Thanks to those fine, fine people at Melville House, Derek Raymond's fifth and final Factory novel Dead Man Upright is at last available to North American readers. The book was published in the UK in 1993, the last book Raymond (real name Robin Cook - not that Robin Cook) wrote before his death in 1994.
After last week's Brit Gangster Film list inspired by J.J. Connolly's Viva La Madness (the sequel to his book Layer Cake which inspired the movie Layer Cake - which y'know made the list) I'm inspired by my love of Raymond's work (which alike Connolly's also features a nameless protagonist... hmmm) to catch up with those Brit Grit writers I've been meaning to for too long (and go ahead and hate me, I'm gonna lump all the British Isles together here.)
David Peace - Somebody somewher once called him the limey James Ellroy which is potentially insulting to Mr. Peace, Mr. Ellroy or y'know, limeys, but hey, that description grabbed me as did the bleak as hell Red Riding film trilogy based on his novels which I caught up with last year. I suppose the place to start would be Nineteen Seventy-Four.
Tony Black - I'm a big fan of Tony's short fiction and his Pulp Pusher website, but his novels are hard to get my yankee mitts on. Long Time Dead is finally physically on my shelf and taunting me. When oh, when US publishers can you put some Black in your catalogs? Check out his author web page for more info.
Cathi Unsworth - Been circling Unsworth since London Noir came out and the more I read about her, the more I think I ought to have my crime-fan card revoked until I catch up with her work. So, I just purchased Bad Penny Blues.
Gerard Brennan - is one of those names I thought I'd been hip to for a long time, but turns out - no - I was thinking of a couple other blokes with similar names. (Also happened with Declan Burke and Declan Hughes... but that's all square now). How did I catch on? I picked up a terrific anthology he edited Requiems for the Departed and realized how wrong I was. Apologies to everybody whose identities I'd confused. Now I never stop hearing about his novels Wee Rockets and The Point and I'm feeling waaaay out of touch cause I haven't read them yet - soon, soon. (BTW - The Point is published by Danny Bowman's UK house Pulp Press - not to be confused with Jon Bassoff's US New Pulp Press - and every book they put out is graced with a terribly attractive cover... I wants).
Ian Ayris - Okay his name was the first thing to catch my eye. Are we related a few generations back? Tell you what, if Abide With Me rocks, then the answer is 'yes' and we'll have to set up an Ayris/Ayres family reunion.
Who has got your attention?
Jedidiah Ayres writes fiction and keeps the blog Hardboiled Wonderland.
