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Mark Timlin

Mark Timlin (born 15 June 1944, in Cheltenham ) is a British author best known for his series of novels featuring Nick Sharman, a former Metropolitan Police officer who takes up the profession of private investigator in South London. The Sharman books are characterised by their noir tone and their fast action, and feature a high casualty rate among their characters; Sharman himself is frequently injured or even hospitalised in the course of the novels. The books formed the basis for the TV series Sharman, in which Clive Owen played the eponymous detective; Timlin made a cameo appearance in the pilot episode. Before commencing his writing career, Timlin worked in a variety of jobs such as being a roadie for rock groups including T Rex and The Who, running a Clapham Junction music venue, minicab driver, and proprietor of a skateboard company. In 1985 he was unemployed and living in a friend's abandoned bus. Turning to writing as a way out of living on benefits, he wrote his first novel, A Good Year for the Roses, which was published as a paperback original in 1988. The Sharman series is now in double figures; in early years, Timlin published prolifically. Almost all of the Sharman books carry titles which are taken from songs. He has cited influences on his work as including Ed McBain, Raymond Chandler, Ross Macdonald, Richard Stark and John D. MacDonald.…

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Article summary

Mark Timlin (born 15 June 1944, in Cheltenham ) is a British author best known for his series of novels featuring Nick Sharman, a former Metropolitan Police officer who takes up the profession of private investigator in South London. The Sharman books are characterised by their noir tone and their fast action, and feature a high casualty rate among their characters; Sharman himself is frequently injured or even hospitalised in the course of the novels. The books formed the basis for the TV series Sharman, in which Clive Owen played the eponymous detective; Timlin made a cameo appearance in the pilot episode. Before commencing his writing career, Timlin worked in a variety of jobs such as being a roadie for rock groups including T Rex and The Who, running a Clapham Junction music venue, minicab driver, and proprietor of a skateboard company. In 1985 he was unemployed and living in a friend's abandoned bus. Turning to writing as a way out of living on benefits, he wrote his first novel, A Good Year for the Roses, which was published as a paperback original in 1988. The Sharman series is now in double figures; in early years, Timlin published prolifically. Almost all of the Sharman books carry titles which are taken from songs. He has cited influences on his work as including Ed McBain, Raymond Chandler, Ross Macdonald, Richard Stark and John D. MacDonald.…

Key claims

  1. date of birth: 1944-06-15 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
  2. publication date: 1988 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95

Discussion questions

  1. Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
  2. The record states that the date of birth is "1944-06-15". What evidence would count against this claim?
  3. The record states that the publication date is "1988". What evidence would count against this claim?
  4. Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
  5. If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?

Bibliography

  1. Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1370852980

Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.