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More Faces: Crime Short Stories from Belfast
More Faces is a crime short story collection from A Chaser on the Rocks author Simon Maltman. The twelve mystery noirs included feature published and previously unpublished stories and all series shorts currently available. Take a journey across Northern Ireland, through the beauty and darkness, with the fresh new voice in Irish Crime Fiction."I’m amazed how a writer can cram so much into such a short space of narrative. You hit the ground running and it’s a sprint finish."Crime Book Junkie“A punchy tale, told plainly, with plenty of pace… of old fashioned thuggery and backstreet skullduggery.”Murder, Mayhem and More“a snappy read that gives a fresh glimpse into a life of crime and where it can lead you.”Writing.ie
160 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 21, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 27, 2017
Murderers, thieves, political killers and private investigators – these are the people who populate this collection of 12 short stories.
All the stories are set Maltman’s home stomping ground, in and around Belfast. Inevitably, the political situation acts as backdrop to each situation although it’s only front and centre in a couple of the stories. Instead these are mainly tales of criminal subcultures, of the shady transactions that take place in pubs and coffee bars across the country. Thieves, liars, cheats and fools – even a WW2 spy and an intriguing missing person investigation.
‘Riot Score’, set against the backdrop of a Belfast ablaze with street violence, brilliantly evokes the atmosphere of ‘The Long Good Friday.’
Several stories features my favourite bad boy, Blake. He’s an old-school thug with a heart of gold… well, sort of. An armed robber who plays by his own rules and his own code. And heaven help the schmuck who attempts to beat Blake at his own, no-holds-barred game.
Of the stand-alones, ‘Blood and Botany’ is an excellent example of the short story form: it implies much more than it explicitly describes and crams an entire narrative into a few short pages. The reader can only guess at what normally goes on behind McClaine’s forbidding black gates – Maltman gives us hints, but the story is tightly focused on a knife fight which rapidly escalates into the realm of arboreal instruments…
Only one of the stories in this anthology missed the mark for me: Political Suicide is a non-stop action set-piece where I couldn’t quite get a handle on who was shooting at whom and why. This one did need a little more background for me to enjoy it.
If you haven’t tried any of Maltman’s fiction before then this collection is an ideal introduction. It showcases his flair for adrenalin-packed action and unpredictable protagonists. Each story delivers a real sense of place and time; the grey drizzle of wartime deprivation or the contemporary grit of 21st century killers who still have to make a living in the wrong side of the streets, peace process or no…
However, if you have read ‘A Chaser In The Rocks’ then be warned: the four WW2-era Billy Chapman stories in this collection are also in that book so they won’t be new to you. Still, that leaves you with eight others to enjoy.
7/10
There's a longer version of this review (and many others about crime-fiction) over at http://www.murdermayhemandmore.net
All the stories are set Maltman’s home stomping ground, in and around Belfast. Inevitably, the political situation acts as backdrop to each situation although it’s only front and centre in a couple of the stories. Instead these are mainly tales of criminal subcultures, of the shady transactions that take place in pubs and coffee bars across the country. Thieves, liars, cheats and fools – even a WW2 spy and an intriguing missing person investigation.
‘Riot Score’, set against the backdrop of a Belfast ablaze with street violence, brilliantly evokes the atmosphere of ‘The Long Good Friday.’
Several stories features my favourite bad boy, Blake. He’s an old-school thug with a heart of gold… well, sort of. An armed robber who plays by his own rules and his own code. And heaven help the schmuck who attempts to beat Blake at his own, no-holds-barred game.
Of the stand-alones, ‘Blood and Botany’ is an excellent example of the short story form: it implies much more than it explicitly describes and crams an entire narrative into a few short pages. The reader can only guess at what normally goes on behind McClaine’s forbidding black gates – Maltman gives us hints, but the story is tightly focused on a knife fight which rapidly escalates into the realm of arboreal instruments…
Only one of the stories in this anthology missed the mark for me: Political Suicide is a non-stop action set-piece where I couldn’t quite get a handle on who was shooting at whom and why. This one did need a little more background for me to enjoy it.
If you haven’t tried any of Maltman’s fiction before then this collection is an ideal introduction. It showcases his flair for adrenalin-packed action and unpredictable protagonists. Each story delivers a real sense of place and time; the grey drizzle of wartime deprivation or the contemporary grit of 21st century killers who still have to make a living in the wrong side of the streets, peace process or no…
However, if you have read ‘A Chaser In The Rocks’ then be warned: the four WW2-era Billy Chapman stories in this collection are also in that book so they won’t be new to you. Still, that leaves you with eight others to enjoy.
7/10
There's a longer version of this review (and many others about crime-fiction) over at http://www.murdermayhemandmore.net
June 1, 2017
Uncaged Book Reviews:
I like this author’s style of writing as it’s gritty and dark. He doesn’t hold back in the killing or violence in his stories. Well worth a read. Reviewed by Jennifer
More at UncagedBooks.com
I like this author’s style of writing as it’s gritty and dark. He doesn’t hold back in the killing or violence in his stories. Well worth a read. Reviewed by Jennifer
More at UncagedBooks.com
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews