All Down The Line by Andrew Field

Today I'm helping to open the blog blitz for All Down The Line by Andrew Field with a mini review. Thanks to Emma Welton at damppebbles tours for the invitation and to the publisher for my review copy.

The Blurb:

MANCHESTER: Cain Bell thought he had closure over the hit and run death of his daughter. Ted Blake had confessed he was the behind the wheel just before he died. Twenty years on and Cain’s world is thrown upside down when his fiancé claims the driver was lying. Before she says more, a savage attack leaves her in a coma fighting for her life. To find out why Cain must uncover why four friends swore blind to never tell the truth about his daughter’s death. Now, he must persuade Manchester’s most terrifying gangster to reveal the secrets that kept hidden for two decades. And Billy McGinty is in no mood to break his own wall of silence. Unless Cain can persuade him to talk, even if it means putting his own life on the line.

All Down The Line is published by Boomslang Books on 7th December 2020 and is available to pre-order now on Amazon UK and Amazon US. 

My Mini Review:

PR man Cain Bell publicly proposed to girlfriend April Sands who accepts but whispers she must share secrets before they can marry. Secrets he won't like. But before she gets a chance to tell him, something happens to change their lives forever. Cain has already experienced one tragedy in his life - the death of his daughter, and he thought he knew what happened. But April has made him question everything he thought he knew. 

I enjoyed Field's writing, he has a great turn of phrase. The characterisation is really good, and it's a very colourful cast. He puts protagonist Cain through the emotional wringer in this book as things around him fall apart. The action takes place over a short period of time giving the whole thing a sense of immediacy. The author clearly has a love for Manchester, where the story is set, and that shines though the writing. The same goes for the music coming out of Manchester. It's footballing fame is also acknowledged. 

This was a quick and easy read for me, one I could fit into my week easily. All Down The Line is a characterful thriller featuring a fair few larger than life characters and more than one dirty secret. 

The Author:

Andrew Field has spent most of his working life as a PR consultant raising the profiles of others. Now the roles are reversed as he steps into the spotlight with All Down The Line (published in 2020). 

He handled Boddingtons Bitter during its “Cream of Manchester” heyday, developing innovative sports and cultural partnerships with TV and media platforms. Clients have also included a convicted armed bank robber and another who did eighteen months prison time for blackmail, although he didn’t know about their colourful backstories at the time. “I’d quizzed them more about their experiences. After all, hard-boiled grimness all adds to the mix, even if it is anecdotal.”

“Authors are by definition are relatively introverted. They work in isolation and inhabit imaginary world of their own creation. They can spend years staring at a computer screen bringing their characters to life. Then they have to become a different person to promote their work and market themselves.”  

“Fiction is a great way to write about how you feel personally about this great thing we do called living. We disguise it by calling it crime fiction, but behind the genre there is a world view being expressed. In my eyes, the memorable books, films and music, good or bad, are the ones you’re still thinking about 24 or 48 hours after you finished reading, watching or listening.”

What can readers expect from Andrew’s work? “If you’re into noir from the likes of James Lee Burke, James Cain, James Ellroy, Dennis Lehane, Elmore Leonard, Ted Lewis, Ed McBain and Jim Thompson, you’ll see where I am coming from.”

Andrew lives, works and plays in Northumberland, England, Europe, with his wife Catherine. A novella, Wicked Games was published in 2014. Without Rules in 2018 by Boomslang. All Down The Line will be published in December 2020. 

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