Forgot to add to this thread. Finished the book (Stasi Child) and genuinely and thoroughly enjoyed it. Well written, historically accurate, good dose of fiction but believable fiction and the use of German in it was excellent. Never saw the twist coming either, which was very well done too. Highly recommended and can't wait for the next one! I need to stop glaring at people in Ikea is all now.
Cheers Happy. That's v kind of you. The paperback is out on February 11th if anyone's interested. It's slid (is that a word?) out of that German chart now though so the original City v Mariners battle is all but over. The first box of paperbacks just arrived by courier (my free author copies) which is a v exciting moment, considering I had another go twelve years ago and ended up self-publishing after the usual round of rejections. I should point out that any reference to a furniture manufacturer in the actual book is purely fictional blah, blah ... but the stuff about IKEA in the Author's Note is absolutely true (this will be meaningless for those who haven't read it). Anyway thanks again!
Many thanks to any City fans who bought my novel, Stasi Child, as a result of this post. Just to say it sold over 5,300 in its first full week of paperback publication. Not quite enough for a Sunday Times top 10 bestseller spot, but it is currently in the official top 20 of fiction paperbacks, as well as being Crime Book of the Month in The Times and Pick of the Week for The Daily Telegraph. As recommended by Happy Tiger.
Cheers all! As for the round, Mr Hat, I don't actually earn any more money through the sales until/unless they get to some mega level. But you can be sure that you will be first to get a drink when I do, in recognition of your incisive MoM selections, such as putting Huddlestone as the top man at Ipswich (A).
If anyone is bored at the weekend after the postponement of City's game, my new novel A Darker State is now out ... and on Amazon Kindle it's on special offer at just 99p. It's the same series -- East Germany in the 1970s -- and does have a football link this time with a tangential plot about the forced relegation of BSG Stahl Eisenhüttenstadt from the East German Oberliga (although I've cheated slightly with the year when this happened). Also available in WH Smith, Waterstones, Tesco and most good independent bookshops. Burnsy interviewed me about it a couple of weeks ago. So anyone with 99p to spare, please help push it up the charts ;o) https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0718X1S12/?tag=not606-21
Paying due regard to the standards of literacy criticism on this thread (so we know who to blame) I've just downloaded the whole series onto my Kindle for just over a fiver. Bargain.
I’ve just ordered: Neo Conservatism- Why we need it , by Douglas Murray. Just a bit of light reading before I turn in.
