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John Bowie

Goodreads Author

Born

in Northumberland, The United Kingdom

Website

https://author.johnbowie.co.uk/

Twitter

johnbowie

Genre

Fiction, Poetry, Contemporary

Influences

Charles Bukowski, Paul Auster, Graham Greene, J G Ballard, James Salli ...more

Member Since

June 2014

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/johnbowie

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John Bowie was born in Northumberland, Northern England.

He has published poems, novels and short stories. He studied in Salford, Greater Manchester in the 1990s. He lives in Bristol, U.K.

John is the founder and editor-in-chief of Bristol Noir.

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Combine Editions
John Bowie’s books

Average rating: 3.92 · 227 ratings · 86 reviews · 14 distinct works • Similar authors

	Walking Towards the Noise 3.34 avg rating — 62 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Untethered (Black Viking #1) 4.50 avg rating — 22 ratings — published 2017 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Transference: Love + Hate in Rain City (Black Viking #2) 4.24 avg rating — 21 ratings — published 2020 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Weston-super-Nightmare 4.39 avg rating — 18 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Dead Birds & Sinking Ships 4.53 avg rating — 15 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Untethered (Black Viking, #1) 3.88 avg rating — 17 ratings — published 2018	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	TAINTED HEARTS & DIRTY HELLHOUNDS: Bristol Noir Anthology 1 (Bristol Noir: Anthologies) by John Bowie (Goodreads Author) (Editor), Alpheus Williams, Andrew Davie (Goodreads Author) 4.33 avg rating — 15 ratings — published 2021 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Tears of Love, Smiles of Indifference 3.06 avg rating — 17 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	SAVAGE MINDS & RAGING BULLS: Bristol Noir Anthology 2 (Bristol Noir: Anthologies) by John Bowie (Goodreads Author) (Editor), M.E. Proctor (Goodreads Author), Mark Atley 3.67 avg rating — 12 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Viking: [ The Jungle Turned Black ] 4.83 avg rating — 6 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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466 posts
John Bowie's Blog

To Avoid the Near Occasion of Sin By Emily J. Edwards

The humidity of the afternoon broke as the sun went down, hidden behind clouds that brought an hour-long torrential downpour. Now the stools on the patio were sopping wet, but no one seemed to mind. The lake-side bar was hopping– the clientele ranging from college kids out on summer break to retirees lobstered from a day of drinking on the boats they’d dreamed of one day owning– and Ksiądz Przemys Read more of this blog post »

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Published on November 26, 2025 08:51

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Series by John Bowie

Black Viking (2 books)
by

John Bowie (Goodreads Author)

4.37 avg rating — 43 ratings

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John Bowie is currently reading

Scorched (The Juniper Series)

by Ross Jeffery (Goodreads Author)

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Jan 12, 2023 08:31AM

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A Kestrel for a Knave

by Barry Hines

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Oct 07, 2022 09:13AM

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Owls of the Eastern Ice: The Quest to Find and Save the World's Largest Owl

by Jonathan C. Slaght (Goodreads Author)

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Mar 04, 2022 02:59PM

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John Bowie wrote a new blog post To Avoid the Near Occasion of Sin By Emily J. Edwards The humidity of the afternoon broke as the sun went down, hidden behind clouds that brought an hour-long torrential downpour. Now the stools on the pa Read more of this blog post »
Nov 27, 2025 04:51AM · like

More of John's books…

Quotes by John Bowie (?)

“I open the toilet door and step out, my internal fire re-stoked, ready to face my demons, fight if need be and win. I’m raging, focused like a jungle warrior after his second bowl of tiger-cock soup.”
― John Bowie, Untethered

tags: bristol, bristol-noir, crime-fiction, crime-noir, dirty-realism, john-bowie, manchester, noir, untethered

3 likes

“The bed lets out a slight gasp of air from the mattress like an old cat fart, but it looks like she’s too caught up in herself to notice.”
― John Bowie, Untethered

tags: bristol, bristol-noir, crime-fiction, crime-noir, dirty-realism, manchester, noir, thrller

3 likes

“Like a piss-soaked butterfly emerging from a cocoon, I push on over the bridge feeling like I’m establishing my transformation into my true self.”
― John Bowie, Untethered

tags: bristol, bristolnoir, clubbing, john-bowie, manchester, untethered-quote

2 likes

See all John Bowie's quotes »

John’s Quotes

“We were all puppets of someone in a self-perpetuating circle of pollutants, violence and hedonistic escapism.”
― John Bowie, Untethered

tags: bristol, bristol-noir, clubbing, crime-fiction, john-bowie, manchester, noir, untethered

1 likes

“And like a fool, here I am again, lapping at the beast’s teats like a true fool, laying my head in the lion’s mouth as I hit it on the arse with a big stick.”
― John Bowie, Untethered

tags: bristol, crime-fiction, crime-noir, john-bowie, manchester, untethered

0 likes

“Like a piss-soaked butterfly emerging from a cocoon, I push on over the bridge feeling like I’m establishing my transformation into my true self.”
― John Bowie, Untethered

tags: bristol, bristolnoir, clubbing, john-bowie, manchester, untethered-quote

2 likes

tags: bristol, bristol-noir, crime-fiction, crime-noir, dirty-realism, john-bowie, manchester, noir, untethered

3 likes

“The room buzzes around us but we’re fixed on each other, engaged in a battle of who can deprecate me more. She obviously doesn’t believe such a man can exist and keeps at it, prodding and goading me like a fisherman harpooning an already beached whale.”
― John Bowie, Untethered

tags: bristol, bristol-noir, brit-noir, crime-fiction, crime-noir, dirty-realism, hard-boiled, john-bowie, manchester, untethered

1 likes

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Goodreads Librarians Group — 306941 members — last activity 0 minutes ago
Goodreads Librarians are volunteers who help ensure the accuracy of information about books and authors in the Goodreads' catalog. The Goodreads Libra ...more

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Hard Boiled detective novels, noir, and great crime novels (old and new)

English Translations of Scandinavian/Nordic Mysteries & Thrillers — 2090 members — last activity 5 hours, 7 min ago
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Bukowski — 642 members — last activity Jul 07, 2025 08:19AM
This is a group for fans of the dirty old man. The words he wrote kept him from total madness.

Indie Authors Monthly Magazine For Authors and Readers — 5545 members — last activity 15 hours, 38 min ago
This Is A Group for Readers,Writers and Reviewers of All Different Genres. Let US Take Your Book To New Heights! Our Goals Are To Help Promote Authors ...more

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This Group is only for authors who are looking for reviews and Reviewers who love to read books and share their reviews.

World Mysteries and Thrillers — 2162 members — last activity Jan 06, 2026 12:15PM
The place to be if you love mysteries with an 'international' flavor. Diverse authors, here: Jo Nesbo, Carmen Amato, Henry Chang, Arnaldur Indri ...more