The Seated Scribe at work
The Author....
Tom O Keenan is a crime writing novelist living in Morar on the west coast of Scotland. His debut novel The Father was shortlisted for the prestigious Crime Writers Association Debut Dagger award in 2014 and published by McNidder and Grace in 2015. The Family, the second book in the Sean Rooney, Psychosleuth series was released in September 2019, and the third, The Son, will be out early in 2020. Book four, Killing the Father, is 'in the pipeline'.
White Sands of Morar
The Father
Introducing Sean Rooney, Psychosleuth.
Set in Glasgow, The Father is the critically acclaimed debut novel of Tom O. Keenan and the first in the series of crime thrillers featuring troubled forensic profiler Sean Rooney. The Father was shortlisted for the CWA Debut Dagger in 2014. Mental illness, alcohol abuse, and the tedium of pursuing psychopathic killers, leave Sean Rooney a pathetic man, a failed forensic profiler, a bit of a loser and definitely retired. DCI Jacqueline Kaminski has other ideas. Faced with a multiple murder - and some headless corpses - she needs Rooney back on the case.
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'A wonderful and gritty debut novel.' Torquil MacLeod
'Scottish noir at its best.' The Crack
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The Father, published by
McNidder and Grace in 2015
Shortlisted for the CWA Debut Dagger in 2014
The Family, the second book in the Sean Rooney Psychosleuth Series, will be published in the autumn (2019) by McNidder and Grace.
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In Glasgow, the mob is one. The Family, a collective of twelve heavy crime families, has formed to fight the influx of migrant gangs. Glasgow has a new menace, an ISIS cell has arrived and kidnapped a police officer. The Family has eyes and ears on the streets, and Police Scotland need it to find the cell and save the police officer. Sean Rooney, erstwhile forensic profiler, now Father of the Family is pivotal in all of this. Suffering mental illness with godly delusions, can he employ his ‘twelve disciples’ and save the police officer and the city against ISIS, now increasing in strength with an influx of soldiers arriving with migrant gangs and asylum seekers into the city?
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REVIEWS
Mr RWS
The Father
"Dark,gripping tale~left me wanting to know more.
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I have not been able to finish a book since my slipped disc recurred 3 months ago but I could not put this book down. The central character ,Rooney, is believable but hard to sympathise with at first but as you read more and understand his background you find yourself rooting for him. I can't wait to find out what could possibly follow this amazing story."
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The Father
"Tom O. Keenan‘s debut novel, is an odd hybrid of the police procedural, noir, Brit Grit, black comedy and political thriller.
Set in an almost futuristic, dystopian Glasgow, The Father‘s protagonist Sean Rooney is a messed up alcoholic shrink who is dragged into a murder investigation by his ex-wife, DCI Kaminski. Broody and contrarian, Rooney is the sort of person who would cut off his face to spite his nose and makes Tony Black‘s Gus Dury look like Dr Phil.
The twist to this particular noir tale, though, is that Rooney has a voice in his head, who acts as a sort of stroppy Greek chorus and even narrates the tale. Indeed, the running dialogues between Rooney and, well, Rooney give a lot of the humour to a twisty crime story which very quickly spirals into am high-octane and over-the-top thriller.
The mixture of introspective noir and action movie is a tricky balancing act but one that Tom O. Keenan pulls-off and makes The Father a very interesting read indeed."
Mr. George McNeil
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For a first Sean Rooney thriller this was an extremely well crafted debut. Tom certainly has the gift of bringing to life the two completely opposite protagonists. He has been able to create a story that has pace, earthiness, tension, rejection, frustration, humiliation, humour and even a hidden love/hate relation between Sean and DCI Jacqueline. Tom's background has certainly helped him in understanding the inner torment of Sean and this has given the story an edge over other crime writers. Tom is a name to watch and I cannot wait to read his second book to find out how Sean and Jacqueline cope with each other and Sean's ingenuity in helping Jacqueline solve the crime against a background of the other side of Glasgow life - the side that the public, at large, are totally unaware of but still exists."
Send Tom a message or sign up to Tom's newsletter to find out more about his books, get exclusive updates about new releases, and find out where to see or meet him.
GlenanCross House,
Morar, Scotland, PH40 4PD
07788114700