The Dead Don't Bleed

by Neil Rollinson

Two brothers confront each other and themselves to overcome their family legacy, from the doomed coalfields of north-east England to sun-bleached southern Spain

Frank Bridge turned his back on his family’s gangland conflicts in Northumberland decades ago. His brother, Gordon, fled to Spain and has not been heard from since. Frank’s life has taken a different path to the same he fell in love with Lorca's poetry and the woman who brought it to him.

But when their gangster father, the head of their savage dynasty, dies, Frank feels he must track down Gordon and tell him that their father’s reign of terror is over. Can Frank’s appearance after twenty-five years prompt a truce – a reconciliation even – will his arrival merely be the catalyst for more turmoil and brutality? Beneath the scorching, pitiless Andalusian sun, the two brothers are finally brought together for one last reckoning.

Genres: Fiction, British Literature

169 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 8, 2026

Reviews

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two brothers grow up in a violent world in 1970s Northumberland. A tyrannical, criminal underworld father sees his sons as constant disappointments. Neither wants this life. In their own ways, they find an escape but the brutal legacy lingers.

The prose is sparse and raw, and you can't escape the oppressive bleakness of those early year. The story unfolds in a non-linear flow so you learn more about the past as the present builds to its climax.

The book has a poetic soul, which carries you through the bleakest moments. But prepare to not feel good by the end. Violence ripples across the pages and leaves all it touches corrupted

Likely too literary for the die-hard crime lovers and too violent for the literary set but just right for January me that wants a poetic, nonlinear Western-in-Europe about family & the legacy of violence.

[Matthew Yeldon · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautifully written crime novel about lost loves, family, and poetry. Set in Spain and northern England, the author is just as adept at transporting us as he is at making complex characters readable. It’s tender and it’s violent, it’s hot and it’s cold, it’s sexy and thought-provoking. Add Rollinson to the short list of poets who can also write great prose. The first great book released in 2026.

[Tandy Davies · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set between the North East in the 70’s as both the mining and shipbuilding industries are in decline, two brothers find themselves at the heart of a family with criminal leanings and a father who inflicts pain and humiliation by default. The older brother flees to Spain and Andalusia becomes the backdrop to the reunion of the brothers. Cruel and captivating narrative.

[Prickly Edge · Rating 4 out of 5]

A delightful mixture of suspense and prose and really enjoyable read. The story of two brothers unfolds with biblical echos of time old stories around good and evil and love and guilt that play out against evocative landscapes of sun beaten Andalusia and Tyneside’s industrial wastelands.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

Poetic tale of familial love/hate and the sins of the father. Quite slight but had lots of beautifully written sentences.

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

punchy chapters and a beauty in the landscape which toned well with the violence

[Ladybelle · Rating 1 out of 5]

Boring. I'd rather just read Lorca than spend another minute wading through this pretentious snoozefest. Pity, as the premise got me excited. Not for me.