The King of Sunday Morning Interview and Review

The King of Sunday Morning is a geezer. Not in the traditional sense of the word as in old man. This geezer is a face, a wannabe, a top notch bloke. He is the greatest DJ that never was. He should have been. Could have been. Would have been. Now becoming a has-been.

Tray McCarthy was born into privilege but with the genetic coding of London’s violent East End. Having broken the underworld’s sacred honour code, it is only his family’s gangland connections that save him. But in return for his life, he must deny that which he has ever known or ever will be and runs to Australia where he is forced to live an inconsequential life.

But trouble never strays far from Tray McCarthy and eventually his past and present collide to put everyone he has ever loved in danger. He must now make a stand and fight against those that are set to destroy him and play their game according to his rules.

Set against the subterfuge and violence of the international drugs trade, The King of Sunday Morning is the tale of what can go wrong when you make bad decisions. Tray McCarthy has made some of the worst. He must now save those he holds dear but in the process gets trapped deeper and deeper into a world where he doesn’t belong.

“I want three pump-action shotguns, about twelve sticks of dynamite and a blowtorch”

THIS BOOK CONTAINS EXPLICIT LANGUAGE, FREQUENT DRUG USE AND SEX SCENES – NOT RECOMMENDED FOR PEOPLE UNDER 18 YEARS OF AGE

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Hope you enjoy this interview with the author!

1. Who do you think would most enjoy reading your book and why.

I have been constantly surprised by the variety of readers that have enjoyed this book. Because it touches on so many different subjects, it appeals to all sorts. If you are a prude or easily offended by the language of the underworld then it is not for you. If you liked Lock Stock & Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch or even Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo & Juliet you will love this. It is a tale of two star crossed lovers who have to take charge of their lives in a world that is far beyond the horizon of everyday citizens. If you imagined what the naughtier side of life is like in the world of guns, music and drug culture then this is the book for you.

2. How did you come up with names and characters? Are any based on real people?

All characters have some elements of real people in them. No one character represents a real person but a combination of the many. As I say in the foreword “If you are in this book take yourself to the nearest police station. To be in it is a crime all its own”.

It took me along while to come up with the names. I constantly changed them until I was happy that the faces which I had imagined for them matched their names. The main character and his sidekick changed at least 8 times each before I was happy with them.

3. Are you planning any more books?

Always planning more. Different genre maybe. This time the main characters will all be women. That is the ultimate challenge for a male author. Writing about ambitious women who have courage and battle their demons.

4. How did you research? And do you have any interesting stories from that research that didn’t make it into the book?

I lived this life since the age of 20. I had to keep some out because they were too real. To reveal them would be a betrayal of trust.

5. Best thing about being an author.

Fiction is a gift to the imagination. Fabricating an entire dominion for your characters with no boundaries restraining them.

6. Favorite movie. When did you see it and who with?

Blazing Saddles – watched it every day when I lived in Portugal as it was the only English video we had. Prior to DVD’s or cable. I know that film line for line. I watched it with itinerant traveller that wandered into our apartment and they were many.

7. A character from a book you would like to vacation with…where would you go.

Two characters from the most famous books of all time – Jesus and Mohammad – we would go back to Jerusalem and finally sort all this stuff out.

8. Favorite book as a child.

Tom Sawyer

9. A word you think should be banished.

Cancer: Horrible, hateful, destructive disease. Rid the world of that and I would be happy

10. Hardest chapter or scene to write.

A rape scene

11. Favorite scene.

Possum scene – I will leave it at that!

12 Name an author you would like to be your mentor.

Sadly he is no more having died this year Ian Banks

My review:

What a ride! This book took me on quite an adventure. The beginning chapters were a little choppy to me but once I got to the story part, it was just one thing after another. And by the end, I seriously could not read FAST enough to see what was going to happen.

The main character is Tray who had been a rising DJ star when he had to go into hiding. He is a lovable character even with all his partying ways; charming to the nth degree. I loved him, he was just a fun loving guy with a big heart. The cast of characters in this story is a diverse bunch. You have the English contingency, a bit like mafia types. Then you have the Portuguese group, the Aussies, some Arabs and the Dutch. Even Fidel Castro makes an appearance. It takes you from England to Portugal to Australia to Columbia and finally to Brazil. Real life actual events are interspersed in there too.

Have to say Pedro was one of my favorite characters. His inability to swear correctly in English was very amusing. There are a couple of other funny parts as well, and I liked how the author lightened the mood a bit. Because it needed it, the subject matter is a bit dark. Drugs and violence are an integral part of this story.

In order to not give spoilers, all I will say is that I liked how it ended. This would make a great movie. Love a book that has a story, with suspense and adventure and I learned about a world I knew nothing about. I always say you learn something new every day and with this book, I can say I learned a lot of new things! This book had me on the edge of my seat and I recommend you strap in and enjoy this fabulous ride. The author has a gift for storytelling and putting you smack dab in the middle of the action.

I had a lovely Italian red wine while I read it and was briefly interrupted to eat a nice steak dinner. Which I quickly ate so I could get back to this book.