Nick would like it to be known that although he once worked for the News of the World he has never hacked a mobile phone. For that matter, most of the time he can’t even remember his own passcode.

A national sports journalist with a wealth of experience, Nick took the plunge and began writing gangland crime thrillers when Rupert Murdoch shut down Europe’s biggest-selling Sunday newspaper in 2011 as a result of the phone hacking scandal.

His debut novel Crossing the Whitewash came out in 2015, receiving an honourable mention in the Writers’ Digest Self-publishing eBook awards.

That launched the Boxer Boys series, which has found a niche in the growing UK gangland market. So far, there are four books in the series – Crossing the Whitewash, Spark Out, Dying Seconds, and Bare Lies – which will soon be available as a box set with Red Dragon.

Nick’s creation of the notorious Dolan family, their associates and enemies has been greeted with acclaim by some of the country’s most prestigious book bloggers.

Meanwhile, his standalone psychological thriller Rabette Run has been described as ‘Alice in Wonderland... with tanks and guns’ and a twist you didn’t see coming.