Simon Swift
Simon Swift has been writing for as long as he can remember …
A voracious reader from an early age, he fell in love with the adventures of hardboiled detectives Sam Spade and Mike Hammer. A Humphrey Bogart season of black and white movies introduced him to film noir.
After reading Politics and Philosophy at The University of York, he embarked on a 12 month odyssey of adventure, traveling the world. Alongside his odd pair of clean clothes and his stack of paperbacks, his most treasured possession was the notebook, which contained the chrysalis of his own hardboiled novel.
Many years later, the result was Black Shadows, a crime novel which blends fact and fiction. It attained a gold star on Harper Collins’ Authonomy in January 2010, on the way to becoming the all time top ranked crime novel and generating a record 1000+ reviews.
He is currently putting the finishing touches to the sequel, The Casablanca Case. In the meantime, Simon passes the time teaching primary children in a challenging area, playing football with his two young children and being a dedicated husband to his lovely wife.
As well as his family, his amazing job and writing, Simon loves most sport and giraffes.
Read an interview with Simon on crime legend and noir king, Alan Guthrie’s new blog, Criminal-E. Read the interview here: http://criminal-e.blogspot.com/2011/04/simon-swift-interview-black-shadows.html
“Black Shadows is Raymond Chandler or James Ellroy reinvented for the 21st century. There’s a real authenticity about the period; the setting – New York in the 1940s – the characters – all coming together in a detective story that really hits the heights. From the dramatic opening onwards, the reader is hooked. It’s a proven formula: a wisecracking detective, exotic female characters and shady gangsters, but here everything works so well.” ~ Jake Barton, bestselling crime author of Burn Baby Burn
“Black Shadows is a tightly written piece of noir fiction, inviting obvious comparisons to Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett.” ~ HarperCollins
“The setting, the wisecracks, the gangster element, the upright but flawed detective falling for the beautiful woman – what’s there not to like?” ~ Gerry McCullough, author of Belfast Girls
“It is one of the best NY stories I’ve read. LOVE LOVE that opening – the mention of the shooting and the visual of the bloody steak. Not-so-subtle brilliance.” ~ Elizabeth Lindberg, New York actress, playwright and author of Dionysus and Out of Sync
“Excellent read. One of the best detective stories I’ve read. Great characters and a very good plot. The pace is fast and really holds your interest. This one is well worth reading. I highly recommend it.” ~ John Harold McCoy, author of Bramwell Valley
“If you fancy being drawn into the world of film noir, slick private eyes and femme fatales, this is the book for you. Here’s lookin at you, kid.” ~ Catherine Chisnall, author of Surfacing and Descending
“Bodies pile up fast in Swift’s rollicking debut. Reads like a psychedelic ode to history and the cliché …and maybe that’s the point.”~ Andy Straka, bestselling author of Witness Above
“Just when you might think: they don’t write ’em like they used to …an author comes along with a true passion for classic rat-a-tat-tat, shoot ’em full o’ holes, gumshoe crime fiction.” ~ John Walker, Supense Magazine.
The Casablanca Case
Like an old lover, gone bad…the return of Errol Black in a dark tale of treachery, betrayal and murder.
It’s Summer, 1950, Casablanca. A once beautiful town, now riddled with infighting, corruption and murder.
Ten years ago the roads were paved with gold and private eye, Errol Black, thought he had found love that would last forever. He left not long after with a bullet in his shoulder, his life hanging by a thread and the love story shattered into a million bloody pieces.
Returning to find answers to the unexplained killing of his best friend, he finds himself haunted by the past. Digging deeper leads him right into the middle of a bloodbath, where nobody can be trusted and nothing is quite how it seems.
The Casablanca Case is a hardboiled piece of noir. It is the much awaited sequel to bestselling crime story, Black Shadows.
Black Shadows
When rookie private detective, Errol Black, gets mixed up in the killing of gangster Dutch Schultz, he vows to clean up his act. But when former partner Dyke Spanner is shot to death, Black is drawn into a violent and bloody quest for a mythical, priceless diamond.
New Jersey 1935: When private detective, Errol Black and his fellow agents, are protecting an Irish mobster they become embroiled in the killing of Dutch Schultz. A gunfight leaves bloody chaos.
Ten years later, Black’s past is about to catch up with him. A young woman hires Black for a seemingly routine surveillance job, former partner Dyke Spanner is shot dead and Black is drawn deeper into a violent and bloody quest.
