Black January ( Azerbaijani: Qara Yanvar), also known as Black Saturday or the January Massacre, was a violent crackdown on Azerbaijani nationalism and anti-Soviet sentiment in Baku on 19–20 January 1990, as part of a state of emergency during the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Things were very different during my own childhood and – though much of the behaviour of those in power (not to mention, men towards women) is (in retrospect? His boss Murray seems to have it in for McCoy but there was also a real sense of some level of mutual respect and understanding going on. Before he died, it seems, Felix Vodyanov was linked to a passenger ferry that sank in 1994, an even earlier U. Detective Harry McCoy has been tasked with solving the brutal murder of a young girl shot dead in Glasgow, they know the who but have no idea of the why.

They acted pursuant to a state of emergency, which continued for more than four months afterward, declared by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, signed by Chairman Mikhail Gorbachev. Bloody January, Alan Parks’s excellent first novel, propels him into the top class of Scottish noir authors.A blistering plot, unforgettable characters and writing so sharp it's like it's been written with a knife: what more could you ask? The decree contravened legal acts in force at the time, which provided that the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the AzSSR would have to turn to the central government with the relevant plea. The memorial depicts a group of people who are determined not to miss armed troops coming into the city, with some of them already fallen. Though snow is blanketing the streets, it can't hide the corruption in a city where cops and criminals are often forced to keep each other's secrets.

I can’t say that it’s definitely true to life but it feels real and for fiction that’s important enough. He was memorably described in a recent interview with The Herald as "an amiable bear of a man who these days spends his time wandering around Glasgow thinking up ways to murder people". Set in 1970s Glasgow where violence is a language everyone speaks, Bloody January is a deliciously dark read. On 12 January, the Popular Front organized a national defence committee with branches in factories and offices in Baku.He does eventually clarify some of these references and and I was quite intrigued by Harry’s backstory, including his childhood allegiances to the Glaswegian underworld. Change country: -Select- Albania Algeria American Samoa Andorra Angola Anguilla Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Aruba Azerbaijan Republic Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Brazil British Virgin Islands Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Islands Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad Chile China Colombia Comoros Cook Islands Costa Rica Cyprus Czech Republic Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) Democratic Republic of the Congo Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) Fiji Finland France French Guiana French Polynesia Gabon Republic Gambia Georgia Ghana Gibraltar Greece Greenland Grenada Guadeloupe Guam Guatemala Guernsey Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana Haiti Honduras Hong Kong Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iraq Ireland Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jersey Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macau Macedonia Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania Mauritius Mayotte Mexico Micronesia Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Montserrat Morocco Mozambique Namibia Nepal Netherlands Netherlands Antilles New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Niue Norway Oman Pakistan Palau Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Republic of Croatia Republic of the Congo Reunion Romania Rwanda Saint Helena Saint Kitts-Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Pierre and Miquelon Saint Vincent and the Grenadines San Marino Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands South Africa South Korea Spain Sri Lanka Suriname Swaziland Sweden Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Togo Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda United Arab Emirates United Kingdom Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Vatican City State Venezuela Vietnam Virgin Islands (U. He has friends in the underworld, people with power and control, these are real old school hard men, gangsters, they're sadistic, and nobody, not even McCoy, will stop them from achieving their aims. The old one, though, is still in focus: indeed, short of a Tardis, says John Niven, this book is the best way of getting back to Seventies Glasgow. The graft and corruption in which Harry dabbles is in fact commonplace and it’s quite shocking to those who didn’t live through those years.

Gripping, brutal and with a clear sense of place, ‘Bloody January’ is a morally dubious Glasgow based crime thriller. Among their inner circle, every nefarious predilection is catered to at the expense of society’s most vulnerable—including McCoy’s best friend from reformatory school, drug-tsar Stevie Cooper, and his on-off girlfriend, a prostitute named Janey. Lorna’s roommate, Christine, reveals that Lorna made extra money as a party girl, “dating” several suspicious characters.At the same time, fearing an intervention of the central Soviet authorities, Popular Front activists began a blockade of military barracks. Indeed, Harry’s lack of respect for many of his colleagues is a reflection of the quality of the police force at the time.