Daughter brutally murdered, and his clandestine past closing in on him, leaves ex-convict Branen with no choice but to return to the streets of Soho one last time, in this gritty debut crime close-gap thriller.
“I have now read the novel myself and I think it’s very good.I will not be the only publisher who finds it first rate.” Christopher MacLehose, publisher of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo part of Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy
After escaping a world of violence, and rebuilding his life in Italy, forty year old Branen wakes up one morning to the message that his daughter has been viciously murdered in the one city he swore he would never return, London. Aware his criminal past has once again caught up with him, and destroyed the only thing he really loved, Branen is forced to return to his old hunting ground to find the killer. His search brings him into conflict with the British Secret Service, Soho’s underworld including; Harry, a loner addicted to his vodka and mead cocktail combined with amphetamines, Snowman an albino who smokes charoots and carries a flick-knife, and his ex-wife. Branen is determined to stop at nothing to erase the final links to his past, but in an effort to get rid of his pursuers, and receive justice for his daughter, he finds that he is faced with the prospect that the only chance of success could result in his own death.
The Soho area, the heart of London’s entertainment district, was a different world twenty years ago. Today, it’s a tourist mecca, diluted and gentrified, but back in the day it was a volatile melting pot of smooth operators and rough trade; wall-to-wall porn shops, prostitutes, flashers and drug dealers. After spending too much of his own time in the clubs and bars of Soho, and in meeting many eccentric people, AW. Rock was driven to tell a story that is in part drawn from real people and events.
The first in his Soho Honey series introduces us to a complicated and unorthodox protagonist-Branen-whose backstory is revealed in teasing fragments. Set against a vivid social and cultural history of London, readers will get to straddle both Sohos, and hang out on with him in the in the dark, fetid alleys of the past as well as the modern-day iconic watering holes of Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club and Costas Lounge.
Soho Honey by AW. Rock is a dangerous, seductive and highly addictive debut novel and the perfect next read for fans of serious crime thrillers.
About the author: Based in London AW.Rock has been a regular on the Soho scene since the 1960’s working in various sectors of the entertainment industry. Soho Honey by AW. Rock (published by Clink Street Publishing 5th May 2016) is available to order from online retailers including amazon.co.uk and to order from all good bookstores.
