First published in Crime Scene #1
EVERY NIGHT I DREAM OF HELL
by Malcolm Mackay
Nate Colgan is “clever muscle” for hire; first to admit he’s “short-tempered, generally surly and lugging around a reputation” which makes him good at his job and “bad at everything else”. A consummate professional, he has no qualms about inflicting injury, while keeping the few people he cares about – principally young daughter, Rebecca – as distant as possible.
He’s also our first-person narrator in this terse, sharp novel; hired as a “security consultant” by one of Glasgow’s criminal empires, he finds himself increasingly embroiled by the internal jockeying for power while the top man sits out a prison sentence, as well as the violent threat of dangerous new competition from drug dealers fresh from Birmingham.
Mackay’s ability to out-Chandler Raymond Chandler at his most hard-boiled is well deserved, confirmed by a confident command of narrative, incident and – with Colgan – character. Arguably, that’s Mackay’s greatest achievement; ensuring we care about a loner who finds it hard to sleep – not because of what he’s done, but of what he knows he’s yet to do.
Did you know?
Mackay completed his education at home after being diagnosed with ME; not particularly “bookish”, writing was originally just a hobby between various call centre jobs.
The Blacklist (Season 2)
“Every time you do something that makes me think you really care, you do something else that reminds me that you simply aren’t capable of it.” So says FBI Special Agent Elizabeth Keen to turncoat master criminal Raymond “Red” Reddington. It’s a sign of how far their relationship develops during this second season, and the extent to which Keen is no longer willing to be manipulated and pushed around by the men in her life.
Admittedly, the underlying threat – an international conspiracy of government and private sector leaders, going by the name of “the Cabal” – remains pure James Bond. Yet it’s generally presented with sufficient confidence and style, as personified in James Spader’ seemingly unflappable anti-hero. Although guest stars like Ron Perlman and Reed Birney definitely add a true air of menace to the proceedings, Spader continues to set the tone.
“I’m a sin-eater,” Reddington says at one point. “I absorb the misdeeds of others, darkening my soul to keep theirs pure.” As this season proves, there are plenty still to go around.
Did you know?
The Blacklist‘s Emmy Award-winning star James Spader has a photographic memory; he has no difficulty recalling long speeches after reading them just one time.
First published in Crime Scene #1.
