Thank you so much for inviting me on your blog. I’m happy to tell you a little of what I’ve been writing lately.
Time and time again we meet the burnout degenerate cop with a heart of gold. In my novel, Curtis Jackson is a perfectly loving husband with a penchant for junk food and a wife he adores. Is he perfect? Nope! He regularly assaults convicts, breaks their limbs and will resort to violence without a moment’s Blurred Lines of cops and criminals. The Black Hand at it’s heart is a mystery. However, intertwined in the story – as always – is the moral compass in the form of law enforcement.
Buckley is up against a tactical mastermind and a criminal genius. Where Jacob kills with stealth, Curtis uses a bulldozer. The Black Hand is a secretive mercenary with lairs of planning within every move and Curtis is a wrecking ball – smashing and maiming as he goes.
Believe me, anybody that thinks the police are ‘holier than thou’ is very much mistaken. The criminal environment can be all encompassing and to catch a criminal you must think like one. Buckley is from the streets as most of his prey. His back story is one of bullying and victimisation at the hands of local criminals. In some areas of Dublin, the very notion of a local joining the police force is heresy. Law enforcement are the enemy and Curtis Buckley embraces his stigma with glee.
It is the policeman’s tenacity that makes him formidable – he is the long-distance runner who will die before he stops. Curtis understands the violence. He has a sense of the streets and subtle shifts in power as the criminal’s fight for control. He even respects some of the killers because he understands they world they inhabit, and he is also desensitised to the violence of this dark world.
Here’s an extract from the book;
Excerpt from The Black Hand.
The house was empty when he arrived, and he poured himself a cold glass of coke before heading for the basement. His tools were there, and he needed to add a layer of sponge to the handles of his crutches.
Buckley was awkwardly cutting the tape with a blade when he heard the shuffle behind him.
‘Are you looking for me?’ asked Jacob.
In a flash, Buckley had the blade at his throat. ‘My fucking home? You know the rules motherfucker!’
‘Your limp has deserted you,’ replied Jacob.
‘My home?’
‘You’re being tailed. I had no choice.’
‘You know what I do to criminals who break the rules,’ stated Buckley.
‘If it makes you feel better, go ahead.’
They were millimetres from each other. Neither man seemed perturbed when the blade drew blood.
‘I should butcher you.’
‘I'll be butchered eventually. It’s all a question of timing, Buckley.’
There was nothing behind Jacob’s eyes. No fear, no joy, no warmth, and no consideration for the danger he faced. Buckley had his left hand wrapped around Jacob’s neck and his left pressed the blade against the jugular. He could feel Jacob’s pulse; it was steady.
‘I'm bringing you in, Jacob,’ he replied, as he dropped the blade.
‘Yes, you are…but not yet.’
‘I won't let you kill again.’
‘I've no intentions of killing again. I’m beaten,’ said Jacob. ‘Let me get my affairs in order and I’ll meet you here in three days.’
Buckley considered the response for several minutes before replying. ‘Do you want a sandwich?’ he asked.
‘I’d love one. Do you have coffee?’
‘I do. C’mon to the kitchen. We’ll have a proper chat.’
‘Do you want a hand up the stairs?’ offered Jacob.
‘Do you want a kick in the bollix?’
‘With the good or bad leg?’
‘You’re very chirpy for a man looking at life in prison.’
Buckley had known Jacob all his life. There were no games being played. It wasn’t his style. The man would lay out his plans and agree a timeframe. Most of the police force held a grudging respect for the criminal. He was never vulgar. Jacob always came quietly, and if they were straight with him, it was reciprocated. Not once had he skipped bail, and even though they had assaulted him many times, he always kept quiet.
At one time, it had got to the stage where police raids were carried out with a knock on the door and a quiet word. Jacob came along quietly every time, and his wife even put on a pot of tea for the officers when they arrived.
In Jacob’s mind, it paid to be civil. Most coppers didn’t want the hassle, and integrity – in a perverted way – could be maintained between both parties. Not once had they heard him raise his voice. Some prisoners fought, defecated, and hurled abuse at the coppers, but Jacob never saw the point of it.
So, when he arrived at Curtis Buckley’s house, they both knew a binding agreement was being struck.
Buckley put on a pot of coffee before cutting large slices of white bread and even larger slabs of ham. He covered the bread with mayonnaise and mustard as Jacob observed two magpies perched on a tree in Buckley’s back garden. They both ate in silence as Jacob devoured the small meal. Buckley cut another generous helping and passed it over to his guest, and Jacob thanked him with a nod.
Buckley let the silence linger for a second too long before he spoke. ‘Jacob, I know you’d never intentionally harm a man’s family. You are what you are, but know this, if you ever come within twenty feet of my family or my family home again, I’ll put a bullet in your heart. That’s a cast-iron promise.’
‘Understood,’ replied Jacob. ‘My options were limited.’
Blurb
In the aftermath of Ireland’s most deadly gang war, Dublin’s ruling family has scattered to the wind.
Into the void steps a criminal genius known only as The Black Hand. His organisation’s powerful grip is ruthless, bloody and barbaric.
With Europe’s biggest crime in play, The Devil needs a distraction. And The Black Hand needs Jacob Boylan to return to Irish shores. He will stop at nothing to provoke Dublin’s most lethal criminal out of hiding.
But has the wily genius misstepped? As all eyes are on Jacob, the Dublin exile carefully plans a gangland wipeout, for he is nobody’s pawn.
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Author Bio
Jonathan Dunne is a native of Dublin’s north inner city. The Black Hand is his second novel in the crime genre. The Takeover – his first crime novel went on to wide acclaim and regularly featured in Amazon’s bestseller lists.
He is also an avid MMA journalist who has penned articles for some of Ireland’s biggest publications. He holds a Degree from the Dublin Institute of Technology and is a strong advocate of lifelong learning and education. After returning to complete his leaving certificate as an adult in Jonathan has went on to have four novels published.
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