Good afternoon everyone I’m on the blog tour for Black Moss by David Nolan today and have a great extract to share with you all.
Black Moss is available now in ebook and paperback now, purchase your copy here.
Before I share my extract with you here is a little bit about the book.
Book Synopsis:
In April 1990, as rioters took over Strangeways prison in Manchester, someone killed a little boy at Black Moss.And no one cared. No one except Danny Johnston, an inexperienced radio reporter trying to make a name for himself.More than a quarter of a century later, Danny returns to his home city to revisit the murder that’s always haunted him. If Danny can find out what really happened to the boy, maybe he can cure the emptiness he’s felt inside since he too was a child.But finding out the truth might just be the worst idea Danny Johnston has ever had.
Extract:
A former child protection detective helped me with the book. Some of things she told me where shocking. I’ve tried to bring a sense of it to the dialogue… the frustration the police felt about dealing with missing children. Here journalist Danny meets with DI Smithdown and DC Cave, the officers investigating the murder of a little boy at Black Moss.
‘These kids go missing all the time,’ stated DI Smithdown, jabbing the table with his finger. ‘I can show you case after case of kids who’ve just disappeared into the mist and I can count the column inches we’ve had about them on one hand. Without using my thumb. These kids aren’t a story to you guys. That’s not a criticism – it’s a fact. Actually, it’s a criticism and a fact.’
‘So, what’s different about this case?’ asked Danny.
‘We’ve had scores of kids go AWOL in this division over the years, but we’ve never had a dead one before. Not a dead one we’ve known about anyway. And not one that had been subjected to serious sexual assaults like this lad was. Attacks that were… sustained. It probably went on for several days before he ended up at Black Moss.’
Danny looked straight at DC Smithdown. He’d felt hangover sick when he arrived at the cafe. Now he felt an altogether different kind of sickness.
‘Mr Smithdown thinks this boy was snatched – stolen to order,’ said DC Cave. ‘I’m keeping an open mind, but one thing’s for sure: the best way of stealing something, Danny, is to take something that no one will miss. That way, less people will come looking for it.’
‘Okay,’ said Danny. ‘I get it. But what do you want from me, Mr Smithdown?’
‘Interest,’ said the DI. ‘Time. Publicity. I need you to keep chipping away at your bosses to keep running this story. Keep it in the public eye as best you can. I know it’s Strangeways, Strangeways, Strangeways at the moment, but we need you to keep it in the news. But I also need to trust you not to release what we know until I say so. Especially about the way the kid’s body was found. Hardly anyone knows about that – if it gets out, I’ll know it was you that blabbed it. Stick with it and, when the time is right, I’ll give you everything. The big exclusive. Young guy like you, it could make your career.’
About The Author:
David is a multi-award-winning author, television producer and crime reporter. He has written a dozen books including Tell the Truth and Shame the Devil, the true story of the largest historic abuse case ever mounted by Greater Manchester Police. He presented a BBC Radio 4 documentary based on the book called The Abuse Trial. It won both the Rose D’Or and the New York International radio awards in 2016. Officers involved in the case helped David with the police procedures featured in Black Moss, particularly the way the system deals with missing children.
Over The Rainbow Blog 