Playing Harry

by Nick Wastnage

Giant international corporations stoop to murder. The CIA and MI6 sanction illegal, immoral activity. People die. Harry Fingle–an investigative journalist, searching for his brother’s killer–becomes a pawn in a real-life game of chess played out by the security services. He’s gagged to stop him publishing, an assassin is briefed to kill him, and his ex-lover is stabbed.

284 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

I’m an optimist.

I spend most of my time writing and do it because I like it and hope it will please – but I don't try to please everyone. When I’m not writing, I look after my garden, cook, and spend time with friends and family. I enjoy music, movies, and the theatre. I read a great deal and watch some TV. In my life, I’ve experienced a few death-defying moments, achievements, failures, and near bankruptcy. I’ve enjoyed much personal happiness and been touched by tragedy. I thrive on adversity – thinking that where one door closes, another opens. I’m sanguine about life and don't see my past as special; just stuff I’ve been through. I work hard to use my life experiences and understanding of people to make my books realistic, compelling, and as good as I can get them. Most of all I want the reader to enjoy them.

I’ve written eight books under my name, my most recent work is I would have stayed. I’ve written six crime novels under the name of Mathew N Baker.

But I remain an optimist, a progressive, and have confidence in our ability to strive for a better world. It’s a hell of a lot improved from when I was born.

Reviews

[Katy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I edited this book and I really liked it. This is book 1 in the Harry Fingle Collection, followed by Assassination Continuum

[Arlena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Author: Nick Wastnage
Published By: Smashwords
Age Recommend: Adult
Reviewed By: Arlena Dean
Raven Rating: 5

Review:

"Playing Harrying" by Nick Wastnage was indeed at good mystery read. I was kept seating on the edge of my seat...quickly turning the ages until I was finished with this wonderful read. Be ready for a action packed read that will have you waiting for the next twist and turn because there will be many for "Playing Harry." Being a senior journalist working for 'The Morning Times was what Harry loved. However, problems came.... and he had been found not guilty of a trumped- up charge...and that is how this story starts. The author was able to keep the reader very interested in what was going on....the death of his brother...sister-in-law... all comes together in a violent international conspiracy that will only leave you saying WoW!

The characters were simply off the chart....good.....here are a few...Harry Fingle, Philip Stacey, Amie Lue, Richard Morecombe, Kate Fisher, Gary Lester, Jimmy, Ed James, Alex Goad, Clair & Joe Fingle, John Edwards, Dave, Jackie, Boris, Natasha, Scott Reynolds, Paul Thompson, Jill Fellows, Sheila Robinson, Mirman Rodriquez and I am sure I have left out someone. All of these characters had their certain amount of flavor(even the bad) that truly added a plus to this excellent read to find out how. Now to find out more you will simply have to pick up "Playing Harry" to find out.

If you are in for a good mystery with corruption, conspiracy, drugs, lost love, grief and more.... you are at the right place for "Playing Harry" and I would recommend this novel as a excellent read for you.

[Dale Ibitz · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a complex novel with a lot of players and a lot of moving pieces. This is a the type of novel that's difficult to write really well. The characters themselves are portrayed well, their motivations and emotions are clear and understandable.

I had a hard time getting into the story because it flashed quickly between points of view, and it took me a while to put the pieces together to figure out where the story was going. Nick himself is portrayed as kind of a dick, and the fact that he's been through a good amount of crap, doesn't make him any less of a dick in the way he handled the situation...especially to the ex-girlfriend. Granted, at the end he recognizes that he's been a dick, but I went through the whole story not really liking Harry all that much.

In fact, as well as the characters were portrayed, I really didn't feel much attachment to them.

The dialogue didn't flow well for me. Most of the speech sounded unnatural and robotic and extremely formal.

The biggest draw back for me is that the characters' movements were diagrammed to the point where there movements started appearing mechanical. It was really distracting.

I think I spent part of the time being confused, part of the time being annoyed, and part of the time being bored by this one.

[Jess Mountifield · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was given this book free in return for a review.

This kind of book is not something I normally read but it had my attention right from the beginning. The action started on the first page and never really stopped and I never wanted to put the book down. The characters were great and had so many layers. I have to admit I found it a little odd that so many people seemed to work for some government or another but as this isn't my usual sort of read I can't say if that's normal or not.

I didn't see every little twist and turn coming and found myself holding my breath when characters lives were in danger so the suspense side of things definitely worked!

The only slight niggle I had was the slightly dual ending aspect of the book. The love interest side of things took quite a large percentage of the book to resolve after all the action had finished. I'd have liked the two to have coincided a bit more to keep the action going more towards the ending.