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Iain Kelly


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Iain Kelly

Goodreads Author


Born
Glasgow, The United Kingdom
Website

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Member Since
July 2012


Iain Kelly lives in Scotland, UK. His latest novel, 'Hostile City', a follow up to the crime thriller 'Full Sun', was published in January 2026. Both books feature ex-convict Cal Jackson and are set in Glasgow.

Iain is married with two children and works in the media industry as a television editor. When he is not creating stories through sound and vision, he is writing them. 'A Justified State,' published in 2018, was his first novel. It was followed by a sequel, 'State Of Denial' in September 2019 and 'State Of War' in 2020, which concluded 'The State' trilogy.
In 2022, he first partnered with The Book Guild to publish the coming-of-age mystery 'The Barra Boy', which was followed in 2024 by the historical thriller 'All We Cannot Leave Behi
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Iain Kelly I'm moving onto my third novel, and the finale of my 'State Trilogy' of stories - 'State Of War'.…moreI'm moving onto my third novel, and the finale of my 'State Trilogy' of stories - 'State Of War'.(less)
Average rating: 4.14 · 457 ratings · 161 reviews · 9 distinct worksSimilar authors
The Barra Boy

really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 236 ratings — published 2022 — 2 editions
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All We Cannot Leave Behind

4.15 avg rating — 74 ratings2 editions
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A Justified State (The Stat...

4.42 avg rating — 48 ratings3 editions
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Full Sun (Cal Jackson, #1)

4.29 avg rating — 49 ratings — published 2024 — 2 editions
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State Of Denial (The State ...

4.47 avg rating — 19 ratings3 editions
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State Of War (The State Tri...

4.18 avg rating — 17 ratings3 editions
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Hostile City (Cal Jackson, #2)

4.56 avg rating — 9 ratings — published 2026 — 2 editions
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Collected Sketches

4.75 avg rating — 4 ratings3 editions
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The State Trilogy: Complete...

it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating3 editions
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February Reads

A collection of short stories, contemporary literary reads and a mix of fictional and true crime. All of the books this month were picked up while I was touring around bookshops with my own new publication, HOSTILE CITY, So thanks to the local stores – Daydreams Bookshop in Milngavie, Caffeinated Escapism Bookstore in Alexandria, The […]
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Published on February 28, 2026 06:17
Insomnia
Iain is currently reading
by Stephen King (Goodreads Author)
bookshelves: currently-reading
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Iain’s Recent Updates

Hansel and Gretel by Stephen  King
"I loved Stephen King’s retelling of the timeless fairytale “Hansel and Gretel” by Maurice Sendak. This is a cute book and audio that’s perfect for any age."
Iain and 32 other people liked Jill H.'s review of The Royal Oak Disaster:
The Royal Oak Disaster by Gerald S. Snyder
"I picked up this little-known book at a sale several years ago. I read it then and thought it was superb. It is the kind of history that can be reread and so I did. Thankfully it is rather short!

This is the WWII history of the 1939 sinking of the RMS" Read more of this review »
Iain and 30 other people liked Poppy Sabrina's review of Graves:
Graves by Katelyn Taylor
"4⭐️

Is this book extremely unhinged? Yes. Is it concerning how much I enjoyed it? Probably 😃 but I loved it 😂 admittedly it’s more spice than plot, but it ticks every box for dark dark romance lovers and allll the tropes, we were FED with the spice in" Read more of this review »
Iain and 6 other people liked Kim's review of Good Bad Girl:
Good Bad Girl by Alice Feeney
"Setting: London, England; modern day.

The story starts with a section called 'The End' which in itself turns out to be misleading and involves a woman going to a supermarket with her baby in a pram. Turning her back for a couple of minutes to chat to " Read more of this review »
Iain rated a book liked it
Columba's Bones by David Greig
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Viking raids and religious faith told as black farce. Coarse, incongrous language, (I did learn the etymology of the word beserk) and earthy behaviour. Overlook some of the obvious technicalities - Norse, Irish, Scots Gaels all speaking the same lang ...more
Iain is currently reading
Insomnia by Stephen  King
Insomnia
by Stephen King (Goodreads Author)
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Meet the Newmans by Jennifer Niven
Meet the Newmans
by Jennifer Niven (Goodreads Author)
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A great set up drew me in and the book is at its best when it peeks behind the curtain of a squeaky clean US TV family. It stalls a bit when lingering on the social commentary, labouring the point about the plight of 1950/60s women to the point of le ...more
Iain is currently reading
Columba's Bones by David Greig
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I'll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara
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A fascinating investigative piece about a dark and violent serial killer and the effort to bring him to justice. Ultimately the fact that the Golden State Killer was apprehended through DNA without having ever been a suspect doesn't undo the hard wor ...more
Iain is currently reading
Meet the Newmans by Jennifer Niven
Meet the Newmans
by Jennifer Niven (Goodreads Author)
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Comments (showing 1-4)    post a comment »
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message 4: by Iain

Iain Iain wrote: "The Clock Winder: a short story
I'm currently halfway through reading 'Orbital', so your review was very helpful. If you would like a complimentary copy of my short story, The Cloc..."
Hi Iain, thanks for the offer - I'd be delighted to receive a copy of your short story. Hope you are enjoying Orbital and wishing you all the best for 2025!


message 3: by Iain (last edited Jan 02, 2025 05:18AM)

Iain The Clock Winder: a short story
I'm currently halfway through reading 'Orbital', so your review was very helpful. If you would like a complimentary copy of my short story, The Clock Winder, I'd be more than happy to post you a copy.


message 2: by Iain

Iain Tom wrote: "Hi Iain, thank you for accepting my friend request! Your book, Collected Sketches, looks intriguing! I put it in my “to read” category and look forward to reading it!" Thanks Tom, and thanks for the request to connect. 'Collected Sketches' seems so long ago now! Hope you enjoy and are maybe encouraged to seek out my longer fiction novels too. Best wishes, Iain


message 1: by Tom

Tom Cola Hi Iain, thank you for accepting my friend request! Your book, Collected Sketches, looks intriguing! I put it in my “to read” category and look forward to reading it!


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