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Nigel Bird
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Ain’t That a Kick in the Head (The Rat Pack Series Book 3) Kindle Edition

by Nigel Bird (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.5 out of 5 stars 6 ratings
This year, the fireworks will be red hot…

Skates Farrington is a changed man. Gone are the smart suits, the dull meetings and the extra pounds. Nowadays, he gets his thrills at the skate park and from whatever substances his dealers send his way. The only thing missing from his life is his ex-wife. She’s shacked up with a respectable partner in an isolated farm and striving to create the perfect life. Skates is convinced that she will come back to him when she sees his new self, but when attempts to win her heart all over again are thrown back in his face, he decides a little gentle persuasion is in order. Now he can include murder and abduction among his new-found skills.

DI Oliver Wilson, leading the investigation, has more than a few things on his mind. The case and imminent arrival of his third child should be at the forefront of his thoughts, but the arrival of a sequence of unusual gifts is making him nervous. The packages are sending him a message, he just can’t work out what they’re trying to say.

Ain’t That A Kick In The Head is the explosive follow up to Let It Snow and My Funny Valentine.

Praise for AIN’T THAT A KICK IN THE HEAD:

“Nigel Bird knows his characters inside and out—what they want, how they think, how they grow and how they fail. Ain’t that a Kick in the Headmight be his best work yet. A convincing, engrossing portrayal of what life is like for cops and criminals alike.” —Chris Rhatigan, All Due Respect Books publisher

“One of my favourite contemporary crime fiction series.” —Colman Keane, Col’s Criminal Library
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  1. Book 3 of 3
    The Rat Pack Series
  2. Print length
    215 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Accessibility
    Learn more
  5. Publication date
    November 15, 2021
  6. File size
    1.1 MB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
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 See full series
There are 3 books in this series.
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Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09KTC74R7
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Down & Out Books
  • Accessibility ‏ : ‎ Learn more
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ November 15, 2021
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1.1 MB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 215 pages
  • Page Flip ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Book 3 of 3 ‏ : ‎ The Rat Pack Series
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 out of 5 stars 6 ratings

About the author

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Nigel Bird

Nigel Bird

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Nigel Bird is the author of novels, novellas and short story collections, including the Rat Pack series,The Shallows, the Southsiders series, In Loco Parentis, Smoke, Mr Suit and Dirty Old Town.

His work has appeared in a number of prestigious magazines and collections, including 2 editions of The Best Of British Crime,The Reader, Crimespree and Needle.

He lives on the East Coast of Scotland in Dunbar with his wife and three children.

As well as writing fiction, he has been a teacher for thirty-five years and has worked in a number of mainstream and special schools.

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
6 global ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • BigAl
    4.0 out of 5 stars Ain't That a Kick in the Head
    Reviewed in the United States on December 31, 2021
    As I was pondering this book something occurred to me that I don’t remember considering before. Specifically, the different things that a story may or may not have and how those different approaches keep a reader engaged in the story. In this case I was thinking specifically about the difference between a mystery or a lot of stories that, like this one, have some main characters who are police detectives trying to solve a crime and how those compare to stories where the reader knows who committed the crime early in the story. Here we know who committed the crimes in question when they happen or even before (the book description spills the beans).

    What keeps the reader engaged isn’t figuring out who did it, but wondering whether those who don’t have those answers are going to figure it out and stop the criminal before he does more. That threat of more crime keeps the reader engaged. That’s what happened to me here. What Skates was going to do, just how far he’d go, and what damage he was going to cause was never clear. The answer to that question kept me wondering and engaged in the story.

    **Originally written for "Books and Pals" book blog. May have received a free review copy. **
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  • col2910
    5.0 out of 5 stars A kick in the head? It certainly is!
    Reviewed in the United States on November 16, 2021
    Ain't That a Kick in the Head is the third in Nigel Bird's Rat Pack series. Just putting it out there - it's one of my favourite contemporary crime fiction series. (For a sense of completism; Let it Snow and My Funny Valentine are the two earlier entries.)

    Here the focus is on solving a murder and the search for a missing woman - Justine, the girlfriend of the murdered man. From the police's perspective she's possibly a suspect, possibly a kidnap victim. We have the same team of cops investigating as those encountered in the previous books, though it's a slightly pared down team with less characters than before. DI Oliver Wilson. DI Mike Marsalis and DS Sue Nolan are our main cop characters. Our local king-pin villain, Johnny Yen, a constant and sometime confidant of one of our cops also makes a welcome appearance.

    Marital disharmony, jealousy, regret, obsession, delusions, and some extreme measures taken to woo back a partner who has grown up, moved on and left you behind. If a six stone weight loss, a new lifestyle and some gentle persuasion won't win Justine back from new love Colin, perhaps Skates Farrington might need to go a bit nuclear. Ergo murder, kidnapping, drugging and incarceration in his basement until the apple of his eye comes around to his way of thinking.

    As a reader we know who's done what and to whom plus the why, but it's fun seeing the cops trying to catch up. Particularly when they are a little bit distracted by impending fatherhood and some odd happenings (DI Wilson I'm thinking of you) and in the case of Marsalis and Nolan, an ever increasingly confusing friendship set ablaze by sexual tension and scorching testosterone levels with restraint competing against reckless impulse. It's a wonder any investigating got done!

    Quite fast-moving. Plenty of dark humour in the dynamics of the police relationships and in the time spent inside Skates Farrington's head. We get a satisfying conclusion to the drama, realistic as opposed to happy. There's also an answer to Wilson's bizarre deliveries, which is some fallout from one of the earlier books.

    Ain't That a Kick in the Head works well as a separate entity, but I think it would be slightly more satisfying if it were read after the two earlier books. It's a short series. My advice, get on board now.
    4.5 from 5

    Read - October, 2021
    Published - 2021
    Page count - 196
    Source - review copy from a generous author
    Format - PDF read on laptop
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