St. Patrick’s Day Festival: New Blood by Kevin McManus Extract.

Today is a great day here on The Pufflekitteh Reads, because not only am I bringing you two posts, both of those include extracts. First up is my last stop on the St. Patrick’s Day Festival with Zooloos Blog Tours, with a focus on Kevin McManus’ New Blood. Before we take a look at the book, or the extract, shall we meet the author?

Kevin McManus is an Irish author. He primarily writes Crime Fiction novels but also delves into
writing poetry and short stories. He lives in County Leitrim in Western Ireland with his wife Mary
and their dog Jack. He works by day as a secondary school teacher. Kevin has produced a
series of novels featuring an Irish Detective called Ray Logue and a series based around a New
York Detective called John Morrigan. His debut novel published in 2016 was “The Whole of the
Moon”. In a previous incarnation, Kevin was a bass guitarist in several rock bands for over twenty
year. Kevin is a supporter of Aston Villa FC which has caused him to age prematurely.
Across The Web:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Books-by-Kevin-McManus-1075444599167606
Twitter: https://twitter.com/bassbreeze
Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Kevin-
McManus/e/B01E4GF0GY/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_ebooks_1

Let’s take a look at the book; New Blood.

It’s murder out there… The body of an unknown man has been discovered on a beach in the cold light of day, a body that has been shot and left to bleed out on the sand.
Detective Inspector Ray Logue, still reeling from the events of his last case, is brought in to investigate. While working the case, he is drawn into the maelstrom of gang warfare as he comes face to face with the ‘New Blood’ – a young gang leader called Kyle Brody who is fast making a name for himself.
Brody is lawless. He is a predator and a thug who takes no mercy on those who stand in his way, seemingly rejecting society and taking pride in causing anarchy .
Dealing, smuggling and murdering are Brody’s trades – he’s good at them and from the
wounds inflicted on the body Logue sees, it looks like he takes pleasure in cruelty.
Yet as more details emerge about Brody’s accomplices, Logue realises that the lines between good and evil are not always clear.

Published: April 2nd 2018. Sharpe Books/Spellbound Books. Page Count: 249.

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Now is the moment you’ve been waiting for, the extract!

Time stood still…
Brian Carey continued to sit there, not shifting his gaze from the man lying on the sand next to him. He couldn’t get to grips with what he had just witnessed. A stark reminder of the many evils that exist and the role they play in damaging the fragment of the very society we live in, he contemplated. He was in deep thought, confused as to how someone could go to such lengths to kill a person in cold blood.
All sorts of thoughts began to flood his mind. Who could’ve done this? What did the man lying in front of me do to deserve this inhumane end? What does crystal mean? A sense of fear crept into him, making Brian shiver in his own skin as the cold morning breeze blew across the strand.
Just then, he was greeted by the welcome sounds of police and ambulance sirens whistling in the distance, sounds which became more audible with each passing minute. “Finally,” he said, breathing a sigh of relief as he got up gradually while placing the dead man’s head gently onto his own backpack.
“Hold on! I’m not leaving you here, just going to signal for help.” Brian’s belief in miracles shone through, convinced that there still might be a chance to revive him.
He hastily ran up the large sand dune facing the entrance to the beach and waved his arms frantically, which he hoped would help the paramedics to spot him. He knew it would take them a couple more minutes to venture into his line of sight. Brian became tense and began sweating profusely as a result of the nervy wait. Just then, he saw four figures in the distance making their way towards him. Jumping up and down he began yelling out to them, anything to make them spot him. “Over here, look here!” His unwavering effort finally proved beneficial as the paramedics and Garda officers eventually made their way to his location.
“Here, hurry!! He passed out a while back but I’m not sure if he is dead or alive,” Brian blurted as soon as the three men and one woman were near enough to hear him. He ran back towards the bleeding man with the paramedics following him.
“Is he alive? Does he have a pulse? Is he breathing?” Brian was on edge, incessantly asking the paramedics questions, standing by their side and becoming an overbearing presence.
“Sir, could you please remain calm and let us do our job. We’ll tell you when we are certain,” one of the paramedics answered him in a stern voice, clearly depicting the annoyance he was
causing.
“Excuse me, sir, can you please follow me.” A young female Garda approached from behind him, a means to escort him away so the medics could concentrate on their efforts. She led Brian all the way to the car park where the ambulance and squad car were stationed.
“Are you okay, sir? Just remain calm, there is nothing more you can do for him, just sit down there for a few minutes at the back of the ambulance and catch your breath,” the female Garda said as she offered Brian a bottle of water and wrapped a blanket around him.
“No thanks. You don’t have to worry, I’m fine,” Brian replied.
“I’m guessing you were the one who reported the injured person?” she said, taking out a small notepad from her pocket, along with a blue-coloured ball pen which she clicked open.
“Yes, I was the one who reported the incident,” Brian said still breathing heavily.
“Are you carrying any identification, sir?” she said, stretching out her right arm, making it seem like he didn’t have much of a choice.
“Here, officer,” Brian said and pulled his wallet from the back pocket of the track pants he was wearing, took out his driving license, and placed it in the palm of her hand. The Guard studied the license for a minute and then wrote down details in her notebook.
“How did you come across this man?”
“Well, I came here for my morning jog at roughly 6:30. I was resting on one of the dunes nearby, taking in the view of the sun rising when I heard a sound, or rather a groan. It seemed like it belonged to some animal or creature in pain but when I followed it, I found that poor man lying there, bleeding to death.” Brian summarised what had unfolded during the last hour.
“So, he was alive when you found him?” the Garda asked for clarification.
“Yes, his arm was moving, sort of beckoning me over towards him. That’s when I noticed he was badly wounded. He was losing a lot of blood so I immediately called 999 so he could be taken to the hospital,” he said.
“Did he say something about who he was? Who did this to him? Anything that could help us find the assailant? We would appreciate it if you had any idea,” she said.
“I don’t know if this will help you with the investigation in any way, but he did say something. I think he said the word, crystal. I’m not a hundred percent sure he said exactly that but that is what I could make out as his voice was all muffled,” Brian said, gesturing, his expression confused.

How good does this sound? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.