Welcome
The Gus Dury novels Paying for It, Gutted, and Loss are out now from Random House.
LOSS - OUT NOW
Gus Dury is a changed man. He is off the Edinburgh streets and back with estranged wife, Debs. He has promised her that he won't get involved in any more dodgy cases which the police can't or won't solve.
Above all, he's off the drink. In his pocket at all times is a half bottle of scotch, but although the label is worn to shreds, he has never so much as loosened the cap.
But when his brother Michael is found dead with a bullet in his heart and Gus' life begins to unravel all over again. How can he keep the promises he has made and still avenge his brother's murder?
Amazon orders ... here
EVENTS
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Reviews - Loss
"Tony Black is one of those excellent perpetrators of Scottish noir ... a compelling and convincing portrayer of raw emotions in a vicious milieu."
- Marcel Berlins, The Times
"If you're a fan of the Ian Rankins, Denise Minas and Irvine Welshes of this world, this is most certainly one for you."
- The Scotsman
"The enigmatic Dury continues to be the punk rocker of the Scottish crime scene - anarchic, rebellious and never afraid to shove his Doc Martens where they're not wanted."
- Daily Record
"A brilliant, sweeping and heartbreaking novel, Black truly deserves your attention."
- International Thriller Writers
"As washed-up private detectives go, Gus Dury is compelling - he's as hard as any criminal and twice as self-destructive."
- London Evening Standard
"Tony Black has written two of the finest crime novels to come out of the UK in the past twenty years and I'm willing to bet that in twenty years, Paying for It and Gutted will be on the top ten list of any crime list. But now comes Loss ... Phew-oh ... It's like having yer ass kicked and yer heart shrived simultaneously. What a privilege to watch a master writer achieve everything you'd hoped for and then some."
- Ken Bruen, author of London Boulevard
"Tony Black delivers a story with a hard edge and fast moving action. In this third book, he yet again produces a story that never lets up and delivers a superb book that you just can't put down. I can't wait for the next instalment of Gus Dury."
- Euro Crime
"This is modern crime at its most brutal, its most affecting, its most honest and its most intelligent."
- Russel D. McLean, at Do Some Damage
"Black writes about urban blight and the curse of alcohol like no other, but his down at heel tales are also full of everyday humour. Harrowing but indispensable."
- Maxim Jakubowski
"This one delivered everything I need in my hardboiled diet. The best in this excellent series so far."
- Sons of Spade
''A claustrophobic and gritty portrayal of a man walking on the very edge of disaster.''
- Shots Mag
"Wonderfully written, tough, edgy, and very dark, but with the odd flash of humour, LOSS made me cry at the end. Tony Black is a brilliant writer."
- Donna Moore at Big Beat from Badsville
Reviews - Gutted
"Powerful, focused, and intense ... and then it gets better. Get your money down early on this young man -- he's dead serious and deadly accurate."
- Andrew Vachss, Righteous Reading
"Sitting somewhere between the raw grit of Welsh and the genius of Rankin, Gutted deserves to be the thriller hit of the summer."
- The Daily Record
“Tony Black is the latest in a seemingly unending stream of good Scottish crime writers … The dialogue fizzes and the whole is suffused with black humour. Celtic Noir is in rude health.”
- Marcel Berlins, The Times
“Gutted is THE book of the year.”
- Ken Bruen, author of Sanctuary
“Only two books in and Tony Black is already one of my favourite living crime writers. Gutted is simply superb.”
- Nick Stone, author of Mr Clarinet
“This is first-class writing, with the authentic feel of scraped knuckles, battered bodies, damaged minds and the darkness of despair that comes with a tortured soul … Tony Black has been compared with Billingham, Rankin and Kernick, which is praise indeed by anyone’s standards. Personally, going by this book, I think he’s in a league of his own.”
- Adrian Magson, Shots Mag
“Maybe the best novel I’ve read all year … a stunning piece of work.”
- Allan Guthrie, author of Slammer
“Gutsy follow up to last year’s debut Paying for It. Alcoholic involuntary Edinburgh sleuth Gus Dury is an unforgettable if unlikeable character and his travails are very much on the dark side, but you can’t keep away. A bright new talent.”
- Maxim Jakubowski
“More than just a startling, passionately written crime novel, Gutted is a scathing character study and portrait of a city in distress. This is pure noir, sublime and dark as a double dram of Loch Dhu.”
- Craig McDonald, author of Head Games
“Tony Black hit the ground running with Paying for It; with Gutted, he offers an excellent and worthy successor, full of taut energy and thrust, and surely one of the best crime novels of 2009.”
- It’s a Crime! (Or a Mystery)
“Black has rejuvenated the often imitated drunken PI in his work … You want something even more refreshing than a pint or two of the black stuff? Then give Tony Black’s stuff ago.”
- Crime Scene Northern Ireland
"If you haven't read Black, you're missing out on one of the best new voices to emerge from Scotland in the last few years. One of the best new voices to enter the genre, period. Miss out on this one and you will truly be Gutted."
- Russel D. McLean, Crimescene Scotland
“The humour amid the pain is brilliant and should have broadminded readers rocking in their chairs … Gutted confirms Black as a compelling new crime novelist.”
- Robin Jarossi, Suite.101.com
“With GUTTED Black proves he’s no one hit wonder … Sharp pacing and with a wonderful narrative Black delivers a book that can’t be put down and will stick with you after reading. If this were Nascar Black would be holding a lot of checkered flags.”
- Jon Jordan, Crimespree
“Tony Black shows how he's still the leading man in the stream of Ken Bruen's followers, serving up a hardboiled tale in which the protagonist is just as important as the crimes. Don't read this one if you're a bit too depressed though, it might just sent you over the edge.”
- Jochem Vandersteen, Sons of Spade
"The reader is immediately engaged in Dury’s world and this is down to the skill of the writer. Tony Black, take a bow. This first person narrative is a super-charged, testosterone filled force of nature and I defy anyone not to get caught up in it ... Gutted is a rollercoaster ride from riveting start to exhilarating finish."
- Crime Squad
“What gets me is Black’s ability to write stories that are so visceral and brutal in their physicality, and yet so thoughtful and touching in their emotional weight. Damn, damn impressive, Mr Black.”
- Greg Bardsley
"Tony Black has confirmed his place at the heart of Scottish crime fiction with a superb second book - roll on book number three."
- EuroCrime
PAPERBACK OUT NOW
When the gangland owner of a pit bull that killed a three-year-old girl is found gutted on an Edinburgh hill Gus Dury is asked to investigate, and soon finds himself up to his neck in the warring underworld of the city's sink estates.
Amidst illegal dog fights, a missing fifty grand and a police force and judiciary desperate to cover their links to a brutal killing, Gus must work fast to root out the truth, whilst the case sinks its teeth ever deeper into him.
Amazon orders ... here
A dead 20-year-old lies mangled and tortured in the tartan-swathed Scots capital of Edinburgh.
As washed-up investigator Gus Dury starts poking about he uncovers a seedy vice ring linked to Eastern European people smugglers and one of the city's political figureheads.
It's all a very messy business, and someone will soon be Paying for It.
Amazon orders ... here
