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The Ringer
For small time Glasgow drug dealer, Stauner, life is sweet when he meets Monique. With free board and an unpaid servant at his beck and call, the daily trip to the bookies is his toughest chore. It could all be too good to be true, but the misogynist Stauner stupidly believes it's his due. When the wide boy's deluded state persuades him that Monique should steal from night-club boss Davie Geddes, however, Stauner's arrogance gets the better of him. Soon his cloak of small-minded bigotry is stripped from him and he's forced to pay for the grievous misdeeds of his past.
The Ringer is a cautionary tale of revenge, enacted upon the most unsavoury of characters. Told in the raw Scots tongue, and equally unflinching language, the lowlifes of Scotland's second city have never looked so low.
The Ringer is a cautionary tale of revenge, enacted upon the most unsavoury of characters. Told in the raw Scots tongue, and equally unflinching language, the lowlifes of Scotland's second city have never looked so low.
73 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 5, 2013
20 people want to read
About the author
Tony Black
77 books115 followersTony Black is the author of more than 20 books, most recently Her Cold Eyes. He has been nominated for eight CWA Daggers and was runner up in The Guardian's Not the Booker prize for The Last Tiger.
He has written three crime series, a number of crime novellas and two collections of short stories. His acclaimed author interviews series was collected under the title, Hard Truths.
His novella, The Ringer, was adapted for the stage and the Ayr Gaiety performance can be found on YouTube.
A former Young Journalist of the Year, he still writes for the press regularly.
For more information, and the latest news visit his website at: www.tonyblack.net or his blog: www.pulppusher.blogspot.com or find him on Facebook, Twitter or Linked-In.
He has written three crime series, a number of crime novellas and two collections of short stories. His acclaimed author interviews series was collected under the title, Hard Truths.
His novella, The Ringer, was adapted for the stage and the Ayr Gaiety performance can be found on YouTube.
A former Young Journalist of the Year, he still writes for the press regularly.
For more information, and the latest news visit his website at: www.tonyblack.net or his blog: www.pulppusher.blogspot.com or find him on Facebook, Twitter or Linked-In.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 8, 2013
Stauner, low life drug dealer and leech on society, is a man with a dark past that's about to catch up with him...
If you're familiar at all with Tony Black's work you'll enjoy this novella. It's Stauner himself who tells the story, he's thoroughly unpleasant, I found it hard to find a single redeeming feature within him. He treats everyone around him with utter disdain, even going so far to address the women he meets as 'it', he's utterly self obsessed and sexist. His job? Drug dealer. It's this business and his behavioural traist that put Stauner into conflict with the other bad guy - local crime boss Geddes, who catches him dealing drugs in his club, which provides Stauner a good shoeing and a grudge.
But once the ladies man meets Monique things seems to be heading in the right direction, the pair hatch a plan to start a new life and take a big pop at Geddes. That is until Jonesy turns up, someone from his past Stauner has tried to bury in the deepest of holes.
I thoroughly enjoyed The Ringer, as good as anything Black has previously written. It's bleak, brutal and the action cracks along. Five stars.
If you're familiar at all with Tony Black's work you'll enjoy this novella. It's Stauner himself who tells the story, he's thoroughly unpleasant, I found it hard to find a single redeeming feature within him. He treats everyone around him with utter disdain, even going so far to address the women he meets as 'it', he's utterly self obsessed and sexist. His job? Drug dealer. It's this business and his behavioural traist that put Stauner into conflict with the other bad guy - local crime boss Geddes, who catches him dealing drugs in his club, which provides Stauner a good shoeing and a grudge.
But once the ladies man meets Monique things seems to be heading in the right direction, the pair hatch a plan to start a new life and take a big pop at Geddes. That is until Jonesy turns up, someone from his past Stauner has tried to bury in the deepest of holes.
I thoroughly enjoyed The Ringer, as good as anything Black has previously written. It's bleak, brutal and the action cracks along. Five stars.
December 15, 2013
Tony Black is one of the best writing today. Gus Dury, Rob Brennan, or any of the rest of his colorful characters are sure to blow you away. Definitely one of the finest writers around. If you enjoy the works of Allan Guthrie or Ray Banks, you must read Tony Black. You have no idea what you are missing.
August 12, 2023
Not my cup of tea. I’m scottish and even I struggled to understand the language used.
July 20, 2015
When low level Glasgow drug dealer Stauner sees an opportunity to rip off the Boneyard nightclub owner Davie Geddes he jumps at the chance. But after getting friendly with one of the bar staff Monique, the arrogant Stauner suddenly becomes haunted by faces from his disturbed past. For someone who thinks he knows all the angles and how to play them this is a real shock to his system. Author Tony Black delivers a powerful, dramatic and unsettling story filled with black humour and dark imagination that is compulsive reading. To summarise The Ringer is a truly classic modern noir tale best savoured late at night with a strong drink and a good supply of cigarettes.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews