#BlogTour: Fatal Fix

#FatalFix @GrahamMorse5 @RandomTTours #RandomThingsTours

Author: Graham Morse
Published: Kindle and Paperback September 2020
Publisher: Shipstone Publishing

Today is my stop on the #BlogTour for Fatal Fix. I’d like to say thank you to Graham Morse and Anne Cater, from Random Things Tours, for the opportunity to read this fantastic book in exchange for an honest review.

From the blurb…
Chasing the story of a lifetime can get you killed.
When Premier League manager Tony Barker is found hanged in his home, the police declare it a suicide. But Tony’s old friend, investigative journalist Matt Riley, isn’t buying it. Matt discovers that Tony was about to expose a huge match fixing scandal, and a police insider tips him off that key evidence has gone missing.
Suspecting murder, he launches his own investigation. His editor orders him to drop the story. Matt refuses and gets fired. Determined to find the truth, he goes freelance and soon penetrates a labyrinth of greed and corruption that leads to an underworld gambling syndicate in Singapore. He believes he is about to solve the murder and break the biggest story of his life, but others have a different idea…
The shadowy figures he’s been tracking have their sights turned on him.
Matt Riley is in a desperate race against time – to find Tony Barker’s killers before he becomes their next victim.

My review…
Fatal Fix is a fast-paced whirlwind of intrigue, mystery and danger.

Matt ‘Stinger’ Riley is a feisty ex-footballer, with a passion for the truth. Now working as an investigative journalist for The Daily Chronicle, he is always on the lookout for a hard-hitting story. With his editor’s threat of cutbacks in the forefront of his mind, Matt is out on a bike ride when the next call he receives changes everything.
Premier League Manager Tony Barker has been found hanged in his home. This isn’t just any story for Matt, this is the death of his former colleague and close friend. When the police rule the hanging a suicide, Matt refuses to believe it and starts doing some digging of his own. As he uncovers certain rumours that are actually very true, Matt knows he must find the evidence to cement his story.
As time goes on and it seems more likely that Tony has been murdered, it consumes Matt. When the evidence which could prove his theory goes missing, he knows this is even bigger than he first suspected; someone wants to keep the story quiet. He calls in favours from friends and colleagues to help him and decides he wants to break the story, but they don’t all feel as strongly as he does. When his editor, Bill Wickes, gives him an ultimatum to drop the story or get fired, Matt gets fired!
His determination to find justice for Tony takes him far from home and into some seriously dangerous situations. With match fixing being the prominent cause of the cover-up, he infiltrates a gambling syndicate to try and find the key players involved. His own survival also ends up hanging in the balance as he begins to cause waves with his persistent hunt for answers.

Matt is a complex character and the subplots highlight the trials a competitive journalist faces to stay on top of their game. His estranged wife Susie and son Callum are often victims to his workload, which Matt knows is wrong but isn’t readily willing to change. Things deteriorate further with Susie as Matt lets Callum down on a promise to watch him play his first football game. Tony’s death also resurfaces issues from his own childhood that Matt must battle internally, whilst still trying to keep his investigation moving forward.

I had my heart in my mouth on more than one occasion and was actually quite worried for Matt. The story was really well written and extensively researched. Not only does Morse keep up the tension throughout, but he takes you to multiple destinations on Matt’s journey too. I liked the fact the story wasn’t just based in London, to really uncover the seedy underworld of top level sport, you have to factor in the far-reaching implications of corruption. Plenty of shady characters make a great cast for this highly plausible thriller. As a football fan myself, I was really excited when I read about this book and it doesn’t disappoint. With the huge amount of public interest in celebrity lifestyle, Fatal Fix isn’t a far cry from the things we see in the newspapers on a regular basis. There is a perfect mix of sport and drama running through the book. Even if you don’t like football, please don’t be deterred, Graham hasn’t left anything unexplained and the football theme is a great addition to a modern-day crime thriller. This has become one of my favourite books of 2020 and I look forward to reading more of Graham’s work in the future.

In a recent Q and A, Graham mentioned one readers’ suggestion that Tom Hardy should play Matt Riley’s character on screen – having read Fatal Fix I completely agree, he would be perfect and I have my fingers firmly crossed for this adaptation! He also floated the idea we may see Matt Riley again soon – we can only hope…
If you missed Portable Magic’s Q and A with author Graham Morse, you can find it here.

About the author…
Graham was born in Swindon, England, and educated at Abingdon School. He began his career selling advertising for the Sunday Times. He then worked in sales and marketing with Unilever before leaving to set up his own advertising and promotions agency.
He married his wife Janet in 1963 and they have four children. Graham has always been a keen sportsman, playing football, rugby, tennis, squash, golf, and, sailing with his family.
He retired from his business interests to pursue the passion he shared with Janet for sailing. They crossed the Atlantic in 2002, and after four years exploring the Caribbean sailed across South Pacific from Panama to New Zealand. The experience of visiting remote islands and cultures inspired Graham to write his first book, The Islands Time Forgot, which was published in 2010.
His biography of his father-in-law, Sir Walter Winterbottom, The Father of Modern English Football, was published in 2013, and was short listed for British Sports Book of the Year in 2014.
Fatal Fix, Graham’s first work of fiction, takes readers into the criminal underbelly of greed and corruption in the world of international football.
Graham and Janet have travelled extensively for business and pleasure and currently live in the Caribbean.