About the Book
WINNER OF THE McILVANNEY PRIZE for SCOTTISH CRIME NOVEL OF THE YEAR
FEATURES AN EXTRACT FROM THE NEXT ALISON MCCOIST THRILLER, PAPERBOY
'Amazingly accomplished' The Times, Crime Book of the Month
'Loved it'Kevin Bridges
'A talent to watch'Chris Brookmyre
'Very funny'Scotsman
'Pitch dark yet dripping with warmth'Caz Frear
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Half the Glasgow copshop think DI Alison McCoist is bent. The other half just think she's a fuck-up.
No one thinks much at all about carwash employee Davey Burnet, until one day he takes the wrong customer's motor for a ride.
One kidnapping later, he's officially part of Glasgow's criminal underworld, working for a psychopath who enjoys playing games like 'Keep Yer Kneecaps' with any poor bastard who crosses him.
Can Davey escape from the gang's clutches with his kneecaps and life intact? Perhaps this polis Ally McCoist who keeps nosing around the carwash could help. That's if she doesn't get herself killed first.
About the Author :
Callum McSorley is a writer based in Glasgow whose short stories have appeared in Gutter Magazine, Monstrous Regiment and New Writing Scotland. Squeaky Clean is his debut novel, inspired by his years working at a car wash in Glasgow's East End. With it, Callum became the youngest ever author to win the prestigious McIlvanney Prize for best Scottish crime novel of the year. He is currently working on another Alison McCoist thriller.
Review :
An amazingly accomplished debut
A formidable debut... The mayhem in Squeaky Clean is tempered by the mean-eyed humor of its underdog protagonist, and by the rapid-fire dialogue delivered through the burr of Scots dialect... With its wit, terror, guts and gumption, Mr. McSorley's first novel is a smash
Conjures a vision of Glasgow as a technicolor hellhole of corruption, reminiscent of James Ellroy's Los Angeles - and just as compelling to read about
An accomplished crime caper... Will appeal to lovers of scabrous comedy
Shattered from staying up until the daft hours finishing this. Loved it... A serious talent
A manic tale of blood and suds told with laconic humour and warmly engaging characterisation. Callum McSorley is definitely a talent to watch. I knew within a page that I was in good hands
An absolute knockout of a debut! Pitch-dark and yet dripping with warmth, Squeaky Clean is a truly fresh take on the classic thriller. Packed with brilliantly drawn characters, laugh-out-loud humour, and lots of blood - what's not to love? Can't wait to see what my new favourite detective does next.
An uproarious, sardonic noir thriller from the Glasgow depths... Brutal, wonderfully humorous and a great addition to Tartan Noir, this novel unveils a terrific new talent
An outstanding work of tartan noir. McSorley's nightmarish Glasgow with its crime and vice is wonderfully drawn in all its gritty beauty... What a magnificent debut!
McSorley writes with a wonderfully light touch... There is humour on every page, too - this really is a very funny book despite the dark material. Both main characters are works of genius, and I very much hope there will be a sequel
A smart, nasty and really rather heartbreaking thriller set in and around a Glasgow car wash. Our introduction to DI Alison McCoist (yes, yes, she's heard all the jokes) and likely to be the first of many
Violent and action packed but full of wit and dark humour
A fantastic new voice in Tartan Noir, it was gritty, bleak and definitely violent but expertly balanced with plenty of dark humour. I was so thrilled that the story was set up perfectly for a sequel
Fresh and vibrant... A superb debut. Callum McSorley is a new kid on the Scottish crime block
A fast-paced thriller with a dark sense of humour, a grisly crime caper in the vein of Breaking Bad and Guilt
An absolute blast, and only strengthens the Scottish reputation for producing exceedingly good crime thrillers, tinged with laconic wit, and dark, dark, humour... It reads like a brilliant mash up of Irvine Welsh and Alan Parks... I can't recommend this one highly enough
An account of urban degradation, organised crime, social misery, police corruption and hard men, with a brilliant plot and some wit, both in story and language... Tough and impressive, but will not be waved around by the Glasgow tourist board
A wonderfully rich and funny new voice in Scottish crime. McSorley has created characters you invest in and plot that keeps you hooked right from the start
A fresh new voice brings a Brookmyre-esque beauty that sparkles like a motor straight out the car wash. Full of unforgettable, three-dimensional characters and laugh out loud moments in every chapter to offset the violence among the valets
A thoroughly astonishing brutally brilliant novel written with wit and verve and laced with a very black humour that betrays a vulnerability and gets right under the skin. Callum McSorley's writing is fresh and exciting, I can't wait to read more
This blackly-comic tale won the prestigious McIlvanney Prize Scottish Crime Book of the Year - not bad going for a debut novelist
Squeaky Clean is as gritty as a winter pavement and as dangerous as the ice before the grit goes down. I love its two brave but burnt-out heroes, and McSorley's mixture of wit, tenderness and brutality
Gritty, bloody and oozing with the menace of the underworld... McSorley has crafted an accomplished novel that is already being hailed as a classic of the Tartan Noir genre. [Squeaky Clean] cracks along at a rare pace, and combines an easy writing style, an ear for dialogue and a nice line in dry wit... The sort of page-turner which ensures that once you've started, you'll keep going until the final, gripping denouement
An astonishingly good debut. Wonderfully rounded characters, misfits all, who we really care about, in a compelling story laced with humour and humanity. Callum McSorley is an outstanding new writer who is destined to become a very big name in the genre
