Cutter Trilogy

by Julie Morrigan, Steven Miscandlon (Editor)

With a brutal hand, up-and-coming gangster Gordon Cutter and his associates are making a good living doing bad things. Cutter has big ambitions to expand his firm’s operations in the north-east of England, and heaven help anyone who gets in his way. The Armstrong family’s lives collide with Cutter’s illicit dealings when he sets his sights on young Livvy. Flattered by the attention of this charming and successful older man, she doesn’t see what seems clear only to her brother Jack – that Gordon Cutter is a very bad man indeed. With Cutter prepared to go to any lengths necessary to build and protect his criminal empire – and to eliminate any threat, even from inside his own firm – Jack is pushed to desperate measures to try to protect his family and bring the vicious crime boss to justice. This edition brings together the three novellas that make up the Cutter trilogy – Cutter’s Deal, Cutter’s Firm and Cutter’s Fall – plus, as a bonus, ‘Behind Blue Eyes’, the short story featuring old-school gangster Howard Mackintosh and his deputy Big Liam Bradley, which got the whole thing started. The Cutter Trilogy contains extreme violence, cruelty and adult language.

242 pages, Paperback

Published July 18, 2016

About the author

Julie Morrigan is the author of various novels, novellas and short stories, and best known for her gritty crime tales based in the north-east of England. Her most recent publication is horror novella Blackthorn Cottage, in which evil deeds from over a century earlier affect a family in the present day.

Her most recent novel is gangland novel Flesh and Blood, which follows crime thriller Debt of Honour, both published in 2024.

Gangland novel Cutter features the brutal exploits of vicious Sunderland gangster Gordon Cutter and his criminal firm.

For fans of short stories, Bad Times: North-East Crime collects Julie's shorter tales, originally published in the collections Gone Bad, Show No Mercy and Wired. Many also previously appeared in anthologies and magazines such as Bullet and Out of the Gutter.

Julie shares stories and news via her Substack newsletter, Bad Intent: https://juliemorrigan.substack.com/

Reviews

[Warren Stalley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first came across crime author Julie Morrigan back in 2014 with the stunning novella Cutter’s Deal. The Cutter Trilogy gathers together the three existing Cutter novellas (Cutter’s Deal, Cutter’s Firm and Cutter’s Fall) and includes a bonus short story Behind Blue Eyes which inspired the Cutter saga. The collection follows small time Northern gangster Gordon Cutter as he claws his way up the criminal ladder. At the same time we see Jack Armstrong and his family drawn into Cutter’s world with devastating consequences. Each novella is told from multiple character points of view giving a well-rounded perspective, while during the course of the narrative we see Cutter ruthlessly use everyone around him in his determined quest for power. Talented author Julie Morrigan doesn’t flinch from harrowing and violent scenes which only emphasize just how utterly cruel, harsh and manipulative Cutter really is. One word which sums up the trilogy for me is mesmerising. I really can’t recommend this trilogy highly enough, it’s an absolute must read for any crime fiction fan.