It has been a long, long time...

Anyone could be forgiven for thinking that I had succumbed to the icy north winds here in sunny Sweden. The fact, as usual, is less fascinating than the fiction.

I've moved into the PR game and actually started to write again. It has been a while, but I feel the stirrings of yore and the priapic predisposition to pontificate, exaggerate and generally make stuff up.

So you can expect another epistle from the Frozen North, in the coming months.

I wish you a resolutely Happy New Year!

T.S.

I've been a bad boy....

I'm getting pangs of guilt. I haven't written anything or posted anything in months. I guess the summer just sucked the life out of me. I am however, starting to feel a distinct stirring in my sub-conscious that will, no doubt, spew forth another piece of Modern Noir in the coming months.

I've been concentrating pretty much on my other interest - making and selling straight razors.... so you see my creative juices needs must flow - and they have been...

Below you'll find a couple of examples of what this crime writer does when he's not killing bad guys and getting laid by lusty dames....

If any of you are man (or woman) enough to scrape your hairy bits with a piece of razor sharp steel, drop by my Etsy shop or look for me on eBay.

I'll start drinking more and pounding the keyboard again shortly...

A couple of nice reviews...

My mainstream literary novel Killing a Friend just received its second review. It's short and it's very nice :)

Superb *****
"Killing a Friend will draw you in to the emotions of the characters in this book. You will feel their happiness, their confusion, and, ultimately, their pain. I finished the book yesterday, yet, today am still contemplating the joy and sorrow of Jack, Angel and Wolf. It is a very well written book and one I will remember for a long time..."

I've also had a few decent reviews of Ganglands recently in the UK, where it has been selling quite well in recent months...

"If you want a gritty story that holds you till the end then you won't get much better."

"Very compulsive read."

It's all good!

"The Ginger Man for Modern Times"

I've been flattered beyond belief. J.P. Donleavy is one of my all time favourite authors. His first novel, The Ginger Man is one I have read at least six times. And it gets better with every reading. I've read practically everything since then that Mr. Donleavy has produced.

So it was with humble gratitude that I read the first review of my novel The Libertine....

A five star review that one could not even pay for.

Click here to see the review

A New Shot of Modern Noir: The Club

My latest noir novelette, The Club, has just been published in eBook format.

The Club is a story built around a rich married couple whose teenage daughter goes missing following a seedy sex party at an exclusive private members' club.


With nowhere else to turn and having been let down by the first private eye they hired, the aging couple turn to P.I. Jimmy O'Hanlon, who sets off to discover the sordid and sad truth behind the teenager's disappearance.

In order to make a meal out if it I've also published my three shots of modern noir in one volume, entitled Sharp Shots. It is available via Amazon at a special launch price.


Click here to get to my Amazon author's page


In this volume you can find:
- The Club
- Sunset Strip
- Candy Says Kill


Dip your toes in the world of Modern Noir...

Death Call in print once again...

After almost thirteen years out of print, Death Call will be once again made available in dead tree format under the Breffni Books imprint, published via our friend Jeff Bezos at Amazon.


Kindle sales were doing so well that I thought it would be a good idea to re-release this one in print. Other old titles may follow... 


Death Call is available through normal sales channels at a rather reasonable price.... 


Here's the direct link...

Good reviews are always welcome!


The blurb looks like this:


It was all he could do to stop his hangover from spilling out onto the victim as he studied her neck and what he made out to be the initial puncture wound in her abdomen. From that point, he thought, she had been opened like an envelope with a paper knife, revealing a mess of entrails and blood.

With a deranged serial killer on the loose, Detective Sergeant Dan Carroll and his new partner Detective Constable Samuel Grant find themselves trawling the seedy side of London in search of a brutal killer who preys on prostitutes.

A Shot of Modern Noir.


And I've added one or two words of praise from the Paddy Pack (the Irish Crime Writer's fraternity), including the one from the original print version from Eugene McEldowney.



"Death Call is a rattling good read and T.S. O'Rourke is a crime writer to watch."
Eugene McEldowney, crime writer


"As blunt and effective as the average anvil, TS O'Rourke's prose in Death Call was hardboiled, pickled and left out to dry under a post-apocalyptic sun."
Declan Burke - crime writer and blogger extraordinaire

Dark Days of Summer - Sale

I'm on vacation. And I'm guessing that most of you will be on vacation soon enough (or perhaps not quite soon enough - I know that feeling too).

In order to celebrate the coming (but so far elusive) sunshine I've slashed the prices on all of my books and short stories...

So if you are in the mood for some Modern Noir this summer look no further

You can find the books on Amazon.com here: http://www.amazon.com/T.-S.-ORourke/e/B001KCID38
or on Amazon.co.uk here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/T.-S.-ORourke/e/B001KCID38

Have a good one!

An intelligent and insightful book....

I'm not easily flattered. I guess I'm too cynical for that. I always look for a motive. Perhaps that's why I enjoy writing crime/noir stuff so much.

So it was with something of a shock that I discovered the 'perfect review' if such a thing exists, for my historical fiction/faction novel The Republican: An Irish Civil War Story.

To prove that I'm not imagining things or making stuff up I've added the link below.

REVIEW

There - you see... I'm not imagining it, am I? 

Another Shot of Modern Noir in the works...

I've been beavering away on a new noir novelette (a little alliteration is good for the soul) and I'm quite pleased with it. Should be finished in the next month or two... time permitting.

Here's the general gist of the story....

Working title 'The Club'

A wealthy couple join an exclusive club and are invited to participate in rather unusual activities at a party. Both man and wife and their teenage daughter are separated during these activities and they each go through a series of 'tests' that will define their position in the inner circle of members.
They discover, after the party, that their daughter has mysteriously disappeared. No one saw her leave the club grounds...
Finding little solace in the club's management or the local police department, the exasperated couple turn to hiring a private eye to find their daughter.... But can they reveal what went on at the party? And is that connected to their daughter's disappearance?

Coming soon!

Killing me softly....

Every now and then I run a book promotion to get a little notice out in the big bad world.


My mainstream literary novel, Killing a Friend, will be available for free on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk in ebook format for the next several days, starting later today/early tomorrow. Here's the cover blurb. It's a mix of love and rage, set in exotic West Sweden...

Killing a Friend is a novel about people that love each other, about friends, acquaintances and life partners.

Lost souls clinging to the familiar, despite their better judgment - a story that takes normal life one step further.

Two friends, two artists, two men that love the same woman - a tragedy, an unforgivable able deception and a chance to begin again.

Killing a Friend is a book of love, longing and lust.

You can find the book here on Amazon.com

Or here on Amazon.co.uk