Gunner: A Joseph Gunner Thriller

Joseph Gunner #1

by Alan Parks

A brand new crime series from the award-winning author of the Harry McCoy books

'Great storytelling . . . I loved it' Peter James, #1 bestselling author of the Roy Grace series

March, 1941. Joseph Gunner is back on the streets of Glasgow after being wounded on the front lines in France.

Keeping the pain in his leg at bay with the help of morphine, Gunner, a former detective, is hoping to keep his head down as the Luftwaffe begin bombing Glasgow.

But when he runs into his old boss Drummond, he is persuaded to help examine a body found in the wreckage. When the body turns out to be that of a German, mutilated to disguise his identity, Gunner reluctantly agrees to investigate.

As Gunner begins to hunt for the truth he runs into old flames, bitter enemies, before finding himself embroiled in a high-level conspiracy that reaches far beyond his hometown of Glasgow.

Partly inspired by the true story of Rudolph Hess's secret mission to broker appeasement with Britain during WWII, Gunner is an atmospheric and addictive new thriller from one of Britain's best-loved writers.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Crime, Thriller, Mystery, Historical

288 pages, Hardcover

Expected publication April 7, 2026

About the author

Librarian 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

Reviews

[Maureen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a brand new crime series from the award-winning author of the Harry McCoy books.

It’s March 1941 and after being wounded in France, Joe Gunner, a former Detective, is arriving back in his home city of Glasgow. He’s barely left the railway station, when he’s shocked to be met by his old boss, Drummond.

Drummond says he needs Gunner’s help to identify a body that was found after an air raid. The victim appeared to have met his death, not as the result of an air raid, on the contrary, his injuries are such, that the only conclusion is that he was murdered.

Events become stranger when the victim is identified as a German. Someone had gone to a lot of trouble to disguise the identity of the victim. Then another German POW is found dead so there’s clearly something very strange going on. The investigation falls to Gunner, even though he doesn’t want or need it, his reluctance being due to his injuries which are causing him considerable pain, but Drummond (who is not averse to dodgy activities on the side) has a way of getting exactly what he wants.

Partly inspired by the true story of Rudolph Hess's secret mission to broker appeasement with Britain during the Second World War, “Gunner” is a dark, gritty and gripping tale with Gunner himself being a terrific protagonist, along with a variety of characters, good and bad, although it’s hard to differentiate between who’s good and who’s bad at times!

Take the author’s hand and let him guide you through the streets of Glasgow, immersing yourself in the criminal underworld, and life on the home front, with a little espionage thrown in, all amidst the chaos and fear of the Clydebank blitz of World War II. Very enjoyable. Look forward to the next!

*Thank you to Netgalley and John Murray Press for my ARC in exchange for an honest unbiased review *

[Iain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in Glasgow during WW2, so enjoyed the familiar landmarks of my hometown. Gunner is an intriguing, damaged and flawed character - he does a few things that make him hard to like - who it will be interesting to follow in future books. There is an issue with the women, or lack of them, no strong female characters and those that do appear are there for sex and not much else. Hopefully that's an issue that will be resolved in future stories too, but a strong opening book. The events tying into the real life arrival of Rudolph Hess is a bit of stretch (lookalikes?) but breezed through in a couple of days.

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

thanks to the publisher and netgalley for a free copy in return for an open and honest review.

This new series the author returns to Glasgow but with an injured solider a former copper when he returns home and helps out his former force and gets sucked into the murky world of WW2 Glasgow with criminals and the service as several German pow's are killed he is sent to investigate. The author helps you build up a picture of the city in a gritty novel which doesnt disappoint.

[Ross Cumming · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alan Parks takes a break from his Harry McCoy series of novels to bring us a wartime thriller set in Glasgow.
Gunner returns to Glasgow in March (?) of 1941 having been wounded while serving in France and is immediately approached by his old Police boss Drummond who requires his assistance to investigate the murder of an unknown male. The body has turned up at the local makeshift mortuary but instead of having been killed in the latest bombing raid the deceased is minus all his fingers. Thus begins Gunner’s investigation which involves two of Glasgow’s notorious crime gangs, conscientious objectors, MI5 and a plot to broker peace with Hitler.
Park’s novel is part crime fiction but takes place during the blitz where Glasgow’s shipbuilding and other industries came under attack from German bombing raids. The novel also involves another historical event that also took place but to mention it would spoil the plot for other readers. This is a departure for Parks in regard to timeframe but it’s a gripping thriller with a plot that keeps you guessing right to the end. I also found that the mix of the factual and fiction worked really well and led me to go delving further into the true events to find out what really happened.
Parks leaves the door open for Gunner’s return, so it’ll be interesting to see what turns up in the future.

[Jo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Joseph Gunner returns to Glasgow after being injured in the war. He's soon pulled back into his old life as a policeman and is caught up in the investigation into the mysterious tortured body found amongst the bombed city's dead. This is a cracking start to a new series with s0me great characters, dramatic moments and excellent plot twists.

[Paula · Rating 5 out of 5]

After reading several awful books,two of which were the latest McTiernan,and the latest Kurkov,it was a delight to read the first in a new series by the author of the outstanding McCoy novels. I'm wary when a favourite author starts something new,but I needn't have. This one's brilliant. Great characters,great plot. Parks can do no wrong.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Gunner by Alan Parks, readers are introduced to former police investigator Joseph Gunner. It is the early 1940s, and a war-weary Gunner has returned to Glasgow after being injured by exploding ordnance during World War II. He is nursing wounds to his left eye and left leg while becoming increasingly reliant on pain medication, and he suffers from violent post-traumatic stress episodes.

Mostly, Gunner wants to return to the woman he left behind and to find the partner of a fellow soldier who was killed, hoping to offer her solace. Unfortunately, upon his arrival in Glasgow, instead of resuming his already interrupted personal life, Gunner is approached by Detective Inspector Malcolm Drummond with a request to examine a corpse bearing unusual injuries. Drummond is not only Gunner’s former boss, but also the one person he would have preferred to avoid.

Gunner’s examination reveals a body with a destroyed, unrecognizable face and cleanly removed fingertips—injuries inconsistent with the bombing raids being carried out on Glasgow.

As more is uncovered about the dead man, Gunner becomes immersed in a murky wartime world of everyday gangsters, corrupt officials, and potential spies. In this city, most people are either prey for the predators or predators feeding on the weak, and hardly anyone is who they claim to be. What begins as a suspicious death investigation quickly grows beyond a simple murder case. Gunner soon realizes that no one can be trusted—possibly not even those closest to him.

For this reader, the mental image of DI Drummond that Parks creates brings to mind Orson Welles as Police Captain Hank Quinlan in the 1958 film Touch of Evil. Though not as malevolent, Drummond is easily imagined wearing a dirty trench coat, unshaven, gliding through a crumbling city with his hands out for whatever grift comes his way.

Gunner is an enjoyable introduction to what appears to be a new series by Alan Parks, who wonderfully evokes a city in ruins, populated by people struggling to survive amid the carnage. Typically, historical crime novels rank lower on this reader’s list, but Gunner captures the best of the sub-genre in an engaging way.

One of the pleasures of Parks’ work is his ability to create a dark, gritty atmosphere that permeates his storytelling. He is equally adept at varying the layers of grit, crime, and depravity when contrasting Gunner with his Harry McCoy novels.

After reading Parks’ previous Harry McCoy detective novels and now Gunner, it’s clear that he can craft environments with different flavors of grit—some cleaner, some far dirtier. In Gunner, the grit is of a more genteel nature, despite the widespread destruction; you can picture dusty jacket lapels, rubble underfoot, and the sound of grit scraping from the soles of the shell-shocked as they walk. In the McCoy novels, the grit and stench cling and ooze, like a wet, dirty alley rather than floating in the air.

Gunner is a sprawling and ambitious start to what promises to be a series as compelling as Parks’ Harry McCoy books.

Gunner is available for purchase now.

NetGalley provided an ARC in exchange for a fair review and this review was previously published by MysteryandSuspense.com.

[John MacLeod · Rating 5 out of 5]

‘Gunner’, by Alan Parks,the author responsible for the excellent Detective Harry McCoy books ,opens a new series.Happily on first impressions the high standards are maintained.
Although similarly set in Glasgow and its surrounding regions ,on this occasion we are taken back in time to the World War Two era.Instantly it feels like being immersed in the setting with the palpable sense of dread as the luftwaffe continue to blitz the area.There is tragically many civilian lives lost and much devastation of many properties.
Gunner is barely off the train,after being wounded and sent home,when his dodgy old Police boss,Drummond ropes him into a murder investigation of a mutilated corpse left among the massive casualties to be found at the Kelvin Hall.From there the case escalates in many directions for Gunner…
This crime novel dazzles with a mixed bunch of entertaining new characters as well as a gripping storyline based in a setting that feels authentically true to the 1940s.

Thank you to NetGalley and John Murray Press for an Advance Readers Copy.

[Susan Hunter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Joe Gunner has returned to Glasgow from WW2 service on medical grounds. A former Detective, his boss wants his help in a murder enquiry. A hard hitting, no holds barred story . A quagmire of incidents and villains made for some great reading. A new author to me but I'm looking for other books by this author. 5 star read

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m an Alan Parks fan girl. He can do no wrong in my eyes and Gunner is no exception.

Whilst I’m disappointed at having to wait for another Harry McCoy novel, Gunner is a thrilling new series that’s well worth a read. Wonderfully written, excellent characters and an edge of your seat plot.

Highly recommended.

Thanks to NetGalley and John Murray Press | Baskerville for the ARC.

[Peter Fleming · Rating 5 out of 5]

Joseph Gunner is a damaged man, who has returned to his native Glasgow following a medical discharge from the army. Cast aside for being too injured to be of any use to them anymore, he has a badly injured leg. His face is pocked marked with scars resulting from a blast that showered him with shrapnel, some of which damaged his eye which may not recover.

The set up is a clever one, a wounded hero returning to his home city looking for respite but finding desolation and destruction. In just two years his world has been turned upside-down. The city, especially the docks areas, has been heavily bombed, killing some, making many more homeless and destitute. In what is amongst the most disturbingly realistic piece of descriptive prose I’ve read in years, the aftermath of bombing and the effect on human bodies is unflinchingly savage. It is not just the dead and dying, but the rescuers and emergency services who are put through the wringer too. This is powerful stuff and executed perfectly.

The plot is crazy but rather clever, tying into one of the most baffling incidents of the war, that comes up with a reasoning that begins to make sense of events. Gunner stumbles into a world of German prisoners and internees, military intelligence and a parallel society. This is best summed up by the idea that the young are expendable, can fight wars and die, so that the old can stay in power. Some care little for who rules providing their status is unaffected.

Gunner is a great variation on the strong, honest and determined protagonist, this time with physical limitations. He returns with a kitbag full of problems; his squeeze has run off with an Airforce Captain, his Bolshie conscientious objector brother has disappeared, and his pain has made him reliant on morphine with his supply running out. He quickly finds himself acting out of character, discovering that the madness of war changes men. A complex and compelling man.
The story doesn’t hang around with the action moving around Glasgow and the surrounding countryside. It’s packed with danger and jeopardy, which are heightened by the nagging sense that characters are not who they profess to be. Being Glasgow there must be a sprinkling of gangland violence, which is brutal, there being a battle for supremacy going on. On one side the old school modelled on George Raft even down to the spats, up against the modern thinkers led by a disabled man with spinal muscular atrophy and his thug brother. Gunner is a man with no resources; can he get the help he needs without being hopelessly compromised.

The motivations and themes are nuanced for a novel set during wartime, being much more than the battle of good versus evil. Victor (Gunner’s brother) is a conscientious objector with communist leanings, but doesn’t consider himself a coward, though many do. For him there are more ways to fight a war than direct confrontation. Then there is the policy of internment. Prisoners of war naturally need to be contained but extending that to all ‘enemy aliens’ who have lived in the UK many years is harsh. Such was the concern and paranoia about fifth columns, German spies and infiltration from within. Yet some within the establishment do not share the views of the masses. This is not a piece of antiwar fiction, but rather an honest and objective review of a complex position that is judged about right.

It couldn’t be set in Glasgow without some of the humour and verbal rough and tumble its renowned for, but it is of a more sparing and subtle kind. It still manages to retain the imprint of the city though.

[Mary Picken · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am buzzing about Alan Parks’ new wartime series. I loved his Harry McCoy series so much, and this new series looks set to hit the high notes. March 1941, Glasgow is choking on smog, rubble, and the constant thrum of Luftwaffe bombs. Joe Gunner, ex-detective, front-line survivor, and now morphine-dependent shadow of a man, is our guide through a city teetering on collapse. Parks doesn’t just set a scene; he drags us, limping and breathless, into the heart of violence and conspiracy. Gunner returns to a Glasgow he barely recognises; the Blitz has destroyed many parts of the city.

Gunner isn’t a conventional hero; he’s raw. His leg injury and morphine habit are his anchors. Every step he takes, every thought he battles, comes layered with physical pain and fogged memory. His need to lie low, to just subsist, collides with a hardened instinct to pursue justice. It’s a brilliant tension: a man desperate for peace but haunted by duty. Those inner dialogues, wrestling regret, guilt, and relief, elevate him into something achingly human. And as if he hadn’t enough troubles, his brother is not just a conscientious objector, he’s an active troublemaker protesting on behalf of the working-class lads who are dragged off to war without a thought for their lives.

From the moment his old boss, Drummond, re-enters the scene, dragging him into the ruins, the chemistry crackles. Their rapport is familiar, like an unhealed wound. And when Gunner meets security high-ups from military intelligence, scrutiny and suspicion flash each time he’s positioned between loyalty to his city and the crown. These conversations feel sharpened by the paranoia of the 1940s, where every sidelong glance and every clipped syllable speaks volumes about trust in wartime Britain.

The plot moves forward at pace once Gunner examines a mutilated corpse in a bombed tenement, and then he learns just how outlandish the truth is. Parks channels the real 1941 Rudolph Hess mission into a conspiracy that pulses with shadowy menace. It’s espionage rooted in historical plausibility but with imaginative twists that kept me guessing.

You can breathe the dust and kick the rubble in the streets, hear the wail of sirens, and feel the crowd’s fear and anger after each raid. Parks’ research is meticulous—the gangland tensions, the political paranoia, the fear of ‘enemy aliens’—it’s all woven in with believable texture. The nuances about conscientious objectors, wartime British attitudes, even how morphine was administered, all zing with authenticity.

Parks’ writing never drags. One moment, Gunner’s morphine habit slows him; the next, he’s ducking debris or reading secret memos. Parks’ lean prose, in which no word is wasted, matches Gunner’s fractured psyche. He’s full of moral ambiguity. Violence hits hard. Suspense coils until it snaps. It’s bruising, fast, and beautifully bleak.

Verdict: I love how Parks imagines Glasgow during the Blitz—a city of smoke and shadows, of secrets half-buried in rubble and memory. Gunner, with his tangled loyalties and limp, is a hero for these times. This is an immersive, tightly-wound thriller that will keep you reading into the small hours. If you love noir, history, or just a brilliant story, don’t miss this one.

[Jonathan Crain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alan Parks's "Gunner" plunges the reader into the smoke-blackened alleys of wartime Glasgow, where bombers wheel overhead and loyalties are rarely pure. In this stark crime thriller, Parks builds his narrative around a protagonist who embodies the scar tissue of his environment: Joe Gunner, a former police detective and army sergeant, physically maimed, psychologically brittle, and increasingly unmoored from any notion of moral clarity.

What makes "Gunner" compelling is not merely its tight plotting or its vivid sense of place—though both are undeniable strengths—but its resistance to present heroism as anything clean or aspirational. Gunner is no beacon of righteousness. He is a man eroded by pain, trauma, and cynicism, operating in a city that mirrors his internal wreckage. Glasgow, in Parks's hands, is not a romanticized noir backdrop but a bomb-pocked, morally fluid landscape that forces hard choices on those who inhabit it.

Gunner himself is the novel's chief triumph and its most disturbing element. Haunted by memories of wartime France and numbed by morphine, he is a protagonist at odds with himself: simultaneously driven and adrift. Parks doesn’t redeem Gunner; instead, he paints a portrait of a man shaped by brutality, no longer convinced that decency holds any real value. This moral indifference gives the book its edge—and its unsettling emotional truth.

The narrative begins when Gunner's reluctant return to police work leads him to investigate a mutilated body discovered in the rubble of bombed-out Glasgow. What follows is a dense conspiracy that exposes the sinister repurposing of identity itself, forcing Gunner on an odyssey through the wreckage of a city—and a self—that no longer recognizes their former contours.

Parks's prose is lean, unpretentious, and loaded with atmospheric weight. He makes no aesthetic apologies for the grit, nor does he try to stylize it into a noir pastiche. Dialogue is sharp, regional, and alive with class tension. And while the plot accelerates with thriller efficiency, Parks wisely slows down when it matters most—to let us sit in Gunner's pain, to make us reckon with the choices he makes and what they cost him.

What emerges from the wreckage is Parks's bleak insight: that clear moral boundaries have collapsed under the weight of expedience and trauma. In such a world, even well-intentioned actions carry the stink of compromise. Gunner does not rise above this dilemma; he is consumed by it.

"Gunner" is not a comfortable read, nor is it meant to be. It is, instead, a sobering meditation on what happens when systems fail, when violence becomes habit, and when the line between victim and perpetrator blurs beyond recognition. Parks doesn't offer solace. He offers truth—and in Joe Gunner, a protagonist whose flaws make him painfully, troublingly real.

This review is based on an advance reader copy provided by NetGalley and John Murray Press | Baskerville.

[jeff popple · Rating 5 out of 5]

Set in 1941, Gunner opens with former police detective Joseph Gunner back on the streets of Glasgow after being wounded on the front line in France. Still suffering from shock, and keeping the pain in his leg at bay with the help of morphine, Gunner is hoping to lie low as the Luftwaffe begins bombing Glasgow. But when he runs into his old boss, Drummond, he is persuaded to help examine a body found in the wreckage. When it turns out to be that of a German, mutilated to disguise his identity, Gunner reluctantly agrees to investigate. As he begins to hunt for the truth Gunner runs into old flames and bitter enemies, before finding himself embroiled in a high-level conspiracy, that somehow involves his conscientious objector brother Joe, and reaches far beyond his hometown of Glasgow.

This is a gritty slice of meticulously researched noir that vividly captures a clear sense of place and time. Parks does not hold his punches in describing the brutal effects of the German bombing of Glasgow, the horrors of the war in France, and the corruption on the Homefront, and there is a strong sense of authenticity throughout the book. The mix of local crime and broader conspiracy works very well, and allows Parks to introduce a wide breadth of interesting characters, including the local gangster head, Matthew Sellars.

Gunner is very much a man of his time, and Parks does not gloss over his faults or try to give him too many modern sensibilities. The plot is a clever mix of murder mystery, gangland violence and political thriller, that gives new life to the old Rudolph Hess conspiracy theories. The pacing is good throughout and the final chapters bristle with suspense and action. Gunner takes plenty of punishment on his way to finding out the truth, and the ending delivers the requisite twists and surprises. Strong, enjoyable stuff.

In all, a top notch crime thriller that is one of my favourites of the year so far.
See full review at: https://murdermayhemandlongdogs.com/r...

[Robert Goodman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alan Parks is best known for his Tartan Noir crime series featuring police detective Harry McCoy and set in Glasgow in the 1970s. That series is gritty and dark, gives a great sense of place and time, particularly by bringing in the big events of the time. With Gunner he starts what feels like a new series, also set in Glasgow but this time in the middle of World War 2. And once again he has crafted a darkly evocative picture of the time through the eyes of a damaged protagonist.
It is 1941 and former policeman (“polis”) Joe Gunner has been sent home from the Western front after being injured in an explosion. He has damaged one eye so wears and eye patch and has trouble walking due to the amount of shrapnel damage to his leg. As soon as he steps off the train in his native Glasgow he is picked up by his old commander Drummond and asked to help with the investigation of the death of what looks like a German escapee. Complicating matters are the two secret service agents that Gunner has been billeted with, a local gang war with Gunner caught in the middle and the fact that his brother Victor is a conscientious objector who has fled from the farm where he is supposed to be working.
Parks once again does a great job of bringing the streets of Glasgow to life. Particularly the dark side of the tracks of organised crime and bent police. At the same time he shines a light on the German bombing of Glasgow during the Second World War, an event overshadowed by the attacks on London at the time. And, of course, as readers have come to expect, there is also a political angle as events connect to a some very well known historical events.
And Parks does this all through the eyes of Joe Gunner – injured but still able to take a beating, a little bit addicted to morphine and compromised. But somehow Gunner is still a crack investigator and, when he can be, on the side of the angels.
Gunner is another great piece of historical crime fiction from Parks and clearly the start of what looks like another must read series.

[Alyson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Joe Gunner is surprised on his return to Glasgow to find his old police boss, Drummond, waiting for him at the station. Gunner is looking forward to reconnecting with his old girlfriend and finding a bed for the night but Drummond has other ideas. He drags Gunner off to see a body that has been found in the wreckage of Luftwaffe bombing raid. Just one amongst many dead it could have been easily overlooked if the head had not been beaten to a pulp and the fingers cut off so that the body cannot be easily identified. Reluctantly Gunner agree's to help investigate but he had to battle his own injuries and his morphine addiction as well as negotiate old enemies and try and keep his brother safe.
The apparently simple matter of identification quickly spirals into a high level conspiracy involving MI5 and the British aristocracy.
The opening chapters of this book, set against the background of the bombing raids are harrowing with very visceral descriptions of flattened streets, mutilated bodies and distressed survivors, but it is the dark tale of Rudolf Hess's secret mission to involve Britain on the German side of WW2, that is the main thrust of the plot and Gunner has to try and navigate a route through the murky shadows where the sides shift and making the wrong choice brings immediate death.
It is a fast paced story, gritty and dark with many twists and plot turns, made more interesting by the historical detail of Hess's scheme, that sets friends against friends and makes enemies darker. The story has a satisfying ending but an opening for sequels is there, and I for one would be happy to read more about Gunner. He has been built to survive...

With thanks to Netgalley and John Murray Press for an arc copy in return for an honest review.

[Annette · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is part espionage and part police procedural, the story of Joseph Gunner, invalided out of the army after Dunkirk and returning to his native Glasgow. Formerly a police officer he is not quite sure what he will be able to do with one eye not functioning and extreme pain from an injured leg.
When his old boss, Drummond meets him from the train and asks him to investigate a murdered man, found in the ruins of a bomb site, his fingers chopped off to prevent identification, Gunner gives it a go.
Unfortunately he is now reliant on morphine and he has the problem of a viscous villain he sent to prison, now having been released from gaol.
This is a fast paced thriller with a lot of violence, so it is not a book for the faint hearted. I enjoyed reading about Gunner and the well researched descriptions of 1940s Glasgow and its underworld of gangsters who are only too willing to try and pervert justice to serve their own means. Sellars is obviously going to be Gunner’s Faustian nemesis in future books.
The plot about Hess is obviously based on history but the doppelgänger part of the story was quite difficult to understand- maybe it was just me and it didn’t really matter as the novel moved at a cracking pace which really didn’t let up until the very last page and the surprising ending.
I will certainly be looking forward to the next book in the series as Joe Gunner is an interesting character and Alan Parks has told a ripping yarn!
Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my advance copy.

[Kirsten · Rating 3 out of 5]

Im März 1941 kommt Joseph Gunner aus dem Krieg zurück nach Glasgow. Beide haben durch den Krieg Narben davongetragen. Gunner will eigentlich nicht mehr zum Polizeidienst zurück, aber der Mangel an fähigen Männern ist zu groß. als dass man auf ihn verzichten könnte. So bleibt er in einer Stadt zurück, die er nicht mehr wiedererkennt und macht einen Job, den er nicht mehr machen will.

Gunner muss an vielen Fronten kämpfen: sein Boss Drummond hat Kontakte in die Unterwelt, sein Bruder ist Kriegsdienstverweigerer und auch im Krieg hören die Verbrechen nicht auf. Ein unbekannter Toter wird gefunden, bei dem sich der oder die Täter viel Mühe gegeben haben, die Identität zu verschleiern. Es bleibt nicht bei einem toten und bald sieht sich Gunner im Zentrum einer Verschwörung, die weit über Glasgow hinausgeht.

Der Krimi ist düster. Jede Nacht fallen Bomben über die Stadt und die Folgen sind furchtbar. Gunner leidet unter den Folgen seiner Verletzungen und seiner Morphiumsucht. Und auch er wird bekommt Besuch von einer Unterweltgröße, der ihm ein Angebot macht, das er nicht ablehnen kann.

Vieles an der Handlung hat mich an andere Krimis von Alan Parks erinnert, aber davon darf man sich nicht täuschen lassen. Genauso wenig wie von den Charakteren, die alle mehr Facetten haben, als man auf den ersten Blick sieht. Hier ist nichts Schwarz oder Weiß, sondern Grau in allen Schattierungen. Genau das ist es, was ich an den Krimis von Alan Parks schätze.

[Lynda · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first in a new series The Joseph Gunner Thrillers. 1941, during WWII, and Sergeant Joseph ‘Joe’ Gunner has been wounded in the retreat to Dunkirk and is repatriated back to his hometown of Glasgow to recuperate. Arriving by train he is met by his former police chief Drummond who wants his help to solve the murder of an unidentified man, later identified as a German, who has been brutally beaten. This fictional story is in part inspired by the true story of Rudolf Hess’s abortive flight to Scotland intending to negotiate the United Kingdom's exit from the Second World War.

Briefly, it is with great reluctance that Gunner returns to his previous work as a detective. He soon finds himself caught up in the extremely murky criminal underworld of Glasgow. He is also looking for his brother who is on the run as a conscientious objector to the war. Not helping Gunner are the actions of MI6 and an apparent link between the Nazi appeasers and the arrival of Rudolf Hess!

A good plot as Gunner tries to weave his way through the intricacies of the case and find the killer. The detailed and harrowing bombing of the city of Glasgow was very emotional. A dark and gritty read, with an interesting protagonist, and I look forward to the next in the series.

[Stephanie Bull · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first in a new crime series featuring Joseph Gunner. It's March 1941 and Gunner has returned to Glasgow having been wounded on the front line in France. Before the war Gunner was a police detective and he soon runs into his old boss who enlists Gunner's help in a possible murder investigation. A mutilated body has been discovered in amongst the many victims of the German campaign to bomb Glasgow, however the injuries inflicted could not have been caused by a bomb. Gunner reluctantly agrees to help and soon becomes caught up in a conspiracy involving past enemies, German POWs and a number of undesirable characters.

This is a well written, gritty thriller with an appealing protagonist. The excellent characterisations and very descriptive writing make it easy for the reader to immerse themselves into a Glasgow under siege by the Luftwaffe. There are plenty of plot twists that kept me enthralled and intrigued all the way to an unexpected conclusion. My only criticism is the amount of expletives in the first few chapters. Some are definitely required to set the scene, however for me it was a little overdone.

Many thanks to NetGalley and John Murray Press for my advanced reader copy in return for my honest and unbiased review.

[Rich B · Rating 4 out of 5]

A similar style to the 1970s-based Harry McCoy series, but moved to early 1940s Glasgow with more of a wartime / spy element built in.

Joseph Gunner, former policeman, returns to Glasgow after suffering serious shrapnel injuries during wartime service in France. He’s met off the train by a former colleague and barely gets time to breathe before he’s thrown into a conspiracy plot involving German POWs and the Deputy Nazi leader, Rudolph Hess.

There’s also a battle between rival gang bosses because, well, it’s still Glasgow, despite there being a war on. There’s a lot of well-done scene setting with the impact of German bombings on the city, rationing, POWs and conscientious objectors, and the city being full of soldiers all being well brought to life on the page.

The story is well paced, the writing lean, and though the ending is a little rushed, it’s still quite satisfying - and sets up more books to follow.

Gunner’s a likeable character, even when lots of bad things happen to him. The Sellars brothers seem well set up to be fun villains for future books, and there are lots of interesting secondary characters including Gunner's brother, his brother's girlfriend and a shady spy boss.

Overall, an enjoyable historical crime noir book, worth a read.

[Hilary · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a fan of the Harry McCoy series by this author I was delighted to find all the dark policing, gangs and wonderful characters in this new book and am looking forward to getting to know this new set of flawed characters.

Set in 1941, former police officer Sergeant Gunner returns to Glasgow - sent home to recover from his wounds sustained in France on the retreat to Dunkirk. As he returns his former boss, Drummond, is waiting for him, hoping to get his help with a mutilated corpse that has turned up in the temporary mortuary in the Kelvin Hall. Despite his initial reluctance Gunner finds himself drawn back in to spy missions, police investigation and the criminal underworld in Glasgow at the time of the Clydebank Blitz and Rudolph Hess's flight into Scotland.

It's great to be at the start of another Alan Park's series ... I'm already looking forward to the next one and hopefully getting to know this set of characters better.

Thanks to NetGalley and publishers John Murray Press for the opportunity to ready this in return for an honest review.

[Joe Singleton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having read some of the Harry McCoy series by this author, I was really interested to see him writing something a little bit different in this new crime series.
Based in Glasgow in the 1940's the book introduces us to some great characters and also tells us a lot about the bombing of Glasgow in WWII which I was unaware of the extent that they were attacked. The book gives a totally different spin on the usual crime stories that we often read and the author has done a great job with this. Let's hope that this is the start of a new series of books involving Joe Gunner.
This book will be appreciated by a wide audience as it is historical fiction, Scottish crime mixed with a bit of wartime story and police work. Give Gunner a read and I am sure you will not be disappointed.
Many thanks to John Murray Press, NetGalley, and the author for providing me with an advanced electronic copy of the book in return for an honest and unbiased review.
The book was published on the 17th July and is available in hardback, e-book and audio book formats

[Valerie Thirkettle-Kayser · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was the first novel I read by Alan Parks and it was a good discovery.
The atmospheric writing really plunges us into the Glasgow of the 40s. Bleak and violent times where the war does not bring the best out of people who try to get an advantage out of others.
The characters are strong and very vividly written. They are hard, rough and do not inspire much sympathy, especially as it is difficult to know on which side they are on and what they are really up to. Gunner is an interesting centre character, broken by his time on the battlefield, suffering physically and mentally, and using morphine to help himself,
It seems that the author found inspiration in the story of Rudolf Hess and his landing in Glasgow in May 1941. There were many theories about Hess’s mission and Alan Parks added to them here. It would have been great to have some author notes on this.
This book is a good story and well written. It keeps the mystery going and brings wartime Glasgow to life.

[Alison Cairns · Rating 5 out of 5]

A new book and hopefully a new series from Alan Parks. Former Glasgow policeman Jospeh Gunner is returning injurede to Glasgow after 18 months in France fighting in WW2. Met off the train by his former DI Drummond, Gunner finds himself in the midst of the fallout from the Clydebank Blitz. Despite his bad eye, damaged leg and general war wounds, he finds himself investigating two German bodies found amongst the Blitz victims in the Kelvin Hall. Who are these men and why are their bodies in Glasgow with no visible means of identification? Gunner's brother, Victor, is a conscientious objector. Tracking him down, Gunner finds himself entangled in complications he could never have imagined. A riveting story with an actual historical event at the heart of it. I hope there will be more Gunner soon. #netgalley #Gunner

[Jo-anne Atkinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Joseph Gunner has been invalided back to Glasgow. The city is suffering from Luftwaffe attacks and after one of these a body is found disfigured to prevent identification. Gunner is drawn back into his pre-War job of detective to try to find answers but this proves difficult. Balancing the dark underside of Glasgow's gangsters with the secrets held by shadowy Government officials, Gunner is struggling to stay on course.
I am a huge fan of Parks' Harry McCoy books and this is a great diversion into a WWII set detective tale. The character of Gunner is so similar, an outsider with a dark side and who works across the line of morality, and the plot is really clever - linking to the 'visit' of Rudolf Hess to Scotland towards the end of the war. It's a lovely period piece with a strong link to the best Scottish crime writing.

[Greville Waterman · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Harry McCoy series by Alan Parks is an outstanding body of work so I was intrigued to read the first in what I hope will be a long lived series featuring Gunner, newly returned to his native Glasgow after being invalided out of the army owing to his injuries incurred at Dunkirk.

He is inveigled back into a police investigation by his shady former boss and it all kicks off from there with nothing and nobody being quite what they seem.

What is fascinating is the depiction of Glasgow in the 1940s and the descriptions of the people and places. The action is nonstop with lots of twists and turns linked to what was for me a fairly preposterous link to Rudolf Hess.

An excellent start which is highly recommended..

[Justin Sarginson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very grateful as ever to the publisher for allowing me early access. Particularly grateful as I am an avid fan of this author and I was interested in this new series.

Once again this is an intriguing and fresh development, packed full of the author’s Scottish roots and containing new but deep characters, a plot that writhes and burrows into your consciousness and is a near perfect read.
Set during the Second World War, it feels authentic, Glasgow comes alive but just in a specific time period and the story races off.
This could be the first of many stories within this world but I reminded that previous books would come back alive with new stories also, there is a real opportunity and appetite for those books also.

[John Swift · Rating 4 out of 5]

My history of Glasgow/Clydebank during WW2 has been updated. I didn’t appreciate the scale of casualties, my knowledge was restricted to bombing in the dock areas!! Joe Gunner certainly had a hard shift after he was invalided out of his WW 2 regiment. The pace of the book was fast/furious and with an intriguing Rudolf Hess storyline. Difficult at times to work out the goodies from the baddies! But I got there in the end! There are enough loose ends for Joe and his brother Victor to make a return in a follow up book. I’ll probably get around to reading it, but at the moment I prefer his other detective Harry McCoy from the authors other book series. I’ve been waiting to read the seventh book in the series for sometime, but it seems the author is suffering from a McCoy writers blog??

[Steve Capel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Set in the early years of WWII Joe Gunner is the main character in a novel loosely based on historical fact..
Back in Glasgow after being wounded in France ex police officer Joe is drawn back into the orbit of his previous boss investigating a suspicious body found after a bombing raid. The more he investigates the more he is drawn into conspiracy going to the heart of British wartime politics.
Life in wartime Glasgow is graphically portrayed with descriptions of bombing raids as the city suffers its own Blitz.Crime and corruption are rife and Joe is drawn into the orbit of crime families and the secret service. This is a very brutal story which sits very well within the era in which it is set.
As the first in a new series the scene is set for future Joe Gunner adventures