The Damage cover art

The Damage

 Preview
LIMITED TIME OFFER

3 months free
Try for £0.00
£8.99/mo thereafter. Renews automatically. Terms apply. Offer ends 31 July 2025 at 23:59 GMT.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for £8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.

The Damage

By: Howard Linskey
Narrated by: David Nellist
Try for £0.00

£8.99/mo after 3 months. Offer ends 31 July 2025 23:59 GMT. Cancel monthly.

Buy Now for £16.99

Buy Now for £16.99

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

David Blake is a worried man. He should be enjoying the high life now that he's Newcastle's 'Top Boy', the man who controls everything in the city. He lives in luxury, the money keeps on rolling in, and Blake is sharing his life with the girl that he loves. But, when one of his men takes two bullets in the back, Blake struggles to stay in control.

©2012 Howard Linskey (P)2013 W F Howes Ltd Crime Fiction Suspense Thriller & Suspense Crime Fiction

Listeners also enjoyed...

 The Inheritance cover art
No Name Lane cover art
Don't Let Him In cover art
Ungentlemanly Warfare cover art
The Man on the Street cover art
The Landscape of Death cover art
Safe from Harm cover art
Dead or Alive cover art
Murphy's Revenge cover art
Divorcing Jack cover art
Blood Feud cover art
The Fix cover art
A Man with One of Those Faces cover art
Breaking Bones cover art
The Final Minute cover art
Dead Man's Gift and Other Stories cover art

Critic reviews

"A Tyneside Dashiell Hammett to put Martina Cole firmly in her place" ( The Times)
"A brutal, hard-hitting debut which opens up Newcastle’s dark, violent underbelly like a freshly-sharpened stiletto" (Simon Kernick on The Drop)
"Writing that leaps off the page in its lacerating forcefulness" ( Crime Time)
All stars
Most relevant  
A wonderful narration in the dialect good pace you are transported to the shady side with the inner conflict of gangsters trying to do it the right way

Geordie Godfather

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This is a very well written book interesting, technically accurate and full of some great characters personalities very well written. I enjoyed this audiobook version well read as well.

Great storyline

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This is a well crafted book that I found captivating. It will not be everyone's cup of tea but good writing and plotting made this a very enjoyable listen.

Not your standard gangster fare

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
If you like a good unsophisticated war of not only words but plots and plans this is the one
After reading first one was hooked.
Good story believable plots etc
Brilliant narration too

Gripping 2nd instalment

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I read the first two in this series a couple of years back. They are particularly well written with some hugely nefarious characters all basically fighting for control of being top of the tree in various criminal organisations. Mainly Newcastle, Glasgow & Edinburgh. David, the main character whilst being a ruthless guy when needs me is intelligent and has a moral code.

It could've easily been hackneyed 'geezer' fare but it's not. Not, at all.

Whilst I enjoyed the first two I read I thought the last instalment was the best of the three. This was added to further by the brilliant narration of David Nellis.

I'm from Newcastle so could be accused of a natural bias, but if it was pony I would say so. We tend to speak our minds up here!

All, highly recommended.

Superbly authentic Geordie gangland yarn

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

What disappointed you about The Damage?

so much wrong with this story, from the constant switching between 1st and 3rd person to the confusing point-of-view changes, to the glaring mistake with the girl who he sleeps with yet doesn't recognise from their previous meeting...hmmm. The author has used themes from Snatch and Get Carter but hasn't managed to create believable characters and there is no real plot. I would not recommend this book to anyone, not even fellow Geordies like myself.

What could Howard Linskey have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

not written it

What three words best describe David Nellist’s voice?

proppa Geordie like

You didn’t love this book--but did it have any redeeming qualities?

none

Any additional comments?

if you are looking for a gritty, seedy gangster tale set in geordieland, which is well written and interesting, then look elsewhere

dreadful

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.