WESTON-super-NIGHTMARE: Hellbent Raff Raff Thriller #1

Weston-super-Nightmare by John Bowie
Weston-super-Nightmare by John Bowie

‘Bristol builders vs Cockney gangsters.’ 

Weston-super-Nightmare, the first in the Hellbent Riff Raff Thriller series.

Bristol builders v Cockney gangsters: a gritty pulp noir and part crime-comedy. Beneath this surface, there’s strong role model women, transgenderism, complicated family issues and poetry.

It’s a modern-day dirty-real Western…set in Weston…with pirates and Viking war goddesses.

It was Jimi’s place. A retirement gift to himself after a hard life’s graft. No one owned the stage but him and his Gibson SG — except ex-strippers, Tammy and Betty. Matt, the youngest brother to some of The South Bank Cricketers, an infamous London gang, wanted to play. Not gonna happen. 

Jimi needed backup. He knew some gangsters of his own. Had criminal friends. But that’s not who he was going to call on for help. He needed something tougher, more reliable… made of stone. 

‘Bristol builders, sparkies, carpet fitters and plumbers face-off London gangsters in a Wild West showdown.’


What people are saying…

“Well, I said, shit goddamn! John Bowie’s ‘Weston-super-Nightmare’ is a fuck-ton of fun. Really enjoyed it. Brit Noir at the highest calibre. The characters are all batshit. All hail this whacked-out utter nonsense. Seriously. Close to the Bone has another winner.”


— Anthony Neil Smith, author of Slow Bear

“Like ‘Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels’ the book is filled with unique characters heading for an unavoidable showdown that keeps you guessing the whole way through. Bowie’s descriptions are as authentic as they get, to the point where I felt like I was having a pint in the bar listening in on the conversations. He’s managed to capture the sights, smells, and sounds from that hardboiled world perfectly. Weston-super-Nightmare is a fun thrill; with it, John Bowie takes his place among the best writers working today.”

— Andrew Davie, author of Dig Two Graves

”Brit-grit fun n frolics! When a group of London gangsters turn up at a half-dead seaside town to take revenge upon a former hardman, they get more than they bargained for. Weston-super-Nightmare is violent and funny and also touching. A vivid Brit Grit gangster yarn full of broad humour, gaudy characters and also pathos. It’s a balancing act that John Bowie carries off with aplomb. Brit Grit Seaside Fun n Frolics and highly recommended.”

— Paul D. Brazill, author of Man of the World

‘This is a complete load of trash and lies. It’s pure donkey shit.’ – Weston Tourist Authority

‘I’ll kill that bastard, Bowie.’ – Max Ballard, S.B.C.

‘Thanks for the attention.’ – Billy Cocksure, Weston, Slots-R-Us


UNTETHERED [Dreams of Future Memories]: Black Viking Thriller #1 by John Bowie

Due Oct’ 2020 with RED DOG PRESS.

Untethered by John Bowie- REDDOG PRESS
Untethered by John Bowie- REDDOG PRESS

‘CLASSIC CRIME NOIR FULL OF DIRTY REALISM’

Untethered‘ is a semi-autobiographical crime noir, exploring themes of identity, isolation and the damaging effects of drink, depression and PTSD.’

John Barrie is bored in his witness protection program in Bristol. A disturbed ex-SAS soldier, he searches for meaning at the bottom of many a glass as madness begins to set in. Then a series of cryptic messages arrive, pulling him into a web of deceit, destruction and disillusionment.

One such note comes with a knock on his door and a chance to find a missing girl; to start over again… as a private investigator.

Meanwhile, his therapist encourages him to put his demons on paper; to write it all out. As John battles with his past, could this writing lead him to find the girl, his future and maybe even the love he craves?

Untethered is a semi-autobiographical crime noir, reminiscent of old noir films like Chinatown and Double Indemnity, exploring themes of identity, isolation and the damaging effects of drink, depression and PTSD.

Available soon in all good bookshops, online and for Kindle:


Set in 1998 in Bristol, England, Bowie’s dark, hard-edged crime novel inaugurates a promising series. ‘– Publishers Weekly

‘Noir fans will find a lot to like.’ – BookLife

‘He is able to capture the raw emotion of balancing on the glorious Clifton Suspension Bridge, delving into the murky underworld of Bristol’s clubs, to being sprawled across a Welsh beach.’ – Amanda Brightman, STORGY.COM



TRANSFERENCE [Love+ Hate in Rain City]: Black Viking Thriller #2

Out soon with RED DOG PRESS.


‘BRUTAL, DARK AND LYRICAL MANC NOIR’

TRANSFERENCE by John Bowie

As clubbers in Manchester’s most notorious club partied hard in the 90s, a girl collapsed, falling from the stage after a bad pill.

Few noticed.

Those that did, didn’t care – lost in a hedonistic haze.

John Black, an ex-SAS soldier, who was working security that night, carried her out in his arms.

Now on witness protection for exposing the city’s underworld after the girl’s death, he goes back to the city that disowned him – to confront the orchestrator of his pains…and reclaim his lost identity.


‘If Bukowski wrote hard-boiled crime it would be Transference.’ – Ross Jeffery, author of Juniper

Transference is a bleak, beautiful ode to Manchester.’ – Stephen J. Golds, Author of Glamour Girl Gone

‘If you like taut, lyrical, gritty noir, then Transference is for you… I don’t often read books in one extended sitting – but this was just too good to put down!’ – Mark Newman, author of The Crime Syndicate Series

‘It leaves you punch drunk and stumbling around on your feet – hard-hitting and oh so good.’ – STORGY MAGAZINE


DIVISION [The Crows Over Cross Hill]: Black Viking Thriller #3

DIVISION by John Bowie

DARKNESS FOLLOWS WHEREVER HE GOES


John Black returns to Northern England for a family funeral, having left the woman he loves to protect her from his past.


His solace is broken as the sands shift, crows and gulls circle overhead, and children run on the beach where John used to play as a child… and where a body is found in the dunes by Cross Hill — the body of a woman John once knew.

With a set of coordinates left for him in a haunted pub, the body count grows, and the police are made fully aware of John’s connection.
As he drives the ancient coastal and rural landscapes, from Alnwick Castle, Hadrian’s Wall, Cragside to Kielder, racing to confront the killers, John wrestles the pain of bringing the evils of his past to his homelands and to all who know him.

WILL DEATH EVER LEAVE HIM?