Glasgow Noir Fiction publishes the crime novels of John Callaghan.
I was born in that most slandered of decades, the 50s, in that most slandered of cities, Glasgow.
Though, is it still slander if it’s all true…?
I write what I would like to read, which is crime fiction (noir?…that’s what it says on this website), with a sardonic edge. I seek to deliver vivid characters in a cityscape that itself (cliche-bomb alert) becomes one of them, enmeshed in plots that tease, mystify and disturb.
Yes, there’s some mayhem, but there are no ripping viscera, no splintering skulls; I don’t need those to tell my tales. Yes, there are sexual encounters, because my characters have real lives, but I don’t have a place in my books for lingering erotica; that’s from a different menu and too cumbersome for what I want to say. So why are my books “for adults only”? That would be because of the dialogue – I love to tell stories through conversation, and in Glasgow (well, in crime) that requires profanity, great fuckin’ torrents of it, often elaborate, intentionally inventive and sometimes funny.
I write because I want to tell the tale and to share it. What interests me: vivid atmosphere and sense of “place”, memorable and powerful characters, intense plot, sardonic (that word again) humour, an inner darkness which informs but does not overpower the other elements, flawed heroes and public figures, a rhythm in dialog(ue) that tells the story on its own, a certain awareness of politics and current issues, without mistaking myself for The Guardian.
So, the books – seven novels thus far in a series focused on, and first-person narrated by, Glasgow private detective Stevie McCabe. No point in summarising the plots, because you can read that information on the glasgow noir fiction homepage, but the titles are:
contact – 0141Black@glasgownoirfiction.com
Glasgow Noir Fiction publishes the crime novels of John Callaghan.
I was born in that most slandered of decades, the 50s, in that most slandered of cities, Glasgow.
Though, is it still slander if it’s all true…?
I write what I would like to read, which is crime fiction (noir?…that’s what it says on this website), with a sardonic edge. I seek to deliver vivid characters in a cityscape that itself (cliche-bomb alert) becomes one of them, enmeshed in plots that tease, mystify and disturb.
Yes, there’s some mayhem, but there are no ripping viscera, no splintering skulls; I don’t need those to tell my tales. Yes, there are sexual encounters, because my characters have real lives, but I don’t have a place in my books for lingering erotica; that’s from a different menu and too cumbersome for what I want to say. So why are my books “for adults only”? That would be because of the dialogue – I love to tell stories through conversation, and in Glasgow (well, in crime) that requires profanity, great fuckin’ torrents of it, often elaborate, intentionally inventive and sometimes funny.
I write because I want to tell the tale and to share it. What interests me: vivid atmosphere and sense of “place”, memorable and powerful characters, intense plot, sardonic (that word again) humour, an inner darkness which informs but does not overpower the other elements, flawed heroes and public figures, a rhythm in dialog(ue) that tells the story on its own, a certain awareness of politics and current issues, without mistaking myself for The Guardian.
So, the books – seven novels thus far in a series focused on, and first-person narrated by, Glasgow private detective Stevie McCabe. No point in summarising the plots, because you can read that information on the glasgow noir fiction homepage.
contact – 0141Black@glasgownoirfiction.com