Scorpion Rising cover art

Scorpion Rising

 Preview
Try Premium Plus free
Thousands of incredible audiobooks and podcasts to take wherever you go.
Immerse yourself in a world of storytelling with the Plus Catalogue - unlimited listening to thousands of select audiobooks, podcasts and Audible Originals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Scorpion Rising

By: Anthony Frewin
Narrated by: Paul Thornley
Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

Sidney Blattner is probably the most successful organised crime figure in London, but things are coming unstuck. Who would dare to execute his innocent brother down in Margate, and why?

When Blattner attends the funeral, his chauffeur disappears, forcing Sid and his two minders to flee the seaside resort ignominiously in a Transit van.... Sidney calls in as many favours as he can to find out what is going on down in Margate but without success. Two of his aides, sent down to investigate, turn up murdered.

There are plenty of questions, but no answers. Will Vince, the sharpest member of Sid's firm, have any better luck when he arrives in the fading seaside town? Or are he and Sidney about to meet their nemesis?

Anthony Frewin was born in London and lives in Hertfordshire. He was assistant film director to Stanley Kubrick for over 20 years. He has written three novels, London Blues, Sixty-Three Closure, and Scorpian Rising.

©1999 Anthony Frewin (P)2013 Audible Ltd Suspense Thriller & Suspense England

Listeners also enjoyed...

 Sixty-Three Closure cover art
London Blues cover art
A Dance of Ghosts cover art
You Can't Make Old Friends cover art
Stalkers cover art
Murphy's Revenge cover art
Divorcing Jack cover art
Gone to Ground ) cover art
Where She Lies: A Gripping Irish Detective Thriller with a Stunning Twist cover art
Soho Dead cover art
Frozen Out cover art
The Fix cover art
A Man with One of Those Faces cover art
Widows' Revenge cover art

Critic reviews

"A sleazy, fetid atmosphere...and wonderfully unpredictable characters." (Brian Ritterspak, Crime Time)
All stars
Most relevant  
A story littered with gangster clichés, both in character and dialogue. Unrealistic, shorthand and borderline offensive descriptions of descents in to and ascents out of mental illness.

Simply nothing about this story rings true and its literary mediocrity is only highlighted more by the author's occasional attempt at literary flair.

The whole thing is saved somewhat by the brilliant narration of Paul Thornley. Had it not been for his excellent portrayal and fleshing out of the thinly sketched characters, and his excellent story telling abilities, I would not have persited beyond a few chapters with this book.

I need to listen to more of Mr. Thornley's work.

Poor Story, Well Read

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Yeah I liked this kept ya guessing if you don’t try to hard but great characters likeable and dislike Abel well worth a listen

Good gangster tail

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Thoroughly enjoyed the story, but it was the narration that made it for me. The characters were really brought to life by the excellent narration of Paul Thornley.

Good story, excellent narration.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Scorpian Rising (2001) is a classic pared down gangster noir novel. If you enjoy Ted Lewis and Derek Raymond then you should like this too. I certainly did. Paul Thornley narrates it all perfectly.

I’m a big fan of books set in either London or seaside towns. Double bubble here given all the action takes place in London and on the Isle of Thanet (Margate and Ramsgate).

When London crime boss Sidney Blattner learns his innocent brother has been executed in Margate, he sets out to find out why he was killed. Is someone sending him a message? Various emissaries get killed so he sends down his main man Vince, and most of the novel is narrated from Vince’s point of view. When this move doesn’t go to plan Sid becomes ever more anxious and disconcerted.

So far so familiar, right? There are echoes of Get Carter and other novels, but what elevates this one is the storytelling, and the depiction of the crime milieu. Best of all, the Isle of Thanet is powerfully portrayed. The bleak and down at heel Kent coast making a wonderfully disconcerting backdrop for the unsettling storyline.

It may all be fairly predictable but, when it done this well, I’m all in. An intriguing slice of British seaside noir that is well worth a listen.

Anthony Frewin, in addition to having written three novels, was assistant film director to Stanley Kubrick for over 20 years. I will be listening to his other two novels ASAP. All three are currently included in your Audible membership.

An intriguing slice of British seaside noir

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The narration is excellent, it’s just a bog standard gangster story clumsily written, it doesn’t seem to flow at times

Bog standard

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I have never read a book by the sofa before I enjoyed all of it especially as the narrator Paul Thornley I tend to like the books he narrates I didn’t realise the plot till the very end and it kept me gripped thank you audible

My review of scorpion rising

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Very stereotypical gangsters but the character Vince is likeable and you start to care what happens to him. Good narration.

Slow start but good story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Story line is fairly basic gangster story but one the less Paul Thornley makes this a really interesting audio book! Really enjoyable

Paul Thornley makes this!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Many characters, both real and imagined, make cameo appearances Can you spot them? Performance and long Good Friday for a start.

Good grtty knockabout.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This was well written, the reader was "in tune"
with the story so it was also well read and nicely paced.

Good Read

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews