About the Book
"A stunning tale of crime, corruption, friendship, and betrayal."
A teenage boy must grow up fast in an adult world. It's violent, and it's coming for him ...
Ricky, a teenager with an itch in his feet, doesn't run wild through the fields just for kicks. He's escaping adults and their lies. In a town run by crooks. Adults let you down. Abandon you. Like his Ma, who works three jobs, and his pa, who's disappeared out west.
His teenage friends won't disappoint. But they have issues of their own. Bixby's running from social services. Lonely Tanais is just looking for a friend. Liz, the girl he loves more than anyone, has her eyes set on the wider world.
And when they fall through the basement of an abandoned house onto the corpse of a local gangster, the stitches in their friendship fray. Picking at the thread is the thug pinning the murder on Ricky. Tarantula Man is gearing up his business and the murder of one of his men sends him on the warpath. And he won't stop until he has a head on a pike.
As friendships strain, and strangers he doesn't quite trust cross the river to offer a helping hand, Ricky must dodge the crosshairs and learn to trust the good people around him.
But will distrust be his best friend?
Delving deep into the motivations of troubled teenagers in their desperate search for meaning, City of Forts is a thrilling story of family, crime, heartbreak, and redemption.
The first in an explosive crime fiction series.
City of Forts is the first in the City of Forts Trilogy (the third coming in 2023), a crime saga about a family's survival through corruption and violence, all of it threatening to tear them to shreds. A must for fans of Stephen King's The Body and S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders.
Buy this crime epic today, or read it on Kindle Unlimited.
Praise for City of Forts:
"A haunting tale of death, love, and the American Dream on a US town's mean streets"
- Keith Nixon, author of the bestselling Konstantin series.
"A brilliant read that explores society and all its cracks. Jason Beech expertly balances the nostalgia of childhood adventures with the brutality of life in a very grown-up and dark town. City of Forts deserves to sit equal with the greats as a piece of entertainment and a study of modern life's struggle."
- Aidan Thorn, author of When the Music's Over from Fahrenheit 13 Press.
"... gritty coming-of-age tale from a master of description. Compelling reading."
- Brendan Gisby, author of The Bookie's Runner.
"A great story full of drama and twists."
- Robert Cowan, author of Firm and Daydreams and Devils.
"... tense, atmospheric, and haunting."
- Paul D. Brazill, author of Man of the World.
"A stunning tale of crime, corruption, friendship, and betrayal."
- Goodreads Reviewer
