AUTHOR, POLYMATH, SMARTYPANTS
JOHN DOLAN
THE BOOKS
"I think I hate writers." ~ David Braddock in 'Hungry Ghosts'
Everyone Burns (Time, Blood and Karma #1)
It is January 2005 and the charred remains of two Europeans have been discovered on the Thai island of Samui.
Local Police Chief Charoenkul, sidelined by his superiors, enlists the reluctant David Braddock, a burnt-out private detective, to assist in an 'unofficial' investigation.
But Braddock has problems of his own, including an affair with the same Police Chief's wife ...
Peppered with irreverent humour and some pithy comments on everyday life in the Land of Smiles, Everyone Burns is much more than a crime novel. It is also a carefully-crafted psychological study of an anti-hero for our time.
Hungry Ghosts (Time, Blood and Karma, #2)
It is the spring of 2005 and the macabre ‘burning murders’ have ended. Life has apparently returned to normal for the Thai island of Samui.
For private investigator David Braddock ‘normal’ means finding a missing drug smuggler, sleeping with the Police Chief’s wife and ensuring his office manager’s latest money making scheme doesn’t bankrupt him.
For Police Chief Charoenkul it means resuming his seemingly-endless wait for that elusive promotion to Bangkok.
However, the peace is destined to be short-lived. Unbeknown to both men karmic storm clouds are gathering and murderous forces are about to be unleashed which could destroy them both ...
A Poison Tree (Time, Blood and Karma #3)
It is 1999, and as the Millennium approaches, old certainties wither. For family man, David Braddock, his hitherto predictable world is undergoing a slow collapse. The people closest to him seem suddenly different. As desires and aspirations tangle around each other like parasite stems, betrayal is in the air.
And so is murder.
Fans of Braddock will finally learn the sequence of events that drove him into exile in Asia, while for new readers, A Poison Tree is the perfect introduction to the Time, Blood and Karma series.
Running on Emptiness (Time, Blood and Karma #4)
It is the summer of 2006. In Thailand, the army makes preparations to overthrow the elected government of Thaksin Shinawatra.
Against this backdrop of political turmoil, destinies are shaped as events ensnare a corrupt Police Chief and his dying wife, two warring drug lords, an embittered widow, and a vengeful gangster.
While dreams and obsessions play out on the streets of Bangkok, private detective David Braddock finds himself mired in guilt. The ghosts of his past misdeeds are coming home, and they are bringing devastation in their wake.
Jim Fosse's Expense Claim
Once you've met Jim Fosse you'll never feel quite the same about opening your e-mails!
A darkly humorous short story of obsession from John Dolan, author of 'Everyone Burns'.
WARNING: Contains sexual references and some really terrible grammar.
NOTE: This is a VERY short story. You can download it FREE from Amazon USA and UK or, if you live somewhere else, get a complimentary copy by punching the Smashwords button on the right, below.
Restless Earth (Children of Karma #1)
Four men scattered across the globe. . .
One seeks pleasure
One seeks purpose
One seeks redemption
And one seeks revenge.
A wind is howling around the skyscrapers of New York, through the battlefields of Iraq, and into the bustling streets of Bangkok. It carries with it the fates of these four men: men bound together by chance and history.
Which of them – if any – will survive the tempest?
Two Rivers, One Stream (Children of Karma #2)
On the Thai island of Samui, widowed private investigator David Braddock is stuck in a rut. Spending his days pandering to disreputable clients and his nights engaged in meaningless sex, this is not the life he had envisaged for himself. It passes the time, but it is hardly exciting.
Professional assassin Ross Gallagher has the opposite problem. He is sick of excitement. Years of travelling the world murdering strangers has taken a toll on his mental health, and he wants a different kind of existence before it is too late.
But their fortunes take an unexpected turn – and not for the better – when Braddock receives a phone call from his daughter saying she has killed her husband …
Everyone Dies (Children of Karma #3)
Private detective David Braddock is holed-up on the Thai island of Samui plotting the death of Grigory Polzin, the Russian oligarch who ordered the killing of his daughter. Embittered and descending rapidly into alcoholism, the Englishman must find a way to exact his retribution before he completely falls apart.
Fate, however, has one final lesson for David Braddock: the dead don’t always stay dead.
Fun with Dick
Twenty-five-year-old Richard Blackheart - geek, wage slave and Superman wannabe - seems destined for a life of dull obscurity.
Then one day he hits upon an idea for the ultimate non-self-help book, 'How to Die Alone, Smelly and Unloved', and things start to change …
'Fun with Dick' is a heart-wrenching, hilarious and harrowing tale of one man's struggle against gravity and cats. It is not recommended for people who are easily triggered. If you do read it, keep your shrink's phone number handy.
Baking Bad: Notes from My Diary
“I need to spend some time reburying in the garden. Next door’s dog has dug up a foot.”
Thus begins a surreal journal the like of which (if you’re lucky) you have never encountered before. Author John Dolan’s unnamed diarist plumbs the depths of black comedy in a way that might make your hair stand on end. Not recommended for the PC-aware or those with a weak stomach. Contains helpful tips on cooking and on murdering people.
NOTE: This is a VERY short story. You can download it FREE from Amazon USA and UK or, if you live somewhere else, get a complimentary copy by punching the Smashwords button on the right, below.
Adventures in Mythopoeia
“It was neither the best of times, nor the worst of times. It was somewhere in the middle.”
Pádraig O’Breasail – publican, drunk and ex-Arsenal footballer – is up to his neck in debt to the Chinese gangster Mingzhu Tang. With time running out, the desperate Irishman goes for a tarot card reading at Driscoll’s Circus hoping to find a way out of his predicament.
Meanwhile, the world is descending into anarchy and his nephew Jason is considering quitting his job as a male escort.
Plus, there’s the little matter of the sheep …
So begins a modern-day epic drawing on the Greek Myths, Don Quixote, the Quest for the Holy Grail and Carl Jung’s treatise on UFOs. Packed with dark humour and eccentric characters, 'Adventures in Mythopoeia' will take you on a madcap journey of criminality, enchantment, laugh-out-loud gags and British weather.
Bring your umbrella.
The Otford English Dictionary
Not to be confused with The Oxford English Dictionary, this is a reference book for the incurably cynical. Containing hundreds of definitions of a corny or inappropriate nature, it is the ideal gift for that person who hankers after the Good Old Days before political correctness, and who thinks a damn good hiding is still the best cure for anxiety.
If you are easily offended, you should probably buy a proper dictionary; though that won’t make you feel any less depressed about the modern world. But, let’s be honest, what could?
Land of Red Mist
What is loyalty? What drives a person to treachery? And what do we really mean when we say we love someone?
Seeking to escape the stifling atmosphere of post-war England, the callow Edward Braddock voyages to South-East Asia to work on his uncle’s rubber plantation. But it soon becomes clear that beneath the tropical sky dangers await; and most especially in the depths of the human heart.
Set in the strife-torn Malaya of the 1950s during the end days of British rule, 'Land of Red Mist' is a tale of yearning, folly and transformation.
Possessed by Death
“After all my years of turmoil and dangerous living, I’ve achieved my Happy Ending. And the plain fact is that I don’t know what to do with it.”
Following a perilous decade in Thailand, private detective David Braddock has relocated to London with his new wife and family.
However, he soon finds that time hangs heavy on his hands, and the gruesome murder of his neighbour draws him back into his previous profession with potentially lethal consequences…