What they say
This isn’t a sanitised portrait of happy islanders… Hurricane David strikes: ‘We, the population, were now on one level – equally destitute. When the all clear sign was given, we all went shopping [looting] again.’ This is comic writing with a harsh edge.” See the full review.
Nicholas Clee, The Guardian, 2007.
– Mike Phillips, winner of the Crime Writers’ Association Macallan Silver Dagger for Fiction
– Dreda Say Mitchell, author of Running Hot, winner of the Crime Writers’ Association’s John Creasey Memorial Dagger
“And there’s some wonderfully deadpan throwaway humour. My favourite bit was in (surprise, surprise) Forbidden Zone, where our hero goes to the police station to warn the cops that he’ll be on this special assignment:”So I entered the inspector’s office and found it to be strangely dark. But he enlightened me when he said: ‘You can remove those sunshades you are wearing because there is no sunlight in here.’ I realised my oversight and complied.”
– Reviewing the Evidence, Sharon Wheeler, 2007
See full review: Here
What they say
This isn’t a sanitised portrait of happy islanders… Hurricane David strikes: ‘We, the population, were now on one level – equally destitute. When the all clear sign was given, we all went shopping [looting] again.’ This is comic writing with a harsh edge.” See the full review.
Nicholas Clee, The Guardian, 2007.
– Mike Phillips, winner of the Crime Writers’ Association Macallan Silver Dagger for Fiction
– Dreda Say Mitchell, author of Running Hot, winner of the Crime Writers’ Association’s John Creasey Memorial Dagger
“And there’s some wonderfully deadpan throwaway humour. My favourite bit was in (surprise, surprise) Forbidden Zone, where our hero goes to the police station to warn the cops that he’ll be on this special assignment:”So I entered the inspector’s office and found it to be strangely dark. But he enlightened me when he said: ‘You can remove those sunshades you are wearing because there is no sunlight in here.’ I realised my oversight and complied.”
– Reviewing the Evidence, Sharon Wheeler, 2007
See full review: Here
Story Extract - “Return of David”
The following is an extract from “Return of David”, one of Shillingford’s heavy-duty comic stories in Most Wanted. It’s a typically laconic look at living through a hurricane.
We were in a popular bar drinking our weekend waters when one of
my colleagues mentioned a “David”. That name triggered a chain
reaction and my thoughts started to reverse down memory lane and
my last encounter with a “David” became vivid like it was yesterday.
There had been this “David” with a notorious reputation. The first
thing we had heard about him was that he had killed a man twice his
size while still a teenager. So, when the news broke that David was
coming to our town, we did not know how to cope. We were
unprepared. Some thought he was bluffing and that he would not
have the audacity to show his face. Little did we know that he would
really come.
Some even thought that if he dared to come we would
make a pre-emptive strike and stop him dead in his tracks.
We trusted in our mountains – our first line of defence.
That mystic day opened with no hint as to what was to happen later down.
The first sign that this David was really coming to town
occurred in the morning when I saw the seagulls that would normally
be flying out at sea, virtually walking up inland for shelter. (The winds
were getting too difficult to fly against.) Oh ho, you know now which
David I referring to!
We thought we could handle David. His radical cousin, Hurricane
Jannette, had passed so long ago that we couldn’t remember what
she did. So we were complacent. That is why a couple of friends and
I (we were young and careless at the time) went driving around the
city poking fun at those who took the threat seriously. We had no idea
what was to come.
About the Author
Christborne Shillingford
Christborne Shillingford, author of Most Wanted, was born in Grand Bay, Dominica, on December 25 1959 – hence his name. He was educated at the Dominica Grammar School and lives on his family’s Carholme estate in the Layou Valley. Most Wanted is his first book.
