With Love And Squalor by Nigel Bird

With Love and Squalor is a great introduction to the dark fictional world of Nigel Bird. The author’s fiction has featured in such places as The Mammoth Book of Best British Crime Volume 8, A Twist of Noir and Pulp Metal Magazine. This collection features stories from a range of these publications and serves to give the reader a good idea of what he’s about. This also includes a sample from Nigel’s novella, Smoke. Bird’s style is indefinable. He is drawn to the quirk and different aspects of life. He takes a sidelong view at things and then puts pen to paper.

Some tales like Fisher Of Men will leave you with more questions than answers. A Whole Lotta Rosie, I suspect inspired by the AC/DC song, had heart like much of Bird's fiction and a sad almost melancholic edge to it.

No Pain, No Gain took the interesting concept of siblings that can't feel pain and ran with it. Yet again we have the darker aspects but interwoven that sense of emotional depth that makes you care for the characters even in short fiction. This makes for compelling reading. He has that rare talent of great characterisation in a limited word count. This gives his stories more punch and an extra dimension.

If this is this first title of Nigel's that you read I have no doubt that you will explore more of his work.

Genre:  Crime Fiction
Publisher:  Sea Minor
Format:  E-Book - Short Story Collection
Rating: 5/5

A DECEMBER SPECIAL OFFER WHICH CAN’T BE BEATEN!!!

Yes, we have lost our marbles! Our sanity has gone up in a flash of smoke. An offer so good it won’t be beaten.

If you purchase Nigel Bird’s critically acclaimed novella SMOKE which is on special offer at just 86p/$1.34 we will give away a PDF copy of my flash fiction collection absolutely FREE for nowt, zilch, nothing, gratis.

(This offer also works in reverse. If you purchase my own Flashes of Revenge I will send you a FREE PDF copy of Nigel's novella)

Offer ends 31/12/2011.

Here’s what some very talented people say about Nigel Bird’s Smoke:

“So this is how it went for me last night. I went to bed thinking I'd make a start on Nigel Bird's brand new novella SMOKE and then hopefully manage to get some sleep in. Two hours later I was still reading. Feeling guilty that it was 3am I turned off the light, only to switch it back on at 4.30am to finish reading this superb tale about the high jinx that two young lads get up to in Tranent.”  - McDroll.

“Being familiar with Nigel Bird's bitter-sweet short-stories, I was fascinated to see how trying his hand at a longer piece would turn out. This novella is a little different from many of the aforementioned short-stories in that the writing voice is unashamedly Scottish. And brilliantly so. I think of all the UK short-story writers plying their trade at the moment, along with the inimitable Mr Paul D. Brazill, Bird is the one writer that has most successfully found a voice for the US market. That being so, I loved the fact he's returned to his Scottish roots for 'Smoke'.”  – Ian Ayris.

“It's no secret for crime fiction fans that Nigel Bird is the real deal.

Smoke features all of his strengths -- complex characters, a well-constructed story and very fine writing. Working-class Scotland comes to life here, from chip shop wars to dog fighting rings. Violence is a way of life for the characters in Smoke, which makes the moments of humanity all the richer.

Jimmy emerges as the most likable character. He's trying to rise above his disfigurement and the general s*** life he's had. I hope Bird continues to write about him.” – Chris Rhatigan

Nigel Bird's debut novella, Smoke, is the story of a town, Tranent, and the rough edged characters that live there.

Smoke is a spin off from Bird's great story An Arm And A Leg-which was included in this year's Mammoth Book Of Best British Crime.

The main characters are Carlos, who actually lost an arm and a leg at the end of the aforementioned story and is hell bent on revenge, and Jimmy, a young kid with a good heart who has drawn the short straw in life. And they have a mutual hatred of the Ramsey brothers, who are making their fortune organizing dog fights.

Smoke is reminiscent of Allan Guthrie's Savage Night in the way it cleverly interweaves different strands of the story and its great mixture of colorful characters, absurdest humour and hard boiled crime.

It's a funny, gripping and moving book which left me desperate to read a follow up! Recommended. – Paul D. Brazill.

Download Smoke in the UK HERE
Download Smoke in the US HERE

Download Flashes of Revenge in the UK HERE
Download Flashes of Revenge in the US HERE

Smoke by Nigel Bird

Ever since I first read Dirty Old Town by Nigel I have been a fan of his short stories. The collection which followed it Beat On The Brat only reinforced this feeling. When I heard that Nigel had a novella out I was excited at the prospect of reading it.  I wanted to see how Nigel would handle longer fiction and he didn’t disappoint me.

Bird brings us a unique flavour in the setting of the town of Tranent. Like most writers of his considerable talent you can’t quite put your finger on the singular thing that makes his writing unique. Smoke is Brit Grit at its very finest. Think in terms of Layer Cake or Snatch.

The story starts with Jimmy being humiliated at school and vowing revenge against his nemesis Sean Mulligan. Things go downhill for Jimmy very quickly from there. This is also the story of Carlo who we first saw in Nigel’s story An Arm And A Leg which appeared in The Mammoth Book Of Best British Crime 8.

The story is set in the middle of a huge dog fighting tournament and one or two scenes excellently convey the brutality of this horrendous pastime. I won’t grace it with the word sport.  Nigel’s writing often deals dark settings and damaged characters and this is particularly true for Smoke.  The two main characters in Smoke are physically damaged in different ways.  However, don’t let this put you off, always with Nigel’s fantastic writing there is humour and a nugget of hope. There is always a shot at redemption for these characters. The story is left open and we could possibly see the return of one of the characters in the future. I do hope so it would be great to see the setting of Tranent again.

I started off as a fan of Nigel Bird’s and my admiration for his work has only increased with the addition of Smoke to his portfolio.

Download Smoke HERE