markluscombe-author
Mark Luscombe -
Author of Cut One and The 8 Series
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High stakes. Impossible odds. Eight Mercenaries. Five crime families.
One city.
Cut One -
Book 1 of The 8 Series
Eight million people. Twelve Boroughs. A dying city.
Five Families, who control it all.
And a botched double-hit, that might just push two of them into all-out war.
A last chance for peace may lie with a small team of mercenaries – if they can stay alive and out of jail for long enough to track down whoever ordered the killing. The problem is, they hardly know each other, there isn’t much of a plan, and they can’t go five minutes without an argument. All they share is the need to survive as the city spirals into chaos around them, and one crucial piece of knowledge.
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The man who stands accused of the murders, didn’t do it.
Among them, Stan Parker. He’s never called himself a mercenary – he prefers the term Private Detective. It’s just broad enough to cover most of what he does, and just vague enough to justify the rest. He’s never considered himself to be a good man either, but now Stan faces a choice. His past, or his present. Saving himself, or the people he cares about.
Fleeing to fight another day, or staying to chase the truth – and maybe dying for it.
Buy the e-book here, at https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cut-One-Book-8-ebook/dp/B0F2SY7N43
About
Mark
Luscombe
Mark has been writing stories for as long as he can remember - in fact, quite possibly longer. In his early years, he wrote about talking dogs, sentient cars, robot detectives and other such incoherent rubbish, continuing into his teenage years when he discovered a great love for explosions, guns, and cursing. His work has progressed very little since.
​Latterly, after wasting three years and the better part of a hundred grand attending university, he has worked as a microwave jockey, hotel porter, warehouse lackey, office assistant and finally as a dental technician. He lives in Torbay, South Devon, which isn't really a city, but really is plagued by rampant crime and degeneracy. He is tolerated by his soon-to-be wife, Jade, and motivated by his mother and father who wanted him to move out and do something with his life.
The Story of 'Cut One'
Mark finally decided to get serious about writing at the age of sixteen, and began work with all the ferocity a sixteen-year old can on a novel he initially dubbed "The 8." For five years he worked on his magnum opus in almost total secrecy, due to an acute fear of being called a nerd and a virgin. In many ways the manuscript grew up alongside Mark, through school and then university, countless drafts, late nights, and new plotlines. Then, finally, in the year of our Lord two-thousand and nineteen, he decided it was crap and gave up on it.
Thankfully for "The 8", and quite literally no-one else, the Covid-19 pandemic and sweet, sweet government money gave Mark the time and space he needed to re-discover his love of writing, and the first draft of his debut novel. After a name change, a near complete re-write, and with the support and encouragement of his father, quite possibly the most patient man ever to live, Mark eventually got around to publishing his now decade old debut novel in 2025. If you have read 'Cut One' already and have followed the link here from my book, thank you. If you haven't, consider giving it a flick through - if not for me, then for my sixteen year old self, and his dream of working the f-word into every line of dialogue. We did it, teenage Mark.
"The 8" - lots of swearing
"Cut One" - swearing, but
it's really tasteful now
