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Harry McCoy #1
Enero sangriento: Harry McCoy 1
Glasgow, enero de 1973. Cuando un joven, casi un adolescente, dispara a una chica en mitad de una céntrica calle y después se suicida, el detective McCoy tiene la convicción de que no se trata de un acto de violencia aislado. Mientras lidia con un compañero novato, McCoy utiliza sus contactos para acercarse a la familia más rica de Glasgow, los Dunlop, pues allí le llevan sus pesquisas. En el mundo de los Dunlop, hay drogas, sexo, incesto; cada infame deseo encuentra satisfacción, a expensas de los escalafones más bajos de la sociedad, que incluyen al que fuera el mejor amigo de McCoy en el orfanato, el narcotraficante Stevie Cooper. La juventud de Harry McCoy, su cabezonería, y su temeridad, que le lleva constantemente a cruzar la raya de la legalidad, son las únicas armas con las que cuenta para resolver su primer caso.
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First published December 28, 2017
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About the author
Alan Parks
10 books111 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
Alan Parks has worked in the music industry for over twenty years. His debut novel Bloody January was one of the top crime debuts of 2018 and was shortlisted for the prestigious international crime prize the Grand Prix de Littérature Policière. He lives and works in Glasgow
Alan Parks has worked in the music industry for over twenty years. His debut novel Bloody January was one of the top crime debuts of 2018 and was shortlisted for the prestigious international crime prize the Grand Prix de Littérature Policière. He lives and works in Glasgow
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 525 reviews
December 4, 2017
**4.5 STARS**
I seem to be saying this a lot just recently, but for fear of repeating myself, I have to say what an excellent debut novel this is! Alan Parks brings 70's Glasgow brilliantly to life, with this raw and gritty Scottish crime novel.
It's January 1973, it's snowing, it's freezing cold, but it's not going to keep this particular killer from increasing the body count.
A young man shoots a young woman dead in a busy Glasgow street, he makes no attempt to conceal what he's done, on the contrary, with a smile on his face he turns the gun on himself and commits suicide. Detective Harry McCoy is convinced it wasn't a random act of violence, and he guessed correctly, so, with his new partner Wattie, he begins an investigation that will take him from the brothels in the less salubrious areas of this city to a secret society run by one of the wealthiest families in Glasgow.
McCoy is your archetypal flawed Detective, he has many issues, and he's far from squeaky clean. He has friends in the underworld, people with power and control, these are real old school hard men, gangsters, they're sadistic, and nobody, not even McCoy, will stop them from achieving their aims.
Oh my! This was such a great read. The author has captured 70's Glasgow perfectly with a great sense of time and place. The dark, grim winter weather only adds to the bleak oppressive atmosphere. This was a very graphic novel - there are some particularly vicious characters leading to some brutal scenes, but this is how it was during that particular period, with its proliferation of gangsters, cops taking back handers, and hard drugs becoming more readily available, and our protagonist is no stranger to any of these! Excellent!
Thank you to Netgalley and Canongate Books for my ARC. I have given an honest review in exchange.
I seem to be saying this a lot just recently, but for fear of repeating myself, I have to say what an excellent debut novel this is! Alan Parks brings 70's Glasgow brilliantly to life, with this raw and gritty Scottish crime novel.
It's January 1973, it's snowing, it's freezing cold, but it's not going to keep this particular killer from increasing the body count.
A young man shoots a young woman dead in a busy Glasgow street, he makes no attempt to conceal what he's done, on the contrary, with a smile on his face he turns the gun on himself and commits suicide. Detective Harry McCoy is convinced it wasn't a random act of violence, and he guessed correctly, so, with his new partner Wattie, he begins an investigation that will take him from the brothels in the less salubrious areas of this city to a secret society run by one of the wealthiest families in Glasgow.
McCoy is your archetypal flawed Detective, he has many issues, and he's far from squeaky clean. He has friends in the underworld, people with power and control, these are real old school hard men, gangsters, they're sadistic, and nobody, not even McCoy, will stop them from achieving their aims.
Oh my! This was such a great read. The author has captured 70's Glasgow perfectly with a great sense of time and place. The dark, grim winter weather only adds to the bleak oppressive atmosphere. This was a very graphic novel - there are some particularly vicious characters leading to some brutal scenes, but this is how it was during that particular period, with its proliferation of gangsters, cops taking back handers, and hard drugs becoming more readily available, and our protagonist is no stranger to any of these! Excellent!
Thank you to Netgalley and Canongate Books for my ARC. I have given an honest review in exchange.
December 1, 2017
Absolutely Brilliant! This bleak and atmospheric debut Scottish Noir places Alan Parks firmly in the top league of crime writers. It is set in a 1970s Glasgow of hard men, crime gangsters and corrupt cops, with all the plethora of the cruelty and brutality of the time. It is a dark tale where there could never be enough snow to cover the filth, vice, the rising body count, the misogyny and the beginnings of the toll that heroin starts to take on the people of Glasgow. Detective Harry McCoy finds himself in Barlinnie to be informed of the planned killing of a waitress, Lorna, who works at an upmarket restaurant. He manages to locate the girl, only to see her shot in front of him by a teenage boy who proceeds to turn the gun on himself. The informant is found with his tongue cut off and his throat slit in the showers of Barlinnie and nobody is talking.
Under an intense media focus, McCoy and his rookie partner, Wattie, haunt the streets of Glasgow and its criminal underbelly to try and get a handle on what happened and why. McCoy is a deeply flawed individual, with a penchant for drugs, prostitutes, drink and a close relationship with Stevie Cooper, a brutal crime boss with his fingers in many pies from drugs and gambling to prostitution. We slowly learn that Stevie protected Harry by taking brutal beatings in a abusive Catholic boys home. Their close shared past makes Harry Stevie's man, although he tries to temper the out of control Stevie when he can. Harry has put himself out to speak for the homeless 'the jakies' and earned their eternal gratitude. The case leads Harry to the powerful, ruthless and untouchable Dunlop family who know no boundaries when it comes to assuaging their deviant sexual proclivities. Harry is repeatedly warned to keep away from them. As Harry endures beating after beating, his heart and personal morality will not allow him to give up on trying to get some form of justice for the rising tide of the dead. Even if he has to go a roundabout, off the wall, way of achieving this by using his wit and cunning.
I sincerely hope that this is going to pan out into a series, I want the return of Harry McCoy. Alan Parks gives us the perfect antihero for the time and the place in Harry. Parks serves up an authentic picture of Glasgow, its people, the no go council estates, the culture, the poverty, the criminal rivalries, and the prejudice and attitudes of the period. Harry is a broken man, with a past he is haunted by, and a family he has lost. It is little wonder that he seeks the solace of drugs and drink to keep the demons away. Those looking for a moral protagonist should avoid this novel. However, if you are a crime noir aficionado, then this is a must read. A superb book that deserves to do well and which I cannot recommend highly enough. Many thanks to Canongate for an ARC.
Under an intense media focus, McCoy and his rookie partner, Wattie, haunt the streets of Glasgow and its criminal underbelly to try and get a handle on what happened and why. McCoy is a deeply flawed individual, with a penchant for drugs, prostitutes, drink and a close relationship with Stevie Cooper, a brutal crime boss with his fingers in many pies from drugs and gambling to prostitution. We slowly learn that Stevie protected Harry by taking brutal beatings in a abusive Catholic boys home. Their close shared past makes Harry Stevie's man, although he tries to temper the out of control Stevie when he can. Harry has put himself out to speak for the homeless 'the jakies' and earned their eternal gratitude. The case leads Harry to the powerful, ruthless and untouchable Dunlop family who know no boundaries when it comes to assuaging their deviant sexual proclivities. Harry is repeatedly warned to keep away from them. As Harry endures beating after beating, his heart and personal morality will not allow him to give up on trying to get some form of justice for the rising tide of the dead. Even if he has to go a roundabout, off the wall, way of achieving this by using his wit and cunning.
I sincerely hope that this is going to pan out into a series, I want the return of Harry McCoy. Alan Parks gives us the perfect antihero for the time and the place in Harry. Parks serves up an authentic picture of Glasgow, its people, the no go council estates, the culture, the poverty, the criminal rivalries, and the prejudice and attitudes of the period. Harry is a broken man, with a past he is haunted by, and a family he has lost. It is little wonder that he seeks the solace of drugs and drink to keep the demons away. Those looking for a moral protagonist should avoid this novel. However, if you are a crime noir aficionado, then this is a must read. A superb book that deserves to do well and which I cannot recommend highly enough. Many thanks to Canongate for an ARC.
December 27, 2021
Hard-boiled escocés.
Policía listillo que se encuentra en medio de una investigación por asesinato. La trama se complica a medida que van apareciendo los cadáveres y los poderosos.
Es el primer libro de la saga de Harry McCoy. El personaje en sí mismo, flojo. Tampoco es para flipar, aunque parece que es la intención del escritor ya que la novela es bastante deprimente. Prostitutas, yonquis, antros, pubs de mala muerte, depravados sexuales, corrupción, etc y un Glasgow decepcionante. Si Alan Parks pretendía que no tuviera ganas de ir a Glasgow, lo ha conseguido. Plantea una ciudad sin alma, sucia, sin encanto, llena de mala gente, nieve sucia, frío húmedo y pies congelados. Tal vez era la intención para ponernos en situación.
La trama tampoco es excepcional. El tema está muy visto. Al principio, parece una cosa y después se va desinflando cuando empiezas a ver por dónde va la historia. En cuanto salen los Dunlop, se ve perfectamente de qué va todo y ya intuyes una trama muy vista y un final predecible. Esperas que haya algún giro y que te sorprenda, pero no pasa nada y pasa lo de siempre. Está bien y es entretenida, pero poco más.
Harry McCoy tampoco es muy listo y ni siquiera divertido. Las piezas del puzzle le van surgiendo entre cerveza y cerveza sin que él aporte mucho más que su impertinencia y mal gusto. De acuerdo, su infancia no ha sido fácil, pero no es excusa para todo.
Me ha gustado más el personaje de Steve Cooper, el gángster violento y despiadado que controla el mercado de la prostitución y las drogas. Es mucho más coherente con su situación. McCoy no sabe ser policía ni ser delincuente. Pretende ser policía, pero se mueve entre los dos mundos sin decidirse por ninguno y se pasa todo el día bebiendo en sucios antros.
Lectura entretenida.
--------------------------
Scottish hard-boiled.
Smart cop who finds himself in the middle of a murder investigation. The plot thickens as the bodies and the powerful appear.
It is the first book in the Harry McCoy saga. The character itself is weak. It's nothing to freak out about either, although that seems to be the writer's intention as the novel is quite depressing. Prostitutes, junkies, dens, sleazy pubs, sexual depravity, corruption, etc. and a disappointing Glasgow. If Alan Parks intended to make me not want to go to Glasgow, he has succeeded. He depicts a soulless, dirty, charmless city, full of bad people, dirty snow, wet cold and freezing feet. Perhaps it was intended to put us in the right frame of mind.
The plot is not exceptional either. The subject matter is well-worn. At the beginning, it seems something and then it starts to deflate as you start to see where the story is going. As soon as the Dunlops come out, you can see what it's all about and you already sense a very familiar plot and a predictable ending. You're hoping for a twist and a surprise, but nothing happens and it's business as usual. It's good and entertaining, but little else.
Harry McCoy isn't very clever or even funny either. The pieces of the puzzle come to him between beers without him contributing much more than his impertinence and bad manners. Granted, his childhood hasn't been easy, but that's no excuse for everything.
I liked the character of Steve Cooper better, the violent and ruthless gangster who controls the prostitution and drug market. He is much more coherent with his situation. McCoy doesn't know how to be a cop and he doesn't know how to be a criminal. He pretends to be a cop, but he moves between the two worlds without deciding on either and spends all day drinking in filthy dens.
An entertaining reading.
Policía listillo que se encuentra en medio de una investigación por asesinato. La trama se complica a medida que van apareciendo los cadáveres y los poderosos.
Es el primer libro de la saga de Harry McCoy. El personaje en sí mismo, flojo. Tampoco es para flipar, aunque parece que es la intención del escritor ya que la novela es bastante deprimente. Prostitutas, yonquis, antros, pubs de mala muerte, depravados sexuales, corrupción, etc y un Glasgow decepcionante. Si Alan Parks pretendía que no tuviera ganas de ir a Glasgow, lo ha conseguido. Plantea una ciudad sin alma, sucia, sin encanto, llena de mala gente, nieve sucia, frío húmedo y pies congelados. Tal vez era la intención para ponernos en situación.
La trama tampoco es excepcional. El tema está muy visto. Al principio, parece una cosa y después se va desinflando cuando empiezas a ver por dónde va la historia. En cuanto salen los Dunlop, se ve perfectamente de qué va todo y ya intuyes una trama muy vista y un final predecible. Esperas que haya algún giro y que te sorprenda, pero no pasa nada y pasa lo de siempre. Está bien y es entretenida, pero poco más.
Harry McCoy tampoco es muy listo y ni siquiera divertido. Las piezas del puzzle le van surgiendo entre cerveza y cerveza sin que él aporte mucho más que su impertinencia y mal gusto. De acuerdo, su infancia no ha sido fácil, pero no es excusa para todo.
Me ha gustado más el personaje de Steve Cooper, el gángster violento y despiadado que controla el mercado de la prostitución y las drogas. Es mucho más coherente con su situación. McCoy no sabe ser policía ni ser delincuente. Pretende ser policía, pero se mueve entre los dos mundos sin decidirse por ninguno y se pasa todo el día bebiendo en sucios antros.
Lectura entretenida.
--------------------------
Scottish hard-boiled.
Smart cop who finds himself in the middle of a murder investigation. The plot thickens as the bodies and the powerful appear.
It is the first book in the Harry McCoy saga. The character itself is weak. It's nothing to freak out about either, although that seems to be the writer's intention as the novel is quite depressing. Prostitutes, junkies, dens, sleazy pubs, sexual depravity, corruption, etc. and a disappointing Glasgow. If Alan Parks intended to make me not want to go to Glasgow, he has succeeded. He depicts a soulless, dirty, charmless city, full of bad people, dirty snow, wet cold and freezing feet. Perhaps it was intended to put us in the right frame of mind.
The plot is not exceptional either. The subject matter is well-worn. At the beginning, it seems something and then it starts to deflate as you start to see where the story is going. As soon as the Dunlops come out, you can see what it's all about and you already sense a very familiar plot and a predictable ending. You're hoping for a twist and a surprise, but nothing happens and it's business as usual. It's good and entertaining, but little else.
Harry McCoy isn't very clever or even funny either. The pieces of the puzzle come to him between beers without him contributing much more than his impertinence and bad manners. Granted, his childhood hasn't been easy, but that's no excuse for everything.
I liked the character of Steve Cooper better, the violent and ruthless gangster who controls the prostitution and drug market. He is much more coherent with his situation. McCoy doesn't know how to be a cop and he doesn't know how to be a criminal. He pretends to be a cop, but he moves between the two worlds without deciding on either and spends all day drinking in filthy dens.
An entertaining reading.
March 10, 2022
Brilliant
Tartan noir - absolutely. Fantastic characters especially McCoy and I now understand the backstory between Harry and gangland boss Stevie Cooper. Dark pasts for both. Gritty storyline with McCoy being up against wealth and power, Harry strays where others wouldn’t dare. Very well written, Glasgow of the 70's comes alive in front of your eyes. Plot is fast paced with never a dull moment.
Tartan noir - absolutely. Fantastic characters especially McCoy and I now understand the backstory between Harry and gangland boss Stevie Cooper. Dark pasts for both. Gritty storyline with McCoy being up against wealth and power, Harry strays where others wouldn’t dare. Very well written, Glasgow of the 70's comes alive in front of your eyes. Plot is fast paced with never a dull moment.
October 16, 2017
Detective Harry McCoy should have listened to his snitch. Now he’s sitting beside the body of a teenager who just killed himself after shooting a waitress in the middle of a busy Glasgow street. Harry doesn’t now it yet but things are about to get much worse. So much so that years from now they’ll still refer to it as Bloody January.
This is a dark police procedural that takes us back to 1973. Glasgow is a gritty, violent place with territorial crime bosses, bent cops & an established class system. There are 2 sets of rules…one for those with influence & another for those deemed disposable.
Harry falls somewhere in the middle. He’s an old school cop, struggling to adapt to changes within the department & society. While he works hard to put away the guilty, he has a soft spot for those who are down on their luck. He has his own set of rules when it comes to keeping the peace that includes a close relationship with hard man Stevie Cooper. Most of his colleagues figure Harry is in it for the perks but we come to learn it’s much more complex than that. Their history gradually unfolds as the main plot plays out & it gives us heartbreaking insight into Harry’s character.
The bodies continue to pile up over the course of a few weeks & everything seems to point toward the wealthiest family in Glasgow. Lord Dunlop is an arrogant, privileged man well known to Harry. His position comes with influence that reaches the highest levels of government & law enforcement. So it’s no surprise when Harry is duly warned: stay away from his Lordship & find another suspect.
Ah, but what fun would that be? Besides, Harry has been saddled with a shiny new partner named Wattie & someone has to teach him the ropes. And as Harry drags him down dark allies full of prostitutes, criminals & the homeless, Wattie’s eyes are well & truly opened.
I’m astonished this is a debut novel. It’s well paced with a narrative that perfectly evokes the setting. Scenes are full of the clothing, hairstyles & music of the day & that mixed with dialogue full of local vernacular leaves you in no doubt of the time or place. But just a heads up, there is plenty of violence & sexual abuse. It informs the plot lines & fits the story but some may find certain scenes upsetting.
This is a well written, atmospheric addition to the genre of tartan noir & if Harry should pop up in a book #2, I’ll be more than happy to go along for the ride.
This is a dark police procedural that takes us back to 1973. Glasgow is a gritty, violent place with territorial crime bosses, bent cops & an established class system. There are 2 sets of rules…one for those with influence & another for those deemed disposable.
Harry falls somewhere in the middle. He’s an old school cop, struggling to adapt to changes within the department & society. While he works hard to put away the guilty, he has a soft spot for those who are down on their luck. He has his own set of rules when it comes to keeping the peace that includes a close relationship with hard man Stevie Cooper. Most of his colleagues figure Harry is in it for the perks but we come to learn it’s much more complex than that. Their history gradually unfolds as the main plot plays out & it gives us heartbreaking insight into Harry’s character.
The bodies continue to pile up over the course of a few weeks & everything seems to point toward the wealthiest family in Glasgow. Lord Dunlop is an arrogant, privileged man well known to Harry. His position comes with influence that reaches the highest levels of government & law enforcement. So it’s no surprise when Harry is duly warned: stay away from his Lordship & find another suspect.
Ah, but what fun would that be? Besides, Harry has been saddled with a shiny new partner named Wattie & someone has to teach him the ropes. And as Harry drags him down dark allies full of prostitutes, criminals & the homeless, Wattie’s eyes are well & truly opened.
I’m astonished this is a debut novel. It’s well paced with a narrative that perfectly evokes the setting. Scenes are full of the clothing, hairstyles & music of the day & that mixed with dialogue full of local vernacular leaves you in no doubt of the time or place. But just a heads up, there is plenty of violence & sexual abuse. It informs the plot lines & fits the story but some may find certain scenes upsetting.
This is a well written, atmospheric addition to the genre of tartan noir & if Harry should pop up in a book #2, I’ll be more than happy to go along for the ride.
November 10, 2022
Before there was Woke.
After reading the third, fourth, and fifth books in the series, I circled back to the beginning with Bloody January. I was fortunate to locate a hardback copy through a thriftbook store as it's a keeper and will accompany the others in the line up.
I loved this and it’s my favorite of the four that I’ve read so far!
Taking place in Glasgow Scotland, it’s a seventies snapshot pre-gentrification when society’s fringes were still wild. Brutality, crime, bent cops, and vicious criminals all converge here.
Our anti-hero polis detective Harry McCoy receives more than his share of beat downs. Yet he’s back on the scene with a “Just get on with it” mentality not popular in today’s world.
In addition, colorful local slang (a favorite for me!) had me paying close attention to the wording so as not to miss key pieces of information. I appreciate an undiluted narration which was another key to my loving this book.
This is an extraordinary police series in my opinion and I highly recommend if you like gritty and original prose.
Now, I’m off to read the second in the series - the only one not read yet - and hope that the author has another in the pipes.
After reading the third, fourth, and fifth books in the series, I circled back to the beginning with Bloody January. I was fortunate to locate a hardback copy through a thriftbook store as it's a keeper and will accompany the others in the line up.
I loved this and it’s my favorite of the four that I’ve read so far!
Taking place in Glasgow Scotland, it’s a seventies snapshot pre-gentrification when society’s fringes were still wild. Brutality, crime, bent cops, and vicious criminals all converge here.
Our anti-hero polis detective Harry McCoy receives more than his share of beat downs. Yet he’s back on the scene with a “Just get on with it” mentality not popular in today’s world.
In addition, colorful local slang (a favorite for me!) had me paying close attention to the wording so as not to miss key pieces of information. I appreciate an undiluted narration which was another key to my loving this book.
This is an extraordinary police series in my opinion and I highly recommend if you like gritty and original prose.
Now, I’m off to read the second in the series - the only one not read yet - and hope that the author has another in the pipes.
October 9, 2021
From cover to cover, Alan Parks has filled his debut novel, "Bloody January," with frighteningly realistic dark crime fiction. This novel is just everything you want out of crime fiction. Yes, it's got a lot of classic noir plotlines but it feels fresh and new.
It's set in early 1970's Glasgow, which doesn't exactly sound like a tourist mecca here. Its not the Scotland of castles, lochs, and fabulous golf courses. It's a city filled not just with bars, but with slums, drug addicts, vicious crime lords, fixers, whorehouses, party girls, blackmailers, corruption, and vice. The hero of this book is a police detective who almost blew his career on a vendetta with a rich family, who grew up in an orphanage, who stayed pals with a crime lord he knew when they were little, who has a thing for a prostitute who he likes to hang out with, whose caught in a few tight spots between the hammer and the anvil.
What makes it work is the narration sounds so authentic to the area. The writing is so crisp the pages seem to turn themselves.
It's set in early 1970's Glasgow, which doesn't exactly sound like a tourist mecca here. Its not the Scotland of castles, lochs, and fabulous golf courses. It's a city filled not just with bars, but with slums, drug addicts, vicious crime lords, fixers, whorehouses, party girls, blackmailers, corruption, and vice. The hero of this book is a police detective who almost blew his career on a vendetta with a rich family, who grew up in an orphanage, who stayed pals with a crime lord he knew when they were little, who has a thing for a prostitute who he likes to hang out with, whose caught in a few tight spots between the hammer and the anvil.
What makes it work is the narration sounds so authentic to the area. The writing is so crisp the pages seem to turn themselves.
October 20, 2021
This is gritty Scottish Noir at its best. Set in 1970s Glasgow, the city is awash with violence, organised crime, prostitution, sex parties and drugs. Harry McCoy is a hard drinking, tough detective, brought up in brutal Catholic boys homes, and shares a past with one of Glasgow's toughest crime lords.
Bloody January kicks off with the shooting of a young woman and the suicide of the young man who killed her in the midst of Glasgow's commuters. Harry had been tipped off that a young woman was going to be killed and was out looking for her when he saw it happen. His investigation into her past brings him to the home of a rich and influential man, who is untouchable as far as the police are concerned. However, Harry is determined that no more young women should die.
Parks paints a grim, atmospheric picture of the streets of Glasgow in the 1970s. Particularly the seedy side of town where the homeless sleep in whatever shelter they can find and the council estates that are too unsafe for police to enter. The mood of the book is lightened somewhat by Harry's very green newbie partner who he is supposed to be instructing. An excellent start to this series.
Bloody January kicks off with the shooting of a young woman and the suicide of the young man who killed her in the midst of Glasgow's commuters. Harry had been tipped off that a young woman was going to be killed and was out looking for her when he saw it happen. His investigation into her past brings him to the home of a rich and influential man, who is untouchable as far as the police are concerned. However, Harry is determined that no more young women should die.
Parks paints a grim, atmospheric picture of the streets of Glasgow in the 1970s. Particularly the seedy side of town where the homeless sleep in whatever shelter they can find and the council estates that are too unsafe for police to enter. The mood of the book is lightened somewhat by Harry's very green newbie partner who he is supposed to be instructing. An excellent start to this series.
March 17, 2020
This is a very well written debut! Gritty, full of sexual violence, and drug abuse, so beware. Detective Harry McCoy is tough and smart, but also easily controlled by others and vulnerable to the vices of the times. His rookie partner, Watson, aka Wattie, is not easily rattled, but is sometimes dismayed at McCoy’s antics. Wattie also surprises McCoy on occasion.
I loved the chapter headings. They were consecutive dates starting on January 1, 1973. The author did a great job following that regimen from morning to night. During the first 11 days, there are quite a few murders, hence the title Bloody January.
I really enjoyed this. McCoy has an interesting history with hints of more to be revealed. Good thing I have the next book at hand and will be reading it shortly.
I loved the chapter headings. They were consecutive dates starting on January 1, 1973. The author did a great job following that regimen from morning to night. During the first 11 days, there are quite a few murders, hence the title Bloody January.
I really enjoyed this. McCoy has an interesting history with hints of more to be revealed. Good thing I have the next book at hand and will be reading it shortly.
March 18, 2021
“En el turbio Glasgow de los años setenta la ley no podía ser el único aliado de un policía”
Ambientada en la época de los 70. Una época en la que la heroína está a punto de arrasar Glasgow, donde los políticos ocultan sus vicios en las fiestas organizadas por las altas esferas, con excesos llevados al límite y consentidos por los sobornos que recibe parte de la policía.
Y así, tapándose unos a otros, nos encontramos con nuestro protagonista, Harry McCoy. Un policía con un pasado tortuoso, aficionado al alcohol, las drogas y las prostitutas y que se mueve en una continua cuerda floja entre la ley y las malas compañías.
Una trama poco novedosa pero que el autor sabe desarrollar para que resulte entretenida.
Ambientada en la época de los 70. Una época en la que la heroína está a punto de arrasar Glasgow, donde los políticos ocultan sus vicios en las fiestas organizadas por las altas esferas, con excesos llevados al límite y consentidos por los sobornos que recibe parte de la policía.
Y así, tapándose unos a otros, nos encontramos con nuestro protagonista, Harry McCoy. Un policía con un pasado tortuoso, aficionado al alcohol, las drogas y las prostitutas y que se mueve en una continua cuerda floja entre la ley y las malas compañías.
Una trama poco novedosa pero que el autor sabe desarrollar para que resulte entretenida.
July 30, 2023
Standing ovation for this book.
I had no idea there was such a thing as Scottish Noir.
I saw that someone (The Times maybe?) said that Parks was so Noir that he made other Tartan Noir look grey. That made me laugh.
I am trying to find a way to tell you why this book was so good when it was so dark and cold. Very dark and violent but it has soul. It has a heart that beats. There is a kindness underneath.
Redeeming.
Parks writes in a way that brings vivid images into your head. He does it without drowning you in extra words (sort of like I am doing right now).
Yes the male gaze is ever present here ~ it is Noir ~ but I did not find it off putting.
I had no idea there was such a thing as Scottish Noir.
I saw that someone (The Times maybe?) said that Parks was so Noir that he made other Tartan Noir look grey. That made me laugh.
I am trying to find a way to tell you why this book was so good when it was so dark and cold. Very dark and violent but it has soul. It has a heart that beats. There is a kindness underneath.
Redeeming.
Parks writes in a way that brings vivid images into your head. He does it without drowning you in extra words (sort of like I am doing right now).
Yes the male gaze is ever present here ~ it is Noir ~ but I did not find it off putting.
September 19, 2024
2.5/5
Yeah so this is about detective McCoy trying to find out what the connection is between a woman that got shot and her killer.
It legitimately tells you mid book what happened and who it is. I was expecting more. I was expecting to be shocked. But… no.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s somehow entertaining? But mainly because you’re expecting something good in these type of books and you’re awaiting impatiently for the twist to show up, but I was kinda wrong.
Not a fan, honestly. But since I was invested at some points like I said, I gave it the 0.5
Yeah so this is about detective McCoy trying to find out what the connection is between a woman that got shot and her killer.
It legitimately tells you mid book what happened and who it is. I was expecting more. I was expecting to be shocked. But… no.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s somehow entertaining? But mainly because you’re expecting something good in these type of books and you’re awaiting impatiently for the twist to show up, but I was kinda wrong.
Not a fan, honestly. But since I was invested at some points like I said, I gave it the 0.5
December 20, 2017
“Outside, the snow was gently falling, covering Glasgow in a fresh white layer, hiding the dirt beneath…”
This intense, dark and impressive debut crime thriller by talented Alan Parks is set in Scotland in the 1970’s and centers around corruption, violence, prostitution and drugs.
The characters are well defined and one can imagine the bleak and cold atmosphere and feel the destitution, pain and the helplessness emanating from the unforgiving streets.
This intense, dark and impressive debut crime thriller by talented Alan Parks is set in Scotland in the 1970’s and centers around corruption, violence, prostitution and drugs.
The characters are well defined and one can imagine the bleak and cold atmosphere and feel the destitution, pain and the helplessness emanating from the unforgiving streets.
January 11, 2021
Me ha gustado. A pesar de tratar de manera bastante descarnada la corrupción policial, el proxenetismo, la prostitución, la pederastia ...ejercida sobre todo por los altos prebostes, me ha gustado la manera de contarlo. Se hace dura por momentos, me ha convencido el detective Harry McCoy en su papel de terco hasta acabar con esa lacra. He leído por ahí que sale en unos días "Hijos de Febrero" con McCoy de vuelta a las andadas. Espero pillarlo.
December 1, 2017
The language in this book really put me off. I know that it fits with Glasgow in the 70s but it was a bit excessive. I enjoyed the story and the writing but the swearing was too much.
Thank you to Netgalley and Cannongate Books for the chance to read and review this book
Thank you to Netgalley and Cannongate Books for the chance to read and review this book
January 31, 2022
Freshly made detective Harry McCoy of the Glasgow Police force gets a rookie partner to train and a long list of murders that he believes are connected to each other. He and his colleagues on the Force will remember the month of January 1973 for a very long time as one of the ‘bloodiest’ on record.
This was my second crime novel in a week that deals with the seventies and with the British criminal underworld in northern industrial city setting. I had the current book on my e-reader for several months, saving it for a January read, which I barely managed to fit in my schedule. The first one was ‘Get Carter’ by Ted Lewis and it made such a strong impression on me that I couldn’t help but compare it every step of the way with the debut on the scene of Alan Parks. Which is doing a disservice to the young author, who should be judged solely on his own merits.
Lewis wrote contemporary ‘noir’ in a period when the genre was only starting to get popular and readers favoured tight writing in rather short paperback novels. He also had a newspaperman background which trained him not to waste words. Parks writes about the period with excellent detail and flair for the atmosphere, but he is a product of more modern sensibilities: his plot puts emphasis on shock value gory details and more complex political games, while his action scenes are influenced by cinematic set-ups from action movies. It’s top notch storytelling, but it does have that slight vibe of contrived/ constructed commercial thriller material.
Both authors manage to bring to life their urban settings with colourful characters and local jargon and both are good with dialogue and with hard-boiled, ‘sleazy’ underworld street scenes.
‘She’s more of a fixer or a connector. Specialises in the more extreme stuff – younger people, drugs, made-to-order pornography, that sort of thing. Seems the sexual revolution, for all the good it’s done, had a downside too. It’s left people jaded, looking for something different, and that is what she is able to supply.’
I was thinking of also comparing Parks with Peter May or Tana French, because he is really good with characters – mainly the McCoy guy, with his insecurities and drug use and his bent system of values, and the memorable childhood friend who became a mob boss. Or with Chris Brookmyre, for the overt political and social criticism of the system. All three authors are high on my crime fiction subgenre list, so the idea of mentioning them here has more relevance about how good an impression Alan Parks made with his first Glasgow novel. [And I do know I left William McIllvaney out, even as he can be considered the closest relative ins style to Parks, but the list of name dropping is getting too long]
‘These are difficult times,’ he said. ‘A time for difficult decisions. There are strikes in the shipyards and in the mines, IRA bombs in London, power cuts. Our country is under siege. The last thing we need is another problem, another erosion of our values, another assault on our beliefs. It’s up to us to protect it.’
The quote above, used slightly out of context because I’m trying hard to avoid spoilers, is an example of political and moneyed interference in police work – as in a shady man from the secret services is asking Detective McCoy to give up his investigation when all the clues point to one of the richest families in town. This seems to be a typical English issue, with most of the high profile scandals leading to Parliament.
Since McCoy already has a history of hard drinking and of helping out his friends in the criminal networks, this should be a ‘no-sweat’ proposition to the cynical boy who came up from the streets the hard way. But something about the recent crime spree has made it personal. And McCoy is about fed up with being pushed around.
Good stuff. I already have the second book, but I’m not sure I can continue to read them in the months assigned to each [“February’s Son”]
December 23, 2018
4.5★s
Bloody January is the first book in the Harry McCoy series by British author, Alan Parks. It’s January 1973, and thirty-year-old Harry McCoy is a detective with the Glasgow Police Force. Later, they’ll call it Bloody January, but on the first, it’s a visit to the jail for a (rather vague) tip-off to a killing. Next morning, when Harry and his (very green) sidekick, Wattie follow up, they find themselves in the middle of a murder-suicide. The murder is indeed as predicted. The suicide, eventually identified, turns out to have links with the prestigious and powerful Dunlop family.
Harry’s aggressive approach to the Dunlops sees him upbraided by his boss, and when he later turns up with stronger evidence, the whole investigation is shut down by the powers that be. By this time, there are more victims, including his prison tipster. The female victims have suffered rough sex and violence; a number of the males bear a common tattoo.
Parks gives the reader a protagonist very much of the era who would, forty-five years later, be seen as politically incorrect on so many levels: Harry is a smoking, drinking, whoring sexist, not averse to the use of pot and speed, nor to a bit of graft. His childhood friend is a local crime boss and favours are regularly exchanged. Harry gets beaten up quite a bit: he is quick to voice opinions that might be better not shared and, over the course of the story, becomes only marginally more likeable, seeming oblivious to the double standards he holds.
Parks manages to include hallucinogenic drugs, group sex, compromising photographs, acid trips and black magic rituals, child abuse and pornography in the roller-coaster ride to a heart-thumping climax. While the prolific use of profanities and expletives by many of the characters may offend some readers, this is Scottish Noir at its best: dark, gritty and violent, yet also strangely addictive. There’s more of Harry McCoy to come in February’s Son.
Bloody January is the first book in the Harry McCoy series by British author, Alan Parks. It’s January 1973, and thirty-year-old Harry McCoy is a detective with the Glasgow Police Force. Later, they’ll call it Bloody January, but on the first, it’s a visit to the jail for a (rather vague) tip-off to a killing. Next morning, when Harry and his (very green) sidekick, Wattie follow up, they find themselves in the middle of a murder-suicide. The murder is indeed as predicted. The suicide, eventually identified, turns out to have links with the prestigious and powerful Dunlop family.
Harry’s aggressive approach to the Dunlops sees him upbraided by his boss, and when he later turns up with stronger evidence, the whole investigation is shut down by the powers that be. By this time, there are more victims, including his prison tipster. The female victims have suffered rough sex and violence; a number of the males bear a common tattoo.
Parks gives the reader a protagonist very much of the era who would, forty-five years later, be seen as politically incorrect on so many levels: Harry is a smoking, drinking, whoring sexist, not averse to the use of pot and speed, nor to a bit of graft. His childhood friend is a local crime boss and favours are regularly exchanged. Harry gets beaten up quite a bit: he is quick to voice opinions that might be better not shared and, over the course of the story, becomes only marginally more likeable, seeming oblivious to the double standards he holds.
Parks manages to include hallucinogenic drugs, group sex, compromising photographs, acid trips and black magic rituals, child abuse and pornography in the roller-coaster ride to a heart-thumping climax. While the prolific use of profanities and expletives by many of the characters may offend some readers, this is Scottish Noir at its best: dark, gritty and violent, yet also strangely addictive. There’s more of Harry McCoy to come in February’s Son.
December 22, 2017
In brief - Very 70s, very Glaswegian. Bleak, dark and unpleasant at times. I found it a very good read.
From the start this book is highly atmospheric. It says that those who were not around for the events of Bloody January say it "can't have been that bad - but they were wrong". Effectively the whole story takes place in the early part of January 1973 although reference is made to earlier events too. Harry McCoy, a cop who may be one of the "good guys" gets a tip off from an inmate in Barlinnie prison of a forthcoming murder. He's not sure why he was selected for the information nor exactly what he can do about it as it is not very specific.
The story follows the investigation of this and other crimes. Throughout this book I got a very clear feel of the 70s and Glasgow. It is often hard and dirty and I guess some folk may find parts of this offensive but it seemed appropriate to me. The language is very colloquial generally. It starts dark and frankly gets darker. Much though I like the character of McCoy it would be hard to point to anyone who is on the side of the angels by the end of this!
Harry McCoy is the standout character here and I liked him a lot. He is flawed - drink, drugs and at least one undesirable friend underpin that. However he is also an attractive person. The other characters are mostly more sketched than filled out however that didn't detract from the book for me. Even sketched they were very rooted in the time and place as Harry was.
Overall I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is dark and dirty but even that is well done. The morality of almost all the characters can be questioned - the "good" guys just as much as they criminals. That added some depth and layers to this crime story and it was better for that. For me it clearly captured place and time in the narrative. There were odd times when I felt the story was somewhat disjointed but never to a degree that bothered me. I really would like to read Alan Parks's next book.
Note - I received an advance digital copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair review
http://viewson.org.uk/police/bloody-j...
From the start this book is highly atmospheric. It says that those who were not around for the events of Bloody January say it "can't have been that bad - but they were wrong". Effectively the whole story takes place in the early part of January 1973 although reference is made to earlier events too. Harry McCoy, a cop who may be one of the "good guys" gets a tip off from an inmate in Barlinnie prison of a forthcoming murder. He's not sure why he was selected for the information nor exactly what he can do about it as it is not very specific.
The story follows the investigation of this and other crimes. Throughout this book I got a very clear feel of the 70s and Glasgow. It is often hard and dirty and I guess some folk may find parts of this offensive but it seemed appropriate to me. The language is very colloquial generally. It starts dark and frankly gets darker. Much though I like the character of McCoy it would be hard to point to anyone who is on the side of the angels by the end of this!
Harry McCoy is the standout character here and I liked him a lot. He is flawed - drink, drugs and at least one undesirable friend underpin that. However he is also an attractive person. The other characters are mostly more sketched than filled out however that didn't detract from the book for me. Even sketched they were very rooted in the time and place as Harry was.
Overall I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is dark and dirty but even that is well done. The morality of almost all the characters can be questioned - the "good" guys just as much as they criminals. That added some depth and layers to this crime story and it was better for that. For me it clearly captured place and time in the narrative. There were odd times when I felt the story was somewhat disjointed but never to a degree that bothered me. I really would like to read Alan Parks's next book.
Note - I received an advance digital copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair review
http://viewson.org.uk/police/bloody-j...
January 20, 2020
Wow, this is down and dirty Tartan noir! Harry McCoy is not your typical main character detective. Harry grew up in care, in a church run institution and his best buddy from those days is now one of the major crime bosses in Glasgow. This, obviously, is going to cause some issues for McCoy. Talk about conflict of interest!
I generally prefer noir mysteries to the cozies. And I did like this one, but I found some of the over-the-top violence and a lot of the language off-putting. It’s not like I have never sworn in my life, but I do try to moderate it (my mother taught me that people pay more attention when you swear if you don’t do it very often). Probably the amount of profanity is accurate for 1970’s Glasgow, but it was a little much for 2020 me. There’s a lid for every pot, but this one doesn’t fit me.
I was excited to recognize Irn Bru when one character was guzzling a bottle of it. I’d just heard a radio program about small brands that stood up to huge ones and Irn Bru in Scotland outsells CocaCola! Recognizing the brand gave me a warm, fuzzy feeling in an otherwise cold and gray book.
If you love dark and gritty crime fiction, this is the book for you.
I generally prefer noir mysteries to the cozies. And I did like this one, but I found some of the over-the-top violence and a lot of the language off-putting. It’s not like I have never sworn in my life, but I do try to moderate it (my mother taught me that people pay more attention when you swear if you don’t do it very often). Probably the amount of profanity is accurate for 1970’s Glasgow, but it was a little much for 2020 me. There’s a lid for every pot, but this one doesn’t fit me.
I was excited to recognize Irn Bru when one character was guzzling a bottle of it. I’d just heard a radio program about small brands that stood up to huge ones and Irn Bru in Scotland outsells CocaCola! Recognizing the brand gave me a warm, fuzzy feeling in an otherwise cold and gray book.
If you love dark and gritty crime fiction, this is the book for you.
March 8, 2018
This Scottish Noir takes the reader back to the 1970's in Glasgow.
Detective Harry McCoy and his new partner don't just happen to be on the street when a woman is gunned down. McCoy was tipped off by a prisoner that this particular woman was going to be eliminated. He said no more, not a motive, not who the killer would be. The shooter then turned the gun on himself and committed suicide.
Most police think this was just a random act of violence, but McCoy doesn't believe it for a moment. Called upon to lead the investigation, McCoy runs up against a secret society. When he learns who's behind this society, his boss goes bananas. The Dunlops are the wealthiest family in Glasgow ...and McCoy is ordered under no circumstances to question any of them.
But McCoy has other plans ..... and those plans just might cost him his job ...or his life.
The story premise is a good one if you like gritty, down to earth cops. These cops may or may not be corrupt. The language comes from the gutter. Most of McCoy's acquaintances live in the steam underbelly and back alleys of Glasgow. The Dunlops are a self-indulgent, unrestrained family who thinks they can buy the law.
Many thanks to the author / World Noir / Edelweiss for the advanced digital copy of this compelling crime fiction. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.
Detective Harry McCoy and his new partner don't just happen to be on the street when a woman is gunned down. McCoy was tipped off by a prisoner that this particular woman was going to be eliminated. He said no more, not a motive, not who the killer would be. The shooter then turned the gun on himself and committed suicide.
Most police think this was just a random act of violence, but McCoy doesn't believe it for a moment. Called upon to lead the investigation, McCoy runs up against a secret society. When he learns who's behind this society, his boss goes bananas. The Dunlops are the wealthiest family in Glasgow ...and McCoy is ordered under no circumstances to question any of them.
But McCoy has other plans ..... and those plans just might cost him his job ...or his life.
The story premise is a good one if you like gritty, down to earth cops. These cops may or may not be corrupt. The language comes from the gutter. Most of McCoy's acquaintances live in the steam underbelly and back alleys of Glasgow. The Dunlops are a self-indulgent, unrestrained family who thinks they can buy the law.
Many thanks to the author / World Noir / Edelweiss for the advanced digital copy of this compelling crime fiction. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.
August 20, 2017
First book in what I anticipate (hope) will be a new series. This very gritty, very realistic crime novel set in 1973 Glasgow was excellent. Detective Harry McCoy is summoned to Barlinnie prison by an inmate who has information about an upcoming hit. When that hit shortly occurs right in front of him, the trail leads to some pretty powerful people in Glasgow and McCoy is warned off the case multiple times.
Detective Harry McCoy at first glance seemed a little cliche-ish as he has a troubled past, feuds with his superiors, uses drugs and alcohol liberally and isn't overly particular about how he gets the job done, but he became so much more complex as the story unfolded. Rich in characters with a morally complex plot and a no frills delivery, I loved this book. If you like Stuart McBride or Adrian McKinty, you will also enjoy it. Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Detective Harry McCoy at first glance seemed a little cliche-ish as he has a troubled past, feuds with his superiors, uses drugs and alcohol liberally and isn't overly particular about how he gets the job done, but he became so much more complex as the story unfolded. Rich in characters with a morally complex plot and a no frills delivery, I loved this book. If you like Stuart McBride or Adrian McKinty, you will also enjoy it. Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
January 14, 2020
4.5 stars
A very impressive start to what looks to be an incredibly entertaining series. Alan Parks has created a fabulous detective in Harry McCoy and I look forward to following him further in ‘February’s Son’, the next in this gritty, packs a punch, thrilling series.
A very impressive start to what looks to be an incredibly entertaining series. Alan Parks has created a fabulous detective in Harry McCoy and I look forward to following him further in ‘February’s Son’, the next in this gritty, packs a punch, thrilling series.
January 15, 2020
Uncompromising 1970s Tartan noir - full of cliches but so compelling!
The first in a series of Glasgow noir set in the 1970s introduces thirty-year-old protagonist, Detective Harry McCoy, who fits every cliche in the book. Deeply flawed and inured to the casual violence around him, McCoy has a taste for booze, drugs and prostitutes and a childhood history with a very shady character from within the underbelly of Glasgow. Fittingly the book kicks off with the bleak statistic of six bodies in one week that captured headlines in Glasgow in 1973, before seeing it all play out from the perspective of troubled cop, Harry McCoy.
When McCoy finds himself summoned to Barlinnie Prison by old-timer hard man, Howie Nairn, and given a message that a waitress in one of the swanky Glasgow restaurants called Lorna will be killed the following day he doesn’t pay too much attention to it, until he remembers the next morning. For want on anything else demanding his attention and charged with keeping an eye on Wattie, a new recruit from out of town, he follows the lead and identifies the woman. Arriving to meet her bus into work McCoy is minutes too late and is instead witness to seventeen-year-old Tommy Malone shooting Lorna Skirving, before smiling and turning the gun on himself. Before McCoy can gather his thoughts Howie Nairn inside Barlinnie has paid the price with his tongue cut out and throat slashed and Chief Inspector Murray wants answers pronto.
By leaning on Lorna’s roommate and tapping up his contacts on the wrong side of the law McCoy discovers that Lorna was no stranger to sleazy sex parties but unsurprisingly no one is keen to go on record speaking about just who attends for fear of their life. With Tommy having worked as a live-in gardener at the mansion owned by the Dunlops, finding sone sort of connection between him and Lorna consumes McCoy who nose tells him that the untouchable Lord and his son, Teddy, are up to their necks in it. But given McCoy’s previous with the family and having shown up drunk shouting the odds less than a year ago, his bosses warn him to steer clear or pay with his job. And that’s not the last of it as bodies pile up and they all point in the same direction..
I wasn’t expecting to be so gripped by this novel and after my original concerns that this was going to be a pretty uninspiring gangland tale with too many cliches for words I found myself unexpectedly drawn into the whole tale. There is a gradual drip feed of Harry McCoy’s history throughout the story, from his experiences in a Catholic run boys home that bonded him with Stevie Cooper, now a major player in supplying women and drugs in Glasgow, to his brief marriage and a son who died from cot death. These snippets add meat to the bones of his grudges with Jimmy Gibbs, former polis now Lord Dunlop’s fixer, along with the antipathy he feels towards the wealthy father and son. With the green new boy Wattie shadowing alongside McCoy it acts as something of a counterbalance with McCoy forced to consider his own blurred lines and grey areas as he trains the new man up. In Bloody January the rich and entitled are as morally reprehensible as those who boss the underworld and the approach to policing is laissez-faire to say the least. People get what they want through a mixture of violence, blackmail and owing favours, and whilst it might not to be subtle it is very effective and hugely compelling.
This was one book where the atmosphere got completely under my skin and made a lasting impression with the hostile January weather, crumbling tenements, casual violence and culture of drink, drugs and seediness painting an unseemly and grim picture of the city of Glasgow. The attitudes, ambiguous morals of the characters and the crude language with every second word a profanity feels entirely appropriate. As the criminals, cops and entitled all rub shoulders in order to get what and where they want, I was fully immersed into a portrait of a society which feels like a delicate power balance with the potential to explode at the first opportunity. I eagerly await the follow-up and a second visit to the Glasgow of the 1970s that Alan Parks so vividly captures.
The first in a series of Glasgow noir set in the 1970s introduces thirty-year-old protagonist, Detective Harry McCoy, who fits every cliche in the book. Deeply flawed and inured to the casual violence around him, McCoy has a taste for booze, drugs and prostitutes and a childhood history with a very shady character from within the underbelly of Glasgow. Fittingly the book kicks off with the bleak statistic of six bodies in one week that captured headlines in Glasgow in 1973, before seeing it all play out from the perspective of troubled cop, Harry McCoy.
When McCoy finds himself summoned to Barlinnie Prison by old-timer hard man, Howie Nairn, and given a message that a waitress in one of the swanky Glasgow restaurants called Lorna will be killed the following day he doesn’t pay too much attention to it, until he remembers the next morning. For want on anything else demanding his attention and charged with keeping an eye on Wattie, a new recruit from out of town, he follows the lead and identifies the woman. Arriving to meet her bus into work McCoy is minutes too late and is instead witness to seventeen-year-old Tommy Malone shooting Lorna Skirving, before smiling and turning the gun on himself. Before McCoy can gather his thoughts Howie Nairn inside Barlinnie has paid the price with his tongue cut out and throat slashed and Chief Inspector Murray wants answers pronto.
By leaning on Lorna’s roommate and tapping up his contacts on the wrong side of the law McCoy discovers that Lorna was no stranger to sleazy sex parties but unsurprisingly no one is keen to go on record speaking about just who attends for fear of their life. With Tommy having worked as a live-in gardener at the mansion owned by the Dunlops, finding sone sort of connection between him and Lorna consumes McCoy who nose tells him that the untouchable Lord and his son, Teddy, are up to their necks in it. But given McCoy’s previous with the family and having shown up drunk shouting the odds less than a year ago, his bosses warn him to steer clear or pay with his job. And that’s not the last of it as bodies pile up and they all point in the same direction..
I wasn’t expecting to be so gripped by this novel and after my original concerns that this was going to be a pretty uninspiring gangland tale with too many cliches for words I found myself unexpectedly drawn into the whole tale. There is a gradual drip feed of Harry McCoy’s history throughout the story, from his experiences in a Catholic run boys home that bonded him with Stevie Cooper, now a major player in supplying women and drugs in Glasgow, to his brief marriage and a son who died from cot death. These snippets add meat to the bones of his grudges with Jimmy Gibbs, former polis now Lord Dunlop’s fixer, along with the antipathy he feels towards the wealthy father and son. With the green new boy Wattie shadowing alongside McCoy it acts as something of a counterbalance with McCoy forced to consider his own blurred lines and grey areas as he trains the new man up. In Bloody January the rich and entitled are as morally reprehensible as those who boss the underworld and the approach to policing is laissez-faire to say the least. People get what they want through a mixture of violence, blackmail and owing favours, and whilst it might not to be subtle it is very effective and hugely compelling.
This was one book where the atmosphere got completely under my skin and made a lasting impression with the hostile January weather, crumbling tenements, casual violence and culture of drink, drugs and seediness painting an unseemly and grim picture of the city of Glasgow. The attitudes, ambiguous morals of the characters and the crude language with every second word a profanity feels entirely appropriate. As the criminals, cops and entitled all rub shoulders in order to get what and where they want, I was fully immersed into a portrait of a society which feels like a delicate power balance with the potential to explode at the first opportunity. I eagerly await the follow-up and a second visit to the Glasgow of the 1970s that Alan Parks so vividly captures.
July 2, 2022
An excellent, gritty crime novel; but also bleak, brutal and with a protagonist who is morally corrupt and spiritually broken, the latter being the cause of the former. If you like feeling a little bit dirty, if you like the mean streets and a prevailing sense of hopelessness, this one’s for you.
January 21, 2018
Gritty, unflinching, perfectly non- politically correct, and with echoes of the grandmasters of black-hearted noir, Lewis, McIlvanney, Raymond, Bruen et al, this was an absolute corker.
From the outset I was heartily entertained by the exploits of Detective Harry McCoy, with his nefarious relationships and more hands-on methods, and his wet-behind-the-ears sidekick, Wattie as we find ourselves firmly rooted in 1970's Glasgow. The book is peppered with cultural and political references familiar to those of us born nearer that era- ahem- as well painting a grimly real backdrop for readers less familiar with the period. This is a city down on its uppers, with only occasional glimmers of the city that Glasgow was to become, and Parks' colourful and inventive use of the Glaswegian vernacular brings a heightened level of enjoyment to the book too. The main storyline is very seedy indeed, involving as it does drugs, exploitation and abuse, which Parks determinedly lays before us warts and all. As I've said before I do like a book where I feel slightly soiled by the reading experience, in a similar vein to Benjamin Myers and Jake Arnott, and Bloody January fitted the bill perfectly. It was feisty, fresh, wonderfully sordid and a sublime blast of noir to welcome in the new year. Highly recommended.
From the outset I was heartily entertained by the exploits of Detective Harry McCoy, with his nefarious relationships and more hands-on methods, and his wet-behind-the-ears sidekick, Wattie as we find ourselves firmly rooted in 1970's Glasgow. The book is peppered with cultural and political references familiar to those of us born nearer that era- ahem- as well painting a grimly real backdrop for readers less familiar with the period. This is a city down on its uppers, with only occasional glimmers of the city that Glasgow was to become, and Parks' colourful and inventive use of the Glaswegian vernacular brings a heightened level of enjoyment to the book too. The main storyline is very seedy indeed, involving as it does drugs, exploitation and abuse, which Parks determinedly lays before us warts and all. As I've said before I do like a book where I feel slightly soiled by the reading experience, in a similar vein to Benjamin Myers and Jake Arnott, and Bloody January fitted the bill perfectly. It was feisty, fresh, wonderfully sordid and a sublime blast of noir to welcome in the new year. Highly recommended.
December 10, 2018
Bloody January by Alan Parks follows Glasgow detective Harry McCoy as he tries to solve crimes in January 1973.
Parks is summoned to a nearby prison to meet with an aging gangster he does know not and is given an order to protect a young woman. The violent gangster is spare with details and sends Parks on his way with more questions than answers.
McCoy then carries on in his investigation.
Bloody January is a down and dirty police procedural where no one seems to be sparkly clean. McCoy is thought to be too friendly with a violent gangster his own age who if not is easily sociopathic, is bordering on psychopathic.
Parks' writing style is with local jargon and unfolds where he does not tell the reader everything and leaves things to be pondered through the novel as the story is told.
If a reader likes novels where the lead "hero" is possibly compromised or walks on a razor's edge, then Bloody January is of that style. Parks has created well-developed characters and relationships where the reader will remain interested in later installments to learn how the characters move forward.
A second Harry McCoy is set to be released in 2019.
Highly recommended for those that enjoy gritty, street-level, gravel in the knees police procedurals.
Parks is summoned to a nearby prison to meet with an aging gangster he does know not and is given an order to protect a young woman. The violent gangster is spare with details and sends Parks on his way with more questions than answers.
McCoy then carries on in his investigation.
Bloody January is a down and dirty police procedural where no one seems to be sparkly clean. McCoy is thought to be too friendly with a violent gangster his own age who if not is easily sociopathic, is bordering on psychopathic.
Parks' writing style is with local jargon and unfolds where he does not tell the reader everything and leaves things to be pondered through the novel as the story is told.
If a reader likes novels where the lead "hero" is possibly compromised or walks on a razor's edge, then Bloody January is of that style. Parks has created well-developed characters and relationships where the reader will remain interested in later installments to learn how the characters move forward.
A second Harry McCoy is set to be released in 2019.
Highly recommended for those that enjoy gritty, street-level, gravel in the knees police procedurals.
November 28, 2018
Bleak Tartan Noir set in the 1970s - in fact, so gritty, violent and hopeless that it almost tips into pastiche. Every form of cruelty and abuse is here: bullying, sexual molestation, drugs, sadistic prostitution, pornography... The cops are dirty, a gangster has a hidden heart of gold, the titled aristocrats are pantomime villains, and our hero/anti-hero is beaten, battered, bloody, but just gets up and carries on doggedly.
I'd have liked to have seen a bit more finesse in the writing and storytelling but McCoy has *something* compelling about him. If the next instalment breaks away from the formulaic and cliched, I could be won over... 3.5 stars.
Thanks to Canongate for an ARC via NetGalley.
I'd have liked to have seen a bit more finesse in the writing and storytelling but McCoy has *something* compelling about him. If the next instalment breaks away from the formulaic and cliched, I could be won over... 3.5 stars.
Thanks to Canongate for an ARC via NetGalley.
October 26, 2017
Detective Harry McCoy knows something, told to him by an informant currently residing in Barlinnie prison.
Now a young has killed himself after shooting dead a waitress.
Glasgow 1973 is not a good place, it is a violent place with crime bosses, bent cops and people know their place.
This debut novel is seriously brilliant and for me it was like watching one of those old cop TV shows come to life between the pages.
A fast paced and dramatic read, the setting really takes you their. The music, the styles and dialect is what makes this a winner.
I really loved it and I highly recommend
Now a young has killed himself after shooting dead a waitress.
Glasgow 1973 is not a good place, it is a violent place with crime bosses, bent cops and people know their place.
This debut novel is seriously brilliant and for me it was like watching one of those old cop TV shows come to life between the pages.
A fast paced and dramatic read, the setting really takes you their. The music, the styles and dialect is what makes this a winner.
I really loved it and I highly recommend
July 12, 2018
This book is set in the world of crime in 1970's Glasgow and it is hard as nails.
The main protagonist Detective Harry McCoy is raw and angry and quite frankly he shocked the hell out of me!
I did not expect his behaviour and I had to remind myself that times were different back then. I have read bad boy detective characters before but this reached a whole new level of baaaaaadddddd!
Enjoyable is not the word for this book as it is so bleak and dark but the writing is excellent and all the characters are painted with a rawness and bitterness that epitomises this time and place.
I would recommend listening to this on audio - it is brilliantly narrated and provides the accent to really appreciate the language and culture of the characters on an extra level.
However, if you don't like swearing, gore, violence or drink/drug culture then you won't like this book.
If you are fascinated by the criminal underworld, police dramas, the seventies and shock factor then look no further!
The main protagonist Detective Harry McCoy is raw and angry and quite frankly he shocked the hell out of me!
I did not expect his behaviour and I had to remind myself that times were different back then. I have read bad boy detective characters before but this reached a whole new level of baaaaaadddddd!
Enjoyable is not the word for this book as it is so bleak and dark but the writing is excellent and all the characters are painted with a rawness and bitterness that epitomises this time and place.
I would recommend listening to this on audio - it is brilliantly narrated and provides the accent to really appreciate the language and culture of the characters on an extra level.
However, if you don't like swearing, gore, violence or drink/drug culture then you won't like this book.
If you are fascinated by the criminal underworld, police dramas, the seventies and shock factor then look no further!
December 28, 2023
Several prostitutes are murdered after being severely beaten by a sadist. In 1973, Harry McCoy, a Glasgow detective, has to solve these murders. McCoy likes to drink, use drugs, fails to follow orders and has questionable friends, but he solves crimes. A very good noir with great dialogue and wonderful characters.
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