Home | Guy Portman's Blog

Emergence Blog Tour

Feb 25 2023

A blog tour for my latest novel is commencing on Monday. If you like darkly humorous crime, you’ll love Emergence.

The Blurb:

There’s no stopping this young sociopath.

Teenager Horatio hates his mother’s boyfriend, and there is nothing his long-suffering single mum or half-sister can do about it. The tension soon boils over into school when he attacks the class bully.

While suspended, Horatio has plenty of time to plot revenge against the man he holds responsible for all his problems. It won’t take the adventurous adolescent long to stumble across a depraved and degrading solution.

Now all he needs to do is keep deceiving the psychiatrist and wait for an opportunity to strike.

This suspenseful story will appeal to aficionados of psychological fiction and darkly humorous crime.

Please consider adding Emergence to your TBR. Emergence Goodreads Link.

My Latest Release – Emergence

Jan 27 2023

I have penned another book. Emergence is being unleashed on the world next Tuesday, Jan. 31st. Emergence is #4 in the Necropolis Series.

Here is the blurb:

There’s no stopping this young sociopath.

Now all he needs to do is keep deceiving the psychiatrist and wait for an opportunity to strike.

This suspenseful story will appeal to aficionados of psychological fiction and darkly humorous crime.

…………………

Emergence is now on Goodreads. And it has already garnered some great reviews. If you are a Goodreads member, please consider adding it to your TBR.

Emergence Goodreads Link

Here are snippets from some of the reviews.

‘I was hooked from the start’

‘Sublime!’

‘Flawless and superbly written. Very highly recommended.’

Have a great weekend.

My Tour of Antigua

Dec 17 2022

It’s been a long time since I wrote a blog post. As of late I’ve been suffering from WordPress nostalgia, so I have returned to my old haunt. Last month, I visited the tropical island paradise that is Antigua. It proved to be a relaxing break for the most part.

There is something cathartic about a sunset.

I assumed clouds would diminish the spectacle. I was mistaken.

These super yachts aren’t mine unfortunately. The black one belongs to a Russian oligarch. It will be moored here until sanctions are lifted. The crew have been living on it since February’s invasion.

I very much doubt the Russian oligarch is familiar with this establishment.

Dinner time. It had been a while since I had sushi.

This is the cathedral in the capital St. John’s. It could do with some serious renovation. Note the vegetation growing out of the tower on the right.

English Harbour’s Dockyard Museum proved to be a hive of interesting exhibits and information. Admiral Nelson spent time here. In the harbour, not the museum.

The Atlantic side of the island is much more rugged than the tranquil Caribbean coast. It’s where I would want to be if I was based here.

Not all of Antigua is scenic.

It’s not a holiday without a visit to a cemetery.

If you followed this blog back when I was posting weekly, you’ll know I love to gloat. Here is a picture of me holding the giant wahoo I somehow managed to reel in. Relentlessly circling a shoal for eight hours straight under a searing sun was not without its challenges. But this leviathan made it all worthwhile.

The Necropolis Series (Launch: Tuesday Aug. 30)

Aug 26 2022

There are only four days to go until the relaunch of the Necropolis Series. #1 Necropolis is being released as a new title. #2 Sepultura and #3 Golgotha have been revamped with new blurbs and brightly coloured covers, which will appeal to aficionados of darkly humorous crime fiction.

Necropolis – Public sector worker Dyson Devereux has just discovered there is a large reward for the capture of a genocidal fugitive. And Dyson knows where to find him..

Sepultura – Dyson’s personal and professional lives are spiralling out of control. It is only a matter of time until the suave public sector employee explodes.

Golgotha – Dyson is in an Italian prison awaiting trial for murder. All he wants is to be back in the UK with his treasured mementos.

‘A veritable masterclass in darkly satirical sociopathic black comedy’ – DLS Reviews

‘… a mordant delight’ – Adam Riley, Comedian

‘I love this type of crime novel where you get to spend quality time inside the head of a killer’ – Felcherman Reviews

Click here to see the 102 ratings and reviews (4.15/5) for #2 in the Necropolis Series on Goodreads. #1 Necropolis will have a new Goodreads page when it is released next week. Have a great weekend.

Guy

The Necropolis Series – A Mix Between The Office & American Psycho

Aug 17 2022

It’s been the best part of a year since I last wrote a blog post. The time has just flown by. That’s me aboard my new wheels. As you can probably guess from the ride-on mower, I reside in the countryside. But I used to live in London.

At some point in all our lives, an experience has led to us embarking on a new path. The Necropolis Series (Aug. 30) has its origins in my young adulthood. At the time, I was getting into darkly humorous Transgressive Fiction (e.g. American Psycho, Fight Club). As luck would have it, my reading matter coincided with a stint working in the public sector for a local council. The insipid work and uninspiring environment contrasted markedly with my burgeoning reading habit. This fed into my innate sardonic nature.

Years later, when I moved to the country and started writing in earnest, this indelible period was to manifest itself in the creation of the Necropolis Series’ protagonist – cultured council worker and compulsive murderer, Dyson Devereux. He’s sort of my alter-ego. Only I’m not as sociopathic, or suave.

In #1 Necropolis our anti-hero is running the Burials and Cemeteries department at Newton Council, a less than salubrious fictional borough in Greater London that is a world away from Knightsbridge. He revels in his caustic observations levelled at his mundane colleagues, who are oblivious to his dark past.

#1 Necropolis, #2 Sepultura, #3 Golgotha (Relaunching on Aug. 30)

#4 Emergence is being unleashed later this year.

Click here to join me on Facebook. Hope to see you over there. Enjoy the rest of your week.

Guy

Time For A Change.

Oct 22 2021

I started this blog on March 12th, 2012. The first ever post was about my recent trip to Miami – Miami: Day One. For the past nine-and-a-half years, I have written a blog post every Friday without fail, with the exception of one occasion due to technical issues.

The plan was to keep blogging until the end of my days. However, this week I made the decision to take a break. I’ve just had enough. The thing feels stale, stagnant, listless, and of little use in promoting my titles. I have no inclination to try and increase my presence on WordPress, as I feel that my energies could be put to better use elsewhere.

The blog will still be online. As for the book reviews section, I will continue to update this with reviews of books I’ve read. There are currently over 130 reviews. But, until I have a change of heart, or big news to bring you, I will not be writing blog posts.

The plan is get on with other stuff. I have written two books this year. Both of which need editing, and won’t be released for quite some time yet. In other news, The Necropolis Trilogy is poised to be remastered. #1 Necropolis will be removed from sale, rewritten and then put back up as a new title. A new cover may be necessary and a reworded blurb too. Hopefully, parts #2 and #3 just need a bit of work and won’t require uploading as new books. This way, I can keep the sterling reviews, which #1 Necropolis never achieved. Perhaps this was inevitable, as it was only the second book I ever wrote.

This is what I tell myself every morning when I wake up – The world will embrace the new and improved Dyson Devereux. Readers will be engrossed from the beginning and eager to read the entire trilogy.

It’s called positive visualisation. OIympic athletes do it all the time. And I’m talking about the successful ones, not Eddie The Eagle, or that swimmer from The Guinea.

I also have plans to write another two books in the near future. By this time next year, I aim to have twelve books out.

It is time for a reset. I will still be visiting your blogs; the few of you who still visit mine regularly that is.

Have a good weekend.

Another Week Bites The Dust

Oct 15 2021

This week’s blog post is being written in a frantic rush. Storm clouds are gathering and I need to get substantial cutting done in the garden before the ground is deluged. I might not get another chance for quite some time. To compound matters, I have pulled or possibly severed the muscle on the inside of my thigh. It’s the abductor magnus I believe. Things like this never used to happen when I was young.

It’s been a few weeks since I posted a picture of a deer. Here is one I took a few days back.

Here is Trigga at a small pond we stumbled across the other day.

Another week; another kebab.

I had Indian last week. Vegetable samosas are one of my favourites.

The drink is a King Cobra. Standard Cobra is a great beer to have with curry, due to it not being fizzy. However, King Cobra is another matter. This beer/champagne hybrid is pretentious plonk. I will not be consuming it again.

It’s a dog’s life.

That rain could be on the way, and there’s the darkness too. It’s that time of year. So, I better run. Have a good weekend.

Squid, Siamese, Sweets, Staropramen & Swifts.

Oct 08 2021

I do like alliteration, at least when it comes to blog posts. The Squid in the title refers to the Korean Netflix series ‘Squid Game’. Half the world is watching the show at present, as am I. The most memorable part for me was the cookie cutting game. Never would have thought cookie cutting could be so fraught.

‘Siamese Twins’ is the book I am poised to start, but just haven’t quite got around to yet. 2021 has not been a prolific reading year thus far.

Now for the sweets. Are you a fan of cheesecake? For some reason I was under the impression I couldn’t stand the stuff. That all changed when I tucked into this specimen complete with icing.

Starting the day with a nougat pastry is not the norm. However, last Saturday was an exception.

Staropramen is a Czech beer, which is often sold quite cheaply in the supermarket despite it being what could be described as a premium beer. You’ve probably had it before. It’s pretty good.

Time for the swifts. These swifts stopped off by my house on their migration south. At least I think they are swifts, they’re not swallows. They were here last year too. It surprises me that they spend so much time flying about. One would have thought they’d use the time to rest, unless of course they are training for the long journey ahead.

Have a good weekend.

A Trip Away

Oct 01 2021

Last week I went to Norfolk for three nights. Little did I know on departing that a national petrol crisis was poised to begin. Fortunately, I was able to secure enough petrol to make the 150+ mile trip home. Not planning to go anywhere until the petrol fiasco ends. That may not be happening anytime soon despite the government’s claims to the contrary. Anyway, back to the trip.

New location; same animals. Captured these roe in a fen field first thing in the morning.

Trigga and a female viszla we came across on a walk.

A mute swan.

Time for a swim.

Back in the day whale bones, bones from slaughterhouses, and even human bones were ground down into bonemeal at the Narborough Bone Mill. The bonemeal was used for fertiliser.

Don’t believe me. You can read all about it here.

A mediaeval church in Narborough.

You can’t beat meat from the butcher, especially not this butcher.

Burgers from the butcher.

I wasn’t the only who tucked in.

If you come across any petrol let me know, I’ve only got eight miles left. For those of you who use the metric system, that’s not a lot. Have a great weekend.

3 Good Books I Read Recently

Sep 24 2021

I am away this Friday, so I have scheduled this book-related post in my absence. Here are three good books that I have read recently. Click on the links to read my reviews. While these are all very different books, they all contain dark themes.

The Crossing by Cormac McCarthy

This poignant, compelling and depressing bildungsroman-type novel is imbibed with an apocalyptic tone. The Crossing is the second instalment in The Border Trilogy.

My Review: Billy is a hardy sixteen-year-old living in rural New Mexico. One day he finds a she wolf caught in a snare. Having opted against shooting it, he attempts to return the animal to her …(More)

Dead Men’s Trousers by Irvine Welsh

Themes include drugs, sex, drinking and music. The familiar band of reprobates, hilarious antics and incisive Leith vernacular more than compensate for the dearth of plot.

My Review: The Trainspotting crew are back for another adventure. These days Mark Renton is a successful manager of DJs. Begbie is a famous artist, living the dream in California. Sick Boy hasn’t changed much …(More)

American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins

This fast-paced and suspenseful book adeptly weaves the oft-told Central American migrant tale with human interest, in the form of a mother and son.

My Review: When Lydia’s journalist husband and family are murdered by a cartel, she and her eight-year-old son are forced to flee Acapulco. The pair embark on an epic journey north to the US, where the …(More)

AUTHOR GUY PORTMAN'S BLOG

Emergence Blog Tour

Like this:

My Latest Release – Emergence

Like this:

My Tour of Antigua

Like this:

The Necropolis Series (Launch: Tuesday Aug. 30)

Like this:

The Necropolis Series – A Mix Between The Office & American Psycho

Like this:

Time For A Change.

Like this:

Another Week Bites The Dust

Like this:

Squid, Siamese, Sweets, Staropramen & Swifts.

Like this:

A Trip Away

Like this:

3 Good Books I Read Recently

Like this:

AUTHOR GUY PORTMAN'S BLOG

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this: