Get Some
Anybody who has read Danny Birch's groundbreaking first novel, 'Clipped', will be expecting a fast-paced, sharply-written, emotionally charged gangster thriller, written in Danny's inimitably catchy, witty and streetwise style.
If so, prepare yourself for 'Get Some', a gangster revenge thriller that fizzes and crackles off the page like few others.
It is the tale of two childhood friends, Tommy and Joey, and of how they stand by each other in traumatic times. Tommy's trauma is to be betrayed by an army colleague to a militant group in Iraq and to be subjected to routine and gruesome torture. Pity his betrayer should Tommy manage to escape. And Joey's trauma? Ah, for that, you have to read this book.
The Story Behind This Book
I wrote ‘Clipped’ really just as something for myself which I never expected many people to read. I was taken aback by the response to it. I didn’t think many people would read it, let alone buy it, as it was something I had done to keep me busy when I had a wee bit of a troublesome time in my life. So, after a while I thought 'Hmm, maybe I can do another one', but this time I really wanted to try harder. Not that I didn’t with ‘Clipped’, it’s just the first book was very...well … ‘laddy’ to say the least - a book for the lads, a book for the rogues from a rogues point of view, although I did have a few females who liked it....a few. : ) Anyway, I was looking for a subject matter to write about and one thing which was close to my heart was watching our amazing troops, what they go through...for us. Now I don’t know enough about what it takes to be a soldier etc., how could I? Only the brave people who do such a job have that insight. That took me to a friend I spoke to online. He shared many things with me. I was fascinated, in awe, amazed. The thing was I still felt like I needed to write some good old gangster shit. I love it and I have quite a bit of it I have to get out there on paper. So I thought ' What the hell, I'll just mix the two'. I watched a really old movie called 'Angels with Dirty Faces' a few days later, and that inspired me to write about the friendship between Joey and Tommy, and how sometimes one person can go one way, one another, and how that can turn out to be tragic. ‘Friendship’ is a term I think people use too loosely. ‘Love’ also is a term I think people float around without much thought (which maybe a good thing). But my take on it is this: we all have mates / buddies, workmates, mates at the gym, mates at clubs, but how many mates / buddies are friends? You see a mate and friend are two completely different things. When you have a friend, it is a gift in my eyes, and to quote Joey’s mother out of my book. I agree that ' friends are God’s way of taking care of us'. I’d really like to think that is true. So I wrote a tale about friendship in a time of stress because, after all, that is when it is truly tested. So I would say in a nutshell that ‘Get Some’ is about love and loss...with some good old gritty gangster shit and a few bullets thrown in for good measure. Hope you enjoy! - Danny Birch : D