Friday 5 September 2014

One Man's Opinion: WELCOME TO THE OCTAGON by GERRARD BRENNAN / JACK TUNNEY




You do know that you can pre-order a copy of Gerard Brennan’s new novel, Undercover: A Cormac Kelly Thriller don’t you? That it’s published by Blasted Heath and that it’s cheaper now at 89p / $1.41 than when it’s released at the end of this month?

Good. That’s OK then.

Of course, if you didn’t, you might want to know about some of his other books. Here’s one I really loved over the summer.

Welcome to the Octagon (Fight Card MMA) is a neat little addition to the Fight Card series. It opens with a fight between the narrator, Mickey, and Psycho Sid. It’s a brutal affair from the depths of the unlicensed and anything goes MMA.

Winning the fight should bring pleasure to Mickey, but instead it only brings him grief. He’s kicked out of his gym by Eddie Smith who has high hopes for his star fighter Barry ‘Boom Boom’ Boyd.

Mickey turns to a new manager who promises he can get him onto the BJJ wrestling cards. The thing about the new manager is that he’s as likely to pull a fast one as certainly as his name (Swifty) suggests.

He intends to lead Mickey up the garden path and takes the reader along for a real treat in the process.

Mickey’s a great character. He’s a down-to-earth hard man and a single parent. This latter state of affairs means that he’s obliged to keep his anger in check. Not easily done. He’s certainly a guy to root for in spite of his imperfections.

The fight scenes in the book are really well written and are gripping in more ways than one. The sequence of events feels wonderfully real and the outcome is perfectly played out.

It’s very entertaining and has a truly refreshing style. Now go get.  Both of them!

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