry McCoy is an immediately compelling new character. His quest for justice (and a little measure of revenge), despite the personal cost to himself, makes for an irresistible read.”— Mystery Scene


"Rich with local details and historical anecdotes from 1970s, this is a top-notch crime fiction with high likelihood of becoming part of an exciting series in the coming years.”— Mystery Tribune


“...really tight writing, gripping and violent, dark and satisfying.”—Bret Easton Ellis, author of American Psycho and Less Than Zero


“Parks’ debut novel has an in-your-face immediacy that matches its protagonist. Compelling portraits of minor characters tucked into several scenes add texture and interest.” — Kirkus Reviews


“[A] suitably dark and violent debut novel that resurrects the tartan noir phenomenon.”— Library Journal


“An old-school cop novel written with wit and economy…Think McIlvanney or Get Carter.”—Ian Rankin, author of The Inspector Rebus series


“Tautly woven...A worthy addition to the tartan noir canon, McCoy is a flawed hero to watch, as is his creator.”— Publishers Weekly


“For noir connoisseurs, this will hit the spot.”— Booklist online


“A thrilling debut from a very promising talent.”—Ragnar Jónasson, author of The Dark Iceland series



“Set in 1970s Glasgow where violence is a language everyone speaks, Bloody January is a deliciously dark read. One to be read with the lights on and the doors locked, this book is a must-have for lovers of McIlvanney and all things noir.”

—Lesley Kelly, author of A Fine House in Trinity



“An authentic freefall through Glasgow’s criminal underworld from a great, intriguing new Scottish voice.”

—Jenni Fagan, author of The Panopticon



“ Bloody January is seriously good. It’s brilliantly evocative of the 1970s in Glasgow (and I should know as I was there!). I loved Alan Parks’ characters and I want to read a lot more of Detective Harry McCoy please!”

—Alex Gray, author of the Detective Lorimer Series



“A brilliant debut. Taut, violent and as close as you’ll get to 1970s Glasgow without a TARDIS. Parks is a natural successor to William McIIvanney.”

—John Niven, author of Kill Your Friends



“A blistering plot, unforgettable characters and writing so sharp it’s like it’s been written with a knife: what more could you ask? Detective McCoy is a true noir antihero and the perfect guide through the vice and violence of Glasgow’s underbelly. Bloody January firmly sets Alan Parks in the same league as Ian Rankin and Louise Welsh.”

—Sarah Pinborough, bestselling author of Behind Her Eyes



“Bloody and brilliant. This smasher from Alan Parks is a reminder of how dark Glasgow used to be.”

—Louise Welsh, author of The Cutting Room Floor



“A barnstormer of a crime novel that takes the police procedural and gives it a well-deserved shake. Detective Harry McCoy digs under the surface of 70s Glasgow in all its contradictory glory. Bloody January is relentless readable and so well written I couldn’t believe it was a debut.”

—Russell McLean, author of The Good Son

The Scotsman - Allan Massie

The plot rattles along with nice twists and turns from the first chapter . . . Fans of Tartan Noir will lap this one up

Library Journal

02/01/2018
The first 20 days of the vile month of January are chronicled in this suitably dark and violent debut novel that resurrects the tartan noir phenomenon. The setting is a grim and grimy Glasgow, the year is 1973, and the mood is indigo. Within the first two days Det. Harry McCoy is tipped off that a young girl is under threat. He follows up just in time to see her shot dead in central Glasgow by a young boy who then kills himself. Returning to his informant, McCoy finds that he too is dead. Everybody agrees that the whole thing is unfortunate, but it is all done and dusted. A more reasonable officer would reach the same conclusion, but McCoy is many things but not that. Carrying a lot of baggage from his youth and intimately complicit with Glasgow's underworld, McCoy, with his colleague Wattie in tow, plunges on with his investigation, regardless of the consequences. VERDICT Anyone who has seen Chinatown or L.A. Confidential will recognize the plot elements, but the familiar story line is reinvigorated by spare, tough prose. And the characters, even Wattie, who might have been safely relegated to sidekick status, are ones that readers will welcome back in the likely sequels.—Bob Lunn, Kansas City, MO

Kirkus Review

2017-12-24
A gritty Glasgow detective enlists the dregs of the underworld in his one-man war against an untouchably wealthy family.A punchy prologue recalls the month in 1973 when there were six murders in the city. The story opens on Jan. 1, when detective Harry McCoy, trolling the lowlife informants on his beat, gets a tip that a waitress named Lorna will be killed the next day. Taking his green new partner, Wattie, McCoy goes to the busy bus station closest to Lorna's restaurant but fails to save her from a frantic teenage hit man who shoots in McCoy's direction but hits Lorna instead. While fleeing, the young assassin shoots himself in the head. Lorna dies as well. So does Nairn, the thug who gave McCoy the tip, whose body is discovered with his throat slit and his tongue cut out. From that moment on, trouble seems to dog the two-fisted detective. Lorna's roommate, Christine, reveals that Lorna made extra money as a party girl, "dating" several suspicious characters. McCoy's probe grinds through Glasgow's tenderloin, from sleazy clubs to strip joints to a Salvation Army shelter. As more victims pile up, clues from their unseemly murders point incongruously to the highly respected Dunlops, an affluent and influential Glasgow family with deep investments in construction and factories. McCoy sees Wattie as a younger version of himself; the junior detective plays less like a sidekick than a conscience to his older partner.Parks' debut novel has an in-your-face immediacy that matches its protagonist. Compelling portraits of minor characters tucked into several scenes add texture and interest.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940171476618
Publisher:	HighBridge Company
Publication date:	04/23/2019
Series:	Harry McCoy , #1
Edition description:	Unabridged

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