John Gordon Sinclair

Walk in Silence – Not An Ordinary Lawyer

Keria Lynch has come a long way in such a short time, surviving an Albanian gangster shooting her, set up her own legal practice, and now aiming to find a young boy. The problem for Keria is that the boy, is in Albania and hopefully being protected from the Albanian mafia, which could bring yet more problems to her door. While at the same time she needs to give evidence against the Albanian mafia’s Glasgow kingpin, what possibly could go wrong?

Before the trial begins Keria is out in Albania staying in a hotel awaiting a contact to help her find a boy who would later seem to be arousing the interest of the Clan (Albanian Mafia). She has hired a couple of locals to help her in the search who drive her from her hotel to the mountain side house that the boy used to live in with his grandparents. But they seem to be making fun of her and just interested in the money.

She knows she needs to find a woman called Lule who might have the boy and protecting him from the clutches of the Clan and anyone else that might have an interest. As her search continues she takes more than one beating from criminal elements that want to send the message of go home and forget about the boy.

Even back in Scotland Keria realises she is not safe, and under pressure on all sides, but she does not trust the prosecutor, and needs the help of the Holy Man. There is something that she needs to do, which might hold up the trial and get her a contempt of court charge but if it works out then there will be a successful conclusion to the court case.

John Gordon Sinclair has written a brilliant follow-up to Blood Whispers and has created a character in Keria Lynch that should be an establishment figure as a leading defence lawyer, but she is the complete antithesis to that. He has created a lawyer who does not take the easy path, but is a complicated and dedicated person who is easy to like, she has more balls than the average bloke.… (mehr)

Blood Whispers – Its Bloody Good!

John Gordon Sinclair has always been to me an actor of some substance who was in Gregory’s Girl and Hot Metal in the 80s yes I am old enough to have watched and enjoyed both. As he has got old his Glasgow burr smoothed out a little and a jobbing actor and like most Brits an on call bad guy for Hollywood movies but I have now learnt that he is a novelist too. Blood Whispers has all the things an experienced crime thriller reader would expect of any novelist which it delivers in spades with the panache of a Glasgow kiss to finish it off!

Keira Lynch is a criminal defence lawyer in the City of Glasgow with a gaining reputation amongst the criminal fraternity as the best got to lawyer when the chips are down. She has been appointed the defence lawyer for Kaitrina Dervishi who has knocked out a CIA agent in a hotel where he was her client. At the same time the Serbians want to silence her so she cannot spill the beans on any aspect of their businesses or alliances.

There is an added problem in the mix of trying to keep her client alive and away from the Serbians the CIA have an interest in the case and in stirring the pot of misinformation. As the bodies are dropping all over Glasgow the drugs are flowing nobody knows what really is the truth but everybody wants Keira Lynch. She even becomes a target but nobody knows who’s target she is and who is telling the truth.

The one thing nobody realised is that Keira Lynch is a survivor with a very big secret of her own and she will kill if she has too if that is what is required to stay alive. Lynch is like a chess player always keeping things close to her chest and making sure she has planned all her moves ahead.

This is a fast paced and bloody thriller and that keeps the reader wanting more and rooting for Keira Lynch. The Serbians and CIA seem like strange bedfellows but neither could ever lie straight in bed when it comes to it. At times ending life seems so cheap and as anyone will tell you where drugs and prostitution are concerned life is cheap and there are always replacements available. This really is about the survival of the fittest but who has the intellect to dodge the incoming bullets all meant to be killers.

This is a great crime thriller well worth reading, well researched and the prose makes it so readable you could imagine John Gordon Sinclair’s burr reading to you. Do not dismiss this as another actor who is trying to write, because he can writer and has written a bloody good thriller. Blood Whispers is a book you just cannot put down and even gives you a sense of loss at the end. You are willing Lynch all the way through and really engages the reader and that alone is an excellent skill in any book. Read this book and you will not be disappointed.… (mehr)

1992, Alabama, Tuscaloosa, lunchtime in a bar. Two seated guys are checking out their Target. One leaves to bring the car round to the alley, the other stands up and - Magnum in hand - strides towards the Target, squeezing the trigger.
Three days earlier in Newry, Northern Ireland, Danny Maguire had taken a phone call from a man who had told him that someone called Finn O'Hanlon knew who had killed Danny's brother eight years ago. During those eight years, although he had never joined the IRA, Danny had waged war and taken revenge on a lot of people: informers and members of the security forces. Death was what he was good at. Now here's this man, whom he blames for Sean's death, giving him this piece of paper with an Alabama address on it.
In Tuscaloosa, Finn O'Hanlon watches the two guys on the other side of the bar. He is still watching as one stands up and strides towards him, gun in hand. The air explodes around the table but Finn is already halfway through the fire exit. In the alleyway he is cornered by gunfire from the other guy. Nothing for it but to return the way he came – and ask the pretty waitress where they keep their shotgun...

Actor John Gordon Sinclair has written a terrific début thriller with this story rooted in the violent tragedies of Northern Ireland. It started life as an idea for a film and it's a complex, fast-moving story criss-crossing the Atlantic between Alabama and Northern Ireland as it tells the story of two Republican brothers - the Maguires - one killed in an ambush whilst carrying explosives for the IRA, the other becoming a killer as a consequence and eight years later searching for the truth behind his brother's betrayal. But someone else wants that truth to remain hidden and when a list of IRA informers is stolen from police headquarters, mayhem begins. Not the least of which is the brutal collateral damage experienced by everyone connected to the Maguire brothers.
Sinclair's characterisations are vivid and the dry wit of his dialogue brings a touch of humour that is very necessary in order to warm this dark tale of callous trade-offs and cruelty. The book is reminiscent of Stuart Neville's writing in its uncompromising depiction of the harsh brutality and paradoxical legacies of the long Northern Irish conflict. An exciting and very accomplished first.… (mehr)