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My 2018 End Of Year Favourites

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2018 Books, Music & T.V For what it's worth, here's my two pennies on what I thought were high points this year. This is just a quick run through of my personal faves. Books 13- Steve Cavanagh The tag line is all you need- 'The serial killer isn't on trial- he's on the jury.' Grab yourself a copy if you're one of the few who hasn't already! In a House of Lies- Ian Rankin Rebus returns, along with your favourite Rankin characters. There's much to savour in seeing an older and failing Rebus involve himself in a tense mystery. Disorder- Gerard Brennan The prose is anything but disordered in this multi-protagonist noir. Take a hard-boiled, sometimes gritty and comical tour of the streets of Belfast. Albums Alice in Chains- Rainier Fog The grunge survivors hit back with their best album since Layne Staley's passing. A satisfying blend of big riffs and scorching harmonies. Walking Papers- W2 Walk

The Sidewinder Book Soundtrack

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Here are a few of the tunes/ artists that are mentioned in my new book. I've created a playlist of them in You Tube that you can view all of through the link at the bottom.  Also, here is the book's namesake by the incredible Lee Morgan. I loved the name and the attributes of the snake being deadly and also able to hide in plain sight. I just thought- 'I'm having that title!' Playlist

A wee chat about THE SIDEWINDER

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THE SIDEWINDER: First 4 Chapters

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Here's the first few chapters of my new book. I hope you enjoy it. It's officially not out through Solstice Publishing until 1st December, but you can actually order both paperback and e-copies here if you like- Amazon UK Amazon USA Thanks, Simon. The Sidewinder By Simon Maltman Part 1- Opening Theme Chapter One “Just one more thing.” That’s what my mind repeated to me over and over, as the TV screen informed me that my old buddy was dead. I surveyed the steam rising off my ‘Columbo’ mug, as my mind zoned in and out, like its zoom setting was broken. “Just one more thing”- written in blue ink, alongside a grainy image of the famous detective, blanketed in his trademark long and scruffy jacket. It was like a mantra. I exhaled, forcing some of the steam to wisp away. I knew I needed to keep it together.             “Andrew, are you alright?” asked Darragh urgently.             “Yeah… yeah, shit, I’m sorry,” I said bl

Out and About

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I'm fortunate to be a part of some great upcoming events.  I thought I'd share them altogether here, for anyone interested in any of them.  The line up for the terrific Aspects Festival was announced last week. I'm very chuffed to be doing an event called Crime in the Castle , with the brilliant authors Brian McGilloway and Gerard Brennan  (22/09/18). You can check out the whole of the festival listings and can buy tickets on their website. I went to see Eric Bell as part of the awesome  Open House Festival last week and he was absolutely belting! I'm pleased to be reading at the launch of the excellent Bangor Literary Journal as part of the festival (25/08/18). They also have a feature on my writing in the August issue- it's a super magazine (From poets Amy and Paul Rafferty) and it's free to download. The event is also free- so if you're about Bangor- drop by! I'm going to be doing mini Belfast Noir tours as part of Culture Night

...So I became a tour guide

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Belfast Noir "Belfast is the most noir place on earth." Lee Child For a while I had been thinking how Belfast didn't seem to have much in the way of screen or literature tours. Of course there are Game of Thrones tours, but not much else. Thinking about the city centre out towards the south, I realised lots had been filmed there- such as Line of Duty , The Fall and the classic Film Noir Odd Man Out.  Put this together with the downright explosion of Ulster Noir and local writers, I wondered why there was no tour around any of this. So I thought I' d have a go! I wrote a draft of a tour and then teamed up with local company, Belfast Hidden Tours . They had also been thinking of doing something similar. We've been developing it for six months and here we are! It's a mix of screen and books, with a heavy influence on Crime Fiction and a wee bit of true crime, with other bits and bobs thrown in. We launched last week and the hour and a half t

13 by Steve Cavanagh Book Review

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BEL 1 EVE the HYP 3 ! As soon as the title and hook were first dropped, this novel was eagerly anticipated by many: "The serial killer isn't on trial. He's on the jury." It certainly doesn't disappoint and fully deserves the various high profile plaudits and the terrific sales in Ireland. Hopefully this will be repeated when it's released in other countries. Lawyer Eddie Flynn returns for a thriller that is much more than a courtrooms drama, though there is much tension to be found in the carefully crafted court scenes. Flynn soon becomes neck deep in the biggest case since OJ, while also on the hunt for a highly intelligent serial killer, who is... well- you know where he is! Steve Cavanagh effortlessly takes us on a breakneck run around New York with a twisty, turny plot that entertains with no lag. It is the definition of a page turner and I highly recommend it. You really won't want to put it down and I'm kind of disappointed that I