Page Updated: 28/06/01
Marc Blake
Marc Blake
24 Karat Schmooze24 Karat Schmooze Newpbk 03 May 01
BigtimeBigtime
SunstrokeSunstroke
Buy at Amazon.co.ukBooks By Marc Blake
About the Author (Photo by David Tuck)
Bibliography


New Paperback - Flame (2001)
First British Edition Flame (2000)
Buy at Amazon.co.uk 24 Karat Schmooze
Welcome to London, welcome to the snake pit...
Rox Matheson, a Mancunian with a busted heart, arrives in London to retrieve her money from a cockney con man. Aiding her is Reece, a taciturn minicab driver deep in hock to a south London crime family.
By day, Steve and Archie operate a dodgy clamping scheme. By night, they turn their hands to muscle and arson. And yet they have their softer sides: Steve has a fondness for the ladies and Archie for the Rembrandt portrait they've recently lifted.
Davey Kayman is a man with a million aliases, a silver-tongued snake who promises everything, delivers nothing and pays no one. He and his Trustafarian girlfriend, Charlie Ribbons, have a scam for every occasion. Only now Davey's thinking big, preparing to dive into the real shark pool - ripping off the BBC...
'A romp of a thriller' Guardian
'With a brace of comic hitmen, a bungled kidnapping and a romantic clinch or two, this has "Good summer read" written all over it' Times Metro
'Frantic and funny in equal measures' Company
More Praise for Marc Blake
 `Hilarious . . . If your taste runs to comic thrillers along the lines of those penned by Janet Evanovitch or Carl Hiassen, then this is one for you' Irish Times
`Sharply observed, earthy and very funny' Daily Mail
'Marc Blake has used his first-hand experience of the UK comedy circuit as material for a cracking novel. Fans of his Carl Hiassen-meets-Sean Hughes style are guaranteed an equal measure of blood and banter . . . A frantically funny tale' Daily Telegraph
`Blake keeps things ticking over nicely and there's a surreal cameo appearance from God who's hitchhiking around Britain's dismal motorway network. It's weird, but it works' Mirror
‘A funny and fast moving thriller… lovely observation and turns of phrase… a clever book’ Helen Lederer on Open Book, Radio 4
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Paperback - Flame (2000)
Bigtime
Heard the one about the two comedians driving to Birmingham on Valentine’s night?
Andy Crowe wishes it were a joke. He was dumped this morning and now he's stuck with a terminally sick car and his arch-rival, the noxious Rob Gillen.
Meanwhile, three small-time villains are about to pull off a daring robbery. Doug Mahoney, thief and triple dealer. Danny One-Slice, eighteen stone of steroid-fuelled Filipino dynamite with a bad case of flu, and young Jason, a stew of burgeoning hormones.
Take a service station in the centre of England's rain-washed motorways. Add a bent councilor, a team of feisty pensioners and a road-bound deity, and you have a recipe for comic disaster.
Bigtime

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Paperback - Flame (1999)
Sunstroke
Get it before it gets you
Sex, drugs, guns and money - everything you ever wanted from a package holiday.
Summer on the Costa del Sol and it's hotter than a Merc in a Moss Side car park.
Mike Trent's holiday starts badly when his midnight swim in the hotel pool is interrupted by a falling corpse, pushed from a third floor window by a sinister Scotsman.
Sarah Rutherford, using her job as a travel rep as cover, is in town to investigate the mysterious death of her party-loving sister.
When the two join forces, they find themselves up against the criminal community: a pint-sized skinhead called Kevin, the demented brothers Esteban, a slavering wolf, a hunchback pornographer, and an ex-pat villain with more than one secret to hide.
Still, you can't make paella without peeling prawns.
‘Sharply observed, earthy and very funny, it's the kind of novel that makes Bognor suddenly sound an attractive prospect ‘ Daily Mail
‘Read it if: You're up for a bit of chirpy, light-hearted thriller action ‘ Minx (Four star review)
'Ideal summer reading' The Times
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About The Author
In his Own Words…
A former stand-up comedian, Marc Blake turned to crime writing in the mid-nineties. His first novel, Sunstroke was set in the Costa Del Crime in Andalucia, Spain and has been reprinted every summer to date. It has been optioned by Company pictures, and will hopefully soon become a minor motion picture. His second novel, Bigtime, has been optioned by Greenlit productions and is in pre-production. His third, 24 Karat Schmooze, is published on 1st June 2000. He is currently working on a two part ITV drama, The Swap for Greenlit/Crysalis and other screenplay projects. His first screenplay, Sticks And Stones, was a gothic horror/thriller set in an English public school. It was twice optioned by Noel gay Film and TV and may now be made by an American company. His second, Naming The Day, (a romantic comedy) is also currently doing the rounds in LA.
Following school, he studied painting at Kingston and Ravensbourne art colleges until he grew up. Comedy beckoned and he performed over 2000 gigs countrywide in a ten year period. He has had his own TV show and Radio series (Whining for England, BBC Radio 4. 1994) but thinks little of them now. During this time, he also wrote for Spitting Image, Frankie Howerd and numerous other comedians/comedy shows that he is too embarrassed to name publicly.
He is married and lives in South London. He teaches Comedy writing at City University and has done so for five years. Many of his students go on to become performers, writers and/or novelists and - like everyone else - he hates it if they do better than him. Other than that, we won’t go into the dark side. It's in the books really. Heavily fictionalized, natch.

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Bibliography
N.B. dates and publishers in dark red indicate British First Editions. Dates and publishers in black indicate recent reprints.

  • 24 Karat Schmooze (Flame, 2000) New Flame Pbk May 01
  • Bigtime (Hodder & Stoughton, 1999) Flame Pbk Mar 00
  • Sunstroke (Hodder & Stoughton, 1998) Flame Pbk 1999

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