What is the title of your latest release?
A NUMBERS GAME
What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
A fake psychic medium and his loan-shark best friend get caught between a missing lottery ticket and a gang war neither of them wanted – a laugh-out-loud, blood-soaked buddy crime novel for fans of Mick Herron and Robert Crais.
How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
Blades Edge, the council estate, or if you’re in the US you might say Projects, where A Numbers Game takes place has always been in my head. It’s not where I grew up, but it is kind of close to where I grew up. With added bits of other places from my life thrown in. I wanted to write something that felt true to what I knew and Blades Edge feels very real to me. It’s part of England, but also something very self-contained.
Would you hang out with your heroine in real life?
Well. Mal, in many ways, is quite close to me in personality, though I was never a drug addict. So we would probably get on reasonably well. As for Jackie, well, he’s one of those people that would not take no for an answer if he wanted you to go out on the town and for the most part you would have a great time — but it would definitely end badly. So I would do my best to avoid him. If I could.
What are three words that describe your hero?
Tired, frightened, hopeful.
What’s something you learned while writing this book?
Well, not so much in the writing of it, but in the aftermath, and that is not to give up. A Numbers Game originally saw publication through a tiny UK publisher but sadly they didn’t last long. However, both me and my agent loved it, and the characters (which is why there is three books all lined up to go). So, Ed, my agent, just kept going. Kept presenting it as something different and special to publishers and even though it took years, here we are. A Numbers Game, and Mal and Jackie will be available all round the world for everyone to meet, and hopefully like.
Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
I always wait until I have finished book until I start going back through it. Often, I don’t really know what I am writing about until I am done so any editing done on the fly would be wasted time and I am, essentially, a very lazy human being..
What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
Probably sour sweets. Or curry. But not both at the same time. Why would you even say that, who hurt you?
Describe your writing space/office!
Well, I used to write in the front room surrounded by all our strange old taxidermy. But now I write in the bedroom lying on the bed because that’s where the best stereo is. It caused my doctor to be Very upset about posture and promise to write at the kitchen table for at least a couple of hours. Something I am spectacularly failing at.
Who is an author you admire?
I think anyone who finishes a book is worthy of admiration, cos it’s a big thing. But at the moment it’s probably James Lee Burke who’s work is just beautiful.
Is there a book that changed your life?
I don’t think so. There are books that I have carried with me all my life but not that I would say have specifically changed me. I’ve always thought who I am is less one big flash of understanding that caused a sea change, and more a case of slow erosion by all the various forms of art that I’ve come into contact with.
Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published). Or, for indie authors, when you decided to self-publish.
There was just a huge sense of relief really. I’ve had other things published in other genres, but I’ve always loved these books. They have a really special place in my heart, so when Ed rang me to tell me he’d found someone to get them in bookshops, I was just over the moon really. I think, even though they take place in the UK, the humor and the personalities are pretty universal and with books like Mick Herrons Slow Horses showing the UK experience is easy enough for anyone to understand I hope loads of people will get to enjoy them.
What’s your favorite genre to read?
Probably crime, or Science Fiction. Or history. It’s constantly changing.
What’s your favorite movie?
Muppet Christmas Carol.
What is your favorite season?
I’m a big fan of the colors of autumn and the mists we get in the UK. There’s nothing quite like being caught in a sea fret in Whitby. You suddenly feel like Dracula really could appear there.
How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
Mostly I don’t if I’m honest. I kind of like to ignore the fact I am getting older.
What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
Dark Winds. I loved Tony Hillerman’s Joe Leaphorn books (though they are weirdly hard to get hold of in the UK) and the TV version is superb.
What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
Probably Indian if I was choosing where to eat. Or Italian style pizza.
What do you do when you have free time?
Write. I really like to write. Sometimes I’ll play on the PS5.
What can readers expect from you next?
More mayhem from Jackie. More wishing he wasn’t involved in any mayhem from Mal. I think the second one, Incy Wincy, takes everything that’s good about A NUMBERS GAME and then just pushes it all a little further which is great fun to write. And I think great fun to read too.
A NUMBERS GAME by R.J. Dark
An ex-addict is dragged into a high-stakes race for a missing lottery ticket. A gritty, high-heart novel perfect for fans of the Peculiar Crimes Unit series.
All Malachite “Mal” Jones wants is a quiet life as the foremost (fake) psychic medium on the Blades Edge estate.
Enter his new client: Janine, the widow of a man who hid away a huge amount of money. Mal is drawn into a mystery he never asked for in an attempt to help Janine find the cash and escape the estate once and for all.
Problem is, Mal’s not the only one hoping to get his hands on the cash. The crime lord of the estate to other criminals are all on the hunt. Plus adding to his worries, there are some corrupt cops after Mal’s best and only friend, Jackie.
Aided by Jackie and Beryl, Mal’s nosy secretary, Mal sets out to find the cash and a solution that pleases everyone. If he can’t, he’ll have to pay the price. After all, it’s a numbers game…
Thriller [ Datura Books, On Sale: August 18, 2026, Trade Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9781917415323 / eISBN: 9781917415323 ]
Buy A NUMBERS GAME: Amazon.com | Kindle | BN.com | Apple Books | Kobo | Google Play | Books-A-Million | Indie BookShops | Ripped Bodice | Walmart.com | Amazon CA | Amazon UK | Amazon DE | Amazon FR
About R.J. Dark
R.J. Dark is the pseudonym of fantasy author R.J. Barker, whose books have won multiple awards and received brilliant reviews and endorsements from big SFF names, including Adrian Tchaikovsky and Robin Hobb.
He lives in Leeds with his wife, son and a collection of questionable taxidermy, odd art, scary music and more books than they have room for. He grew up reading whatever he could get his hands on, and has always been “that one with the book in his pocket”. He played in rock bands before deciding he was a rubbish musician. He is a far from rubbish writer.
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