Many thanks to Sarah and BOTBS Publicity for my spot on this Blog Tour and of course, for the gentle reminder.
Wow!! What a book!! I have to confess. I didn’t like the story or the characters, neither did I connect with the setting of London in the early 1980s. BUT THE WRITING – THAT WAS BLOODY FANTASTIC!! It gripped me, it twisted me, it tore my innards asunder. It took me by my throat and made me read every word of the book. I forgot my world while reading the world created by the brilliant author Nick Rippington.
This was the story about big Mo set in London on the 1980s, a hoodlum with a short spark, living with his wife Beryl and sons Chuck and Sly. His brother Clive went off to fight the Falklands War, and Mo stayed back to support his family with small jobs until he moved on to armed robbery and smuggling of guns. Maurice Mo used his fists and curtain rod on pretty much everybody, family, friends, foes pretty much anyone against whom his paranoia pointed to.
My first book by author Nick Rippington, I was given the entire boxed set to read which was a daunting task. So I read Book 2 on the series which worked as a standalone. The book read like a gritty three dimensional movie, an eye opener of sorts. Every character played their part in the survival of a tough life. Violence dripped off the pages in most of the chapters, and most were pretty graphic.
YET…
Every word told me a story, every story was convincing. When I was reading the book, I got so involved in it that while writing the review, I didn’t have the words to explain that elusive but exhilarating feeling. Let me try. I felt I was standing in a room affixed, almost as if I were hypnotized, and the story revolved in a circle around me keeping me right in the middle where I couldn’t leave even if I wanted to. Mo forced me to read his story even when I didn’t like him. And I blame the author for it.
Nick’s words had the power to keep me mesmerised to the story, and that was why I could finish this book. A page turner!! Wow!!
I received a free ARC from Satah and the author, and this is my journey into its pages, straight from the heart!! STRICTLY HONEST AND UNBIASED.
All my reviews can be read here
NICK RIPPINGTON is one of the victims of the News of the World phone-hacking scandal you never hear about.
As the newspaper’s Welsh Sports Editor, he was made redundant with two days notice when Rupert Murdoch closed down Europe’s biggest-selling tabloid in 2011.
On holiday at the time, Nick was never allowed back into the building, investigators sealed off the area with crime scene tape and seized his computer, which contained all the secrets to his Fantasy Football selections.
Handed the contents of his desk in a black bin bag in a murky car park, deep throat style, Nick was at a crossroads – married just two years earlier and with a wife and 9-month-old baby to support. Options were limited but self-publishing was booming. Having hit on an idea for a UK gangland thriller taking place against the backdrop of the Rugby World Cup, in 2015 he produced Crossing The Whitewash.
The book was praised by many, received an honourable mention in the genre category of the Writers’ Digest self-published eBook awards and more than 25 five-star reviews on both sides of the pond.
Almost two years after Crossing The Whitewash came the second in the Boxer Boys series, a prequel called Spark Out, which was released in paperback on July 1 and for Kindle on July 10, 2017. The book received an award for best cover of 2017 with the Chill With A Book website, along with a readers award, before receiving the IndieBRAG medallion from a prestigious site covering Independent writers and publishers throughout the world.
The third book in the Boxer Boys series Dying Seconds, a sequel to Crossing the Whitewash, was released in December 2018.
Married to Liz, Nick is now a full-time back bench designer on the Daily Star sports desk and has two daughters – Jemma, 36, and Olivia, 8. A Bristolian at heart, he lives near Ilford, Essex. In the past he has worked for the Sunday Mirror, Wales on Sunday and Media Wales in Cardiff as an executive editor.
https://www.facebook.com/buckrippers
@nickripp
Goodreads Author Page
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14194075.Nick_Rippington
Blog: On the website – Say Hello to My Little Friends
Website
www.theripperfile.com
Amazon Author Page
MAURICE ‘BIG MO’ DOLAN is prone to headaches and there is one main cause: his family. He believes eldest son Chuck, 7, needs toughening up, his wife Beryl is too lenient, his career-criminal father has no respect for him and he is about to lose his younger brother Clive to the army.
There is light at the end of the tunnel, though. With Margaret Thatcher’s government backing initiative and suggesting people get ‘on their bikes’ to find work, Mo believes it is the perfect time for him to expand his business… into armed robbery.
As he plans the ultimate raid to drag him out of the poverty trap, he believes his fortunes are bound to get better… but with the Falklands War just around the corner they are about to become a whole lot worse.
Publication Date: 9th September 2019
Publisher: Cabrilon Books
6 Responses
Thanks so much for closing off the blog tour today Shalini x
Yessss I closed it with a shocker… Nick fell off the hair 😂😂
I was lucky enough to discover Nick and his Boxer Boy series some time ago. I’m glad I did. Great writer! Great books!
I saw your review on goodreads. Glad that you loved his work
You always manage to poke at my curiosity and make me look at books I would normally pass on by
I nearly passed on this.. But the writing was raw.. So had to read it 🤷♀️😂