#BlogTour-‘Breakers’ by Doug Johnstone

About the book…

Seventeen-year-old Tyler lives in one of Edinburgh’s most deprived areas. Coerced into robbing rich people’s homes by his bullying older siblings, he’s also trying to care for his little sister and his drug-addict mum.
On a job, his brother Barry stabs a homeowner and leaves her for dead, but that’s just the beginning of their nightmare, because the woman is the wife of Edinburgh’s biggest crime lord, Deke Holt.
With the police and the Holts closing in, and his shattered family in devastating danger, Tyler meets posh girl Flick in another stranger’s house, and he thinks she may just be his salvation … unless he drags her down too.
A pulsatingly tense psychological thriller, Breakers is also a breathtakingly brutal, beautiful and deeply moving story of a good kid in the wrong family, from one of Scotland’s finest crime writers

Thanks go, as always, to Anne Cater of Random Things and Karen at Orenda Books for the tour invite.

In ‘Breakers’, Doug Johnstone constructs his story of Tyler,little sister Bean and their family, as carefully as he builds his image of downtrodden Edinburgh. He explores, through his idea of what their lives are, the things we’d do for love, and the things we’d do for those we love. And in doing so , he establishes a context of what he believes that love to be.

In Tyler’s case, he robs things that they need, he takes things like bubble bath and washing up liquid trying to be the parent that none of them had.Half siblings Barry and Kelly look for things that they can fence whilst being as high as they can get in order to not fully appreciate what they are doing.That way they can abdicate responsibility whilst they try and scrounge a life on the outskirts of the ‘posh houses’.Their life in the tower block is savagely depicted in a way that echoes their emotional lanscape.

It’s easier to make a crime victimless, when you can rationalise that the people this family robs can afford insurance. In fact, there is a soliloquy of sorts where Tyler is wrestling with his conscience over what they steal. It’ll be ok,all these items are replacable by people who can enjoy shiny upgrades, until the children-they are technically still children- commit a crime that firstly has a face, and secondly cannot be replaced.

A woman is stabbed. But it’s somehow ok as she is the wife of the biggest criminal in the area, so even though she is a victim, she’s the right type of victim. An adjunct to the plot, an example of fridging

This is what happens when society abandons the poor, they are left to lurk on the sidelines and eek out a life that is doomed before it has even begun, walking a path set in stone before they were even born. It’s grim, pointless and lacking in joy. The suspense builds quite well and you want to read to the last page to find out what happens. Some interesting ideas are laid out in the pages of ‘Breakers’,  and the author uses Tyler and Bean as the centre of the story, and its moral compass.

About the author…

Doug Johnstone is an author, journalist and musician based in Edinburgh.

He’s had nine novels published, most recently ‘Fault Lines’.

His previous novel, The Jump, was a finalist for theMcIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Novel of the Year. Several of his other novels have beenaward winners and bestsellers, and he’s had short stories published in numerous anthologies and literary magazines. His work has been praised by the likes of Ian Rankin, Val McDermid, Mark Billingham and Irvine Welsh. Several of his novels have been optioned for film and television.

Doug is also a Royal Literary Fund Consultant Fellow.

He’s worked as an RLF Fellow at Queen Margaret University, taught creative writing at Strathclyde University and William Purves Funeral Directors. He mentors and assesses manuscripts for The Literary Consultancy and regularly tutors at Moniack Mhor writing retreat. Doug has released seven albums in various bands, and is drummer, vocalist and occasional guitarist for the Fun Lovin’ Crime Writers, a band of crime writers.

He also reviews books for The Big Issue magazine, is player-manager for Scotland Writers Football Club and has a PhD in nuclear physics.

Links-http://orendabooks.co.uk/

https://dougjohnstone.com/

Twitter @doug_johnstone

            @OrendaBooks

            @annecater