Nine years inside Wormwood Scrubs. One escape. Forty powerful families with something to hide.
Hector Peculiar is back, and this time he's heading for trouble on an international scale.
Hector is probably the most outrageous and shocking character I've ever imagined. I first wrote about him during lockdown. Bringing him back for a second book, however, has been a different story.
I've stopped and started, rewritten and changed things along the way, fitting the writing around my studies at Birkbeck. There have been times when I've shut myself away from the world completely. No distractions, no socialising, just me and the manuscript. Living like a monk, you could say.
But that's what it took to bring Hector back to life. And it's something I frigging love doing.
Two dogs gone. Not a postcard from his minions. You'd think the world might have moved on without him.
But this is Hector Peculiar we're talking about. He's not the sort who spends nine years sitting on his arse waiting for the screws to open the gates. He's been thinking, planning and probably causing trouble in his head long before he's got his boots back on.
Book One, El Peculiar, finished with a bang, a bag of cash and a long drive towards Dover.
Now we're picking up where it matters. Hector's escape from Wormwood Scrubs.
And trust me, prison hasn't done much for his manners.
BOOK TWO: THE DEVIL WENT DOWN TO DOHA
So what's in store?
Hector is back in his built-up cowboy boots. As loud, outrageous and unpredictable as ever.
Sadie Kramer is back, too, and this time she's fighting for her son.
Jose returns, Hector's rent boy and slave, and the man Hector has fantasised about for nine long years.
Then there's a ledger that forty powerful families would rather see buried. Permanently.
The story takes us from a London tower block to Bangkok and into the heat of a Gulf morning in Qatar. Along the way, there's a nun who's not quite what she seems.
And that's all I'm giving away for now.
THE ROAD TO PUBLICATION
I'm currently putting the manuscript through the editing process. Every chapter, every date and every little continuity mistake is being checked.
Readers have sharp eyes, and I want this book to be as sharp as possible before it lands in their hands.
The release date is pencilled in for 24 December 2026.
I'll be sharing more over the coming weeks, including a sneak peek at Chapter One, introductions to some of the characters and a few clues about the trouble Hector gets himself into this time.
HAVEN'T READ EL PECULIAR YET?
Now's the time.
Download a copy, meet Hector and discover just how peculiar things can get. When Book Two arrives, you'll want to know who's who, who's after who, and why forty powerful families are shitting themselves.
Keep an eye on my website for updates and the first chapter preview.
And if you've already read Book One, spread the word. Tell your friends and help Hector make a little noise before he causes an international incident.
A QUICK REMINDER OF THE FIRST BOOK: EL PECULIAR
Hector Peculiar, AKA The Snake, escapes justice in Colombia and arrives in London.
Cruel, dangerous and sadistic, he has a penchant for young men. He falls in lust with Jose, a young Spanish rent boy he meets in a gay bar. Together, they flood the streets with high-quality cocaine.
Hector thrives on domination, exerting his control over everyone unfortunate enough to cross his path.
An Irishman has been murdered.
Sadie, a beautiful and seemingly naive young woman from Liverpool with a dark secret, finds herself caught up in a murder investigation. Way out of her depth, she turns detective in an attempt to discover the identity of the killer.
As a power struggle threatens the very fabric of the city, we're drawn into the seedy underworld of the metropolis, where corruption and racism within the police threaten to undermine the search for justice.
Then there's Anastacia, a Russian prostitute nicknamed Super Head. Is she more than a match for The Snake?
Together, these characters take us on an extraordinary emotional journey through a world of drugs, sex, power and deception, set against the backdrop of Europe's most diverse and cosmopolitan city during the noughties.
Black humour. Trigger warning. For mature readers.
Nine years inside. One escape. Forty families with something to hide.
What the f... could go wrong?
Stay Peculiar.
Tommy Kennedy IV
Thanks to Sid Mayall photo by me.
