NEW RELEASE
‘THE DIRT AND THE STARS’
“My name is Tom Wilson and I’m an alcoholic…and probably a sex addict with a borderline personality disorder and definitely an aversion to DIY. I also used to be a social worker, back when I used to give a damn.
Then suddenly I did again, conscience re-awakened, and I had her to thank for it. A girl I’d never met, just a scribble on the wall of my new house. But she was more than that. And she had a name. It was Mary. She was nine years old.”
A poignant tale of mystery and dark humour .
‘FIRM’
Featuring a road trip like no other, Firm is a comedy adventure that flits between gritty reality and the bizarre.
Two young boys from a small town just outside Glasgow form a rare and sometimes dangerous friendship that crosses Scotland’s sectarian divide. When mysterious circumstances force one of them to cross the Atlantic it seems the old battle lines have won out. Years later they’re reunited at a family funeral and decide to head to America together on a long promised road trip. But they aren’t alone. With each stranger that crosses their path, it shapes up to be a trip of a lifetime… if they can survive.
‘FOR ALL IS VANITY’
Jack Laurence is an ordinary man with a good job and a family he loves…Until he isn’t.
Left with only a diary to share his innermost thoughts, Jack gradually loses touch with a reality he feels has abandoned him. He surrenders to a new life of drink, drugs and murderous revenge with nihilistic humour, but he finds himself overwhelmed by his minds companions. These demons and guides fight for control, each with their own agenda, yet somehow linked to a mysterious young girl whose fate seems intertwined with Jack’s own.
Switching between diary and novel, ‘For all is Vanity’ is a story of a man teetering on the edge of madness.
“A profound and Profoundly disturbing book…not the kind of writing you would ever get from mainstream publishing…far too ‘dangerous’ and for me, a very good reason why we should support ‘indie’ publishing.” – Cally Philips ’50 years a reader’, ‘McRenegades’
AVAILABLE FROM AMAZON: UK US and WORLDWIDE
Amazon UK No1 bestseller ‘Daydreams and Devils’ blends crime, coming of age and dark humour.
Vincent, with his sadistic right hand man Frankie, seeks to expand his interests with his own brand of gangland psycho terrorism.
James, a young music obsessive, leaves school determined to do life his way, dreaming of glory in a gang with guitars.
But as two worlds collide will dreams become nightmares?
WHAT THE READERS ARE SAYING
“I loved it, the imagination, the images evoked by the prose and the skill involved in bringing it all together.”
“plenty of action, authentically snappy dialogue, some great imagery, utterly believable, well-rounded characters and a generous helping of humour.”
“With shifting narrative, complex and engaging characters, and an entertaining plot peppered with occasionally acerbic humour, Cowan’s sophomore offering shows none of the signs of that difficult second album.”
“Cowan is the master of entertaining dialogue. He allows us to connect with the characters through their rich and sometimes disgusting language.”
“I adored this book. It was face paced, exciting and full of humour. I couldn’t wait to turn the page and finished it in a few days.”
A gritty contemporary urban drama brimming with dark humour. Two typical teenage lives are transformed after a night of hallucinogenic experimentation, when the subsequent bad trip spills into their real lives with tragic consequences. A desperate but comically bizarre search for redemption begins, with help from an unlikely source.
What readers are saying:
“This is the kind of novel for readers who want to be pulled into a gritty story and come out of it moved by its poignancy”. – underground book reviews
This was my literary surprise of 2014…With his debut novel, Cowan joins the ranks of a new breed of British novelists, telling their stories the way they want them told. Wonderful.
“I’d love to come up with some magnificent philosophical insight into the majesty of this book, but it would be silly. This is not a book that wants a pretentious analysis, it is a book that deserves a direct, honest appraisal. I couldn’t put the damn thing down”
“a little gem of a novel… full of warmth, humour and real character… reminiscent of Roddy Doyle’s chancers and layabouts”
“This is hands down one of the best books I have read this year. Robert Cowan has a unique style that piqued my curiosity from the first paragraph and held me firmly in his literary grips until the very last page. ..Not often comes along a book that sticks with me for days after I put it down. Cowan managed to do just that in his superbly crafted debut novel.”
“Started out like a cross between Gregory’s Girl and Trainspotting and then got a whole lot darker. The sort of dark humour Scottish writers excel at … think Christopher Brookmyre.”
About Robert Cowan
I live in a small town in Scotland, with my wife and two children and two cats. After years of making music and song writing, I published my first novel ‘the Search for Ethan’ in 2014. The second, Daydreams and Devils was published in June 2015.
Influences: Jack Kerouac, Irvine Welsh, Lou Reed, The Rolling Stones, The Buddha. (An eclectic bunch)