Out With A Bang

Long Time Dying #1

by Solomon Carter

An action packed romantic thriller starring two hard boiled private eyes from the pen of Solomon Carter.

Eva Roberts and Dan Bradley, troubled lovers, business partners and private detectives are on the hunt for a runaway husband.

But why has he run away? Why are so many people lying?
And is the dangerous game being played by the South London set about something much more sinister than just easy sex?

A simple case becomes anything but as Eva Roberts and Dan Bradley are embroiled in a fiendish sex plot ready to destroy the lives of all those it touches – including the private detectives themselves.

Out With A Bang is the first in The Long Time Dying series by Solomon Carter

Thrilling adventures featuring Eva Roberts & Dan Bradley, private detectives

Series list - in reading order
1. Out With A Bang
2. One Mile Deep
3. Long Time Dying
4. Never Back Down
5. Crossing The Line

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Detective, Mystery Thriller, Thriller, Romance

215 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 13, 2014

About the author

Hello folks,
My name is Solomon Carter, and I am the author of the Roberts and Bradley PI crime thriller series, The Last Line international thriller series, the DI Hogarth Darkest series and more. I write mysteries, crime and thriller novels and more besides.

I was born in Southend, Essex and lived there for most of my life apart from eventful student days in South London. But my life in Southend was even more eventful still. I ended up working in a string of jobs including as a jobcentre clerk, a book seller, tutor for youth with low skills and low self esteem, mortgage broker, and latterly manager of a food bank which dealt with all kinds of interesting people facing all kinds of eye-opening, jaw dropping problems. Because of these ear-to-the-ground jobs the majority of my novels are set in Southend. In 2016 I moved to North Cornwall because I liked the idea of never-ending holidays - but I also write almost every single day. My aim is to write action-packed thrillers and page-turning mysteries that readers love and my hope is to get better at what I do with every book across each and every year.

I like to give away lots of free books as part of what I do. If you would like to receive some of these and get the exclusives on offer, than you're invited to join my free readers group at SolomonCarter.net. I won't spam you, just send the occassional email with news on the latest books and forthcoming freebies.

And if you want to see the memes, personal shares and other oddball stuff I do, then you can join me at Facebook via www.facebook.com/solomoncarterwrites and join the fun there too.

What I am good at: telling stories
What I am bad at: dancing, being patient.
What I love: nature, the seaside, adventures
Writers I heartily recommend: Lee Child, Ian Rankin, Henning Mankell, Val McDermid, Harlan Coben, Robert Crais.
Writers I need to read more of: Val McDermid, Ian Rankin, Michael Connelly and others.
Other things I do beside writing: at present I like to keep my running going to balance out the sitting behind a laptop (a habit inspired by Haruki Murakami's 'What I talk about when I talk about running' - a great book).
-I am currently doing surf lessons. When in Rome, as they say...
-Getting out into nature as the weather allows.

I look forward to hearing from you.
Until then I'll keep on writing. Or running. Or surfing. Or chasing my children around the house.

All the very best,
Solomon :)

PS
if you have enjoyed any of my books, I'd be honoured if you could post a review. Those reviews really do help!

Reviews

[Jennifer · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was one of the worst books I have ever read. The story line was poorly thought out. The book sounded as though it was written by a kid in high school. I had bought the series together, but after reading the first book I deleted the remaining two. I'm not waiting my time!

[Roddy Williams · Rating 2 out of 5]

Private Eyes Dan Brady and Eva Roberts are approached by their jaded police contact Gary Rowntree who is commissioned by the disappearance of his brother Charlie. Rowntree is loth to make his investigation official for reasons of his own.
The pair visit Charlie’s house to discover that he left his wife and children to face debts, not having told them that he left his job months ago.
Delving into social media, Eva manages to find links between Charlie and a sex blogger called Anna Eavis. Anna and Charlie it transpires, run swingers parties and when the detectives visit Anna pretending to be journalists, she tells them she won’t give them a story unless they come to a party the next day in a large house in Blackheath. Unbeknown to the pair, they are walking into danger and opening a rather larger can of worms than they expected.
It’s an easy read and despite some critics citing numerous typos and spelling errors, I only noticed one in the entire novel.
It has its flaws. Carter really needs to work on his dialogue as it comes over as a tad unrealistic. Dan especially is one character for whom less would be decidedly more in this respect. He talks too much. At some points there is a valid reason, such as when he is trying to provoke someone to shoot him so he can disarm them. At other times it’s just relentless and sustained attacks of macho verbosity and infodumping.
Conversely, Eva is a far more interesting character, employing novel solutions to obtain information about people. It is a bit of a shame that Dan seems to get more page space in this novel. There are several more however so maybe the balance may be redressed. It might have been better if Carter had mixed up the dynamic a bit and made Dan a bit geeky, and had Eva as the streetwise Essex girl who can handle a gun and talk her way out of a dangerous situation.
It’s not bad, at the end of the day. Reads a little like a first draft though. I don’t yet feel that Carter inhabits his characters enough to give them their own voices and patterns of speech. It could do with a serious revision but the basic premise works and I love the idea of Bromley in Kent being a hotbed of murder, sex, drugs and general racey behaviour.

[Elaine Quirk · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great read. Love this authors work.

I totally was enthralled by this story. Love how the players melded together. Can't wait for more of Solomon's works.

[Cidney · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a dreadful book, I got this book from kindle and I didn't like it at all. The book starts off with a police officer hiring two private detectives to find his brother. They did. He runs a swinging business, and I don't mind children's swings. It actually gets very boring from this point onwards. Dan the private tec is a boxer and it comes in handy as the book progresses, his wife Eva, the other half of the duo, is far smarter and more quick witted than him, which is a little unusual in a book. However the book didn't hold my attention at all and I ended up skimming through to the end and feel as if I wasted my time reading this.

[Jessi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a first for me. I hadn't read a book following detective specifically up until this point. And let me tell you I was for a ride. It started off simple you know, meeting up with an officer to help find his brother who has been missing from his family home. Then as the investigation goes on we enter the world of the rich, reading about sex parties, blackmail, and drugs. Not just ending there but expanding into kidnap, snuff, and possibly murder. The ending did seem a little unfinished but this is where you would carry onto the second book ahahaha. To be honest I really liked but it was a little incomplete so that's why I gave 4/5.

[mrs p e hooker · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I first started reading the Roberts/Bradley books I quite enjoyed them, however I found this book disappointing. The story was flaky and followed a theme that is becoming the same in all the books. The on-off relationship between Eva and Dan, the tenuous links with the local police and D I Hogarth, do not knit together. I also find the on-going obsession of Dan with Victor Marka is boring and unnecessary. I have the next book in the series but two chapters in and we are going back over old territory yet again and not much promise of the story improving (or concluding as there is a third book). I much prefer Solomon Carter’s DI Hogarth books.

[Julie Powell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story is part of a box set I have and is the first I've read in this series - it's different yet similar to the Hogarth series in that crimes are to be solved but from a variable stance.

The two characters are distinctive and fit into the story well. There is tension between Eva and Dan at the same time they are a couple in life and work. Dan seems a little immature, but maybe that's the nature of men?

I did enjoy this crime story - plenty of action, twists, turns and interesting characters - if not many likeable.

A well-written and fast-paced tale, which I would recommend.

[Gerald Wilson · Rating 1 out of 5]

Poor book. Downloaded vol 1-3 but only read the first one. I doubt I will read the other 2. They were free but not worth the effort of a download. Don't waste your time with this. I like the Reacher books and the John Milton series and this comes nowhere near either of these. Maybe it was just the sordid theme of the illicit sex trade I didn't like but I think it's just a poor read.

[Simon Fenwick · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first book by this author. It's the beginning of a private detective series. The story is fast paced but badly let down by very poor proof reading, at least in the Kindle version. Oh and should an English story, set in England with English characters contain so many Americanisms? A particular example being instead of having "got" something, the American "gotten" is always used.

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining reading

A very will written mystery. The characters are interesting and will developed. The story line has lots of misdirection leading to the unexpected conclusion. Enjoy reading 2020

[Riccardo Parfitt · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't normally review books, I just give them stars.
I was not overly keen and at times this felt like it was plodding along, but as I have the series (A free download on Kindle) I will give Book 2 a go.

At least I didn't have to pay for this

[Anita Hargreaves · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thrilling

I have read these out of order but still complete satisfying novel. I enjoyed Solomon Carter books and rate him as an author. Sad when I finished.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good story with a good PI partnership.

[Ian Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the better free kindle books. Very enjoyable.

[Marria · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.5 Good? No. First time I've read something like this

[Govind Narayanan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty Ordinary. Not engaging. Don't recommend.

[Audrey Fryer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Don’t. miss this book it’s Great

What a wonderful captivating read , didn’t want it to end , but couldn’t wait to find out what happened loved every second of this book . GREAT .

[peter senha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Out with a bang

A good start to series. Good, different characters could be the start of an interesting private detective story. Hope
so.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

The basic premise for this storyline was what intrigued me about this read. But the editing and writing style made it difficult at times to enjoy. There were times I felt like it was a rough draft; with endless sentences that brought no meaning. The last third of the book picked up and appeared to have been more properly edited. There were definitely twists and turns, if you could get by the editing.

[Valerie Downs · Rating 3 out of 5]

Should be three and a half stars.

Make no bones about it, this is a darn good read. And like many Kindle owners I have read a lot of poorly edited books. Normally, it is just an inconvenience and not a real issue. In this book between the poor editing and the differences in how Americans versus how the British speak, it became an even bigger problem. I definitely will read another book by this author, I just really hope he finally has a good editor. It read very much like the editor inserted the revision, without deleting what she/he needed to take out. Many times entire words were obviously missing. I think you will like the story, but be prepared to be a little frustrated with the editing issues. And if "american" English is your first language, you may have to use your dictionary a time or two to figure what th blokes is saying

[Denise · Rating 5 out of 5]

'Out With A Bang' was a gripping story that pulled me in from the beginning and didn't let go. I loved how the storyline kept unraveling with surprises and suspense. The characters were great. Dan made one hell of a lead. He's definitely a man you don't want to piss off. Eve is the type to ground Dan and together they made quite the team. I look forward to reading more of this series. A great add to your tbr list.

[Mandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can't make my mind up about the writing. Sometimes great, sometimes juvenile. The plot is confusing too, they are asked to find a guy, they find him, so job done? No, bizarrely they keep investigating. There is also a lot of very tiresome relationship stuff being pondered on by these detectives, which slows the story right down. But in all there was enough there to keep my interested, and I might move on to the second book in the series.

[Sue Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this on my Kindle. It is the first in a series involving private detectives, Dan Bradley & Eva Roberts.
The first 3 books in the series are a free download from Amazon.

It begins with a request to find a missing brother... A simple case becomes anything but, when Dan & Eva get involved in a sex and drugs plot.

It is quite a short book, fast paced and I quite enjoyed it. Definitely giving book 2 a go.

[J. Ewbank · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book by Carter was the first of a series which becomes evident when you read it. It is a good mystery, the two main characters are different though they are able to work together to solve the problems. Their differences are almost as interesting as the way they work together as their ability to solve the crime.

J. Robert Ewbank author "John Wesley, Natural Man, and the Isms" "Wesley's Wars" "To Whom It May Concern" and "Tell Me About the United Methodist Church"

[Karen · Rating 1 out of 5]

This story was decent, ( not great) mind you, at the beginning; But when you would think it was finally over and would go on and on. So, I finally stopped the action around 3/4 through and moved onto a better read.

[Robbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The best part of this book was the fact that there was some heart-pounding action; the rest of the book was just too dark for me. I would rate it higher, but the two protagonists weren't particularly likeable and not terribly smart.

[patricia j moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read

Loved this book .can't wait to find more from this author. Really connected with the characters in this great story

[Tina Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not much for reviewing books, so I'll just say I enjoyed this.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nasty look at both the legal and illegal sex trade. Quite a thriller despite some revolting looks behind the curtain.

[David Gilchrist · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really did not enjoy this will not be reading anymore.