Justice - or lack of it...

My latest crime novel release is Sudden Vengeance. If you enjoy crime fiction or despair at the seeming intransigence of the justice system, then you might like this book.

Here are some snippets from the UK reviews on Amazon that tend to sum it up.

1) This mystery tackles contemporary issues such as unemployment, recession, crime and a broken justice system. These problems are not restricted to the UK, but are becoming world-wide. I’ve enjoyed many of Nik Morton’s books, both mystery and western, which often center around themes of justice... or lack of it.

2) You are caught up in the quickening drama and are left with a satisfying feeling that although all might not be well in our world, there are some who do make a difference.

3) Hmmm, I didn't want to like this book because a vigilante is the "hero" and it felt like crossing an abyss on a piece of string in a gale. But there was something deeply satisfying, in a sneaky chocolate-eating way, about all those bad guys being punished…

My thanks to these reviewers!

The blurb

When justice fails, a vigilante steps forward. In the broken Britain of today, faith in the police is faltering. Justice and fairness are flouted. Victims are not seen as hurt people but simply as statistics.

Paul’s family is but one example of those victims of unpunished criminals. In the English south coast town of Alverbank, many others are damaged and grieving. It cannot go on. There has to be a response, some way of fighting back.

A vigilante soon emerges and delivers rough justice, breaking the bones and cracking the heads of those guilty individuals who cause pain without remorse. Who is the vigilante? He – or she – is called the Black Knight. The police warn against taking ‘the law into your own hands’. But the press laud the vigilante’s efforts and respond: ‘What law?’

Will the Black Knight eventually cross the line and kill? Paul and his family seem involved and they are going to suffer…

***

A quick yet emotional read. Published by Crooked Cat Publishing.

 

Amazon UK e-book can be purchased here

Amazon COM e-book can be purchased here

Paperback can be purchased post-free worldwide from here

Sudden Vengeance - cover reveal

Front cover tagline: Vigilante justice is good justice!

Back cover top tagline: When justice fails, a vigilante steps forward

Blurb:

In the broken Britain of today, faith in the police is faltering. Justice and fairness are flouted. Victims are not seen as hurt people but simply as statistics.

Paul’s family is but one example of those victims of unpunished criminals. In the English south coast town of Alverbank, many others are damaged and grieving. It cannot go on. There has to be a response, some way of fighting back.

A vigilante soon emerges and delivers rough justice, breaking the bones and cracking the heads of those guilty individuals who cause pain without remorse.

Who is the vigilante?  He – or she – is called the Black Knight. The police warn against taking ‘the law into your own hands’. But the press laud the vigilante’s efforts and respond: ‘What law?’

Will the Black Knight eventually cross the line and kill?

Back cover bottom tagline: Paul and his family seem involved and they are going to suffer…

Please watch this space for more details...

BLIND JUSTICE AT WEDLOCK

Latest Black Horse Western available on 30 May 2011. Can be ordered now! Even if Amazon has my penname reversed as Morton Ross...













The blurb goes something like this:

Clint Brennan interrupts two men kidnapping his wife Belle and he’s shot and left for dead. When he recovers his senses, his wife has gone and he discovers he is blind. Most men would give up there and then, but not Clint. Astride his donkey, he sets out with his faithful dog Mutt on the trail of his wife’s abductors.

Belle believes her husband is dead. She’s rescued, but not by Clint. Her saviour is protective and takes her to his grand home in Wedlock where she meets the charming housekeeper, Mrs Kilbride. Maybe here, they say, she can forget her husband and start a new life…

On the trail, Clint is waylaid by robbers but soon learns to combat enemies at night, when darkness is his ally. Distracted and delayed, he’s still determined to locate his missing wife.

A tale of betrayal and lies, it will all end at Wedlock, amidst flames and bullets.

Double Letters

Just received the February editions of two magazines (Writers’ News and Writing Magazine) yesterday (they get here later than in UK) and was pleasantly surprised to see they featured one of my letters in each. The WM letter was just a comment on an earlier letter. The WN letter reads:
“Spooky! What a strange feeling I experienced on seeing the title to Vivien Hampshire’s article about including sound in our fiction: ‘Sounds Good’ (WN p32, Jan 2009).
“That was the very title I used for my short story in the recent Mace&Jones ‘justice’ competition. While I appeared in the Top Ten, I didn't get a mention or prize, but I can console myself with the knowledge that the story has been accepted for a monthly magazine here in Spain.
“The main character is Leon Cazador – Lion Hunter in English translation – who is half-English, half-Spanish and is a latter-day Simon Templar character. ‘Sounds Good’ will be his twentieth published outing and I eventually hope to collect the stories for a book.
“Anyway, the title looks good, too.”
There were 93 entries in the 'Justice' competition. I seemed to be the only male in the Top Ten… and the winners were: Cathy Roberts for ‘The Appointment’ about Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be hanged in Britain, Mary D’Arcy for ‘Expiation’, Jan Bengree for ‘Red Geraniums’ and Jackie Le Poidevin for ‘What Price?’