This was original, well written, thoughtful and gritty and I loved it.

It took me inside the world of homeless veterans and PTSD and made series points whilst still entertaining.

The writing was taught and the hero credible and likeable and this was everything s thought provoking and intelligent triller should be.

Highly recommended.

After seeing a few things on Twitter and then seeing this one on Net Galley I was intrigued by the idea, not the usual troubled detective, but a very different protagonist, a homeless war vet suffering with PTSD. Trevor Wood introduces us to his sort of anti-hero, Jimmy Mullen in this his debut book, The Man on The Street.

Whilst trying to get some sleep in the great outdoors of the streets of Newcastle, Jimmy is the unwiling witness to an argument between two men, which ends with one of them being thrown into the river near by. Jimmy wants nothing to do with it so he pretends it never happened, it's not his fight. Until he sees a newspaper article, a girl, Carrie is looking for her missing Father. This awakens something in Jimmy as he makes contact with Carrie to tell her what he thinks he saw...

This leads to an unlikely alliance between Carrie and Jimmy, and also Jimmy's rag-tag bunch of friends, Gadge and Deano, who together try to find out what's happened.

With police not helping, Jimmy finds himself under the spotlight as a possible suspect.

This is Gritty, and at times dark as Trevor Woods portrays and describes Jimmy and his suffering with PTSD with skill and also sympathy, the nightmares, the hallucinations and the pent-up aggression.

It's also quite refreshing to have a protagonist so different from the rest whilst also bringing attention to a problem in society that many probably are unaware of. Trevor Wood also writes so well the trials and tribulations of homless life, Something most of us could only ever imagine.

It is addictive reading as Jimmy doesn't let up, at times hard-hitting, it is also spliced with humour with Gadge and Deano providing some light relief.

The writing is excellent, welcoming and easy to read, the protagonist and characters are engaging and the story and plot are clever and intriguing.

This is a sparkling debut, from an author and a character I very much look forward to reading more of.

A Highly Recommended Read

4🔥🔥🔥🔥

Thanks to Quercus and Net Galley for my e-Arc in exchange for my honest review.

This is a well paced gritty novel set in Newcastle, Jimmy Mullen is a veteran from the Falklands war, struggling with PTSD which he has refused to seek help for, he is haunted by things he saw, he has hallucinations, nightmares, and sometimes wakes up screaming from the awful dreams as if it is all happening again, revisiting the trauma in his mind. He is recuperating, with a small pension and a job stacking shelves in a supermarket. Drink is his friend, it’s the only thing that gives him solace, that wipes out or dulls some of the sights he saw, numbing the pain. On his way home from the pub one evening, he sees a girl being slapped by her boyfriend, Jimmy intervenes, the only problem is the boyfriend is an off duty police officer, who is left lying on the pavement in a pool of blood. This results in Jimmy being sent to prison.

On release from his stint in prison Jimmy finds himself homeless, divorced, and with a daughter who is now a stranger to him. His ex wife is now remarried.. The streets become his home, anywhere he can find shelter from the rain, his group of friends now consists of other homeless people, all suffering from either, drug addiction, alcoholism, mental health problems or in some cases possibly all three. A local charity called The Pit Stop run by volunteers helping the homeless, providing food, clothing and showers.

Settled in his sleeping bag one night on the banks of the river Tyne, Jimmy hears two men arguing, he rolls over in his sleeping bag and takes a look, taking in the two men, he then rolls back over drifting back into sleep, he hears a splash or was he just dreaming? Jimmy decides it’s not his problem, after all the last time he stepped in to help he landed in jail.

That is until he sees a young woman making a plea for news of her father, Roger Carpenter who has gone missing. Despite not knowing whether what he heard was real or just a dream. Jimmy finds the young woman Carrie, with some help from the people at The Pit Stop. He tells Carrie what he heard. She persuades him to go to the police with her to report it. But the police aren’t interested in what a homeless man has to say. Because of the police’s lack of interest Carrie goes to the local press. However, when Jimmy’s photo appears in the newspaper he is far from happy, and he has good reason, as his past catches up with him, simultaneously, Carrie and Jimmy have to face dangers from digging into her fathers past. With lots of twists and turns this is a story that will keep you guessing, it is a thrilling read.

The story is narrated in the past and the present, showing what happened to Jimmy before he found himself living on the streets. For a debut novel this is a really well written, thought provoking, gritty crime story. With likeable characters, Jimmy puts on a tough exterior but you do get to see a softer side to him. The relationship and chemistry between Jimmy and Carrie. With twists and turns that work well, you are really rooting for Jimmy.

The writer has clearly done his research, highlighting the predicament that some ex servicemen, find themselves in, they have fought for Queen and country, but on returning they no longer have the structure that they had whilst serving, but equally they don’t fit in back home so are left in a state of anomy. With PTSD as well, and in some cases this not being addressed, not just necessarily by the person but also by the lack of funds and facilities to treat these people. The homeless are invisible people, being passed by everyday, they are more likely to be beaten up because they are easy targets, most being misjudged as lazy, worthless. But no one wonders how they have ended up so low, what has led to this. How does society allow someone to fall so low that they feel they have nothing left to lose, because they literally have nothing!

Thank you to #netgalley and #Quercus books for an eARC of this book in exchange fore an honest and unbiased review.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Quercus Books for an advance copy of The Man on the Street, to feature Jimmy, a homeless veteran with PTSD, set in Newcastle.

Jimmy is sleeping rough when he thinks he sees one man push another into the river. He reports it to the police but isn’t taken seriously. When he sees a missing poster featuring the man, Roger Carpenter, he saw disappear he contacts Roger’s daughter Carrie and together they decide to investigate.

Once I learned to live with the improbability of a homeless man with PTSD having the wherewithal and mental acuity to investigate a crime I quite enjoyed The Man on the Street. It did, however, take me a few goes to settle in to this alternative reality. To be fair Mr Wood does insert several of Jimmy’s PTSD nightmares and they are quite vivid and he describes various scenarios to illustrate the precariousness of homelessness but he doesn’t drill deeply into the relentless grind and struggle to survive, the filth, squalor, degradation and sheer desperation of it. Instead he paints it as a lifestyle choice on Jimmy’s part, a longing for freedom and the stars.

The novel is narrated in the third person from Jimmy’s point of view and while his tone is not exactly upbeat it feels optimistic and enquiring, despite his circumstances. It is set in 2012 but there are plenty of flashbacks to key points in his life, all helpfully labelled, to explain how he got to where he is. On the one hand this is well done, releasing information gradually, but on the other it interrupts the flow of the present day story.

The Man on the Street asked me to accept a situation I couldn’t believe in so I will not be reading the further adventures of Jimmy, but it is a polished debut with a readable style and a well constructed plot so I would be interested to read more from Mr Wood with a different protagonist.

This story is set in Newcastle. Jimmy Mullen has not had an easy time. He had been in the Flaklands war, his ship had taken a direct hit and he had witnessed his colleagues consumed in the unsung fireball. With only a pittance for a pension, he takes a job stacking shelves in a supermarket. He witnesses a woman being knocked about by her boyfriend and he does what anyone decent would do, he goes to her rescue. It turns out the boyfriend was a copper and Jimmy ends up in prison. On his release, Jimmy is homeless. When he sees a newspaper article about a woman looking for her father, Jimmy thinks that he's seen the man. Or was it his drug addiction, alcoholism and mental health issues all playing tricks on him?

This story is told between the past and present. We get Jimmy's background story leading up to the events that we find him in today. I found myself really rooting for this was veteran who was down on his luck. I really liked Jimmy and Carrie, the main characters who were well rounded and grounded. There's a few twists that will keep you guessing. This is a well thought out story and a great debut novel. I will be looking out for more from this author.

I would like to thank anetGalley, Quercus Books and the author Trevor Wood for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I read a lot of crime fiction and it can all get a bit samey so I am always on the look-out for something a little different. Boy did I find just that with this book. Instead of being Police, or PI, or just a busybody investigating a crime, our main protagonist here is Jimmy who, due to circumstances which are explained throughout the book (which I will not list here due to spoilers) find himself homeless.
He is sleeping near to the Tyne when he is awoken by an argument. During his, shall we call it interesting, past he has learned to live by the old adage "not my fight", so he duly ignores it. But then he hears a dragging noise followed by a splash and he looks up again to see only one man left. But... not my fight... until that is, he sees the picture of a missing man, next to his worried daughter and thinks that this could be one of the men he saw that night. The one he didn't see walking away. But it's not his fight and he has his own reasons for not wanting to get involved, to keep his head down. But Carrie, the daughter, needs the truth. It's time to man up, stop hiding from his past, in order to help her. Putting himself at risk, he does just that. But has he bitten off more than he can chew?
This book was wonderful. With Jimmy we have a protagonist who, on the face of things, should be unlikable, especially when more of his past is uncovered but, as you get to know him better, he proves pretty easy to warm to. We also meet a few of his also homeless friends and see how together they survive on the scary and often dangerous Newcastle streets. The story of Carrie's father is both interesting and intriguing and took me places I never thought we'd go. The case does also blur into Jimmy's own past and the two become intertwined as the two main characters try and unravel the truths of both matters. And they have quite the tasks ahead of them as the Police fail to take the word of a vagrant and stick to their interpretation of what happened to Carrie's father.
One of the things I really loved about this book was the insight into life on the street. I'd really love to wax lyrical about some of the things I read in this book, so obviously well researched, but I fear that doing so might inject spoilers into my review and I'm not going there. Suffice to say that I will think twice about just walking by in the future...
The blurb introduces Jimmy as the most unforgettable investigator of 2020 (although I accept it's still 2019) and for once, in my opinion, you can believe the hype. I'd also add unique to that description. I loved him, warts (and there are lots of them, not literally though) and all. I'm really excited to see where the author takes him next.
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

The Man on the Street is a very good crime thriller by Trevor Wood that is very well written and kept me hooked from the beginning to the end.

The main character is a homeless veteran who has a number of demons to face not least that he is also an ex con.

As per the blurb Jimmy is definitely an unique and very different investigator with his own methods.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book and definitely recommend it and hope that this becomes a series

In a year of impressive debuts in crime fiction, here is another. Set in Newcastle among the down-and-outs and the homeless, the lead character Jimmy thinks he witnesses a crime but cannot be sure. When Carrie reports her father missing, Jimmy comes forward and joins force with her to try to solve the mystery, with varying amounts of help and hindrance from the police. The plot has many twists and turns, the characters and setting are well depicted and the writing is very good. A thoroughly enjoyable read!

Jimmy Mullen has been round the block. In the Falklands War his ship takes a direct hit from an Argentine fighter bomber and he watches his mates consumed by the ensuing fireball. Back home recuperating, with a pittance of a pension, he stacks supermarket shelves, battles with his nightmares and presides over the slow erosion of his marriage as drink becomes his only solace. Walking home one night from the boozer, he intervenes to prevent a girl being slapped around by her boyfriend. All very gallant, but the result is the boyfriend (an off-duty copper) lying insensible on the pavement in an expanding pool of blood.

After the inevitable prison sentence Jimmy is now out on early release, but homeless, his ex-wife now remarried, and his daughter a complete stranger to him. Home is anywhere he can kip out of the rain. His social circle? A few fellow vagrants, raddled by drink, mental instability, drugs – or a toxic combination of all three. Their home-from-home is a homeless charity called The Pit Stop where volunteers provide, food, showers and clothing.

One night as Jimmy lies under the stars on the banks of Newcastle’s River Tyne, voices intrude on his uneasy dreams. These are not the screaming ghosts of his former shipmates, but real human voices, here and now. And they are arguing. Two men, becoming increasingly agitated. Jimmy rolls over in his sleeping bag and takes a look. One man, tall, bulky, looks a bit like a bricklayer. The other fellow, slightly built, long hair, carrying a man-bag, looks a bit like a social worker. “Not my fight” thinks Jimmy. He learned that lesson years ago on his fatal walk home from the pub. As he drifts back into fitful sleep, he hears what he thinks is a splash, but the cocoon of his sleeping bag enfolds him. The words “not my fight” murmur in his ear.

Some time later Jimmy sees a newspaper article featuring a young woman appealing for news about her missing father. The picture she is holding is of a man Jimmy thinks he recognises. It is the smaller man from the argumentative pair who disturbed his sleep a few weeks since. Or is it? With the help of a couple of his more social-media-savvy pals from The Pit Stop, Jimmy contacts the woman – Carrie xxxx – and they are drawn into a mystery involving police (both complacent and corrupt), environmental activists, crooked businessmen and – as we learn near the end of the book – grim sexual deviancy.

This is a well written and convincing thriller with sensitive eyes and ears for the plight of ex-servicemen who, like Rudyard Kipling’s Tommy are only accepted by society when there is rough work to be done.

Author Trevor Wood has lived in Newcastle for 25 years and considers himself an adopted Geordie, though he says that he still can't speak the language. Despite this, his phonetic version of the unique Geordie accent is rather good. Normally, I shy away from books where writers try too hard to convey accents in dialogue, but I think Trevor Wood does rather well here. Perhaps this is a result of my addiction to my box set of When The Boat Comes In. The Man on the Street, Trevor’s debut novel, will be published by Quercus as a Kindle on 31st October, and as a hardback in Spring 2020.

Trevor Wood writes gritty Northern crime fiction set in Newcastle that introduces us to an unusual central protagonist in Jimmy Mullen, a Falklands veteran, suffering from PTSD, for which he has refused to seek help, whose life has gone down the pan. He is homeless on the dangerous streets, with his two friends, Gadge, who has a drink problem and the young Deano, who finds drugs hard to resist. Jimmy himself does not drink, he has nightmares, hallucinations, and flashbacks to what happened in the war, understandably finding the night a traumatising experience, often screaming in his sleep. He is divorced from his wife, she couldn't handle him on his return from war, he feels the loss of not seeing his daughter, having completely missed out on her growing up years. In a narrative that shifts from the past and the present, we learn of what happened to Jimmy through the years that preceded his life on the streets.

Jimmy wakes up in the middle of a dark night, and hears two men having an argument by the river, followed by a splash. Unsure if it is real, Jimmy's attitude, if it is real, is that it his not his fight, something he has learned the hard way, and resolves to forget the matter. That is until he sees a headline in which a young woman, Carrie, makes a plea for news of her father, Roger Carpenter. She reminds him of his lost daughter, as he feels the tug of conscience and gets in touch with her. He is not certain it was her father, but she manages to persuade him to make a statement to the police. The police are dismissive and not inclined to believe the testimony of a homeless man, so Carrie turns to the local press. When Jimmy's photograph is published in the press, he is not a happy man, and for good reason, as his troubling personal history comes back to bite whilst simultaneously, he and Carrie have to face the dangers of digging into her father's past.

Wood does an excellent job in portraying the challenges, obstacles and misfortune that have blighted a trauma and PTSD afflicted Jimmy after what he experienced in the Falklands. This is a predicament that has been the lot of many a soldier returning from war, with many ending up homeless. Jimmy is essentially a good man, who finds himself once again taking on someone else's fight, and he pursues the investigation with unwavering determination and focus, refusing to cave in to deadly threats and dangers. This is a compulsively gripping crime read, a particular highlight is depiction of what life is like being homeless, so often the target of brutal violence, not just from the public, but even on occasion from the police. The homeless are so often invisible, unfairly judged, viewed threw the prism of harsh stereotypes and constantly harassed. If you enjoy gritty crime fiction, then I recommend this highly. Many thanks to Quercus for an ARC.

Congratulations to Trevor Wood, great story line with an insight into life on the streets. The story revolves around a trio of homeless men, Jimmy with his dog, Gadge and Dino, each with different talents. The story keeps the reader fully engrossed till the very end of this story.

How can I describe this novel? Gritty, raw, visceral and also very emotional. It's about the homeless on the streets of Newcastle who are basically there as they are former veterans who now suffer PTSD. When you realise that there are so many people who fight for our country and we 'welcome' them home by leaving them on the streets to rot, my blood boils. This book was highly emotional for that and does a really good job of highlighting the issues.;

It's a good crime thriller but I just found it too heavily emotionally. The writing felt quite abrupt in places too and the dialogue seemed too 'Geordie' at times although I realise veterans and some people do speak like this. Lots of swearing and violence which is to be expected but there was a certain degree of overkill if that is the right word?

Northern Grit lit I would call this. It's not going to make you want to go to Newcastle but you will get a wide and insightful look into places like soup kitchens and charities which look after the homeless veterans and the homeless in general

"when you have nothing, you have nothing to lose."

The Man on the Street is the debut novel by Trevor Wood and what a debut.

Set in Woods hometown of Newcastle we follow the story of Jimmy who is a homeless veteran suffering from PTSD after being in the Falkland's war, this is a great gritty detective thriller that holds no punches as to what life is like living on the streets.

The characters are all vibrant and colourful especially Jimmy and Carrie the two main leads who's relationship builds through out the book and the chemistry between them flows of the page.
The story is very good and leads you down many roads with a few twist and turns and keeps you guessing right up till the very end.
Jimmy is a great character and one I would very much like to encounter again in a future book perhaps.
A great read well worth your time and hard earned cash.

My thanks to NetGalley and Quercus Books for giving me the chance to read the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I was hooked from the start. This is a really good read. There is a lot of suspense and good strong characters. Jimmy has been through a lot. The issues tackled in this book are really well written. I would definitely recommend this book and read more books by this author.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

I was most impressed by this debut novel set in his hometown of Newcastle from Trevor Wood it’s a real gritty thriller with a fabulous lead character in Jimmy who is homeless has one hell of a past and yet someone who you immediately start to root for so well is he portrayed. The writing and the plot line is excellent and I loved the dialogue especially between Jimmy and his mates, although he is certainly a hard man we also see another side to Jimmy a caring side that because of his past he finds difficult to show and I would;ld love to hear more of him in any future books.
So I would say if you want a clever thriller with some great characters then you really do have it here and I look forward to reading more from this excellent author. Highly recommended.
My thanks to Trevor Wood, NetGalley and Quercus Books for giving me the chance to read the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.