THE BALLAD OF THE ONE LEGGED MAN
Colin
Campbell
Pen Press
ISBN: TBC
September, 2006
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THE BALLAD OF THE ONE LEGGED MAN
Written by
COLIN
CAMPBELL
Colin
Campbell will be signing copies of 'Ballad Of The One Legged Man' soon
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With The Ballad Of The One Legged Man, Colin
Campbell shows that he is fast becoming a force to be reckoned with.
Mick Habergham – Hamburger, or just plain Ham, to his friends and
colleagues – is back at the beginning and determined not to swear.
It’s the long hot summer of 1976; a steep learning curve for a young
copper trying to carve out a career in the police force and so survive
his two-year probation period. Formative years at the sharp end that see
him make tough decisions that divide loyalties, jeopardise friendships
and teach him what betrayal really means.
From petrol bombs to gypsy fights to the realisation of death and what
it means, The Ballad Of The One Legged Man
carves a niche that the genre that will be hard pressed to surpass.
Colin Campbell, make no mistake, tells an incredibly
good tale and his vivid descriptions of events, the use of genuine dialogue
and his ability to captivate a reader are second to none, whereas his
skill at turning the everyday into points of either high drama or of
outlandish humour should be roundly applauded for their candour.
The most compelling aspect of this “prequel”
to the much acclaimed Through The Ruins Of Midnight,
however, is that no matter to which character the reader turns, he or
she will see a little of themselves in each and few are the authors
who can count the ability to perform that particular trick amongst their
armoury.
As fast paced as they come, as well written as they come and, at times, as discomforting as they come, Colin Campbell’s The Ballad Of The One Legged Man is a novel which is sure to set the author’s name in stone.
“The
great reviews for Through The Ruins Of Midnight, and Ballad Of The One
Legged Man are much appreciated. Glad you enjoyed them. I certainly
enjoyed writing them.”
Colin
Campbell 2006
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Colin
Campbell goes back “on the beat”
by Chris High
Having spent thirty years as a police officer, it was almost inevitable
that Colin Campbell would, one day, write a Crime novel. Colin, who has
written books in the horror, fantasy and children’s genres, had
his debut Crime novel, Through The Ruins Of Midnight
(Pen Press), published in 2004 with much acclaim. ‘The TV option
for "Midnight" was sold to an independent producer in London
a year ago and she has been working on the script with my help; mainly
keeping it straight with the dialogue and procedures,’ Colin explained.
‘It was originally going to be a six-part drama but that's been
tightened to two and is now much sharper.’
Colin’s second Crime novel, The
Ballad Of The One Legged Man, is something of a prequel to Midnight.
‘I didn’t want to fall into the, “just another night
shift with Mick Habergham”, trap. So this story covers the long
hot summer of ’76, the year he joined the police. It tells how he
became the person we know from Midnight, of the importance of
friendship on the front lines and how much more painful betrayal is because
of that.’
So, having written in other genres, which does Colin prefer? ‘Ideas
sort of come at me from all over so which genre they end up in depends
on the idea. I love words and the rhythm of a good sentence or line of
dialogue. And characters. Once I've got a good cast and a story line,
I don't really change my style for the genre.’
Now retired from the police, having spent fifteen of those years in Scenes of Crime, Colin has always held a love of writing. ‘My English teacher used to encourage my fiction. He was also my Religious teacher so, realising I wasn't going to be too Godly, he let me write in that lesson too. After joining the police, I got back into writing with a James Bond short story competition and was hooked. I wrote a few short stories for practice and then a novel. I was convinced I'd be a millionaire “this time next year”. Four published novels later, I’m still waiting but I’m starting to make headway.’
break the rules as I see fit.” - Chris High 2003.