The Drop

Description

David Blake is no gangster, or so he likes to think. He's a white-collar criminal, working for gangster Bobby Mahoney, enjoying the good life while the money keeps on pouring in. Trouble is, a big chunk of that money has just gone missing along with Geordie Cartwright - and Blake is getting the blame. Has Geordie done a runner with the drop or has he been killed by a rival gang? In a desperate and bloody finale, Blake has to make an agonising choice and someone has to pay the ultimate price...

Howard Linskey has worked as a barman, journalist, catering manager and marketing manager for a celebrity chef, as well as in a variety of sales and account management jobs. He has written for newspapers, magazines and websites on a number of subjects. 'The Drop' is Howard's debut novel, published by 'No Exit' in 2011. Originally from Ferryhill in County Durham, he now lives in Hertfordshire with his wife Alison and daughter Erin. Howard is a long-suffering Newcastle United fan and Mike Ashley is not on his Christmas card list.

'Linskey delivers a flawless feel for time and place, snappy down to earth dialect dialogue mixed in with unrelenting violence and pace. A Tyneside Dasheill Hammett to put Martina Cole firmly in her place.' - Peter Millar, The Times 'writing that leaps off the page in its lacerating forcefulness... a classic British gangster novel that evokes and matches some of the best writing in the genre' - Vic Buckner, Crime Time 'a brutal, hard-hitting debut which opens up Newcastle's dark, violent underbelly like a freshly-sharpened stiletto' - Simon Kernick