Book Extract: The Great Dick: And the Dysfunctional Demon by Barry Maher
I’m thrilled to be kicking off October by welcoming Barry Maher to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for his book, The Great Dick: And the Dysfunctional Demon.
Thrillers set in the 1980s have a special kind of atmosphere—before cell phones, before constant connectivity—where the shadows felt darker and the dangers closer. The Great Dick: And the Dysfunctional Demon takes full advantage of that tension, weaving together a decaying church, occult rituals, and a reluctant hero who doesn’t believe in any of it…until he has no choice.
Steve Witowski’s life is already in shambles—he’s a failed songwriter and a fugitive—but everything unravels further after he rescues Victoria from a violent assault. Victoria has just bought a crumbling church with a haunted past, and the secrets inside refuse to stay buried. Soon Steve finds himself in a world of grave robbing, fire-lit ceremonies, and a demon whose desperation grows more terrifying by the day. Even as visions plague him and the face of the man he killed appears on his skin, Steve insists it’s all delusion. But denial won’t save him, and the cost of survival may be more than he can pay.
Barry has kindly shared an extract from The Great Dick: And the Dysfunctional Demon with us today. We hope you enjoy.
(Content warning: language.)
*****beginning of extract*****
Back in the 60s . . .
On Wednesday October 13th, 1968, a faculty panel recommended the dismissal of Professor John Harris—in absentia, as no one at Harvard had seen or heard from him in weeks. Harris later bragged about delivering his final lecture on “one shitload and a half of LSD.” According to the recording made available to the faculty panel, this was the sum total of that lecture:
“Good afternoon. Wow. American Literature, hunh? Let’s see. Moby Dick today. Right?”
“Moby Dick?” asked a confused voice. “No. What happened to The Scarlet Letter?”
“Right. Moby Dick,” Harris continued. “Great book. None of you have read it. None of you are going to read it. Nobody ever does. What you need to understand is that as far as I’m concerned—and I’m the fucking professor—Moby Dick is the same story as The Great Gatsby, which some of you may read. I call it, ‘the half-assed struggle of the individual to put their world to rights in the face of a failure that threatens to define their life.’ I think that’s from my thesis. Though maybe it’s not pretentious enough.”
by 
Book Review: Murder In Trafalgar Square by Michelle Salter
I’m excited to be welcoming Michelle Salter back to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for her latest book, Murder in Trafalgar Square – book one in The Fairbanks and Flynn Mysteries series.
A murdered suffragette. A missing politician. A stolen artwork.
London, 1910
Coral Fairbanks is a contradiction. As well as a suffragette, she’s a bit-part actress and nude model, earning her the disapproval of her fellow suffragettes.
Guy Flynn is an artist. He’s also a detective inspector at Scotland Yard, who doesn’t always see eye to eye with fellow officers in the Metropolitan Police.
When Home Secretary Winston Churchill orders the police to terrorise the suffragettes during an afternoon of violence that becomes known as Black Friday, the battlelines are drawn – and Coral Fairbanks and Guy Flynn are on different sides.
But when a young suffragette is found murdered in the National Portrait Gallery and one of their paintings is stolen – Fairbanks and Flynn must put their differences aside and combine their knowledge to track down the killer.
Introducing an iconic detective duo in Fairbanks and Flynn, this is an exciting and gripping historical mystery, which will delight fans of Agatha Christie, Benedict Brown and T. E. Kinsey.
*****
Coral Fairbanks fights for women to have the vote. When a Suffragette mission ends in murder, she meets artist and Scotland Yard detective, Guy Flynn. Can they find the murderer together or will their differences get in the way?
I absolutely adore the Iris Woodmore stories so when given the chance to read the first in a brand new series by Michelle Salter, I jumped at the chance.
by Book Extract: The Queen’s Necklace by Adrienne Chinn
I’m pleased to be welcoming Adrienne Chinn to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for her novel, The Queen’s Necklace.
The most famous necklace in the world has finally been found…
Bryher Finch’s life isn’t just a disaster, it’s a catastrophe, until a chance invitation to chart her family tree changes everything. As Bryher uncovers the ancestry she never knew about, she stumbles on the find of the century – Anne Boleyn’s ‘B’ necklace, as enigmatic as Henry VIII’s most notorious Queen herself.
But Bryher isn’t the only one who wants the necklace…
Adrienne has shared an extract with us today. We hope you enjoy.
*****beginning of extract*****
In this excerpt from The Queen’s Necklace, American actress Bryher Finch, who is filming a Tudor mini-series in England, is out on a dinner date with Dr Pieter de Beer, the historical advisor on the series. She had loaned him her cousin Betty Pilcher’s ‘B’ necklace that she’d found in an old box under Betty’s bed (she’s staying at Betty’s house while she’s filming). The cheap necklace she’d been given to wear in the series was breaking her out in hives so she borrows Betty’s necklace to wear instead. Pieter has examined the necklace and discusses it with her over dinner.
*****
Bryher scoops some dhal onto her plate. She watches as Pieter spoons a dollop of mango chutney onto the side of his plate. He couldn’t be more different from Jake, the quintessential sardonic American hero with all his rough edges. Pieter is smooth and, well, sophisticated. Where she’d always felt like a slightly clumsy girl around Jake, albeit, a lucky clumsy girl, she feels like a grown-up woman around Pieter. And she likes the feeling.
‘You said this afternoon that you wanted to talk to me about something. What is it?’ ‘
Yes. It’s about the necklace.’ He frowns. ‘Where is it?’
She swallows a forkful of the mildly spiced lentil dish. ‘I gave it back to Betty.’
He sets down his fork. ‘What?’
by Book Extract: The Pumpkin Pact by Charlie Dean
It’s so exciting to be welcoming Charlie Dean to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for The Pumpkin Pact.
Welcome to The Pumpkin Patch at Pickle Grove.
Andi is worried that her relationship with Drew has become dull and boring. They never do anything exciting these days, in or out of the bedroom. So when a swoon-worthy stranger appears she is instantly swept off her feet.
When they unexpectedly meet again, they realise they have more in common than they thought possible so draw up a pact to spice up their lives! The plan they conjure up while working together at The Pumpkin Patch, to make their partners jealous, brings them closer than ever.
Andi plucks up the courage to finish with Drew but there are no signs of Andrew doing the same and she thinks she’s lost him forever.
With meddling exes, misunderstandings and miscommunication getting in the way, can The Pumpkin Pact bring them back together?
Charlie has shared an extract from The Pumpkin Pact with us today. We hope you enjoy.
*****beginning of extract*****
One of my favourite parts of writing romances is the “Meet Cute”, unless of course they already know each other. In this novel, its inspired by Pride and Prejudice and Bridgerton season 2. The setting is based on a stately home near wear I live. I think this extract gives a real first feel for autumn along with the character of Pumpkin.
*****
‘Come on, boy, let’s go for a mooch.’ They both headed up the stairs, Pumpkin jumping onto the bed immediately and walking round in circles three times before settling down. Andi pulled out her favourite burgundy jumper, putting it back straight away because it wasn’t quite cold enough for that yet and settled on blue jeans and a burnt orange shirt with a pair of battered Vans that were on their last legs but were so comfy, especially on long hikes, that she just couldn’t bear to part with them.
She felt wonderfully autumnal as she stepped out onto the drive, Pumpkin settled down on the back seat after having his harness clipped in and she drove a few miles to the nearby stately home where she’d been an annual pass holder for the past ten years.
by Book Extract: My Lie Your Lie by Paul Clayton
I’m pleased to be welcoming Paul Clayton to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for his book, My Lie Your Lie.
He thought heartbreak was the worst part.
Then came the need for revenge.
Patrick Tyrrell’s perfect marriage shatters the day his husband, Barney, leaves him—for a woman.
Marcella. Beautiful. Alluring. Dangerous.
Patrick can’t let it go. Why her? Why now? The questions consume him — until obsession turns to something far darker. As unsettling events unfold and violence creeps closer, Patrick faces the one temptation more powerful than love or jealousy:
Revenge.
But revenge has its own price. And once it begins, there may be no way back.
A taut, unsettling psychological thriller about betrayal, obsession, and whether vengeance ever truly heals the wound — or only feeds it.
There’s a chance to win a signed copy of My Lie Your Lie below but first, Paul has shared an extract with us today. We hope you enjoy.
*****beginning of extract*****
As a child of around ten, I vividly remember another child in the village going missing. The hysteria and panic were instant — the whole village poured into the streets to search. The child was found soon after, curled up asleep in an alleyway, but the memory of that fear has never left me.
In this scene from My Lie, Your Lie, Marcella’s seven-year-old son, Jace, is snatched in plain sight. A teacher’s lapse, a stranger’s charm, and a chillingly calm abductor converge to create one of the novel’s most shocking turns. The extract captures the book’s central themes of obsession, betrayal, and revenge — and the terrifying question of how far someone will go when love curdles into something darker.
*****
Known for her cheerful demeanour and endless patience, Miss Bentham had a strict cut-off at 3:30 p.m. – school was over, the last child collected, her saintly duties done. Tonight, she had plans: Arthur Bullivant, Costa Coffee, and the latest instalment of Alien. Second dates were rare enough to deserve punctuality.
by Book Club
