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Devil’s Spit follows a rum-drenched city guard with a haunted past who is investigating a brutal murder scene with six bodies, which leads him into a far-reaching conspiracy putting his own life in jeopardy. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
I thought it would be great fun to have an action detective novel set inside a fantasy world. It’s not a detective novel without a detective who’s really messed up and Inspector Greaves from the Ironbay city guard plays that role. His assistant and sidekick Probationary Constable Nigel Owens provides some comic relief and some unexpected surprises.
The novel is a prequel to the Ironborn Saga and we see a whole pile of the characters that are in the series, in different roles and different stages of their lives. That’s fun for people who’ve already read the other books in the series and it also sets up those books for those who haven’t. I wrote the book so you didn’t have to read any other Ironborn Saga novels to enjoy it, but if you have there are nuggets sprinkled all through it.
What was the inspiration for the culture of your characters? Is it modeled after any particular society?
Devil’s Spit is set in Ironbay, the main city in my Ironborn Saga. It’s a prequel and this version of Ironbay is full of corrupt, murderous gangs, and people scraping to eke out a living. The city has a very vague English industrial feel to it but it’s not modeled after a specific society.
I felt that Devil’s Spit delivers the drama so well that it flirts with the grimdark genre. Was it your intention to give the story a darker tone?
In the Ironborn novels, I try to make them violent enough that you feel like the main characters are in real peril when you read the books. I also try to even that out with humour sprinkled in. And in my novels, it’s common for the main character to succeed to a certain extent. So it’s not really grimdark, just on the edges of it.
What is the next book that you are working on, and when will it be available?
I’m currently working on the next book in the Ironborn Saga. We return to Ironbay and Crutch dealing with what’s left of the city after City Of Corpses. It should be released sometime in the next 3 months.
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But this is no ordinary murder. The conspiracy reaches higher than Inspector Greaves could ever have anticipated and uncovering it could lead to his death and the deaths of everyone he cares about. Can Inspector Greaves reveal the true murderer? Can he and Sergeant Zander’s royal marines survive protecting the innocent when every criminal and Ironbay’s corrupt city guard are determined to kill them?
Literary Titan Rating: 5/5
“Devil’s Spit is a gritty, booze-soaked detective noir tucked inside a fantasy world teeming with corruption, gang violence, and moral rot. The story follows Inspector Jack Greaves, a rum-drenched city guard with a haunted past, as he investigates a brutal murder scene that turns out to be more than just another night in Ironbay. With a rookie constable at his side and enemies lurking around every corner, Greaves dives headfirst into a tangled mess of bodies, secrets, and vendettas that refuse to stay buried.
This book had me hooked from the first swig of devil’s spit. The writing is razor-sharp, fast-paced, and just oozes atmosphere.”
This exciting, action packed prequel to the Ironborn Saga has surprises that set up book #9 in the series, with a wide range of characters including Sergeant Zander, Quicksilver, Longshot, Doc, Jasper, Mincer, Crutch, and Cedric.
IMPORTANT: This prequel is a stand alone novel that sets up book #9 in The Ironborn Saga. It is a stand alone novel but it is essential reading before you read book #9.
Devil’s Spit: Prequel to The Ironborn Saga
Devil’s Spit is a gritty, booze-soaked detective noir tucked inside a fantasy world teeming with corruption, gang violence, and moral rot. The story follows Inspector Jack Greaves, a rum-drenched city guard with a haunted past, as he investigates a brutal murder scene that turns out to be more than just another night in Ironbay. With a rookie constable at his side and enemies lurking around every corner, Greaves dives headfirst into a tangled mess of bodies, secrets, and vendettas that refuse to stay buried.
This book had me hooked from the first swig of devil’s spit. The writing is razor-sharp, fast-paced, and just oozes atmosphere. That opening scene? Chef’s kiss. Greaves gambling away his last coin while downing the nastiest rum in Ironbay, sitting across from Malrick “the Spider,” oozes tension and worldbuilding without ever slowing down. The rum hierarchy alone—ranging from royal honeysap to the gut-rotting devil’s spit—says more about the city’s soul than any info dump ever could. Cavanagh’s prose is tight, punchy, and unpretentious. You feel the, the weight of Greaves’ regrets, and the heavy buzz of danger around every alley corner.
What really made the story sing for me, though, was Greaves himself. He’s the perfect mess of jaded, broken, and quietly noble. I loved how he lies through his teeth, drinks like it’ll stop the ghosts in his head, but still throws himself into danger to protect a girl he doesn’t even know. That whole bit with Boulder—the sweet, gentle giant pretending to be an “angry dog” to scare off thugs was surprisingly wholesome in a book full of body parts and gangsters. Also, Greaves biting off a dude’s thumb and spitting it out mid-fight was horrifyingly satisfying. There’s violence, yeah, but it never feels gratuitous. Every drop of blood feels like it means something.
Devil’s Spit is a wild and bloody ride through a city where justice is hanging on by a thread and everyone’s got a knife hidden somewhere. If you’re into detective stories with a fantasy twist, flawed but fascinating characters, and a whole lot of creative cussing, you’re gonna love this. Fans of The Lies of Locke Lamora, grimdark fantasy, or even just gritty noir with heart—this one’s got your name written all over it.
Always a Way to Survive
Ironborn follows an orphan living on the street, surviving off his wits, who has a deal go sour and winds up on the open sea as part of a naval crew fighting an oppressive tyrant. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
I’ve always loved stories of people who start out with nothing and overcome overwhelming odds in real life and in fiction. Crutch starts as low as you can get, literally, surviving on rats and cockroaches in the sewers of Ironbay. He has no friends and the people he has contact with, like the gangs or the city guard, steal from him or try to kill him. Crutch is also crippled in one leg.
On the surface of it, there is no way someone like Crutch could succeed or even survive. But somehow he finds a way. That’s a story I love telling. Trodden down people society has written off finding some way to succeed when everything looks impossible.
Crutch is not as strong as other members of the crew, but what he lacks in physical strength he makes up for with intelligence and sharp wit. What were some driving ideals behind your character’s development?
At the beginning of Ironborn Crutch is not just physically weaker than everyone around him, he’s also friendless. He has never really had a close friend in his life. One he had for a short time was hanged and another was eaten.
I wanted readers to see Crutch’s journey learning how he could use his intelligence to win over opponents stronger than him. But even more importantly, I wanted readers to see Crutch grow emotionally, learning to be part of a team, to trust people around him, and to find real friendship and comradeship.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
That there are thousands of solutions to every problem and you just have to find one that works for you. That the most powerful and important thing in life is the people around you, the friendships you make, and the people you stand with and stand by when challenges come and your back’s against the wall.
Most important of all, that no matter how bad things look there’s always a way to survive and push through.
Can you tell us what the second book will be about and when it will be available for fans to purchase?
There are already five books in the Ironborn Saga available on Amazon with more to come (the sixth is almost finished as I write this). In the second novel, Our Blood Our Land, mutiny is afoot and the pirate captain Wyld Dog takes back the Auld Faithful. Wyld Dog uses Crutch as a pawn to pillage merchant ships.
Meanwhile, Estovia, ruled by the power-hungry tyrant, Emperor Solokov, invades Papageenar, the agricultural heartland of the Ironborn territories. The Ironborn have to find a way to stop his army from cutting off Ironbay’s supply of food and starving them into submission.
Wyld Vengeance is a fun, fast-paced romp of a prequel revealing how the mild-mannered noble William Wyld became the ruthless king of the pirates Wyld Dog. You can get the novella Wyld Vengeance free at my website: http://andrewcavanagh.com.
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The island kingdom of Ironbay is under siege from Estovia’s warships. Can a street urchin and a tiny band of royal marines break the siege and free Ironbay, or will Estovia’s oppressive, power hungry tyrant, Emperor Solokov, crush their Ironborn home?
Ironborn is fast paced, epic fantasy with heart. You’ll laugh out loud, you’ll cry, and you’ll be on the edge of your seat.
LITERARY TITAN 