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Blood City (1) (Davie McCall) Paperback – February 28, 2017

by Douglas Skelton (Author)
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 401 ratings
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Meet Davie McCall -- not your average henchman. Abused and tormented by his father for fifteen years, there is a darkness in him searching for a way out. Under the wing of Glasgow's Godfather, Joe 'the Tailor' Klein, he flourishes. Joe the Tailor may be a killer, but there are some lines he won't cross, and Davie agrees with his strict moral code. He doesn't like drugs. He won't condone foul language. He abhors violence against women. When the Tailor refuses to be part of Glasgow's new drug trade, the hits start rolling. It's every man for himself as the entire criminal underworld turns on itself, and Davie is well and truly caught up in the action. But a young reporter makes him wonder if he can leave his life of crime behind and Davie must learn the hard way that you cannot change. Blood City is a novel set in Glasgow's underworld at a time when it was undergoing a seismic shift. A tale of violence, corruption and betrayal, loyalties will be tested and friendships torn apart.
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Previous page
  1. Book 1 of 4
    Davie McCall
  2. Print length
    224 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publisher
    Luath Press Ltd
  5. Publication date
    February 28, 2017
  6. Dimensions
    5.08 x 0.67 x 7.8 inches
  7. ISBN-10
    1910021245
  8. ISBN-13
    978-1910021248
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

DOUGLAS SKELTON is an established true crime author, penning eleven books including Glasgow's Black Heart, Frightener and Indian Peter. He has appeared on a variety of documentaries and news programmes as an expert on Glasgow crime, most recently on STV's In Search of Bible John. His 2005 book Indian Peter was later adapted for a BBC Scotland radio documentary which he presented. His book Frightener, which was instrumental in cleaning the names of two men wrongly imprisoned for mass murder, is currently being made into a film. Blood City is his first foray into fiction.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Luath Press Ltd; First Edition (February 28, 2017)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 224 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1910021245
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1910021248
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 9.2 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.08 x 0.67 x 7.8 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 401 ratings

About the author

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Douglas Skelton

Douglas Skelton

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Douglas Skelton has published 12 non fiction books, 12 contemporary crime thrillers and 2 historical thrillers. He has been a bank clerk, tax officer, shelf stacker, meat porter, taxi driver (for two days), wine waiter (for two hours), reporter, investigator and editor.

His first thriller BLOOD CITY was published in 2013.

The gritty thriller was the first in a quartet set on the tough streets of Glasgow from 1980 onwards. It was followed by CROW BAIT, DEVIL'S KNOCK and finally OPEN WOUNDS, which was longlisted for the first McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Book of the Year in 2016.

His two Dominic Queste thrillers, THE DEAD DON'T BOOGIE and TAG - YOU'RE DEAD lightened the tone but didn't skimp on thrills.

He followed this with his New York-set chase thriller THE JANUS RUN in 2018.

THUNDER BAY, a dark and atmospheric tale of secrets, lies and murder, was published to great acclaim by Polygon in 2019. It was longlisted for the McIlvanney Prize for 2019. The series continued with THE BLOOD IS STILL, A RATTLE OF BONES ( longlisted for the McIlvanney in 2022) and WHERE DEMONS HIDE. All four titles have been released on audio by Isis Publishing. Entries in the series are available in the US in print and audio through Arcade CrimeWise, while translation rights have been sold to as Germany, Denmark, Greece and Sweden.

The 5th in the series, CHILDREN OF THE MIST, has now been published.

He also has a new series of historical adventure thrillers featuring gambler, thief and secret agent Jonas Flynt, beginning with AN HONOURABLE THIEF (2022, CANELO, longlisted for the McIlvanney Prize 2023) and A THIEF'S JUSTICE (Canelo 2023).

Douglas is often recruited by documentary makers to contribute to true crime shows on TV and radio and is a regular on the crime writing festival circuit.

He takes part in comedy shows with other crime writers. To date he has written three Carry on Sleuthing plays in which he also appears along with Caro Ramsay, Michael J. Malone, Theresa Talbot, Pat Young and Lucy Cameron, with occasional guests Alex Gray, Lin Anderson and Neil Broadfoot.

He is also one quarter of Four Blokes in search of a Plot, along with Gordon Brown, Mark Leggatt and Neil Broadfoot. This is a fun show in which they invited the audience to give them a murder weapon and a protagonist. They then take it in turns to create a crime story (usually developing into something wild and wacky) while also answering audience queries about the craft.

His one man event, You the Jury, invites audiences to deliver verdicts on real life but heavily disguised cases from around the world. In 2019 the format was extended into a court drama, thanks to the Faculty of Advocates in Scotland, within Stirling Sheriff Court played to three sell-out houses during the Bloody Scotland festival.

He was, with bestselling author Denzil Meyrick, a regular on the SBOOKS podcast.

Author Web Page:

https://http://www.douglasskelton.com/

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
401 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

col2910
5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant Scottish crime!
Reviewed in the United States on August 27, 2016
Having read and enjoyed the fourth and final Davie McCall book Open Wounds a month or two ago, I decided to backtrack and read the first three in the series.

Blood City introduces us to Davie and his position of employ with criminal boss, Joe the Tailor in the early 80s. Davie and his best friend Rab McClymont are the young Turks in Joe the Tailor’s operation. We learn of Davie’s troubled upbringing which saw him witness his father killing his mother in a drunken rage. McCall Snr. flees after the deed and hasn’t been seen since, though he casts a firm shadow over young Davie throughout the book.

Dannie McCall was well known throughout Glasgow’s criminal fraternity and when people see Davie he is immediately reminded of who his father was. Davie wears this association like a badge of shame. Although a criminal at heart, he is nothing like his father. We discover Joe’s history also and what he endured during WW2 as a young Jew in Poland, before relocating to Glasgow. There’s a close bond between Davie and Joe, almost a father and son relationship.

Skelton also introduces us to several of Glasgow’s finest, led by Jack Bannatyne, with “black” Jimmy Knight and Frank Donovan his leading detectives. Teamed together they have differing morals and outlooks on how their policing should be conducted. The black Knight all too happy to overstep the mark and use violence on witnesses or intimidate prostitutes into providing some easy gratification. Donovan, happily married is the other side of the coin.

A scheme to import a massive shipment of drugs, by a Glasgwegian criminal cooperative, fully embracing Thatcher’s spirit of free enterprise, sets a gangland feud in place when Joe the Tailor declines to participate.

Death follows as the various players jockey for position and a share of the profits. Joe’s a marked man. Jimmy Knight has ambitions also and is happy to play a long game. Davie’s on a few people’s radar and his new romance may not be his salvation.

Top marks again for Skelton – character, setting, action, plot and pace – all massive ticks in the box. Everything I like about crime fiction bundled up in a 220 page offering...........criminals with morals, friendships under pressure, outcome uncertain.

Roll on book 2! (Crow Bait - if you’re interested!)

5 from 5

Borrowed from my local library. Read in August, 2016.
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Ashrae
5.0 out of 5 stars Hits the Ground Running
Reviewed in the United States on June 23, 2015
This is the first book in a new series and, as such, there is a lot of scene setting, character introductions and back story but there is also a bucket load of action. This book kicked off from the first page and didn't let go until the last, Actually, it hasn't let go yet cos there is more to be told as I believe this will be a series of four books.
I am always quite wary of books that feature bad guys as main characters but, like all good gangster types, Davie McCall et al have their own set of values and codes that they adhere to. The main story running through this book is gang rivalry and features a whole host of, what come across as, very real characters from crime lords to lackeys to sidekicks and bodyguards to reporters and police, they are all individually crafted, have their own agendas and means of getting what they want. The lines between good and evil certain blur in this book and, for a short book, there are an awful lot of major players but I never got lost or confused.
The dialogue is mostly written in the vernacular but is easy to read. I do admit to having to look up a few words, but the majority were easily guessable from the context and so none of that distracted me from the story.
The scene setting in Glasgow was also easy to picture (and I am not usually a visual reader) the author really got the tone of some of the places he was describing. All in all, a good read and a great start to a new series.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
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Homeburd
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book
Reviewed in the United States on February 28, 2016
What a great book! Reading this was like stepping back in time to the late 70s. Lots of phrases in it that I haven't heard in years. The whole thing just reeks of authenticity in terms of the characters and the Glasgow setting. Highly recommended.
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dch822
1.0 out of 5 stars there is not a single likeable character in the entire book
Reviewed in the United States on September 18, 2015
I received a free digital edition courtesy NetGalley and the author/publisher so I felt obligated to finish reading it … but if I had purchased this book on my kindle then I would have deleted it and requested a refund.

I do not like to write negative reviews, but this book is a convoluted mess. The plot and dialogue are all over the place and nearly incomprehensible – and yes, I know it’s written with Scottish brogue but that isn’t the problem for me. There is simply nothing compelling or urgent about the plot, and nothing to make me interested in the outcome.

In fact, there is not a single likeable character in the entire book. And I get it, the book is about a bloody gangster war … but there are plenty of bloody, vulgarity-filled books that have gangsters as protagonists with redeemable qualities. A gangster who abhors violence against women is nothing but a tired cliche. It certainly doesn't make him likeable or worth rooting for.

I appreciate the opportunity to read a free book, but unfortunately I simply cannot recommend anyone to purchase BLOOD CITY.
One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

FireflyScotland
5.0 out of 5 stars Realistically gritty.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 10, 2016
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Douglas Skelton is well versed in crime writing – as a journalist and author of true crime books. This is his first foray into fictional crime, and he doesn’t disappoint.
Davie McCall is a young man whose life was brutally torn apart when his mother is murdered. The book is about him and those he runs with – hard men, villainous, ofttimes ruthless, yet in pre-drug culture 1970’s/1980’s Glasgow there’s a sense of fairness and a twisted sense of honour in the life Davie leads. Under the care of old-time villain Joe the Tailor, Davie is a strongarm and gofer alongside his friends Rab and Bobby. But life isn’t fair, the drug scene is pounding to get in, and Joe The Tailor’s refusal to participate creates a violent backlash.
Douglas Skelton has the innate ability to bring humanity to the bad guys, to show their kindness and heart as well as their violence and brutality. His good guys are as likely to be hardmen and villains as the villains themselves are, and in a way this is more distressing, for the police are meant to be the people you turn to, and not all of them are there to help. Skelton gives depth to every character. Davie McCall’s love for an honest woman, the way he rescues a wee mistreated dog, his loyalty to surrogate father Joe The Taylor, all have the reader rooting for him. Joe The Taylor too is principled – never hit a woman or a child, don’t get involved in drugs, take care of your own. Possibly the most loathsome character is PC Jimmy Knight, an efficient police officer whose approach to law enforcement is to do what is necessary rather than what is legal.
This is a great book – the characters are believable and likeable, the story tight and well-written. There are twists and turns throughout that will keep you on your toes.
The first book in a series, Blood City is a great introduction to the twisted mind of Douglas Skelton. You’ll turn the last page and want to go out and buy the next book right away.
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Roz White
4.0 out of 5 stars Gritty, realistic, absorbing
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 22, 2016
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Gritty, realistic, absorbing…

“Blood City” is the first of a series of novels charting the life and times of one Davie McColl, a small-time crook and street-fighter. Set in 1980s Glasgow, the author paints a vivid picture of a city on the verge of change in so many ways: the demolition of the old slums, the emergence of a new, prosperous middle-class… and the decline of an old, almost honourable, gangster tradition, and the old-style police who opposed them with methods often alarmingly similar to those of the criminals.
The notions surrounding the characters – loyalty, unswerving hatreds, rivalries (even among the police) and sectarian attitudes – are all handled well, bringing the feel of the old Glasgow well to the fore. Detail abounds – the feel of the tenements, the dark alleyways where much of the action takes place, the first awkward awakenings of what might be genuine human feelings within our unlikely hero at the advanced age of around eighteen. The reasons behind his actions and attitudes are well developed over the course of the story – matters which also inform his relationships in the “present day” of the narrative. I found all the main characters to be believable, very immediate, with just enough description to allow me to flesh them out in my mind’s eye without ever demanding specifics that might have detracted from the story.
I am not a great fan of crime drama, but this was a good read, very easy to follow, and full of absorbing, realistic touches. Certainly four easy stars, with a good chance of five.
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Lucy Bryden
5.0 out of 5 stars A fantastic first novel.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 23, 2013
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'Blood City' is one of the most gripping novels I have read in a long time. From the first chapter I found myself fully immersed in the plot, following Davie McCall through the shadowy streets of 1970s Glasgow, watching this thrilling tale unfold with baited breath.
Whilst the author's background in true crime writing has obviously left him with a detailed understanding of this dark period in the city's history, it is in his skilful turn of phrase and wonderful characterisation that this story really comes into its own. Woven between the brutal violence and deadly rivalries is a thread of humour and humanity that brings the characters to life. In Davie McCall, Skelton has created a protagonist you can truly believe in and root for - even if he is one of Glasgow's most notorious henchmen.

I guarantee that once you start reading Blood City, you will not be able to put it down. A definite must buy.
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Sandra Davies
4.0 out of 5 stars A vivid demonstration of pace.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 27, 2020
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One of the workshops I went to at Graham Smith's Crime & Publishment last month was on injecting pace into one's writing.

Douglas Skelton's Blood City demonstrated everything we were taught, in spades - a prime example of suspense, tension, characters in action - and what action, what characters - and high speed. A gripping tale set deep in Glasgow's gangster land.

And this, apparently, not the last we'll hear of Davie McCal
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Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 23, 2014
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Great characters. Fantastic plot.
This is the first book in series of four. The main character Davie McCall is a villian. So, in this book we have a different scenario to the usual crime novel. There are other "bad" villians, and obviously we are routing for someone who breaks the law instead of the police....
the characters are well developed and very believable and I really did not want to put this book down. I can't wait to read the next installment.
Now I don't think I would have been aware of this book if I hadn't had the good fortune to sit next to the author at the Scottish Crime Writers awards last year. The book hadn't been released at that point but Douglas was good enough to tell us all about it and explain some of his ideas. I really liked his refreshing attitude of doing things differently. I couldn't wait to read the book and I certainly wasn't disappointed.
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