Aubrey Nye Hamilton Reviews: Deception: A Joseph Gunner Thriller by Alan Parks

Deception (Pegasus Crime, 1 September 2026) by Alan Parks is the second book in the World War II thriller series about Joseph Gunner, late of the Glasgow police, seriously wounded on the front lines in France in the early days of the war. This story shifts location from Glasgow to New York during the week leading up to the attack on Pearl Harbor.

At the end of the first book Gunner meets Nickerson, part of the espionage machine in the UK. Knowing his injuries are severe enough to confine his police work to a desk, Gunner accepted a job working for Nickerson to undermine the America First movement and to sway public opinion toward entering the war. A similar publicity campaign by German sympathizers seeks to reinforce isolationism, doing their best to keep the sleeping U.S. giant out of Europe.

Gunner and Nickerson are not above blackmail to achieve their aims. The opening chapter finds Gunner sending a beautiful young woman to maneuver a young Joe Kennedy into a hotel room, where a photographer can take compromising photographs. It works, Kennedy is willing to do anything to keep his father from seeing photos that might damage the senior Kennedy’s plans for his son. A day or two later, the young woman’s body is found in the river. Her death is ruled an accident but Gunner is convinced it was murder. He works an investigation into his duties.

Beside the Kennedys, Charles Lindbergh, jazz musician Charlie Parker, and Arthur Fellig, known for his photographs of New York City and crime scenes are among the real people who appear in the book.

While Nickerson meets with ambassadors and other diplomats to persuade them toward war and Gunner plants overly positive stories in the U.S. newspapers, they learn that a highly placed German spy has arrived in New York to sow dissension and plant a few bombs. They begin searching for him before he can do much damage.

The book is aptly named. Few of the people are who they say they are. Some change sides as they find it convenient. Gunner does not know who he can trust including Nickerson, with whom Gunner has an uneasy relationship. Nickerson comes from an elite social circle and Gunner has caught him in more than one untruth. But he knows there is nothing for him in Glasgow, so he stays with Nickerson out of financial necessity.

I am a huge fan of anything Alan Parks writes and Deception is not an exception. A complicated and fascinating and likely realistic portrayal of activities in the last days before the U.S. entered the war. For another look at the activities of the pro-war faction in the U.S. after Germany invaded Poland and before Pearl Harbor, see The Wealth of Shadows (Random House, 2024) by Graham Moore.

 

 

·         Publisher: ‎Pegasus Crime

·         Publication date: ‎September 1, 2026

·         Language: ‎English

·         Print length: ‎352 pages

·         ISBN-13: ‎979-8897101566

 

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link:  https://amzn.to/3Ssw2c6 

 

 

Aubrey Nye Hamilton ©2026 

Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal It projects by day and reads mysteries at night.

Aubrey Nye Hamilton Reviews: Gunner by Alan Parks

  

Joseph Gunner has returned to a war-torn Glasgow after being severely injured in the early days of World War II. With an eye injury that the doctors hope will improve over time, a leg injury that likely won’t, and a morphine addiction to cope with the pain, all Gunner wants to do is find a quiet place to regroup. He isn’t given the opportunity. His old boss in the Glasgow police, Detective Inspector Malcolm Drummond, meets him at the train station. Drummond’s retirement was rescinded because the younger police officers were drafted. Drummond bullies Gunner into helping him identify a badly damaged body found among the neighborhood casualties from the latest German bombing. Results from the autopsy indicate the victim was not a local and lead Gunner to the local POW farms to ask if they might be missing a prisoner. His involuntary involvement in a backdoor political conspiracy spirals from there. This primary story line is based on history: some pro-German factions in England urged collaboration with Hitler at the beginning of the war but faded when popular feeling turned against them.

At the same time Gunner searches for his younger brother who registered as a conscientious objector but who fled his work assignment on a farm. Fearing a prison sentence or worse for him, Gunner canvasses the bars where his brother’s Communist cronies gather, hoping to bring his brother in before he’s arrested.

In the background, Gunner watches Drummond, who has become far too close to one of the local gang leaders, build a lucrative black-market business. The criminal competition forcefully drafts Gunner as a go-between to tell Drummond to back off, creating a relationship with Gunner that he knows he will come to regret.

Much has been written about London during the Blitz, this is the first I have read about Scotland which was also heavily bombed. The descriptions of the attacks and their aftermath are painfully vivid and convincing.

I am a huge fan of Alan Parks. His Harry McCoy books, which describe Glasgow in the 1970s, are among the first I recommend to anyone rash enough to ask me for reading suggestions. This book is the first of a series about Glasgow during the 1940s, seen through the eyes of Joseph Gunner, a terrific new character.

The Crime Fiction Lover review compares the book to the Bernie Gunther series by Philip Kerr, set during World War II in Germany. https://crimefictionlover.com/2025/07/gunner-by-alan-parks/

 

 

·         Publisher: ‎John Murray/Baskerville

·         Publication date: ‎July 17, 2025

·         Language: ‎English

·         Print length: ‎288 pages

·         ISBN-10: ‎1399819666

·         ISBN-13: ‎978-1399819664

  

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4otgGi5

 

Aubrey Nye Hamilton ©2025

 

Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal It projects by day and reads mysteries at night.

Aubrey Nye Hamilton Reviews: Bobby March Will Live Forever by Alan Parks

Alan Parks is a Glasgow author who spent most of his career in the music industry. He wrote a book about social housing in post-war Glasgow which somehow metamorphosed into the first Harry McCoy historical thriller. It was one of the top crime debuts of 2018 and was shortlisted for the Grand Prix de Littérature Policière, the most prestigious award for crime and detective fiction in France.

The third one in the series Bobby March Will Live Forever (World Noir, 2021) won the 2022 Edgar for Best Paperback Original. Its title comes from the drug death of a Glaswegian rock guitarist who turned down the opportunity to join the Rolling Stones to pursue a career as a solo artist. Harry McCoy takes the call after a maid finds March in the hotel where the rocker was staying. He knows finding the dealer who supplied the drugs is hopeless but he goes through the motions. In the meantime, the entire city is searching for a missing 12-year-old girl; McCoy is looking for another missing teenager at the request of his police department mentor. He takes time to help his childhood best friend, now a criminal gang leader, out of a jam. The book starts in a scattershot fashion but the story lines come together in the end.

Set in a heatwave during July 1973 amid the poverty and desperation of Glasgow. With long-term economic decline, mass unemployment, population flight, and high levels of urban decay, residents turned to organized crime and a thriving drug trade for meaning and money. This backdrop of Glasgow’s low point is the perfect setting for gritty noir.

McCoy is an interesting character who faints when he sees blood, unfortunate in a homicide cop. He’s got a turbulent backstory and crosses the line between the police and the felonious element occasionally because of loyalty to his criminal friend who protected him as a child. I love the way he does not hesitate to tap his friends on either side of the legal fence for help when he needs something. I kept Google at hand as I read so I could look up terms such as “peely-wally”, “bovvy boots”, and “going spare”. I was entranced to learn that a “99” is a soft ice cream cone with a bar of Cadbury chocolate in the middle.

Peppered with unflinching violence, I liked this book as much as the first one. An excellent piece of Tartan noir. The fifth in the series was released in May 2022 and was shortlisted for the 2022 McIlvanney Prize. Highly recommended.

 

·         Publisher: ‎ World Noir (April 6, 2021)

·         Language: ‎ English

·         Paperback: ‎ 320 pages

·         ISBN-10: ‎ 1609456858

·         ISBN-13: ‎ 978-1609456856 

 

Aubrey Nye Hamilton ©2022

Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal It projects by day and reads mysteries at night.

Aubrey Nye Hamilton Reviews: Bloody January by Alan Parks

I learned about Alan Parks during the online Hull Noir conference in March 2021.  He is a Glasgow author who spent most of his career in the music industry. He wrote a book about social housing in post-war Glasgow which somehow metamorphosed into the first Harry McCoy historical thriller. It was one of the top crime debuts of 2018 and was shortlisted for the Grand Prix de Littérature Policière, the most prestigious award for crime and detective fiction in France.

Bloody January (Cannongate, 2018) introduces Harry McCoy, newly promoted to detective on the Glasgow police force. Harry has a drug addict girl friend who’s a prostitute, and his best friend from his childhood is now a criminal kingpin. Harry also has a bit of a drinking problem. He gets a tip from a coldblooded killer in prison about a murder that’s about to take place. With little to go on and not really believing the stool pigeon, Harry still looks for the prospective victim and finds her just in time to see her killed and her murderer shoot himself in full view of a bus station packed with witnesses at morning rush hour. Harry returns to the jail to question his informant more closely, only to find he’s been killed too. Three murders in 24 hours is a lot, even for Glasgow, and Harry’s supervisor says he wants a resolution fast.

Set in January 1973 amid the poverty and desperation of Glasgow, the general population is sad, depressed, and struggling. Steelworks, coal mines, engine factories, and other heavy industries went out of business about that time, leading to long-term economic decline with mass unemployment, population flight, and high levels of urban decay. New gangs moved in, younger and more violent, and hard drugs arrived with them. This backdrop of Glasgow’s low point is perfect for noir crime fiction.

McCoy is an interesting character who faints when he sees blood, unfortunate in a homicide cop. He’s got a turbulent backstory and crosses the line between the police and the felonious element occasionally because of loyalty to his criminal friend who protected him as a child. He does have a mostly good relationship with his manager, who recognizes McCoy’s innate ability. Light relief comes through McCoy’s green-as-grass sidekick, who is a new addition to the department. He is supposed to be shadowing McCoy to learn the ropes, but McCoy avoids him in creative ways. Parks worked in details from his music industry experience in a nice touch. An excellent piece of Tartan noir. The fourth in the series is scheduled for release in August 2021.

 

 

·         Publisher: ‎ Canongate Books; Main edition (May 28, 2018)

·         Language: ‎ English

·         Hardcover: ‎ 320 pages

·         ISBN-10: ‎ 1786891336

·         ISBN-13: ‎ 978-1786891334

 

Aubrey Hamilton ©2021

Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal It projects by day and reads mysteries at night.