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.
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Amazon UK - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Club-27-Judd-Stone-Book-ebook/dp/B07DNHMDL4
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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.
Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Martin-Tracey/e/B009ANTBWG/
Blog: http://www.martintracey.co.uk
Thanks for sharing this extract as part of the tour. Really appreciate it.
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome! :)
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