David Mark – Steph's Book Blog

March 1, 2018February 28, 2018

Scorched Earth by David Mark – Blog Tour Review.

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About the Book

The police think Crystal Heathers isn’t missing.
The trainee detective assigned to the case isn’t so sure.
McAvoy thinks someone was being held at the derelict building where they just found a body pinned to the wall…and that all the signs point to it being a little girl.
But why would anyone not report a kidnapping?
And how far would someone go to get revenge?
The case will test McAvoy to breaking point – as the crimes of the present lead him to a final violent confrontation with an enemy from his own past.

My Review

With thanks to the publisher for the copy received.
Scorched Earth was a reminder that I am rubbish at keeping up to date with a series. I bought a few of the others in the series after enjoying book one but then fell behind. However I could follow this latest, book seven, storyline very well. There were a few characters that appeared to have some history to them but I managed to pick up the threads as I read.
The prologue’s storyline was lead news a few years ago and whilst it has been replaced by other events, there are still people living in similar conditions across Europe. I knew I was going to like this book a lot because what happens in the prologue was something I have never really seen before. It would be easy to blame the impoverished, like the ones in the book who suffered appalling conditions in the countries they came from. The image of what some of the characters were forced to do was heartbreaking. But there is much more going on here. Evil is also evident in the greed, ignorance and lies from powerful people. And it’s because of their actions that innocent people also suffer.
I liked Aector and Trish a lot. I need to make a determined effort to catch up with this series so I can get to know more about their working relationship. But it is Roisin, Aector’s wife, who I liked the most. She is a brilliant, loyal and fun-loving character. I could easily read a full novel with her as the main character.

You can purchase the book here

March 1, 2017February 28, 2017

David Mark – Guest Post

Today, it is my pleasure to welcome to my blog David Mark talking about his crime fiction, and whether his preference is for U.S or U.K. His latest book, Cruel Mercy is available now and can be purchased Here

I’m terrible at patriotism. I’ve never quite worked out how to be proud of something that I have no control over. When people boast about their origins I always wonder whether, on their journey down the birth canal, they had a choice of exits. Did the flag-waving zealots decide to emerge onto a particular hospital bed based upon the host nation’s history, political outlook and GDP? Of course, I say this as somebody born on the Morton Park estate in Carlisle. There is a photo of me somewhere as a new-born baby looking distinctly disenfranchised.
This nonsense serves as preamble to a contentious proposition. Do I prefer British crime dramas or those made across the Atlantic? Cheers for that. Great question. Like I don’t have anything better to do than tie my head in knots trying to work out an opinion.
On balance, and if you really pushed me for an answer, I’d have to say that American crime fiction is better than British.
Yes, I know. Shock. Gasp. Horror. Gulp. Swallow-your-Kit-Kat-Chunkie. Choke. Death. But hang on. I was asked a question, and I’m giving an answer, based upon the opinions in my brain. This is a radical approach and one that politicians could learn a lot from.
So, crime fiction. They were the words put forward. And my first thought has nothing to do with books. I think of the brilliant and gripping HBO and Showtime series that have completely engrossed me. Unfailingly high standards, superb production values, gripping characters and plot and enough episodes per series to build your week around. I’m thinking The Wire, Sons of Anarchy, Justified, How to Get Away with Murder and every CSI from Miami to Milwaukee. Compare that to the British output. Yes, we have Luther and Sherlock, Endeavour and Line of Duty. But three or four episodes every year or two is a rather feeble harvest. And I’ve never quite forgiven the BBC for axing Waking the Dead.
Now you’re going to ask me about books. I can sense it hanging in the air between us – an unspoken accusation, heavy on raised eyebrow and poised pen. Well … British, I think. I consider American crime fiction and I think of Dennis Lehane, James Lee Burke and Chelsea Cain. I think they’re brilliant. I’d be glad to give them each a one-word testimonial for their blurbs. It would read ‘jealous!’.
But then I think of Peter May, Denise Mina and Sarah Hilary, and, I feel as though this is a competition that could go either way. So then I think about the US greats of yesteryear. Chandler, Hammett and Crumley. But we have Christie, Ted Lewis and Reg Hill. So I’m going to refer you back to my earlier statement. The notion of nationality playing any role in your output is a nonsense. No one nation produces better writers than any other. I can happily read Eva Dolan then switch over to PJ Tracy and finish off with a Sigursdottir. I’ll read what I like, thanks very much. And I may well change my mind before the morning.
What was that? Do I prefer male crime writers or female? I’m sorry, is that the time …

January 27, 2016August 11, 2017

The Casting Couch- David Mark guest post

Today’s blog post is a little bit different. I am thrilled to welcome to my blog David Mark, creator of the fabulous detective series that features Aector McAvoy. As he says in his piece, the reader is often disappointed when a favourite book is made into a film or TV series with the wrong cast. But enough from me, this is David’s own selection for the cast of his new book, Dead Pretty.

David Mark assembles his dream cast – if and when his McAvoy makes it to the screen…
Readers often take umbrage when liberties are taken with their beloved literary heroes. Lee Child may be the greatest thriller writer of his generation but millions of people around the world seem intent on slapping him with a haddock for allowing Tom Cruise to inhabit the size 14 shoes of Jack Reacher.

I understand that level of ire. As readers, we have very clear ideas of what our favourite fictional characters look, sound and act like. I still sometimes weep over the decision to cast Michael Gambon as Professor Dumbledore.

As authors, it’s a different situation. A couple of years back, the rights to my first novel were snapped up by a major TV company and I enjoyed lots of lovely lunches with the sort of people who would ignore a telephone call from Kenneth Branagh so as not to be distracted from one of my rambling anecdotes. It was all rather jolly. The adaptation never happened, of course. I don’t think the guy in charge had even read the book. But it was quite exciting while it lasted. Since then, lots of people have asked me who I would cast, if given free rein, in a small-screen version of the Mcavoy books. This is the kind of thing that stops me sleeping, I hope you understand.

So, to coincide with the launch of the new McAvoy book, DEAD PRETTY, here’s my guide to who I would want to walk in the characters’ shoes, and why.

Aector McAvoy – Rory McCann
“I’m learning from Lee here. When you write about a character who is enormous, it pays to cast an enormous man in the role – otherwise people get upset and bang on about it endlessly at every bloody event you agree to attend. McAvoy is big and hulking, but he’s also a total softie who blushes and talks like a poet. Rory McCann may not have shown much tenderness in Game of Thrones but I’ve watched his audition tape for his role as Clegane and he has the right kind of tired wisdom in his eyes. He’s also physically very able and generally rather handsome. He may be a few years older than Aector but I’ll forgive him that. Plus, he has the right accent. I’ve wanted him for the role since I wrote the first book.”

Roisin McAvoy – Eleanor Tomlinson
“Roisin is Aector’s centre. She’s his heart. She’s gentle and loving and very shrewd. She’s also capable of cutting you off at the knees and burying you upside down in the garden. Eleanor Tomlinson has all that. She was mesmerising in Poldark and I would love to see her play a role that was an equal to the male lead – not subservient to it. With a Romany accent and a lot of leopard-print, she would be a fierce foil for Aector and there’s no doubt the camera loves her.”

DSU Trish Pharaoh – Polly Walker/Jessica Hynes/Lisa Stansfield
“Trish is probably my favourite character. She’s clever, tough, motherly, sexy and ferocious. Nobody knows what’s going on inside her head unless she wants them too. She’s in her mid-forties and drinks too much and doesn’t have the kind of body that suggests she spends a lot of time on a treadmill. I’d like somebody of the right age to play her. I adored Polly Walker in Rome, but Trish is funny as well as hard and I’d love to see Jessica Hynes have fun with her lines. I’ve also got a bizarre idea that Lisa Stansfield would be ace.”

DC Helen Tremberg – Gwendoline Christie
“Helen is the most likely to have her own series one day and she’s one of the most important characters so I’ve thought long and hard about this. Helen’s tall, physically formidable and enjoys each packet of crisps more than the last. She’s also a bit hopeless in love and worries that she’s likely to put her new baby in the oven and the Christmas turkey in the cot. I think Gwendoline Christie would be superb. She may play a swordswoman in armour in her most famous role but she has vulnerability about her and I’d love to see her in a Hull pub interrogating an armed robber over a pint of real ale.”

Former DCI Colin Ray – Richard E Grant
“Stick with me here … Colin Ray is the ratty, feral, utterly disgusting former DCI whose whereabouts at the start of Dead Pretty are unknown. I adore Richard E Grant and I think he would be superb at the kind of snarling, bitter, bile-infused invective that Colin likes to spray.”

Reuben Hollow – James Purefoy
“The character of Reuben Hollow is at the centre of Dead Pretty. He’s just had a conviction for murder overturned and is back living in his ramshackle house in the woods with his teenage daughter. He’s a sculptor and very handsome and poetic, and there is something connecting him to Trish Pharaoh that is causing McAvoy a lot of disquiet. James Purefoy would be perfect. He does gentle just as well as the psychotics he has played in the past.”

Delphine – Mimi Keene
“Reuben’s teenage daughter may have a small role in the events that unfold but she’s important. She’s a scruffy but pretty teen; carefree in dungarees and welly boots and smelling of cut grass and crushed fruit. She needs to have a knowing innocence to her. Step forward Mime Keene.”

Teddy and Foley – Jason Flemyng and Ben Drew
“The two London hitmen are a curious duo. There is a tenderness between them but they are capable of colossal acts of violence. Teddy is the older, more circumspect villain. He’s quiet and thoughtful. Foley wants to hurt people. He burps and scratches and snorts an spits and should remind you of every person you have crossed the road to avoid. Jason Flemyng and Ben Drew would be perfect as a twosome.”

Doug Roper – Paddy Considine
“Since the very first book, the name of Doug Roper has cropped up again and again. He’s always been there in the shadows, curling around thinks like the ghost of a serpent. The former head of CID, he was responsible for so much of McAvoy’s misery and is now a very important figure in what is to come. He’s handsome, well-dressed, and evil to his bones. Paddy Considine is one of my favourite actors. He’d be amazing.”

Director – Paddy Considine

“Paddy’s directorial debut, Tyrannosaur, was unquestionably bleak and horrible, but it was also a magnificent piece of film-making. It struck the tone it sought absolutely head-on: this world of people trapped by circumstance, seeking refuge or escape through vices that plunge them deeper into the abyss. McAvoy walks through a world like that. I would love to see Paddy’s vision of Hull.”

About the Book