Alex Breck reads from his New Book, THE DEVIL INSIDE

I am so happy to be able to read this short snippet from my newly-published thriller, THE DEVIL INSIDE, set wholly in and around contemporary Glasgow, Scotland.

Listen to me read a little from Chapter 6 and introduce one of the main characters, ex-copper James Boyle, and his long-suffering wife Marie, as they embark on a dinner date like no other.

I chose this excerpt as it doesn’t give anything away plot-wise and if you’ve read the first book in the series, The Devil You Know, set a decade before this new book, then you’ll already know Jim had received an invitation.

THE DEVIL INSIDE can be read as a stand-alone thriller, so don’t panic if you haven’t read it. Yes, some of the characters are in both books, but the story is entirely different both in context and theme.

Find out more about Alex Breck over at my website, on my Facebook page, and my podcast show, ‘Alex Breck’s Banter.’

Pick up THE DEVIL INSIDE as an eBook or paperback in the USA and in the UK

Enjoy my reading and yes, I agree, Hollywood isn’t likely to feature strongly in my career path, but hey, it’s the real deal, right!

Have a safe and relaxing holiday season, wherever you are, okay?

Alex Breck x

‘The Devil Inside’ is LIVE

I am very happy to tell you all, my sequel to the 2016 thriller ‘The Devil You Know’ has finally been published today!

It’s called THE DEVIL INSIDE

There’s bodies raining from the sky and the city is tearing itself in two…

A decade after the events on Gruinard Island, Lachlan Maclean thought he’d succeeded in making a better life for himself and his young family. But he was mistaken.

First, it was the desperate homeless and pitiful junkies, who had seemingly jumped from drab Glasgow sky-scrapers. Callous indifference was the reaction from a city struggling to make sense of the global pandemic.

When an asylum-seeker was next, followed by a promising young para-athlete, it became obvious they’d been thrown to their deaths. There was only mild interest from the media.

Glasgow had more important things to think about, it was the start of the football season.

But when fans of bitter rivals, Celtic and Rangers, suffer a similarly gruesome fate, the city finally wakes up to the fact there is a maniac on the loose.

Now the city is in an uproar. Violent crime and mass disorder events spiral into anarchy, the papers start screaming for answers, yet the police have no leads.

It’s time for an unholy alliance to return to the blood-splattered streets of Glasgow.

A millionaire albino killer, an ice-blonde assassin, an ex-gang boss, and a retired police inspector are forced to work together to battle a foe who will stop at nothing to satisfy a thirst for revenge.

WHAT OTHERS HAVE SAID ABOUT ALEX BRECK:

The Devil You Know

A flawed and cynical character, Lachie is not your typical hero, but Alex Breck is going for something deeper than a crime novel – a statement about society – that had me hooked until the end.’

I would definitely recommend this book if you’re looking for something a little bit different.’

Set in this challenging pandemic world, wholly in and around the city of Glasgow, Scotland, THE DEVIL INSIDE is as controversial as the last Lachlan Maclean story.

Available from today in paperback and eBook – be the first to leave a positive review [there might be special treats involved…]

Enjoy and let me know what you think, okay?

NFT Books Give You More!

I am DELIGHTED to announce the launch of my very first NFT book…!

Owning this NFT copy of my first Ridge Walker thriller, He Who Pays The Piper, gives you unique ownership of this brand new edition including an animated cover and a highly personal 11-minute video from me. In the video, I dig deep into the context of my first thriller, the characterisation, geographical locations, and the personal connections to my own earlier years. You will see personal photographs from my travels in the US and through Central America.

Be one of the first to own an NFT book

I’ll be the first to admit there’s still a lot of head-scratching going on about my recent #NFT book launch in collaboration with Booksgosocial NFT Bookstore.

As a long-time fan of blockchain technology, the benefits of being able to buy an exclusive NFT edition of a book, complete with artwork, animated covers, and personal stuff like exclusive author interviews, wasn’t lost on me.

And imagine being able to buy my book, enjoy it (hopefully…), then sell it for at least as much as you paid for it. That’s a win-win in anyone’s book surely, please excuse the pun.

So go on, embrace this new way of owning books and give it a try. I’ll even give you a $5 discount when you use this coupon code_ ‘nft5‘ from the Books Go Social site

‘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.

Find me on Facebook

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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

 

So Has The Cat Killed Curiosity?

curiosity

Before, I start, just let me say I’m a huge fans of cats and if the rest of my family weren’t allergic to them, I’d have a house-full.

There’s something about their aloofness and the way they don’t hide the fact they like nothing better than to bask in the warmth of a sunny room and have the rest of the world running around after them. A bit like teenagers… more on them later.

But I’m much more of a lover of curiosity than anything else on this planet! A good old-fashioned yearning to find out more about stuff. Anything!

As a lad, I was happy to sit for hours on my own reading massive encyclopedias and even a dictionary would help me swallow up a rainy afternoon in Scotland.

And we get them a LOT!

Libraries were always a sanctuary for a wee boy like me who’d been forced to move house too many times due to his dad’s occupation. Making new friends in school always took a certain amount of time, but there would always be the serried ranks of familiar books to instantly reconnect me to my disjointed geographical timeline.

So it pains me greatly to tell you that my teenage son’s new 21st Century state-of-the-art high school – which he is moving into in a few weeks time – does NOT possess a LIBRARY!

 

curiosity

Now I am not a Luddite, by any means.

I make my living from a laptop for Pete’s sake…!

And I know you can store a gazillion books on a tiny hard drive.

But what happens when there’s a power outtage?

I mean, we get power cuts up here in the Highlands almost as often as we get rain.

And what are the chances of a teenage school kid making the effort to look up the history of cats in ancient Egypt when there is an online Call of Duty battle to be had?

Or the catching up of who did what to whoever, where, why and when on Social Media.

It just won’t happen.

Curiosity will slowly die.

At least the curiosity to learn about books. About words. Where they came from and why they were chose above others on a page.

I’m proud to say that an excellent book of short stories from the West Highlands of Scotland will soon be published by my imprint, Seilachan Fort. It germinated from an idea of mine to help foster a sense of shared purpose and thereby encourage a group of local College evening class students to keep coming back for more writing classes.

But we recently had a discussion where one of the talented author-contributors wanted to include a glossary of some of the more unusual Scottish words.

The rest of us vetoed this.

Our argument was that it is healthy to have words which might be unfamiliar and it’s even better when the reader is forced to do a little research and find out about them on their own.

That’s how we learn.

Curiosity.

But now, instead, our kids will just lie back on the sofa and keep on surfing YouTube or maybe gaze vacantly at yet more cat photos…

Alex x

PS: Do YOU think it’s acceptable to have a new high school built without a library? I’d love to find out out if this is a Scottish issue or a wider problem.

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 autumn.curiosity

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?

Alex Breck's Banter Podcast Show

 

Can I Count On Your Vote?

Can I Count On Your Vote?


Can I Count On Your Vote

I’m so excited because my Ridge Walker book ‘The Piper’s Promise’ was just nominated for the 2017 Readers Choice Awards!

Please vote for it at www.tckpublishing.com/readers-choice-voting.

[It’s in the Thriller section which is on page 9 out of 16]

Or if that doesn’t work GO HERE TO VOTE

One happy author!

Alex x

PS: You can get your own copy of ‘The Piper’s Promise’ HERE!

Find me on Facebook

Follow me on Twitter

If you’re looking for some more dark and gritty writing then check out my thriller THE DEVIL YOU KNOWvote

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?

Alex Breck's Banter Podcast Show

My Books On Book Store Shelves

Book Store ShelvesMy Books Are Now In Book Store Shelves!

Ever since I wrote my first Ridge Walker adventure thriller back in 2012, my biggest goal was to see my work displayed on the shelves of real bona fide bookstores.

Very quickly, I came to understand that this goal, as a self-published indie author, was going to be extremely hard to achieve.

Don’t get me wrong. I knew that I could make a genuine living from being a self-published author despite having no illusions about being the next Ian Rankin or J.K. Rowling.

My idea was never to beggar myself trying to get an agent and then a publisher. As a late entrant to the world of book writing, I couldn’t afford to wait 10 years for the gate-keepers to finally deign to accept my manuscript.

In addition to writing Ebooks and self-publishing through Amazon, I also embarked on a career in online marketing and then coaching, all of which has been exciting, unpredictable and a lot of fun.

So, I was happy to publish online.

Apart from one thing.

When friends, family and others who knew me were sceptical about my ‘online activities,’ that was perfectly fine. They couldn’t see my growing bank balance. I didn’t need their accreditation.

But when they thought I was just ‘playing’ at being a writer – that hurt. A lot.

I wanted to be able to walk into Waterstones, which is our biggest UK bookstore and point to my books. My son was around ten years old and I wanted him to see my books and be proud of his old dad.

I appreciate that I won’t be shifting a ton of books through these stores. That’s not what it’s about with me. It’s just good old-fashioned pride and recognition of a job done.

So my goal has been achieved this week. My books are on bookstore shelves. Waterstones now sell my print books and I am doing a book signing even in December. One happy author.

Alex

Find me on Facebook

Follow me on Twitter

If you’re looking for some dark and gritty writing then check out my full-length thriller THE DEVIL YOU KNOWhalloween

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?

Alex Breck's Banter Podcast Show