The Debt

by Simon Kernick, Burn Gorman (Narrator)

A BMW Audiobook.

“The Debt” is a gripping tale about a good-hearted former boxer who is caught untangling the troublesome webs of others. In this podcast, author Simon Kernick offers his personal techniques for short story writing, including plot pacing and making every word count.

Time 00.36.28

Genres: Thriller, Crime, Short Stories, Ebooks, Fiction, Mystery, Amazon

7 pages, Audiobook

First published March 23, 2006

About the author

Simon Kernick (born 1966 in Slough, Berkshire) is a British thriller/crime writer now living in Oxfordshire with his wife and two daughters. He attended Gillotts School, a comprehensive in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire. Whilst he was a student his jobs included fruitpicker and Christmas-tree uprooter. He graduated from Brighton Polytechnic in 1991 with a degree in humanities. Kernick had a passion for crime fiction writing from a young age and produced many short stories during his time at polytechnic. After graduating Kernick joined MMT Computing in London in early 1992, where a relative was the Chairman and Managing Director. Kernick was a key member of the sales team and was very highly regarded. However, he left the company after 4 years in the hope of trying to secure a publishing deal. Despite interest from a number of publishers Kernick was unable to secure a deal, so he joined the sales force of the specialist IT and Business Consultancy Metaskil plc in Aldermaston, Berkshire in 1998 where he remained until he secured his first book deal (The Business of Dying) in September 2001. His novel Relentless was recommended on Richard & Judy's Summer book club 2007. It was the 8th best-selling paperback, and the best-selling thriller in the UK in the same year

Reviews

[Sean Peters (A Good Thriller) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay, it is not often I finish a book in one evening !

Finished Eyeshot by Taylor Adams lunch time, started The Debt early evening, finished late evening.

Thank you to Simon Kernick for making this available free for download, a very short light easy read.

Simon was asked by BMW to write a short story to promote a new car, which came out in 2012, with short story was to help promote the car, and went in the BMW Magazine.

Just a short easy read in the same vain as Simon Kernick early books.

Maybe an hours read the most, but enjoyable.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've not read anything by this author before but I will definitely pick up more of Kernick's books to read!

[Siobhan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Debt was an extremely quick read, but there was plenty packed into the pages and that guaranteed I was happy to devour this one in no time at all. There were some elements in this one that were predictable, some details that were obvious from early on, but it was not enough to take away from the story. It kept me turning the pages, ensuring I was hooked, and I was more than willing to devour the story.

As I’ve only read short stories from Simon Kernick thus far, this one has worked to ensure I want to see what the author can offer with a full-length novel.

[Bücherhörnchen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a cute little Story about a BMW.

Honestly it was written for BMW and that's quite obvious. It was about a former boxer (?) whose cousin has a debt with some bad guys. So he wants to settle this, because they threatten his aunt. He ends up loosing his beloved car, but fear not, friends! He meets the same criminal only a few hours later, and sees his chance to get his baby back!

It was nice to read, sometimes funny, but nothing special.

[Gary · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very quick read by Simon Kernick.
I know it was a giveaway but the novel is too short to give it any credit.

Synopsis:
‘A debt is a debt is a debt.’

It’s not your debt. It’s your cousin’s. And he’s done a runner.

So now the local gangland bosses have come to you for repayment. They aren’t taking 'no' for an answer, but they will take your fingers - one by one - if you don’t get hold of the money. Very soon.

You’ve got to think fast. You’ve got to act fast. And then you’ll have to get out of here – as fast as you can.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

For those who have never read any of Simon Kernick's work this short story is an ideal introduction to his skills as a writer. As it is a short story you don't get too much history or in depth characterisation of the lead players but there is enough to leave you wanting to know more of them and their future

[Vicii · Rating 3 out of 5]

What can I say, a nice quick read that is in the style that you expect from Simon Kernick.

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simon Kernick is a fantastic writer. His novels, long or short, are always brilliant and I can't get enough of them. As ever this was a great short story xx

[David Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this was a free short story on Amazon, and is a fairly lightweight bit of fun.

I got the impression that Simon Kernick wrote this mainly for the enjoyment of coming up with entertaining nicknames for all the characters.

And of course the main character is the BMW that he was asked to write the story to promote...!

[Michael burton · Rating 2 out of 5]

Please keep to novels

Not usual high standard story


Keep to novel s where the story can be developed and hold the readers attention.

[Anita Hargreaves · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short

A great short story, read in less than 30 minutes so ideal for reading travelling to work. This would be great if extended.

[Sarah Baines · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a brilliant short story and well worth a read especially for anyone who has never read Simon Kernick before.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fabulous narrator. Would have worked better as a longer story, though. Not quite enough character development, even for a short story.

[Peter]

OK

[David Brown · Rating 1 out of 5]

Pfft

Specially written for new BMW in their magazine. Should never have made it out of the magazine. Dont bother with it.

[Jörg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eine kurze aber spannende Geschichte, hat mir sehr gefallen

[Simon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a cracking short story that was part of a BMW promo. Of the commissioned stories which had to feature a BMW car, this was by far the best. A very entertaining gangster story.

[Val · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short story
A kind hearted boxer becomes tangled in others games. A debt is a debt though and when your cousin goes missing the local gangland villains still need payment.

[Sharon Coles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Riveting

Really enjoyable. Will definitely be reading more books by Simon Kernick. Good humour and interesting characters. Well written with hooks to keep the pages turning 5/5

[Lana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very quick read but brilliant

Got this book on the recommendation of a friend I'm so glad I did gripping from start to finish, very quick little read but absolutely brilliant.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent short story. Won't take long to read it so have something else available.

[Anirudh Mannattil · Rating 2 out of 5]

55/100

Nothing out of the box. Just some action junk and some fun.

[David SMITH · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very good read

[Barry Burn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good yarn

This first appeared as a commission piece for BMW along with other stories. A simple tale and quick to read. Fast-paced and action packed. Worth a read.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was not the first Simon Kernick book I read, recently I read his Wrong Time Wrong Place also a short story. Normally Simon Kernick's stories are thrilling and hold the suspense until the final page, this is what I was expecting from this short story.

The story is only 32 pages long, and I know that hardly gives him chance to introduce the characters but I didn't feel this was up to the same quality Wrong Time, Wrong Place a short story that I enjoyed. This could be because this was originally written as an advertisement for BMW.

After reading many reviews on the book I read it with an open mind, advertising a car would have been something that I wouldn't choose to read, however I feel that although the car and the model is mentioned a few times in the book it is no where near a 'hard sell'.

The story follows a guy who is left with a huge debt by his cousin who has done a runner, he is left to pick up the peices as he doesn't want it worrying his aunt. Parts of the story I feel are a little far fetched, however it passed 20 minutes.

Normally I either love a story or do not enjoy it at all, this one left me feeling in different. I am glad that this was not the first book I have read by Simon Kernick or I may have not been returning to his books.

[Rainer Lakmann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eine Kurzgeschichte von Simon Kernick, die er vor einigen Jahren als Auftragsarbeit für BMW verfasst hatte. Daher nicht verwunderlich, dass ein nagelneuer 7er BMW die Hauptrolle spielt. Protagonist ist ein Boxer und Türsteher, der gezwungen wird, seinen neuen und über alles geliebten BMW an einen Kredithai abzugeben, um die Schulden seines Cousins zu begleichen.

Doch als dieser Kredithai den BMW an einen Politiker weiterreicht, damit dieser damit eine Spitztour mit einer slowakischen Prostituierten machen kann, ist der Spaß vorbei - der Boxer will unbedingt seinen "Augenstern" wieder haben.

Diese Kurzgeschichte ist etwas zu lieblos herunterschrieben worden; es fehlt die Raffinesse - daher nur 3 von 5 Sternen ***

[Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Never read anything by this author before. Just picked it because it was a freebie from Amazon that I picked up a while ago, and as is usual at this tie of year I was trying to get to my reading target for the year so was deliberately choosing short books to read. That said though I did find it to be an enjoyable read and he did rack up the tension in this story very well in only a very few pages. I really enjoyed this story and might be tempted to pick up something by this author again in the future.

[Toni Osborne · Rating 2 out of 5]

There is no doubt Simon Kernick is one of my favourite authors so when he offered a free download of this short story I jumped at the occasion. I admit I am not normally a fan of short stories I usually find them frustrating, just as I become totally absorbed into the drama it ends abruptly and leaves me with that empty feeling and wanting more. I realize this is just a teaser to attract readers to his other well developed, suspenseful and exciting novels.

[Neil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite this being a short work, originally intended for publication in a magazine, I really enjoyed it. The plot was believable and the characters also came across as lifelike. Only two downsides for me, the ending was a bit predictable and I would have preferred this to have been a full length book. The good news is that there are other works by this author available so I shall have to try and dig some out

[Kitty O'Day · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this short story. Obviously written as a promo piece for BMW, but you can forgive that. A bit of an over-egged story line but nothing offensive.
The style of writing is easy to follow but gripping enough to want to follow the story to the end. The version I read also included the first chapter of another of his books, which I began to get into so I may just start reading that to.
A good put up and put down book.