To the book signing! Or perhaps not...

I'm not sure about local book signings. On the one hand, you get a chance to meet fine folk who like you. Or the idea of you. Or the idea of your book. On the other hand, nobody may turn up. Or even worse, you can have competitive book signings with other authors, at festivals, where you're constantly assessing whether their queue is bigger than your queue...or worrying about the facft they have a queue and you don't...

My two hours at The Shetland Times was pleasant, as various folk I know and don't know bought books and chatted. Interestingly for the theme of Serpentine, it was Armed Foces Day, and a military band was marching outside, providing a suitably brassy soundtrack to Murricane and Flaws' torrid adventures.

But not everyone wants a signed book, and not everyone who wants one wants to actually meet the author. I had a pile of advance requests to sign, and a number of my friends locally had already bought the book and had no desire to see me deface it. They just wanted to read it.

Linda Glanville was in the Peerie shop Cafe, and had bought a copy of Serpentine when it first came out. No signature necessary. She's one of the biggest crime thriller aficianada I've ever met, and to whom I will be forever grateful for, a few years ago, lending me copies of the then-rare Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo Beck books. Not only did she enjoy Serpentine, she was even able to read the violent bits she normally avoids in other such tomes. "Except the bit about the seagulls."

Yes, that seagull bit is a tad...extreme. But then, I told her, if she thinks that's bad, she should try The Ossians by Doug Johnstone. It's a seagull slasher novel! Or crusher...

Excellent review in Shetland Times - signing next weekend

Many thanks to Shetland Times reporter Laura Friedlander for a lengthy and enthusiastic review which reflects almost exactly my wife's opinion of the book. Can't, alas, find it online so you'll have to trust my ability to extract the most flattering bits!

Headlined "adventure story will be summer's top read in the genre", I suppose (for future publication on the cover of any reprint) I'd add:

Meticulous research proves its worth...the book is excellent in its attention to detail and meticulous research...

I found the very fast pace of the book challenging, but it made me re-read passages to make sure I had not missed out. I would even go so far as to say it is a book perhaps worth reading twice as rather like a painting, more details come out on second examination. It is not the sort of book you can read last thing at night and it certainly won't lull you to sleep through boredom, because the book is a page-turner, no doubt about that. It could give you nightmares.

Hold on tight for a real rollercoaster read...this is real boy's own stuff. If you want to read a really macho adventure story, then this might just be this summer's top read in the genre.

I'll be signing copies of the book (and hopefully people will be buying them)between noon and 2.00pm on Saturday 20th June at The Shetland Times Bookshop in Commercial Street, Lerwick.

Big Red Bathtub heading for Fort William

No news from Rob and the guys...I can only presume all went well on their marathon trek from Norwich to Orkney. Today they're heading to Glenmorangie and thence to rendezvous with me at Fort William, where we overnight before heading to Islay.

I picked up the Triumph Trophy 1200 yesterday from the Mill Garage in Bonnybridge - seems fine, and fixed very cheaply, considering an official dealer would probably have written the thing off. Patched up the smashed panel with gaffa tape, stuck on wobbly rear light lens, replaced indicator bulb. It's not pretty, it sounds like a diesel but it seems to go...No parking on the street any more...The Big Red Bathtub is over at the BBC and I'm now heading off to pick it up, pack and ride to Fort William.

So, Fort William tonight, Islay tomorrow, Bladnoch on Saturday, Glengarioch on Sunday, Crieff Monday. If you're in the vicinity, keep an eye out for a big, battered old Triumph Trophy 1200 (red) which sounds like a diesel truck. Also a brand new Triumph Bonneville and an Enfield 500. Plus TV crew. Good to hear that my old pal Dave will be meeting us in Wigtown with his yellow Triumph Daytona.

By the way: My new thriller Serpentine is officially published today...find out more and follow the links to buy a copy at the Serpentine Blog.

Serpentine is out now!

...and available to buy from the outlets in the links section, as well as from your local book retailer, which I heartily recommend. Bookshops Must Be Saved, If Only For The Browsers Among Us!

Signing session at The Shetland Times Bookshop, and the odd availability of used copies prior to publication

Mentions in this week's Shetland Times and Shetland News, and big thanks to Edna at the Shetland Times Bookshop for organising a signing on Saturday 20th June, 2-4pm. If you're in the vicinity of Coalfishreek, Queen of the Zetlandic Fleshpots, please come! It's midsummer, after all...

One odd thing. If you go to the listing for Serpentine on Amazon today, six days before the book's official publication, you will find three 'used' copies (identified as 'news/used')for sale from Amazon associates. I can only surmise that these are review copies passed on to second hand bookshops by journalists anxious, in these straitened times, to make a fast, if meagre, buck. Also, one online retailer is selling the book, brand new, for just £4.79. But plus £2.75 postage...

Serpentine in today's Herald diary

Wee piece at the end of today's Herald diary concerning the pitfalls of book signings...

Serpentine in The Scottish Review of Books

It's funny when you see someone else's take on your book, and - while enthusiastic, thank goodness - it varies from your own perceptions. I've never seen Murricane as the hero of the book - for me it's a two-hander with Flaws, who is in many ways Murricane's deeply damaged and fumbling alter ego...anyway. See what you think yourself!

Broadcaster, writer and musician Tom Morton has created Shetland's answer to James Bond in his new novel Serpentine. Former SAS agent Mark Murricane leads the search for the elusive Serpentine, a roving terrorist involved in the 'Troubles' of Northern Ireland and now causing chaos on an international scale. Like Bond, Murricane has a facility for escaping from tight spots armed with a gun, some explosives and a quip or two. Our hero changes locations at breakneck speed. We first meet him in Gaza, where he frees a British hostage, and then follow him to the Scottish Highlands and Ireland, as he confronts ex-lovers, former RUC officers and other tough types.

Written in remarkably smooth diction, this novel walks the line between crime and literary fiction. Fast paced, lucidly narrated and featuring articulate characters, Serpentine is an addictive read. Murricane is an odd but likable protagonist, a man of great foresight which makes up for his slight, wiry build.

The novel is laced with dark humour and bound together by the real-life mystery of the Dublin and Monaghan bombings of 1974, for which no-one has ever been charged.

The Scottish Review of Books, Vol 5, Number 2, 2009