Saturday 17 June 2017

MALCOLM MACKAY - THE SUDDEN ARRIVAL OF VIOLENCE (2014)




Synopsis/blurb....

The stunning conclusion to Malcolm Mackay's lauded Glasgow Trilogy returns readers to the city's underworld: a place of dark motives, dangerous allegiances and sudden, tragic ends.

It begins with two deaths: a money-man and a police informant. Deaths that offer a unique opportunity to a man like Calum MacLean. A hit man who has finally had enough of killing.

Calum plans an unprecedented escape just as his employers need him the most. Glasgow's biggest criminal organizations are gearing up for a final, fatal confrontation.

The panic over Calum's abrupt disappearance may finally give Detective Michael Fisher the chance he need to close the case of a lifetime. But first, he must track down a man who has become a master of disappearance. A man who has staked his life on staying in the shadows.

Who reads a book, absolutely loves it and wants to shout about it from the rooftops to anyone who might listen, then doesn't bother writing a few thoughts about it until 15 months after reading it? Err....me.

An amazing book.....pace, action, characters, setting, plot and a fantastic closer to a brilliant series.

It's not all about killing people, it's about character and isolation and sacrifice and lifestyle and about business and strategy and double dealing and subterfuge and loyalty and respect and fear and friendship and family.

Calum's our favourite hitman and we shouldn't really like him but we do. He feels his time in the game is coming to an end and he wants out. Not something that is really an option when you do your best work for the Jamieson organisation.

When his bosses get a sniff of his intentions, you know things aren't going to end well. Someone's also been talking to the "polis" and a capable cop thinks he has a crack at bringing down the organisation. Incredibly, DI Fisher and Calum MacLean might have a wee bit of common ground to work with.

Best book of March, 2016!

5 from 5

I'm smiling this morning just thinking about this book and series and am sorely tempted to start again at the beginning. Sod the 4000 plus books in the tubs that haven't had a sniff. By a country mile Malcolm Mackay is my favourite Scottish author and this my favourite series of books!

The series is as follows, with a 70-odd page shorty as well. (Hit on books 1, 2 and 4 for my earlier thoughts)

1. The Necessary Death of Lewis Winter (2013)
2. How a Gunman Says Goodbye (2013)
3. The Sudden Arrival of Violence (2014)
Anatomy of a Hit (2013)

Other books of Mackay's I'm looking forward to embracing are..
The Night the Rich Men Burned (2014)
Every Night I Dream of Hell (2015)
For Those Who Know the Ending (2016)

At least two of the novels have characters from the Glasgow Trilogy featuring!
Good reading times ahead, I'm off to find my Malcolm Mackay cheerleader outfit!

Read in March, 2016
Published  - 2014
Page count - 400
Source - purchased copy
Format - Kindle

10 comments:

  1. Col, I expected a 5 on 5. That is one striking cover-title. I'll have to start at the beginning of the Glasgow Trilogy before I get to this book.

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    1. I think you would enjoy this series Prashant.

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  2. I'm so glad you enjoyed this one so well, Col. I know just what you mean, too, about liking a book so well that you want to tell everyone about it. It's especially nice when all of the books in a trilogy are excellent - makes for such a good reading experience.

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    1. Margot definitely a fantastic trilogy. I'm also keen to see how I enjoy the other books.

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  3. That's a rave review, for sure. I remember you talking about earlier books, and you haven't convinced me it's for me, but I'm glad you enjoyed...

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    1. Never mind, I bet if you tried the first though, you might get sucked in...

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  4. I have a book that I read last August that I have not reviewed yet... and I still plan to.

    I still have the first book in this trilogy to read. I did not realize he published all of them in 2013. Partly because this one did not come out here until 2015, but still. Since you liked this one so much, I should get to #1 soon.

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    1. This one is the most overdue review of the lot, I have one from May last year and 20 more from August, November and December. I'm caught up on this year! I'll post on the lot eventually more for my own amusement (and to satisfy the OCD elements)

      I really hope you like the Mackay book when you get there. I like the thought patterns of all the players. Mackay really gets inside their heads.

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  5. Col – With a review like that, I’ve got to get to this author soon – real soon.

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    1. Elgin, I reckon you would enjoy any of his books. Highly recommended.

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