Synopsis/blurb …
They'll all be crow bait by the time I'm finished...Jail
was hell for Davie McCall. Ten years down the line, freedom's no picnic either.
It's 1990, there are new kings in the West of Scotland underworld, and Glasgow
is awash with drugs. Davie can handle himself. What he can't handle is the
memory of his mother's death at the hand of his sadistic father. Or the
darkness his father implanted deep in his own psyche. Or the nightmares... Now
his father is back in town and after blood, ready to waste anyone who stops him
hacking out a piece of the action. There are people in his way. And Davie is
one of them.
Tense, dark and nerve-wracking... a highly effective
thriller. THE HERALD
This is crime fiction of the strongest quality.
CRIMESQUAD.COM
A gory and razor-sharp crime novel from the start,
Douglas Skelton's Crow Bait moves at breakneck speed like a getaway car on the
dark streets of Glasgow. THE SKINNY
Skelton has been hiding from his talent for long enough.
High time he shared it with the rest of us. QUINTIN JARDINE
Crow Bait is the second in Douglas Skelton’s four book Davie
McCall series. It’s a series I’m now three books into, but it’s also one I’ve
come at ass-backwards. I read Open Wounds the last one first. Followed it up a
couple of months after (both in 2016) with the first Blood City. Then left a
gap of about six years – just long enough to forget my previous encounters with
Davie – before cracking on with the second – Crow Bait.
Crow Bait is mainly concerned with Davie and his dad and a
long anticipated, long feared inevitable reunion.
Prior to this event we have …. prison life, freedom, a
reconnection with friends and a former lover, a murder, taunts and escalations,
encounters with the police – both bent and straight and a revisiting of events with
the history of Davie’s sad family life and the reasons behind his
incarceration.
Most of Davie’s associates are in the criminal life. He
doesn’t feel it is something he is suited to after ten years in prison, but his
options are limited. We have plenty of secrets, alliances and power struggles.
A lot of the fraternity spend time looking over their shoulders, fearful of
what might happen with McCall Jr back on the streets and possibly picking away
at the narrative regarding who killed his mentor. We have schemers and
plotters, none more so than Danny McCall. Whatever path Davie chooses, he needs
to face his father first.
Took me a while to get into this, but once I did I was flying.
Great story, intriguing characters. Am I alone in finding
criminals and their antics more interesting than ordinary Joe lifestyles?
4 stars from 5
In addition to the other Skelton - McCall books I’ve read, I’ve also enjoyed the 3rd from his Rebecca Connolly series – A Rattle of Bones. Another series of his which I decided not to start at the beginning!
Read – July, 2022
Published – 2014
Page count – 233
Source – purchased copy
Format - Kindle
I've read some of Skelton's other work, Col, but not this one. The father/son showdown is an interesting dynamic to add to the plot, and the whole prison angle is, too. I think prison really does change people, and it's a ripe area for authors to explore. I'm glad you enjoyed this one.
ReplyDeleteMargot, I like his work. I just don't read enough of it. That's a statement that applies to nearly every author I enjoy!
Delete