Major Works
FLAT OUT
Flat Out is my first completed novel and my first major work under the pen name of Brian Crooks. It is essentially and structurally a whodunit but the murder story runs in parallel with a strong romantic comedy. Click on the link below to see a synopsis.
The action takes place on the island of Albany. Inevitably fuelled by my memories of the Isle of Wight, where I spent my first twenty years, Albany is nonetheless imaginary, as are its towns and villages. Still, perspicacious readers might just break through the disguises of a few specific Isle of Wight locations, or even a handful from the Salisbury area.
My narrator, Alex Hale, like his creator, is a Legal Executive specialising in leasehold law but there, I hope, the similarities cease quite abruptly. For a start, occasionally Alex can be insufferably pompous……..
My other characters are even less rooted in reality. None of the police officers, lawyers, flatowners, managing agents or even murder victims is based on particular individuals – honest! If you recognise yourself in any of them, you are almost certainly mistaken.
A second Alex Hale novel is planned.
THE TAXI DRIVER & THE TEACHER
This romantic comedy is a longer short story (or a shorter long story). I am a big fan of short stories, delighted at signs that the genre is making a comeback.
The Taxi Driver and the Teacher
THE HIDDEN ISLAND
A project I return to from time to time is a fantasy set on a magical island which is facing a crisis. As a taster, I have written an introduction.
SPARROWS NEST
This is my second completed full-length novel. Set in the 1970’s, it traces a young man’s political and romantic rites of passage in the Labour movement. Click below to see a synopsis.
May 11, 2016 @ 13:34:15
Never mind a synopsis – how is one to acquire your latest Opus? Your search for a publisher is, by the nature of things, likely to be long. One is no longer a young man (and neither are you, but these things are relative) – will it appear before I disappear?
Besides which, I want to check it for possible libel and alert all affected….