Furst Among Equals

You all got the ebook of Dragonchaser while it was free, right? (If you didn't, it's now £1.53 so it shouldn't break the bank).  You might be wondering now what to download and read next.  I can't recommend anything else free, I'm afraid, but you could do much worse than pick up Alan Furst's WWII espionage novels, starting with Night Soldiers.

 

Furst is at the John le Carre end of the spectrum rather than Ian Fleming.  The novels are quiet and understated, much of the drama internal (although when the external world intrudes, it's often with shattering effect).

Furst's protagonists are pragmatists, not ideologues.  They are looking to survive in a world whose rules they did not write, and which often they don't fully understand.  The mechanics of the 1930s Soviet Union, where your friends are far more dangerous than your enemies, and "recalled to Moscow" is always a one-way trip, are especially well realised.

These novels are not for everyone.  Palates jaded by the helter-skelter pace of contemporary thrillers may find themselves asking "where's the beef?" (witnessed by some uncomprehending Amazon reviews), but once you've adjusted to Furst's calm prose and measured plotting, there's much of interest in store for the attentive reader.

Get Dragonchaser - free!

Monday 23 April marks the launch of the Thirst eDitions ebook of Dragonchaser, alongside the promised excellent volumes from Aliya Whiteley and Ian Hocking.  The Thirst eDitions website will tell you plenty more about the authors and their work.

Even better, for the first five days all these ebooks will be FREE!

How can we afford to give our work away?  It's simple - we wrote it so that you could read it.  Download it, try it - and if you like it, maybe you'll buy some of our paid-for work, or recommend us to your friends.

Coming Soon - a New Edition of Dragonchaser

The word 'exciting' is grossly overused in publishing.  I am allowing myself a frisson of anticipation, however, at the news that Dragonchaser will be re-released as an ebook on 23 April.  That's not the exciting bit, though; that date marks the launch of the new electronic publisher Thirst eDitions - run by writers for writers.  On the same day there will be a special promotional launch of Aliya Whiteley's Mean Mode Median; Roger Morris' The Bridge That Bunuel Built; and Ian Hocking's Proper Job.  This is amazing company to be keeping, and there will be others following soon after, including Frances Garrood's new novel Basic Theology for Fallen Women.

To mark the occasion, Dragonchaser will have a new cover, at the moment looking something like this:

A bonus point for anyone who can tell me the name of my illustrious, if unwitting, cover artist.