About the author

Marlowe's Manuscripts

(From Up Front)

James Drew takes a trip down memory lane, with a shameless plug for his one-time journalist-cohort turned published novelist, Bryan Marlowe. Not heard of him yet? Well, that's why he's a 'cult hero'. Read on...

It does seem like a long time ago. Eleven years, in fact...before falling in love with Brussels (where he arrived via a circuitous journalistic route, taking in The Yellow Advertiser in East London http://icessex.icnetwork.co.uk, which explains why he's a West Ham supporter), your 'umble hack Drew started scribbling in the ancient northern town of York, where a certain UP Front editor Tony Mallett (yes, him again), made a big mistake - he gave him a job as a journalist.

The sadly-defunct free-sheet The York and District Advertiser was where Drew first won his spurs and, if you're wondering when I'm ever going to get to the point of this yarn, don't worry, it'll be any second now.

Because, at this time (told you), Drew also came into the orbit of one Bryan Marlowe, a letter-writer extraordinaire, a man with more bylines in The York Evening Press (www.yorkpress.co.uk) than many of its journalists. Drew, anxious to score points against the 'Tizer's fiercest rival (ah, memories), shamelessly bribed the man with competition prizes, free meals and more than a few sherbets, to ensure that Marlowe's missives began flowing into another newspaper.

The York Press (as they are now called) had the last laugh, unfortunately - doubtless stung by their plucky rival's chutzpah, they offered Bryan a job as a columnist. Which he took, the swine...[Good point - exactly why are we giving him a plug, Drew? - ED]

But enough of the past - Marlowe, who was born in London in 1930 (revenge truly is a dish best served cold) and left school at the age of 14, has long lived the rover's life. Conscripted for National Service in 1948, he served two years, was demobbed, then worked for Siemens and rejoined the RAF as a regular in January 1951.An RAF regular from 1951-71, he then worked for a further 20 years with a northern police force. His extensive foreign travels, combined with his life's career path, inform the genuinely exciting narratives of his four books to date. Up to press, these are As Long As There's Tomorrow, an intensely personal romantic saga about love lost and regained, Memoirs of an Errant Youth, a tongue-in-cheek account of the author's early years of employment in wartime Britain and the immediate post-war period of austerity, Tarnished Heroes, a cold-war thriller set in the Far East and A Kind of Wild Justice, an ex-sergeant-major-turns-vigilante page-turner.

And, just for those readers wondering what the connection is between Bryan and Brussels, be informed that he says he'd "very much like to revisit the capital of Belgium, so long as the G+Ts are on Drew's tab". Just what we need in town - another writer...[Drew, you're fired - ED]

For more information on the man Marlowe and his work (he's currently working on a fifth, Settled Out of Court), go to http://www.diadembooks.com/tomorrow.htm, where you'll also find links to purchase all of his thus-far published tomes. Happy reading!

Brussels-based freelance journalist Tom Slaughter reviews Settled Out Of Court by Bryan Marlowe.

 Considering that he only turned to novels two years ago, Bryan Marlowe proved himself prolific and more than adept at handling a range of genres, from the whimsical nostalgia of Memoirs of an Errant Youth, via the military rough and tumble of Tarnished Heroes, to riveting revenge yarn A Kind of Wild Justice.

 Settled Out Of Court runs along similar lines to …Justice, but Marlowe’s choice of a sociopathic, revenge-driven young man as central character lifts the narrative into the realm of psychological study, as well as being a cracking read.

 Dermot Baxter is the man with a plan – his father Rex died in jail after being wrongly imprisoned for the murder of his au pair lover. Still at home but distant from his mother, Baxter embarks on a calculated mission of revenge against all those members of the law and judiciary whom he believes must pay for the injustice. But the law is slowly and surely closing in…

 Marlowe’s own police experience (he worked for 20 years with a northern force in the UK) is put to good use here; the dialogue between the ‘coppers on the case’ is believable, even if it occasionally seems forced between Baxter and his mother. By the same token, the writer’s gift for creating enjoyable page-turners has once again been employed – that we are suckered into sympathising for a cold-blooded killer is an impressive turn from Marlowe, and there are more than enough twists and turns, coupled with genuinely suspenseful set-pieces, to keep thriller-hounds happy. Recommended.

 T.S.