Today I’m so happy to be taking part in a blog tour for the third book in Phil Williams urban fantasy series that got off to a great start with Under Ordshaw.  (My review of which can be found here.)

To celebrate the release of The Violent Fae, the closing chapter of the Ordshaw series’ The Sunken City Trilogy, Phil is sharing twelve short stories from the city of Ordshaw. The Ordshaw Vignettes are tiny insights into life in the UK’s worst-behaved city, each presenting a self-contained mystery.

You can read today’s story below.  For the full collection, visit the other wonderful blogs taking part in the tour (see the banner above).  I’ve provided the details for the other books in the series below plus a link to Phil’s author page but for now let’s get to the fun part – the story:

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The Banker

Fighting the urge to run the light, Freddie Procter hit the brakes with a curse. West Farling, 2am on a Tuesday, there was no one around. The light had no business changing. And he’d been on the road too long already. He swallowed, reassuring himself it’d been worth it. The Chinese were a cinch for PickLathe Finance. Those rosy-cheeked tykes were drowning in giggles after five pints, delighted by Procter’s ability to hold alcohol, oblivious to the loan terms they’d agreed to.

That, my friends, was how you made millions.

Now if the light would kindly change, he could celebrate with another Macallan back home. But something metal clicked behind his ear. A sound familiar from films: a cocking gun.

“Don’t move,” a voice said. “Not one inch.” Procter flashed a look at the rear-view mirror, and the voice got rougher, “Eyes ahead, prick.”

Procter stuttered, “Look – look here – I don’t – don’t know –”

“Cram it!” the man snarled. “Wanna die here?” There had been nothing in the mirror. And the voice was strangely distant. How could someone possibly be – “I’ll put a hole in your brain, you don’t do exactly as I say.”

This couldn’t be happening. He couldn’t speak, and Procter talked huge deals all day – won over the hardest bastards –

“Phone, wallet, gaudy rings, all on the passenger seat. Longer you take, deeper it’ll hurt.”

His rattled body took over. Nodding as he emptied his pockets, Procter painfully wrenched the rings off.

“Now leave the keys and get the fuck out. Walk away, don’t look back. I see your eyes, there’s a bullet in them. Understand?”

Procter hadn’t stopped nodding. He grappled the door handle and tried to stand, trapped by the belt. With a high-pitched “Ah!”, he clawed at the release and fell onto the road. He skittered up, mouth moving voicelessly, mind raging: he could negotiate, why wasn’t he talking the lunatic down? But he was moving away fast. Half a block away.

The car revved loudly and he turned back.

The shining BMW crossed the intersection with the door still open, yellow interior light floating through the dark. There was no one inside. It jolted out of view, then came a loud bang of impact. Twisting metal screeched short pain as the engine coughed a death stroke.

Procter was running back – thoughts catching up. The idiot had crashed his car – amateur – he was not fleeing. He raced into the crossroad. The car’s bonnet was folded around a bent, sparking lamppost. The lights blinked on and off. It was empty. Thirty grand of machinery destroyed, no one to account for it.

What in hell? There was no one nearby – just the driver’s door open – but he saw on the passenger seat, his things were gone. All that remained was a drunk’s ruined ride and him standing confused. A click in his ear and an angry voice. A gun he never saw. Who would believe it?

To hell with this – Procter turned and ran again. He’d report the car stolen from home – to hell with this, and to hell with the faint peal of laughter somewhere in the sky. Ignore it and go – ignore that flurry of batwings passing a rooftop – he was imagining things, scaring himself, had to get the hell away. He was bloody drunk. Imagining, even that tiny, joking voice up high. “Told you you couldn’t damn drive.”

*

Ahh, don’t you just love the fae – probably not if they stole your valuables and crashed your car I suppose.  Although Freddie doesn’t exactly come across in the best light does he?!

I love this story and I think it gives a great feel for the style not to mention it’s a perfect little taste of what you can expect from the series.  I can’t wait to read the other stories being shared as part of the tour.  The next instalment is ‘The Troubled Child’ – colour me intrigued – and will be shared by Space and Sorcery tomorrow.

And, because I love covers, and because the covers for this series are so good, here is the complete set for you to feast your eyes upon:

Plus a lovely novella to add to the collection:

About Ordshaw and The Violent Fae

The Ordshaw series are urban fantasy thrillers set in a modern UK city with more than a few terrible secrets. The Violent Fae completes a story that began with Under Ordshaw and its sequel Blue Angel – following poker player Pax Kuranes’ journey into the Ordshaw underworld. Over the space of one week, Pax unravels mysteries that warp reality and threaten the entire city.

The Violent Fae will be available from Amazon on Kindle and in paperback from November 5^th 2019.

If these vignettes are your first foray in Ordshaw, I’m pleased to share with you that Under Ordshaw is on offer on Kindle in the US and UK between 28^th October – 1^st November and for ease I’ve listed the links to Goodreads and Amazon below.

Under Ordshaw Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40092074-under-ordshaw

Under Ordshaw UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07CXYSZVN

Under Ordshaw US: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07CXYSZVN

Blue Angel Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43232280-blue-angel

Blue Angel UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07L33XJZ7

Blue Angel US: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07L33XJZ7

The Violent Fae Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48246084-the-violent-fae

The Violent Fae UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07Y7CRV1L

The Violent Fae US: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07Y7CRV1L/

Finally – more information about the author can be found here.

Happy reading everyone.