A Time For Justice - a few thoughts on my first novel

In a galaxy far, far away ... some thoughts on 'A Time For Justice', my very first Henry Christie novel.
It was written when mobile phones were very rare, when cops perched on desks with phones to their ears, waiting for faxes to arrive and when laptops were still something you got in sleazy clubs. Re-reading it in order to get it into some sort of shape for an e-book, I was pleased at how good it was, with various storylines interweaving, lots of sex, violence and swearing ... mmm ... and a lot of action and some great set pieces.
It does have its flaws, yes, but overall I am still very proud of it and it does stand the test of time, and going back to see how cops operated without mobiles stuck to their ears was quite enlightening - and a hell of a lot of fun!

The Rolling Stones - Thick 'n'Thin, Thru 'n' Thru

Rather like Henry Christie, the main character in my series of 18 crime novels, I am a thru and thru, died in the wool, Rolling Stones fan.
My association with them began circa 1965 - I was nine at the time - and I still remember the grainy TV images of the check-shirted Jagger miming badly to 'Get Off Of My Cloud' on Top of the Pops. Truly mesmerising, even then.
That said, although their music was fairly regularly heard in the household, it wasn't really until that fateful day in April 1971 when I tuned into TOTP to watch a pink suited Jagger, leering knowingly at the camera, strutting and punching out the lyrics to 'Brown Sugar' (it's about what?) that I was really hooked and began to 'get them'.
I saved for and began to acquire their back catalogue - from the first unnamed album all the way through to Sticky Fingers, listening, exploring and finally beginning to understand them.
But it was the early summer of 1972 that things changed completely with the issue of Exile on Main Street, which became the soundtrack of my then adolescent life  - and, in some respects, still is.
My first big romance broke up to the strains of 'Rocks Off'. I played weekly poker sessions with school friends once a week to 'Rip This Joint' and - obviously - 'Tumbling Dice', a song that, to me, remains their most sublime ever, with Jagger's muddied vocals, Keith's incredible descending riff, Charlie's amazing drumming, all backed up by the stories of the ramshackle, drug-addled way in which the album was recorded in tax exile in the South of France. It all added to the mix and myth of the band.
And from then on, their music continued to be the backing track to my life - sustaining me through happy and sad times. They have always been there and this has been supplemented by catching them live wherever possible.
The first time I saw them was at Belle Vue, Manchester, UK in September 73, when they were just at the far edge of that incredible creative period of 68-72.I went there thinking I would sit and watch them, consider the music thoughtfully. No chance! The last time was in Sheffield, UK in 2006 where I thought they played better than ever. I was still amazed at how these spindly troubadours could grind a steel town to a complete halt. They were incredible.
So - what about their 50th anniversary celebrations?
Will they? Won't they?
Who knows, except them?
One thing I do know is that, as they've been a part of my life for 50 years, I'll be sad but not devastated if they don't tour or release a new album because I know that, whatever, they've been my constant companions for all my adult life and their huge body of work will always be there for me to plunder (I regularly find and rediscover forgotten gems) and together with all the memories, I'll be there for them whatever they choose to do, thick 'n' thin, thru 'n' thru, because they were there for me, even though they didn't know it.

The first four Henry Christie novels

With the e-publication of The Last Big Job, this now means that the first four Henry Christie novels (the other three being A Time For Justice, Nightmare City and One Dead Witness) are now available from Amazon - at an amazing price of 99p each - which I'm really pleased about because they've been pretty hard to track down for a while. Check out the new cover for The Last Big Job - and the lion's eyes in the clouds! Brill!

As promised, a list of the Henry Christie books in order, plus a blurb for each.

A Time for Justice - Jimmy Hinksman does not think twice when he embarks on a mission to bomb two businessmen in a busy motorway, but the bomb causes carnage which sets every police force in the country after him. (e-book available)

Nightmare City - One particular weekend generates a crime wave, including the murder of a prostitute, the wounding of a policewoman, a crazy car chase and the shooting of a gorilla. What Henry doesn't realise is that these incidents are linked.(e-book available)

One Dead Witness - A homicidal child-molester has broken out of jail and is heading for Blackpool to get even with one of Henry's colleagues, DC Danielle Furness, the police officer who had the child-molester jailed. (e-book available)

The Last Big Job - When three police cars are blown up, and elsewhere a building society heist goes terribly wrong, Henry investigates a case which will have devastating consequences for the whole force.(e-book available)

Backlash - It is party conference week and Blackpool is throbbing with politicians, media, demonstrators, hangers-on and spin doctors. The last thing Henry needs on top of that is a murder.

Substantial Threat - When the brother of the country's most notorious gangster is killed, Henry gets sucked into the world of ultra-organised crime which knows no international or moral boundaries.

Dead Heat - One of his daughter's horse-riding friends asks Henry to investigate the mutilation of some very expensive bloodstock owned by her family. He agrees, but knows he is going against his better judgement.

Big City Jacks - When a murdered Manchester drug dealer is found to be a CID informant working for a small nucleus of corrupt detectives, Henry is plunged into a complex investigation which has far-reaching consequences for the police service.

Psycho Alley - A series of increasingly violent assaults is shrouding the happy-go-lucky resort of Blackpool in a veil of terror, and Henry finds himself pitted against a devious killer from his past, and his own inner demons.

Critical Threat - Henry investigates the brutal killing of an ex-cop turned sleazy private eye and faces his toughest challenge as he tried to head off a ruthless assassin who has never missed a target.

Screen of Deceit - When 14-year old Mark Carter's sister Beth dies from a massive drugs overdose he agrees to become an informer for Henry, plunging them both into the world of teenage street gangs, brutal murder, drug turf wars and betrayal.

Crunch Time - Henry goes undercover to ingratiate himself with violent criminal Ryan Ingram. So the last thing Henry needs is the appearance of a man bearing a fatal grudge that will jeopardise not only himself, but also his family.

The Nothing Job - Whilst tracking down three dangerous criminals, Henry is asked to close down another investigations into a fatal police shooting. However he soon uncovers a number of worrying connections between the two cases.

Seizure - When disgraced ex-cop Steve Flynn's son Jake is kidnapped by a dangerous criminal associate, Henry must team up with Flynn not only to save Jake's life, but also to recover a million pounds in missing drug money.(e-book available)

Hidden Witness – Henry's investigation into the brutal execution of a seemingly innocent old man on a Blackpool side street uncovers links to organised crime and the realisation that there is much more to the old man's murder than simple underworld retribution. (e-book available)

Facing Justice - Dealing with a murder, a shooting, big-time gangsters with deadly scores to settle, police corruption, a sick friend, awful weather conditions, an amorous landlady and a wild cat that may be loose on the moors is not the sort of short winter break that Henry had envisaged. (e-book available)

Instinct – Grieving after a huge personal tragedy, Henry is trying to pull his life back together. He's thinking about retirement, but all thoughts of a peaceful dotage are shattered when the phone rings in the early hours and he is called out to investigate the brutal rape and murder of a teenage girl.

An introduction to the Henry Christie crime novels of Nick Oldham

I've written seventeen police-based crime novels featuring Henry Christie

The novels have been affectionately described at ‘Blackburn Noir’.  I'm a former Lancashire police officer with thirty years of operational policing,  and the books are are dark, police-based crime stories set in the bleak north-west of England.  At the heart of these novels is Henry Christie.

‘A main character who's both intelligent and appealing’ Emily Melton, Booklist

Henry Christie is the type of tough, caring, no-nonsense copper most of us instinctively imagine an effective policeman should be.  Married with two fast-growing daughters, he’s a working-class northerner through-and-through.  Amongst his troops he commands respect, because they know that when things begin to kick off, he’ll be leading from the front.  He likes to ruffle feathers and has little time for politically-correct edicts from above, or for fast-tracked management-speak bosses who can’t pull their operational weight.

Christie is a perfect balance of brains and brawn.  His cunning detective’s mind is easily the equal of a Morse or a Frost, but it’s backed-up, when needed, by the ‘kick-the-door-down’ attitude of a Jack Regan.  Yet, he’s human and he sometimes makes mistakes - occasionally big ones - and nobody could criticise him more harshly than himself.  Underneath the tough exterior he’s a deeply sensitive individual.  He’s haunted by the nervous breakdown he once suffered after a harrowing incident in which he risked his life pulling school children from a minibus submerged in freezing river.  Even now, it’s a constant struggle to prevent the bleak realities of the job from becoming become too much for him.  However, the job is his life, and he does it to the best of his ability.

Blackpool is the setting for most of the stories.  It’s an unusual but appropriately symbolic backdrop which highlights the underlying themes of the novels; a glitzy tourist veneer masking an underbelly of vice and corruption.  The novels themselves are fast-moving and densely-plotted police procedurals and cover a range of themes and topics.

A list of all the books - in order - together with brief outlines will be posted shortly.