BELFAST crime writer Neil Walker is returning after a seven-year publishing break with two connected thrillers set during one violent weekend in the city.
The novels form a complete two-book prequel to Walker’s established Drug Gang series. Together, they tell a single-story unfolding over 60 hours in Belfast in December 1999.
At the centre of the action is Derek Dillon, a police informant who has witnessed a major drugs operation and is being held in protective custody before giving evidence.
Days before he is due to testify, Dillon makes the dangerous decision to return to Belfast’s nightlife for one final weekend before entering witness protection.
His appearance triggers a city-wide manhunt after a bounty is placed on his head. The criminal network he exposed — involving loyalist and republican paramilitaries and a Dublin drugs cartel — is determined to prevent him reaching court.
As different factions close in and alliances begin to fracture, the hunt draws in John Kennedy, a young man who has not yet become the hardened and feared figure familiar to readers of the existing series.
The two novels explore how the events of one weekend transform Kennedy and establish the criminal world depicted in Walker’s later books.
The author said the atmosphere of the story was inspired partly by his experiences of Belfast’s rave scene during the late 1990s. Its themes include loyalty, betrayal, survival, informing and the consequences of violence in a divided society.
Walker has described the project as a single crime thriller divided between two sequential releases. The Hunt begins the pursuit, while Deadline brings it to its conclusion.
The Belfast-based writer is the author of the original Drug Gang trilogy, which follows organised crime networks operating in Belfast, Manchester and further afield.
According to his publisher, Walker’s books have sold tens of thousands of copies, while each title in the series has reached the top three of its category on Amazon. In 2019, the three books in the original trilogy simultaneously occupied the first three places in Amazon UK’s Northern Irish Crime chart.
The series has also attracted interest from the film and television industry. A shopping agreement was reached with Hollywood producer John Hilary Shepherd, whose credits include 1917 and Hacksaw Ridge, with the aim of exploring a possible screen adaptation.
Walker’s fiction combines tightly plotted action with stories about organised crime, loyalty and the moral compromises made by people attempting to survive within violent environments.
Published by System Addict Publishing, Drug Gang: The Hunt and Drug Gang: Deadline will be available as ebooks, paperbacks and audiobooks. The novels are intended both as an introduction for new readers and an account of John Kennedy’s origins for those already familiar with the series.
Drug Gang: The Hunt and Drug Gang: Deadline will be released one week apart on October 15 and October 22 respectively.
Everything from irishpost.com and the print edition is available on the Irish Post App — plus more! Download it for Android or Apple IOS devices today.
