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    Brace Yourself
    Brace Yourself
    Brace Yourself
    Ebook41 pages36 minutes

    Brace Yourself

    By Russell James

    ()

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    About this ebook

    John Leighton, owner of a fine estate in the Cotswolds, lives well – when we meet him he is 'warmly encased in leather-lined Le Chameau boots, neat Habicht binoculars slung loose around his neck, and he carries a boxlock Holland and Holland Cavalier shotgun in one hand.' Weekend shooting parties are nothing new to him – but for Leighton this will be the first (and last) to be attended by some friends, some business contacts, his wife's lover, and an undercover London hit-man.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRussell James
    Release dateMar 17, 2012
    ISBN9781476076546
    Brace Yourself
    Author

    Russell James

    Russell has been a published writer for some 25 years, is an ex-Chairman of the Crime Writers Association, and has written a dozen and a half novels in the crime and historical genres. He has also published various non-fiction works, including 4 illustrated biographical encyclopaedias: Great British Fictional Detectives and its companion work, Great British Fictional Villains, followed by the Pocket Guide to Victorian Writers & Poets, and its companion, the Pocket Guide to Victorian Artists & Their Models. His books include: IN A TOWN NEAR YOU (Prospero) THE CAPTAIN'S WARD (Prospero) AFTER SHE DROWNED (Prospero) STORIES I CAN'T TELL (with Maggie King) (Prospero) THE NEWLY DISCOVERED DIARIES OF DOCTOR KRISTAL (Prospero) EXIT 39 (Prospero) RAFAEL'S GOLD (Prospero) THE EXHIBITIONISTS (G-Press) POCKET GUIDE TO VICTORIAN ARTISTS & MODELS (Pen & Sword) POCKET GUIDE TO VICTORIAN WRITERS & POETS (Pen & Sword) GREAT BRITISH FICTIONAL VILLAINS (Pen & Sword) GREAT BRITISH FICTIONAL DETECTIVES (Pen & Sword) THE MAUD ALLAN AFFAIR (Pen & Sword) MY BULLET SWEETLY SINGS (Prospero) REQUIEM FOR A DAUGHTER (Prospero) NO ONE GETS HURT (Do Not Press) PICK ANY TITLE (Do Not Press) THE ANNEX (Five Star Mysteries) PAINTING IN THE DARK (Do Not Press) OH NO, NOT MY BABY (Do Not Press) COUNT ME OUT (Serpent's Tail) SLAUGHTER MUSIC (Alison & Busby) PAYBACK (Gollancz) DAYLIGHT (Gollancz) UNDERGROUND (Gollancz)

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      Book preview

      Brace Yourself - Russell James

      BRACE YOURSELF

      by Russell James

      Published at Smashwords

      copyright Russell James 2012

      Full-length novels by this author include:

      Underground

      Daylight

      Payback

      Slaughter Music

      Count me Out

      Oh No, Not My Baby

      Painting in the Dark

      The Annex

      Pick Any Title

      No One Gets Hurt

      Requiem for a Daughter

      Smashwords Edition

      License Notes

      This ebook is for your own use only, and may not be given away or sold to other people. If you are reading this book but did not purchase it, be aware that you are infringing copyright. Please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author’s rights.

      CONTENTS:

      What the Critics SayWhat the Critics Say

      ForewordForeword

      Brace YourselfBrace Yourself

      AboutAbout the Author

      Critics on Russell James:

      'The Godfather of British Noir,'

      - said Ian Rankin

      'The great unknown talent of British crime writing,'

      - said GQ magazine

      'Dangerous and fascinating . . . someone to watch,'

      - said Hardboiled magazine

      'For me, the best hard boiled writer in the world,'

      - said Ed Gorman

      'The best of Britain's darker crime writers,'

      - said The Times

      'He goes looking for trouble where more circumspect writers would back off,'

      - said The Times Saturday Review

      Foreword

      Britain's top crime writer, Ian Rankin, called me 'The Godfather of British Noir' so I'll forgive you for thinking I write hard boiled or tough guy adventure stories. I find it curious, looking back over what I've written, to see that there's comparatively little sex and violence in my books. Being called the 'Godfather of British Noir' has compelled me, all too often, to defend my tales against the charge that I trade in those vices. I do not. My stories, in fact, are less hard boiled than my reputation suggests. The story here (this is a short story) has violence – it has a death – but it’s hardly in your face.

      But stay with me. Stay with the critics. 'Surely the best of Britain's darker crime writers' said London's Times. 'An acknowledged British master of hard-edged crime' agreed Britain's big-selling Mail on Sunday. American papers praise me too - check the New York Times and San Francisco Chronicle, check the glowing reviews in Publishers Weekly, Mostly Murder and Mystery News. The Encyclopaedia of Modern Crime Fiction says I turn out 'some of the best crime fiction being written today'. But enough already. I'm not here to sell myself. I am trying, in this brief introduction, to hint at exactly what you’re going to find.

      When this first story, Brace Yourself, appeared in a characteristically yellow and black Victor Gollancz volume called Crime Yellow (and in paperback, called New Crimes) the Times review picked out 'a splendid country house shocker from Russell James'. Well, here it is again. I hope you enjoy it.

      BRACE YOURSELF

      Patterson lets the gun dangle from his hand. You can see he doesn't know how to carry the thing. He lets

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