No Exit Press - The Damage by Howard Linskey

ABOUT THE BOOK

'There's a thought that keeps me awake at night; I have to be lucky every time, they only have to get lucky once.'

David Blake is a worried man. He should be enjoying the high life now he's Newcastle's 'Top Boy', the man who controls everything in the city that's worth controlling. The money keeps on rolling in and Blake is sharing his life with the girl that he loves, Sarah Mahoney. Shame he had to murder her father to save his own skin but at least she doesn't know anything about that.

Blake never wanted to be boss but who else is savvy enough to deal with all of the firm's problems? Newly-crowned Glasgow crime lord, Alan Gladwell, wants to do business with the firm and the deal makes sense but can Blake really trust the man whose brother he brutally murdered?

Then one of his men takes two bullets in the back and someone tries to take Blake out. As he struggles to stay in control, Blake is in a race against time to find his potential assassin and discover the truth in 'The Damage'.

CRITICAL ACCLAIM FOR THE DAMAGE

'Think 'Geordie Shore' meets 'The Wire' and there's a TV masterpiece out there waiting to happen'
- Peter Millar, The Times [read the full review]

'Vicious, violent and unashamedly amoral'
- Geoffrey Wansell, The Daily Mail [read the full review]

'One of the Times Top Crime & Thriller Summer Reads '
- Peter Millar, The Times [read the full review]

'An incredibly enjoyable read, The Damage is an excellent novel which sets Linskey up as someone to watch out for'
- Luca Veste, Crime Fiction Lover [read the full review]

'Brilliant stuff'
- Ian Ayris [read the full review]

'A hard hitting crime caper which will leave the reader desperate for the next instalment'
- GS, crimesquad.com [read the full review]

'The Long Good Saturday - A masterful take on the criminal underworld'
- Keith B Walters, Books & Writers [read the full review]

'Bristles with machismo, offers frequent violent thrills and ends with a taut finale. The Damage is Casino to The Drop’s Goodfellas.'
- Mike Stafford, Bookgeeks [read the full review]

'A colourful array of characters who spout some of the sparkiest dialogue around. More please!'
- The Crack [read the full review]

'The Damage is gripping. I finished the book in one sitting. '
- L J Hurst, Shots [read the full review]

'An intense and riveting sequel'
- Publishers Weekly [read the full review]

'fine examples of contemporary noir'
- Missing Presumed Read [read the full review]

'The King of Northern Noir... Taut. Tough. Terrifying. The Damage is a deeply atmospheric, in-your-face tale of immorality, seediness, violence, and murder, scintillating with menace from start to finish.'
- Sam Millar, New York Journal of Books

CRITICAL ACCLAIM FOR THE DROP

'Linskey delivers a flawless feel for time and place, snappy down to earth dialect dialogue mixed in with unrelenting violence and pace. A Tyneside Dashiell Hammett to put Martina Cole firmly in her place.'
- Peter Millar, The Times [read the full review]

'Howard Linskey does for Newcastle what Ian Rankin has done for Edinburgh'
- Sam Millar, New York Journal of Books [read the full review]

'a brutal, hard-hitting debut which opens up Newcastle's dark, violent underbelly like a freshly-sharpened stiletto'
- Simon Kernick [read the full review]