“Ya Wanna Do It Here Or Down The Station, Punk?”: PD Brazill

Yep, it’s rubber-hose time, folks: a rapid-fire Q&A for those shifty-looking usual suspects ...

What crime novel would you most like to have written?
Donna Moore’s OLD DOGS. A sweary Ealing comedy.

What fictional character would you most like to have been?
Matt Helm.

Who do you read for guilty pleasures?
Well I did enjoy THE DA VINCI CODE, but I don’t feel guilty about that. Ian McEwan - he makes me feel all sensible, which is never a good thing.

Most satisfying writing moment?
Any time someone ‘gets’ what I do! Working on the edit of a story with Anne Frasier gave me a real ego boost, mind you.

The best Irish crime novel is …?
THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY.

What Irish crime novel would make a great movie?
Adrian McKinty’s Michael Forsythe Trilogy would be great in Paul Greengrass’s hands.

Worst / best thing about being a writer?
Worst: It doesn’t pay well. Best: it beats working.

The pitch for your next book is …?
Battered bodies and battered Mars Bars.

Who are you reading right now?
I’ve just finished Danny Bowman’s cracking The Windowlicker Maker. Today, I’ll be catching up on stories at BEAT TO A PULP.

God appears and says you can only write OR read. Which would it be?
Write, because then I wouldn’t know how crap my stuff is.

The three best words to describe your own writing are …?
Ad hoc, slapdash, twoddle.

PD Brazill writes the serial WARSAW MOON. His pic was taken by Kasia Martell.

The Popcorn Preview # 237: The Bourne Ultimatum

Shall we even bother about the plot? Suffice to say The Bourne Ultimatum brings it all back home in more ways than one in the concluding part of the trilogy, as Jason knocks twelve bells out of his old CIA handlers for turning him into a killing machine. Or – dum-da-DUM! – did they? Director Paul Greengrass does another splendid job on keeping the pace cranked up to 11, although those of a nervous disposition may leave the theatre feeling queasy, given the hyper-kinetic nature of the editing – it’s MTV on bad crystal meth, basically. Still, the hi-tech CIA surveillance techniques are as hokumishly ludicrous as always, the tale revels in its utter implausibility, and Matt Damon is as appropriately robotic as ever. The highlight? A car-chase with Bourne at the wheel of a NYPD patrol car that makes Bullitt look like an uphill Penny Farthing race for one-legged jockeys. But Mother of God, is this really the end of Jason? Say it ain’t so, Joe ...- Michael McGowan