‘THE LOSS REPORT’ is Live!

I am delighted to say my 4th Ridge Walker adventure story is finally published!

A tale of loyalty, betrayal, love and hate.

An ex-assassin thought he’d found sanctuary in his Chilean vineyard. He was wrong.

‘Colm lowered his gun and looked up to see clouds appearing from nowhere. He knew it would happen one day. He’d brought the Ulster rain to this sun-drenched valley.’

Ridge Walker’s much-needed family holiday quickly turns into a nail-biting adventure in terror as he and Orla battle for their lives against myriad foes who will stop at nothing to get their hands on the assassin’s bible, The Loss Report.

Even though this is the 4th book in a series, you can still pick up the story from here on in.

Like with the last book, I purposely haven’t put in too much back-story as it can be tiresome and the feedback from Book 3 THE PIPER’S PROMISE was universally positive. Although as a starving author, nothing would please me more than hearing that you’d gone back to the first book and read the entire series!

Alex x

PS: Tune in to my podcast ALEX BRECK’S BANTER and hear me narrate Chapter 1 of The Loss Report.

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children

If you’re looking for some dark and gritty writing then check out my thriller THE DEVIL YOU KNOW. There’ll be a sequel in the very near future.

Not for the faint of heart but it’ll reward you for reading it. 

“I would definitely recommend this book if you are looking for something a little bit different.”

“The effort was worth it. More than a story, I recommend this book to readers who appreciate good writing. I am truly impressed and hope to see more books by Alex Breck.”

Have you listened to my Podcast show Alex Breck’s Banter yet?

ferry

Children In Need…

Children In Need

Children

Here in the UK, we’ve just endured the annual ‘Children In Need’ charity event on BBC television.

You know the sort of thing?

Where lots of filthy-rich celebrities come on and try to extort money from the poor viewers, aided and abetted by heart-wrenching video clips of every possible childhood-related tragedy you could think of.

It’s not that I’m against raising money for charity. Far from it. I have jumped out of perfectly serviceable aircraft to raise money for good causes.

I even ran the London Marathon for children with cancer, raising around £5,000 in the process and knackering my knees for what I suspect will be the rest of my life.

And I have no issues with children either, being a proud father and uncle.

It’s just the way they go about it that really winds me up.

So, in an attempt to let off some ‘literary’ steam and to avoid doing my REAL work of finishing my latest thriller, I have written a tiny magic-realism piece about Children In Need.

Gingerbread House

 

The wizened old woman stretched out a bony arm and switched off the radio with a relieved sigh, stretching her tired back for a moment before turning her attention back to her hot stove.

She flicked the tattered red hood away from her lined face before deftly trimming the uncooked pastry from the edges of the pie and rolling it into several balls, about the size of little breadcrumbs.

She threw the first of these across the odd-looking kitchen and watched as her Staffordshire bull terrier leapt into the air and snatched it, his strong jaws snapping shut with all the finality and violence of a gin-trap.

‘Children in need,’ she exclaimed to the dog.

‘Children in need, Wolfie?

In need of precisely what, I ask you?

In need of some manners, maybe.

In need of an education, of a backbone, moral fibre, respect for their elders, where do I stop?

Most of all, Wolfie, they’re children in need of a bath.

Tasty though…’

Wolfie just licked his lips and smiled.

 

Alex x

PS: I am still working on the 4th Ridge Walker adventure thriller and I promise it will be published later this year.

Find me on Facebook

Follow me on Twitter

If you’re looking for some dark and gritty writing then check out my thriller THE DEVIL YOU KNOW. There’ll be a sequel in the very near future.children

Not for the faint of heart but it’ll reward you for reading it. 

“I would definitely recommend this book if you are looking for something a little bit different.”

“The effort was worth it. More than a story, I recommend this book to readers who appreciate good writing. I am truly impressed and hope to see more books by Alex Breck.”

 

Have you listened to my Podcast show Alex Breck’s Banter yet?

ferry

Who’s The Daddy?

Who’s The Daddy?

Daddy

Today is National Poetry Day in Scotland.

Sadly, much as I enjoy a good poem, writing them isn’t my forte, to put it mildly.

So, in place of a poem, I have something else for you.

Not quite a poem, but not really a short story either, you can make of this little piece of writing just what you wish.

I hope you enjoy!

 

Who’s The Daddy?

 

Wow! I have led a sheltered life, I think.

Never seen one that big, not up close anyway.

And not pointing right at me.

He senses my apprehension and smiles. He turned to the side and lowered it somewhat and I immediately felt less threatened. At least he hadn’t thrust it in my face the way Andy liked to do. Mind you, he had always been all about posture and bravado. When it came down to it, he was never able to fulfil the early promise that I can now barely even remember seeing in him. That probably explained the aggression and the drunken beatings.

‘Would you like to touch it?’ he said, reading my mind again.

But instead, I let him control it for a minute more as I tentatively stroked its length. It was a monster next to the sad facsimile I’d find waiting for me back home.

Then I took it fully in my hands and felt the heft of it for the first time. It surprised me and he smiled again. He was obviously used to this reaction from his new customers, especially ones like me who had never thought that they’d find themselves in this embarrassing situation.

‘I offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee to all my customers, but obviously I wouldn’t want you to be recommending me to your sewing bee or anything and-’

‘-Oh, I wouldn’t be too sure,’ I said, gripping it more firmly now and feeling the latent power in my fingertips. My hours of covert practice in the field behind the old shed at home hadn’t prepared me for this. The young boys from across the road would freak out if they could see me now.

We shared a cigarette after his brief but earth-shattering demonstration and I felt my hands shake as I handed over my rolled up wad of damp notes. He nodded and left me standing there alone, a silhouette of vengeance, unmoved by the vortex of autumn leaves encircling me.

Daddy

 

‘Oh yeah baby, I decided, sliding in a twenty round magazine. This will do nicely. This time, we’ll see who’s the daddy…

 

 

 

Alex x

PS: I am still working on the 4th Ridge Walker adventure thriller and I promise it will be published later this year.

Find me on Facebook

Follow me on Twitter

If you’re looking for some dark and gritty writing then check out my thriller THE DEVIL YOU KNOW. There’ll be a sequel in the very near future.ferry

Not for the faint of heart but it’ll reward you for reading it. 

“I would definitely recommend this book if you are looking for something a little bit different.”

“The effort was worth it. More than a story, I recommend this book to readers who appreciate good writing. I am truly impressed and hope to see more books by Alex Breck.”

 

Have you listened to my Podcast show Alex Breck’s Banter yet?

ferry

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Son Of A Gun

Ferry stories Sea Passages

I am privileged and humbled to have played a small part in getting this new book of short stories into the water. Each piece revolves around a ferry journey.

Harvested from the creative talents of writers who have dropped anchor in and around the waters of the West Highlands of Scotland, this little gem will appeal to readers who love boats, the Highlands or just the thrill of setting out on a new adventure.

Here you will discover stories of those passing purposefully over the water and those being swept by the tide. There are people lost and people found, stories of birth and death. Tales of whales, the bleat of sheep and the unmistakable tang of salt air.

When researching ideas for this project, originally for my Creative Writing group at Argyll College, I was intrigued by the superstitions, traditional customs and strange beliefs of mariners.

Most of these are associated with bad luck and as a thriller writer, I had to learn more.

Did you know that if the words ‘good luck’ were to be uttered on a boat, then the only way to reverse the ‘curse’ was to punch someone (most probably the person who had just said it) and draw blood?

Women on boats

We are all familiar with the naming ceremony for important new ships and a part of the cultural tradition demands that a woman performs the champagne christening as a way of ensuring prosperity and good luck for the vessel.

So, if a woman’s hand was deemed to be good luck during the naming ceremony for a boat, then why was it considered bad luck to have a women on board?

The answer to this lies in basic human nature and the fact that until recently, the sea-faring industries were totally male-dominated and so having a female among their ranks would have been a dangerous distraction. Although it did happen on many an occasion.

And this is where the wonderfully wicked curse, ‘son of a gun’ comes from. Imagine a busy and crowded vessel at sea with the additional presence of a woman on board. Should a besotted sailor wish to consummate his love, then the location for such a dalliance would very often be done in the relative privacy of the gun deck.

These affairs would often result in the birth of an illegitimate child – the son of a gun.

Just to confuse matters further, seafaring folk used to believe that nude women were actually a calming influence on the sea which is why you will see so many figureheads of naked women on old sailing ships.

If you pay close attention to our book ‘Sea Passages,’ you might discover in one story that there is a brief physical ferry encounter between a young couple deeply in love. Those of you who are particularly alert and read the book all the way through to the very last nautical nugget might also find out that this event has an impact on another story in the book.

I live on a tiny island and so I appreciate the excellent work the Royal National Lifeboat Institution do for our safety, every day of the year. They assisted a good friend of mine only last week, further south in the English Channel.

And so, all the profits from this book are going to the RNLI.

I hope you enjoy each and every one of the eleven stories and one poem.

Alex x

PS: I am still working on the 4th Ridge Walker adventure thriller and I promise it will be published later this year.

Find me on Facebook

Follow me on Twitter

If you’re looking for some dark and gritty writing then check out my thriller THE DEVIL YOU KNOW. There’ll be a sequel in the very near future.ferry

Not for the faint of heart but it’ll reward you for reading it. 

“I would definitely recommend this book if you are looking for something a little bit different.”

“The effort was worth it. More than a story, I recommend this book to readers who appreciate good writing. I am truly impressed and hope to see more books by Alex Breck.”

 

Have you listened to my Podcast show Alex Breck’s Banter yet?

ferry