Warren Roberts

Warren Roberts was born in New Zealand and has travelled to about 75 countries, including many of the world's most insalubrious ports of call.

He has worked and lived worldwide with careers in banking, international trade and finance, television and publishing, where he met a Technicolor cast of villains, lovers, killers, liars, cheats, bloodsuckers, and miscreant clowns, with morality as a fools distraction.

He has drawn upon some of the unsavoury characters and events that he has encountered to write Kill City USA, The Bell of Girardius and The Whore of Babylon.

A fan of Hollywood B movies, Warren lives in London with his fedora.

PRAISE FROM KIRKUS REVIEWS

KILL CITY USA

"In his novel debut, Roberts puts his own twist on hard-boiled noir and successfully channels the voice of beloved gumshoe greats ... his efforts are well-executed, organic and without compromise ... No matter how great the danger, Milo handles it with aplomb, always perfectly composed and with a witty quip or sarcastic observation at the ready ... the dialogue always pops, and Milo has such a descriptive way with words, it's well worth the effort ... A contemporary mystery with an old-world feel."

THE BELL OF GIRARDIUS

"An action-packed adventure with the interminably charming and witty Joe Milo and his Jamaican sidekick Jonah ... another exciting mystery with a healthy serving of the supernatural ... Written with great delineation and range, Roberts' cast of diverse characters continues to jump off the page. While Jonah volleys easily between lovable and hard-as-nails, Milo stays true, armed with a sharp wit, endless charm and a penchant for finding trouble ... the author edifies on all things satanic ... Another successful Joe Milo experience."

THE WHORE OF BABYLON

"As is always the case where Milo is concerned, no job is too dangerous, and no beautiful woman shall be left unconquered ... For those who've read the whole Joe Milo series, two things will be abundantly clear: There's no villain threatening enough to scare Joe Milo, be it mob boss, Satanist or ex-KGB sociopath. The second is that the author has no time for weak women. From Russian madams to devil worshippers and cage fighters, Roberts renders strong and intelligent female characters and really knows how to put the fatale in femme fatale. Usually by the third go-round, characters and plots lose luster; Roberts keeps his tales shiny, robust and primed for more."

JOE MILO/MEAN STREETS PRESS

Published by Mean Streets Press, Warren's Joe Milo thrillers are tastily-tangled crimes noir.

They feature a laconic and appealingly self deprecating British private investigator, Joe Milo, his enigmatic Jamaican sidekick Jonah, plus a Technicolor cast of villains, lovers, killers, liars, cheats, bloodsuckers, and miscreant clowns, with morality and political correctness as a fool's distraction. The novels combine page-turning intrigue, character conflict and suspense with lively, crisp and cutting dialogue and dark humour, while paying respect to literary noir (without deferring to excessive pastiche).

They will appeal to readers who like their private dicks to be hip, tough, politically incorrect, street-smart, casually efficient, literate, and to have moral complexity.

Milo, their protagonist, believes that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue. He has an agile wit, a remorseless put-down of the second-rate in people, yet a soupçon of compassion hidden beneath a sardonically flip exterior. He likes booze and women, both to excess. His conscience is personal, rather than social, and he uses a sardonic wisecrack as effectively as a left hook. His verbal mots justes are used not for triumphalism, but rather to promote action and reaction. At heart he is a loner and a sceptic. Hypocrisy, officialdom, and prevarication he suffers badly, and he continues the tradition of the American literary and cinematic-noir PI, in British settings.

Milo's cryptic, street-wise and taciturn (he thinks Harpo Marx talked too much) sidekick, Jonah, has a day job running a testosterone-fuelled gym in London's Earls Court, and he would have represented Great Britain as an Olympic boxer, but for 'a slight misunderstanding about a urine sample.'