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The ongoing work in my garden has resulted in me having a lot of spare firewood. If you would like some speak up now, or forever hold your peace. What with the relentless energy price hikes here in the UK, kindling could be gold dust come winter.

Last week I shared with you the books I’ve read this year. My current read is The Good Son – an award winning South Korean psychological thriller. Perhaps you’ve read it already. I have mixed feelings so far.

Next up will be Nick Hornby’s High Fidelity. I hope its humour will appeal.

As for writing, I am looking forward to getting my latest book Golgotha back from the proof reader. The black comedy is the third instalment in my Necropolis Trilogy featuring sociopath Dyson Devereux.

Up until Thursday of last week, I would have mentioned at this juncture how well received the first two parts have been on Goodreads. But alas, both have since fallen victim to bots. Over the course of the last eight days they have got more ratings than they have had in their lives. All of which have come from accounts opened in June that are yet to review a single book. The Goodreads chart below for Necropolis illustrates the extent of the issue.

Of course this wouldn’t be bad news if they were good ratings. However, both books’ ratings have plummeted. Sepultura has gone from 3.88 to 3.18 and it is dropping fast. At the present rate it will have the dubious distinction of being the lowest rated book on Goodreads. And Necropolis isn’t faring much better. Goodreads are ignoring my emails.

I have been receiving therapy in the form of my dog Trigga and chocolate eclairs. They are proving to be a cathartic combination.

Have a good weekend.

This is the latest instalment in my books for different moods series. Here are 5 books for 5 moods/different states of mind. Click on the links to read my reviews.

Desiring Transgressive Fiction? Then why not give this a go:

Marabou Stork Nightmares

This is an inventive book, boasting parallel stories and different levels of awareness. It is narrated by Roy Strang from the hospital where he is lying in a coma. Click here to read my review.

In the mood for a satirical classic? Well you may have read it already …

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a satire of American southern antebellum society that parodies religion, morality, literature and above all the practice of slavery. Click here to read my review.

In the mood for something philosophical? Is so, this might appeal:

The Plague

The Plague is an existentialist classic that evaluates morality, the role of God and how we react to death. Its narrative tone and poetic prose style of prose will appeal to some. Click here to read my review.

In the mood for something intellectual, but you don’t have much time? Well, this could be the answer:

Chess by Stefan Zweig

The game of Chess offers the prospect of salvation, but also the threat of dissolution in this psychological novella, which explores the delicate divide that separates genius from madness. Click here to read my review.

In the mood to be disturbed? If so, then you are in luck:

Child Of God

Set in a rugged and unforgiving landscape,Child of God is a tautly written and concise work of ‘country noir’. Themes include loneliness and necrophilia. Click here to read my review.

In the mood for some dark humour? Then why not try:

Necropolis

Brutal, bleak and darkly comical, Necropolis is a satirical work featuring sociopath and public sector worker Dyson Devereux. Necropolis is the first instalment in a trilogy. Click here to see its Goodreads page.

I am an avid writer and reader of dark and disturbing fiction. Here are five disturbing books that I would recommend. Click on the links to read my reviews.

Child of God by Cormac McCarthy

Child of God is a tautly written and concise work of ‘country noir’. Themes include loneliness and necrophilia.

My Review: Having been dispossessed of his land, Lester Ballard is now homeless and eking out an existence in the backwoods of Sevier County, East Tennessee. For food, he steals and forages. For … (more)

Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis

Less Than Zero is about a privileged group of L.A. youngsters, who appear on the surface to have an idealistic life.

My Review: Set in nineteen-eighties Los Angeles, the story follows eighteen-year-old Clay, returned home for Christmas from college in New Hampshire. Clay immediately falls back into the L.A. social … (more)

The Blade Artist by Irvine Welsh

The complex and manipulative protagonist, sordid characters and squalid descriptions will appeal to fans of the Transgressive genre.

My Review: Reformed Scottish ex-con Jim Francis (formerly Franco Begbie) is now a successful sculptor living the dream in sunny California with his former prison art therapist now trophy wife … (more)

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

First published in 1962, A Clockwork Orange is a ground-breaking and controversial work boasting an intriguing and intelligent narrator.

My Review: Alex is an eccentric 15-year-old delinquent with a penchant for classical music and drinking milk. He and his fellow ‘droogs’ assault, rob and rape with impunity, that is until a … (more)

 The Killer Inside Me 

The Killer Inside Me is a suspenseful and unrelentingly bleak first person narrative about a psychopath.

My Review: Twenty-nine-year-old Lou Ford is a Deputy Sheriff from the West Texas town of Central City. Lou, who is in a long-term relationship with childhood sweetheart Amy Stanton … (more)

This week’s post is dedicated to 6 of my favourite books. I am an avid reader and writer of dark humour and Transgressive Fiction, and this is reflected in the majority of my choices. Click on the links to read my reviews.

Fire In The Hole by Elmore Leonard

This is a compilation of nine short, authentic and atmospheric, American-based, crime-themed stories. The book is named after its longest title, Fire In The Hole, the inspiration for the television series Justified. Click here to read my review.

The Killer Inside Me by Jim Thompson

The Killer Inside Me is a thought provoking and unrelentingly bleak first person narrative about a highly intelligent, manipulative and cold-blooded psychopath by the name of Lou Ford. Click here to read my review.

Knockemstiff by Donald Ray Pollock

Knockemstiff is a transgressive compilation of interlinked short stories set in a real-life Ohioan backwater. Their grubby setting, visceral prose and dark humour appealed to this reader. Click here to read my review.

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

Imbibed with a sense of impending doom, Rebecca is a slow-moving, haunting and atmospheric literary masterpiece, boasting an expertly woven plot and an abrupt ending. Click here to read my review.

Skagboys by Irvine Welsh 

This work of Transgressive Fiction’s main focus is many of its colourful, mostly young characters increasing obsession with heroin. Skagboys is the prequel to Trainspotting. Click here to read my review.

Sepultura by Guy Portman

Compulsive and brimming with satirical wit, Sepultura is a black comedy featuring unforgettable sociopath, Dyson Devereux. It is sequel to Necropolis (Goodreads link) and the second part in a proposed trilogy. It can be read as a standalone novel.

Click on the links to read my reviews.

Wasting Talent by Ryan Leone 

Author Ryan Leone utilises innovative writing techniques and a frenetic prose style to weave this graphic story about drug addiction.

My Review: Young guitar virtuoso Damien Cantwell is a member of a band in Southern California. Damian is talented, popular and good looking, but he has a drug problem … (more)

Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk

Haunted is a series of short stories, in which the author explores a variety of themes, including the media-obsessed nature of society.

My Review: Haunted is about a group of writers, who have been assembled by the conniving Mr Whittier to attend a writers group. The location of the retreat is in an isolated theatre with … (more)

Glamorama by Bret Easton Ellis

Glamorama adeptly captures the hedonism of 1990s New York. It is punctuated with numerous pop-culture references.

My Review: Victor Ward aka Victor Johnson is a male model living in 1990s Manhattan. Victor is a vapid, soulless character, obsessed with celebrity culture, who lives an existence that revolves around …(more)

Last Exit to Brooklyn by Hubert Selby Jr. 

About: This cult classic contains candid portrayals of numerous taboo topics. Its prose is visceral and frequently frenetic.

My Review: This inter-related collection of six stories are set in 1950s Brooklyn, New York. One revolves around a Benzedrine-scoffing transvestite’s unreciprocated love for a …(more)

Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk

About: The book’s premise, the superficial vanity of the beauty industry, is used to explore the unattractive side of human nature and satirise society in general.

My Review: Shannon McFarland is a catwalk model, who is the centre of attention wherever she goes. That is until she ‘accidentally’ blasts her jaw shot off with a gun whilst driving down …(more)

Knockemstiff by Donald Ray Pollock

About: Knockemstiff is a transgressive compilation of short stories. Their grubby setting, visceral prose and dark humour appealed to this reader.

My Review: These interlinked short stories are set in ‘The Holler’; an impoverished part of Knockemstiff, a real-life Ohioan backwater. ‘The Holler’s’ air is permanently imbued with the stench of …(more)

In recent years, in addition to my writing (3 novels to date) I have read a lot of fiction. But of late I have been indulging in some non-fiction reading for a change. After all variety is the spice of life, or so they say. The following 5 works of non-fiction intrigued me due to their subject matter, and they did not disappoint. Perhaps one or two might interest you too. Click on the links to read my reviews.

Dreamland: The True Tale of America’s Opiate Epidemic by Sam Quinones (2015)

Narrated by a skilled storyteller, Dreamland is a meticulously researched, multi-faceted work about addiction, entrepreneurship and the perils posed by unrestrained corporate greed.

My Review: This award winning account of America’s opiate epidemic asserts that its origins are two-fold — the pharmaceutical industry and Mexican importation. In 1996 Purdue Pharma introduced its new opiate-containing, prescription pain-reliever, OxyContin…(more)

King Leopold’s Ghost by Adam Hochschild (1998)

King Leopold’s Ghost is a compelling and disturbing tale of corruption, greed and the injustices of colonialism, the echoes of which continue to resonate in the DR Congo to this day.

My Review: The Belgian King, Leopold II, had grown envious of his European neighbours’ portfolio of colonies, and longed for a colony that he could call his own. After much deliberation Leopold set his heart on a vast tract of land in central Africa. British explorer Henry Morton Stanley was…(more)

Stalin’s Englishman: The Lives of Guy Burgess by Andrew Lownie (2015)

Through fastidious research and extensive interviewing historian Lownie has created a compelling and revisionist account of the life of surely the most charismatic member of the ‘Cambridge Five’.

My Review: This biography of the notorious spy Guy Burgess recounts his life from birth through to premature death in Moscow, aged fifty-two in 1963. After spending his formative years at the naval college Dartmouth and Eton, Burgess attended Trinity College, Cambridge…(more)

The Voyeur’s Motel by Gay Talese (2016)

The Voyeur’s Motel is comprised of the confessions of Gerald Foos, a former Colorado motel owner and voyeur. It is a curious and compelling work, boasting a perceptive protagonist and an effective journalistic approach.

My Review: Foos’s lifelong obsession began in childhood, spying on his aunt through the window of her bedroom. It was his purchase in the 1960s of the Manor Park Motel in Aurora, Colorado that provided Foos with the perfect opportunity to indulge in his passion. Having constructed a viewing area…(more)

Nothing To Envy by Barbara Demick (2009)

Providing fascinating insights into North Korea, Nothing To Envy is an engrossing text that effortlessly captures the lives of its interviewed North Korean defector subjects. It is the best work of non fiction I have ever read.

My Review: Published in 2009, Nothing To Envy is a novelisation of interviews with various North Korean defectors, hailing from Chongjin, a bleak, northern industrial city, far from the country’s Potemkin village capital, Pyongyang. There is particular emphasis on the famine…(more)

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This is my interview with American author, John Howell, on his popular blog, Fiction Favorites.