Tyne & Wear Tales - Volume 2

A further nine short stories, set in and around the Tyneside area of the North East of England.

Less Than A Name

In the world of witness protection, there are two kinds of people: those who stand for justice and those who are just standing in the way of something worse. Chris Stannard, a career criminal with a penchant for the high life, is firmly in the latter camp. A deal with the authorities saved him from a grim fate, but it also sentenced him to a new life of anonymity in South Tyneside. A place where his name, his past, and his ambitions are meant to be buried for good.

For a man like Chris, a nine-to-five existence in a nondescript town was never going to cut it. The thrill of risk, the allure of easy money, and the pull of his old habits gnaw at him every day. Soon, Chris begins to dabble in the shadows again, using his cunning and criminal acumen to claw back the sense of power and freedom his new identity denies him. But South Tyneside is not without its dangers. As Chris skirts the edges of legality, he inadvertently attracts the attention of the wrong people - dangerous individuals from his past and those with sinister interests in his present.

When a scheme goes horribly wrong, Chris finds himself trapped between the police officers that placed him in witness protection and a network of criminals who’d do anything to uncover his true identity…….

Tense, gritty, and unrelenting, Less Than A Name is a riveting exploration of identity, survival, and the unyielding pull of a person’s true nature.