The Dead City Rollers

Alistair didn’t know it yet, but in six days time he’d be putting both barrels of a shotgun in his mouth and putting his thumb on the trigger...
In his hilarious debut novel, Welsh author R T Stroud draws on his experiences of growing up in Swansea. “I wanted to give the book a strong sense of place,” he observes, “and the streets of Swansea seemed to fit the story well.”
The Dead City Rollers is a comedy crime thriller, full of flawed characters. Alive with comic touches and cliff hangers, it follows the story of Alistair, who is burdened by a bag of pot and a lot of guilt over the person he killed. He wants out from the turf war brewing in Swansea between a bunch of criminals. He wants out from the acid-munching cops on the verge of madness and from his idiot friends who spend their time talking about the meaning of life and interspecies wrestling. Plus, there’s a girl involved…
Getting out isn’t going to be that easy though. Whether negotiating his notice with inept mobsters, dodging delusional vigilantes and avoiding that ‘thing’ in the shadows, escaping is going to be seriously tough.
“I’m a big fan of the knock-about comedy crime thrillers written by the likes of Carl Hiaasen or Allan Weisbecker; books which have a very real sense of place and a fast pace,” adds Stroud. “The Dead City Rollers is very much in the same tradition.”

R T Stroud is 37 years old and has been writing in one form or another since he was a teenager. He was born in Swansea, where the novel is set, but currently lives in Cardiff. In his time he has been a lampshade packer, secondary school teacher and paper pusher.