A cracking authentic crime thriller. Joe Geraghty is used to struggling from one case to the next, barely making the rent on his small office in the Old Town of Hull. Invited by a local businessman to investigate a member of his staff's absenteeism, it's the kind of surveillance work that Geraghty and his small team have performed countless times. The case soon becomes anything but routine when Jennifer Murdoch is found bleeding to death in her bed, Geraghty quickly finds himself trapped in the middle of a police investigation which stretches back to the days when the city had a thriving fishing industry. As the woman's tangled private life begins to unravel, the trail leads Geraghty to local gangster-turned-respectable businessman, Frank Salford, a man with a significant stake in the city's regeneration plans. Still haunted by the death of his wife in a house fire, it seems the people with the answers Geraghty wants are the police and Salford, both of whom want his co-operation for their own ends. With everything at stake, some would go to any length to get what they want, Geraghty included. Broken Dreams is the first urban thriller from Hull based writer ,Nick Quantrill, featuring private detective Joe Geraghty. Books 2 + 3 in the series are coming very soon from Fahrenheit Press. The Late Greats The Crooked Beat Praise for Nick Quantrill “Set against the backdrop of the historic city of Hull, this book is extremely well crafted. With a believable lead character, who proves time and time again during the course of the story that he is just a normal guy, this novel is an example of the best type of realism in British crime fiction. The pace never drops, with continual action and plot strands effortlessly revealed as the story unfolds. This is a very cleverly created novel. Gritty, realistic and excellently written, this is surely the first in what promises to be an exciting new series.” “A likable main character, surrounded by believable supporting characters & some nasty villains. The investigation element constantly built, with numerous surprise twists. A gripping and well-written blend of the Chandler-esque hardboiled PI novel, with modern gritty fiction. Loved it.” “I was looking for a book where the main character did not come with a lot of baggage and I was not disappointed with Joe Geraghty.Two stories interwoven without having to resort to blood and gore to retain my attention. Characters involved were plausible and the story kept my attention.” “In Joe Geraghty, we have a character to savour. Joe isn't perfect but he's essentially a good man, despite the things life has thrown at him. Flawed, tenacious, loyal and a romantic at heart, Joe gets by one day at a time, driven as much by misplaced guilt as the need to see justice done.” “First of all, I don't like detective books. I've always found them to be either too predictable or so convoluted and pretentious, they've left me cold. Nick Quantrill's 'Broken Dreams', however, is none of these. In short, it is fantastic. That is not to say the plot isn't complex; it is. A tale of murder, missing persons, big business, and the regeneration of Quantrill's home city of Hull, all woven together so expertly and seamlessly as to leave this particular reader to finish the book in just over two days. And Quantrill's ability to create compelling characters - even the minor ones - and the crispness of his writing, with dialogue to match the great Elmore Leonard, merely adds to the superb realism of the piece.” “This is a cracking book. It's the story of a man - Joe Geraghty - and a city - Hull - that have taken many a good kicking and are trying to get back on their feet. Realistic and romantic - in a Strummer way - it takes you by the lapels and drags you along from the beginning to the end.” “Broken Dreams will prove an absorbing read for anyone anywhere, as it does what proper crime fiction should do - conjure up a familiar world filled with villains, wrongdoings, and cold blooded murder!”
