Publication: 30 Aug 2018 from Fahrenheit Press
PP: 246
ISBN-13: 978-1912526321
Detective Sergeant Sam Batford has been lying low at a remote safe house in the highlands of Scotland. He’s doing his best not to attract the attention of the enemies he made, on both sides of the law, during his last under-cover operation but Batford knows he’s just killing time until he’s called to account.
Inevitably the sharks begin to circle and as Batford is called back to front-line action in London he’s thrown into a deadly game of cat and mouse where it seems everyone is out to get him.
After having to endure a frustrating resolution to their previous undercover operation together DCI Klara Winter from the National Crime Agency is determined to prove that Batford has crossed the line into criminality and finally bring him to face justice.
All Sam Batford wants is to outwit his enemies long enough to stay alive and come out ahead of the game.
Today I am delighted to welcome author Ian Patrick to my blog. Ian has had an impressive career as a detective which informs his writing and makes it truly authentic as well as gripping.
Ian has very kindly agreed to write a piece for my blog on the subject of change, something which, as you’ll read, he is getting pretty used to. I am grateful to him for his books, his honesty and for a message that applies to each one of us. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did.
Change
Life changes constantly and as human beings we must accept this change if we’re to live happily. I was never destined to be a writer, at least that’s what I thought when I was washing the local beat cops cars, on a Sunday at the village station, when I was fourteen. I was going to be a cop and that was it. That was my destiny, my life’s path. At that age you don’t think it must come to an end at some point; you just wish you were eighteen and ready to apply for the regular force.
My day came and at eighteen I signed up for the Met and started training school on my nineteenth birthday. Roll on twenty-five years and I’m sat in a consultant’s office at a London hospital being told I have a rare form of Muscular Dystrophy.
Not great news when you’re in a physically demanding job. I try my best to remain resilient and carry on but time takes its toll and change kicks in. The role I loved was becoming difficult to perform both mentally and physically.
So what else do you do when you are forced to spend a significant amount of your day sat on your arse because walking is so difficult and the pain levels unbearable to manage? You either give in or you choose to live doing something you value.
I chose to write and it was the best decision I could have made at the time. I’d written for many years both in the police and outside. I’ve always been an avid reader. The time had come to try and make it a second career. Not the one I thought I’d be doing, that was teaching drums.
Now I have two books published and one with beta readers. I have an option with the BBC, for Rubicon, for a six part TV series. I’ve appeared on stage at Bloody Scotland to an audience of 800 people. The same stage as Val McDermid and Denise Mina were on.
I left school with nothing but have come away with so much more by adapting to change. I’m not saying it’s easy. Some days I don’t want to get up let alone write. I’m one of the lucky ones who have a supportive family, friends and publisher (Fahrenheit Press).
My message is whether your thing of value is writing or having a coffee with a mate, just do it, love it, and where you can, be good to others. It’s worked for me and I’m truly grateful to everyone who has supported and continues to support my work.
IP
About Ian Patrick
Ian spent twenty-seven years as a police officer, the majority as a detective within the Specialist Operations Command in London. A career in policing is a career in writing. Ian has been used to carrying a book and pen and making notes. Now retired, the need to write didn’t leave and evolved into fiction.
Rubicon is his debut novel published by Fahrenheit Press and Stoned Love the second in the series. Rubicon has been optioned by the BBC for a six part TV series.
He now lives in rural Scotland where he divides his time between family, writing, reading and photography.
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Live and Deadly 