Price range: £5.99 through £9.99
Until he gets a new client: Janine. Her husband hid a load of money, and then died. Mal gets drawn into a mystery he never asked for in an attempt to help Janine find the cash and escape the estate once and for all.
The only problem is that Mal isn’t the only one hoping to get his hands on the cash. The crime lord of the estate amongst other criminals are all on the hunt. And then there’s the fact that some corrupt cops are after Mal’s best and only friend, Jackie.
Aided by Jackie and Beryl, Mal’s nosy secretary, Mal sets out to find the cash and a solution that pleases everyone. If he can’t, he might have to pay the price. After all, it’s a numbers game.
Set in the unique, grim environment of a council estate with a cast of quirky characters and a race against the clock, A Numbers Game offers all the desired twists and turns while also introducing a fresh voice to the crime genre.
“A page-turner of the highest calibre”
“A whirlwind of a hard-edged caper novel, with a lovingly bumbling main character in Malachite Jones, backed up by the muscle and streetwise sense of Jackie Singh Khattar … twists and turns … right the way to the very end, it’s superbly written. They’re a great team. Now we need more of them.”
“One of the best books I’ve read this year … a terrific debut. Great off the wall characters, dark humour, and a plot that kept me guessing to the end. Can’t wait for the next book.”
“A Numbers Game is so wonderfully gritty and absolutely Northern the soot stains are ingrained on my fingers from turning the pages so fast. Dark is mainlining the same rich seam that Robert Crais does so well, tough, wisecracking and just flat out twisted fun.”
“RJ Dark’s first crime novel is a real rollercoaster ride … the most popular books are ones that have characters that we like and care about. Those are the books we read the book until the wee hours of the morning to find out what happens to them next. Mal is one of those characters for me. I had a hard time putting this book down even to take care of essentials like getting some sleep or grabbing a bite. If you like quirky, off the wall mysteries with a diverse cast of characters, there’s a ton to like in this book.”
“Shameless meets gritty gangland noir in RJ Dark’s story of the criminal underbelly in the Wilds of a Yorkshire council estate. I enjoyed his inaugural foray into a fictional Yorkshire gangland immensely. It seems that whatever RJ Dark writes, he spins pure gold.”
One of RJ Dark’s skills (amongst many) is that he writes utterly compelling characters that you cannot help falling in love with. And A Numbers Game is packed full of them … twisty and turny and keeps you guessing right to the very end … I cannot wait to see what Mal & Jackie get embroiled in next.
“PG Wodehouse … with bullets.”
“It’s fun and it’s sad in parts and sometimes it’s quite violent.”
