Monday, August 23, 2021

Club 27 by Martin Tracey - Book Tour

 


Book Blurb
DCI Judd Stone is heading for rock bottom. He breaks the rules, he gambles and he’s begun to play around.An unlikely lifeline is thrown Judd’s way when he finds himself catapulted into trying to prevent Rock and Pop sensation Phoenix from becoming the next member of the infamous 27 club – the name given to the list of iconic musicians who die at the age of 27.


Judd’s quest is not made easier when Phoenix’s lifestyle is even more self-destructive than his own – but how can Judd possibly protect someone from themselves?


And who else could be conspiring to benefit from Phoenix’s death? A crazed fan? Birmingham’s ruthless Gangsters? A Secret Society? Or maybe even those who Phoenix believes to be closest to her?


And when Phoenix embarks on an unprecedented tour performing at some of the most wondrous places of the world, the stakes to protect her become even higher.

 

Buy Links

Amazon UK - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Club-27-Judd-Stone-Book-ebook/dp/B07DNHMDL4

Amazon US - https://www.amazon.com/Club-27-Judd-Stone-Book-ebook/dp/B07DNHMDL4


Excerpt
“A six-month sentence and you’re out in three. And they call that justice.”

“I just kept my head down and done my time like any other prisoner.”

“Yeah but you’re not any other prisoner are you, Stone? You see I never much liked having a copper in my prison. I hated it almost as much as the inmates did.”

“It was you who tried to break me, wasn’t it? It was you who allowed mutants like Freeek to try and push my buttons. It would have made your day if my sentence had been increased wouldn’t it?”

“You’re a disgrace to your profession,” spat the Governor.

“Ex-profession actually so I don’t know why you’re getting your Y-fronts in such a twist. Well, I’m sorry to disappoint you, Governor, you tried to break me but you failed. I’m out of here.”

“Ok, Stone, you’re right. You’re free to go, all you have to do is walk out of that door ahead of you. But before you go there’s someone who wants to say goodbye.”

As the Governor spoke his words he turned to the door behind him, opened it and traded his exit for the entrance of a huge and familiar figure. Freeek moved slowly towards Judd grinning a manic grin through his overgrown beard. “Remember Stone, all you have to do is open that door and you’re out of here. Good luck, you’re going to need it.”

“Hold on. If I fight this man it will get bloody. Are you telling me I can leave no matter what happens?”

“You have my word Stone. No matter how you achieve your aim, if you make it out of that door you’re a free man. But you won’t.” The Governor closed the door behind him leaving the two men to face one another.

Freeek stood close to seven feet tall and seemed almost as wide. He had a smaller man stood either side of him in comparison, although they were still extremely well-built with black shiny bald heads and biceps that popped out like heads themselves.

“Me and my two pet baldies are gonna break you in half, Stone,” growled Freeek. “The only way you’re gonna be leaving this place is in a body bag.”

Judd knew this was going to be the fight of his life and a mighty tough one. With a bear of a man like Freeek, there was only one surefire way to get the upper hand. Kick him as hard as he could in the balls! Judd’s experience had taught him that it didn’t matter how strong or weak a guy was, or how big or small, a sharp kick between the legs will hurt like hell for any given man. So that’s exactly what he did and the huge frame of Freeek collapsed to his knees clutching at his agonising groin area.

Judd followed up on his assault on Freeek by throwing his rucksack which contained his few belongings at one of his assailants and then promptly and precisely catching the other one square on the lower jaw, knocking him unconscious and eliminating him from the rest of the fight.

The baldie who had been temporarily distracted due to Judd’s flying rucksack charged at Judd and pinned him to the wall with a loud thud. Judd was winded and the baldie applied the pressure with a flurry of hard body punches. Judd managed to get a strong body punch in of his own which successfully diminished the attack on him but then he knew things were about to get much worse as he saw the massive frame of Freeek rise to its feet. And boy, did he look angry.

Judd hit the baldie again, this time in the face, but with one eye on Freeek, Judd let down enough guard for the slippery baldie to scramble behind him and grab him in a headlock.

The huge bicep was having the desired effect as it pressed into Judd’s Adam’s apple and Judd began to feel himself losing consciousness. Through his blurry vision, he could make no mistake that the hulk of a man standing before him was Freeek and he felt the full force of the big man’s fist strike his stomach.

“Hold that fucker still, Blizzard,” and with those words, Freeek hit Judd a second time.

Struggling to breathe, Judd had to think fast if he was ever going to get out of this situation. Suddenly he remembered spotting something in Blizzard’s right ear. With the huge arm around his neck, Judd was able to take advantage of the strong hold upon him and raised both his feet in order to kick Freeek in the stomach forcing the big man to fall flat on his rear. Then with lightning speed, Judd reached up behind his head and ripped the earring out of Blizzard’s ear taking most of the earlobe with it. Judd followed up with a strong elbow to Blizzard’s ribs and the noise of one of then breaking filled the air. Blizzard instinctively loosened his grip on Judd’s neck and was soon sliding down the wall as Judd turned quickly to reverse the attack. Finally, Judd kicked him in the face three times in quick succession causing him to lose consciousness.

Judd turned around and Freeek had clumsily and slowly got to his feet.

“Right then you enormous piece of shit it’s just you and me. Bring it on.”

Incensed by Judd’s provocation Freeek moved deliberately towards Judd. Judd, being the nimbler of the two, managed to strike the first blow by punching the big man in the chest hoping to break another rib or two but it had little effect. Hitting Freeek was like hitting a brick wall! Freeek retaliated and his powerful strike shook Judd but he just about managed to stay on his feet. However, his wobbly steps had taken him backwards and as Freeek moved towards him Judd searched his mind desperately on how he was going to survive this David and Goliath battle.

Relying on tried and tested methods Judd attempted to kick Freeek in the balls again but his opponent was wise this time and smacked the offending kick to one side with his huge shovel-like hand.

Judd decided that the best means of defence was to attack and he ran with speed and force at Freeek. Judd grabbed at Freeek’s huge beard which forced the big man down to Judd’s height allowing more of an even contest to unfold. Judd’s advantage was his speed and he headbutted Freeek square on his already misshapen nose causing it to crack and bleed. This allowed enough time for Judd to run towards the door, knowing that if he could just get outside he would be free.

Judd reached the door unchallenged and placed one hand on the handle but as he did so Freeek with his giant steps had gained ground, grabbed Judd’s shoulder and flung him across to the other side of the room. The huge man now stood squarely between Judd and the door to the outside world. Breathing heavily, Judd was desperate and didn’t know quite what to do. It also crossed his mind that the two goons whom he had reduced to unconsciousness could wake up at any time and he doubted that his energy levels could cope with battling against three men again.

Judd took off his belt causing Freeek to laugh. “What are you going to do whip me to death you little prick?”

Using his advantage of speed once more Judd kicked Freeek hard in the knee causing the knee cap to pop out of its socket and the big man to collapse to a more manageable size. Judd moved swiftly behind Freeek and wrapped his belt around his throat pulling it as tight as he could. Freeek tried desperately to grab Judd, but Judd pinned his knee in the big man’s back keeping it arched and ensuring he was always out of reach as he pulled tightly on the belt with all his might. Freeek’s arms grasped in empty space like a dysfunctional windmill and eventually he lost his fight for life – and his fight with Judd Stone.

Victorious, Judd picked up his rucksack and left prison a free man. 

  

Martin Tracey is an author who likes to push the boundaries of reality. Even when injecting elements of the supernatural, the terror that grips you is very real. Not necessarily a genre specific author, psychological thrills are a plenty.
He has a passion for The Beatles & Wolverhampton Wanderers FC. Both music and football/soccer often find their way into his stories.
Martin lives in Birmingham, UK and is married with 2 daughters.

Follow him at:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Martin-Tracey/e/B009ANTBWG/

Blog: http://www.martintracey.co.uk


2 comments:

Please try not to spam posts with the same comments over and over again. Authors like seeing thoughtful comments about their books, not the same old, "I like the cover" or "sounds good" comments. While that is nice, putting some real thought and effort in is appreciated. Thank you.