Blog Tour: Death Rains Down, Q&A with author Kevin McManus
Huge thanks to Spellbound Books and Zooloo's Book Tours for inviting me on the Blog tour and to Kevin McManus for answering all my questions.
Tell us a bit about your current book release
Where did the inspiration for Death Comes Down come
from?
The novel was inspired by some
of those great crime movies and TV series of the early 70s such as the
French Connection, The Sweeney and Get Carter. I especially wanted to capture
the natural banter that goes on between detectives, to make them move
believable, like Regan and Carter, Popeye Doyle and Buddy Russo.
The thing that sparked the story was just reading about an unsolved case in
England in the 1980s concerning the murder of a female estate agent. She went
out to meet a client for a viewing of a property and she was never seen again.
Is there a subsidiary character you have created and are
particularly fond of and why?
I love the character of Jack McGarry, Ray
Logue’s sidekick. Ray and Jack are a bit like the Odd Couple or perhaps a
married couple (not literally) constantly bickering and poking fun at each
other but when it comes down to it, they are very close and would lay their
lives of the line for each other. Ray
Logue is rough and ready, doesn’t care much about his appearance or his general
health. He is over weight, a smoker and a heavy boozer. Jack McGarry is a
family man, very health conscious, dresses in a neat suit every day. The
contrast each other in so many ways.
Do you have a
particular writing routine you follow?
I work by day as a secondary school teacher
so I generally write for an hour or so in the evenings around 8pm until 9pm and
squeeze in a few hours at the weekend but the bulk of the writing takes place
during the Summer holidays. We get three months off during the Summer in Ireland,
so that’s not so bad.
Any tips for would-be writers seeking publication?
Have confidence and belief in yourself. Be
prepared for lots of rejections from publishers but don’t let that sway you. Be
persistent, eventually a door will open for you.
Can you tell us two things about yourself that your
readership may be unaware of?
I played Bass guitar in rock bands for about
twenty years. Alongside writing Crime fiction I also write poetry and I
published my first poetry novel last year called “Spirits in the Forest”
If you weren’t a writer what would you like to do?
A bass guitarist in a rock band or a gardner
but I don’t think my back is strong enough for that job.
Which author are you cosying up with tonight? (or what
are you reading ATM)
A graphic novel about the 2000AD character
Slaine.
Have you ever thought of setting a book somewhere
exotic so you could visit that place or perhaps live there for a while? Where
would that / will that be?
I would love to live in Iceland for a while,
is Iceland exotic?
Do you linger in your research period or do you rush
your research to get stuck into the writing? I do a little research
at the start to get me going but generally I am not sure how the story will
develop so I generally research as required as I write. It is weird and freaky
the information you have to google as you write a crime novel. If the CIA are
tracking me, they might be getting worried.
Book Blurb :-
Introducing Detective Ray Logue. A renegade, hard living & damaged cop. Full of Irish charm & the best detective in Port Ard.
Detective Ray Logue has become something of a maverick in Jim Mulcahy’s police department, having never quite got over the death of his wife 12 years earlier.
Now a hard-drinking loner and occasional loose cannon, Logue is a thorn in Mulcahy’s side, who occasionally crosses the fine line of taking the law into his own hands to see justice served.
As the body count starts to rise, Logue suspects he may have stumbled into a dangerous web of lies and cover-ups, stretching from his own department all the way to the very top of the political spectrum.
From the law-enforcers to the law-makers, from respectable businessmen to Russian mobsters – a sinister hand is exercising an iron grip across the whole social order and it will destroy anyone who dares get in its way.
Author Bio
delves into writing poetry and short stories. He lives in County Leitrim in Western Ireland with his wife Mary and their dog Jack. He works by day as a secondary school teacher. Kevin has produced a series of novels featuring an Irish Detective called Ray Logue and a series based around a New York Detective called John Morrigan. His debut novel published in 2016 was “The Whole of the Moon”. In a previous incarnation, Kevin was a bass guitarist in several rock bands for over twenty year. Kevin is a supporter of Aston Villa FC which has caused him to age prematurely.
Follow him at:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Books-by-Kevin-McManus-1075444599167606
Twitter: https://twitter.com/bassbreeze
Amazon : https://www.amazon.co.uk/Kevin-McManus/e/B01E4GF0GY/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_ebooks_1
Amazon US : https://www.amazon.com/Death-Rains-Down-Kevin-McManus-ebook/dp/B08ZR6HNTT
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