ANY MAN JOE by Robert Leigh

5 GOLD stars

Vigilante/crime drama/thriller

Currently unpublished


Reviewed by me as part of Rosie Amber's Review Team

Excellent, excellent - I thoroughly enjoyed this!

Joe is a quiet living young man who lives on a rough council estate in London, just minding his own business - until he becomes unwillingly mixed up in the world of the estate's drug dealers.  Pretty soon, he finds himself in handcuffs... that's all I will say about the plot, or I'll spoil it.

Robert Leigh has done it again, the same as he did in Kill Line - he's made me like and root for a mass murderer.  No, I'm not weird - read it, and you'll understand!  I still feel sad thinking about him.

Parts of this book reminded me of that televisual piece of excellence, The Wire - if you liked that, you'll love this.  Of course, this is South London, not Baltimore, but I imagine the drug dealing hierarchy runs much the same.  The story is told in alternating points of view, between Joe and DI Edwards, the officer originally in charge of the case.  It highlights police corruption and social problems, too - all very real.

The book is SO well structured, which is one of the elements that makes it work so well, with the story unravelling gradually, as we move from hospital to police custody to flashbacks back on the estate.  The dialogue and the characterisations of the dealers, the junkie who befriends Joe, the blinkered cops, are spot on.  The action is cleverly executed, too, making me able to visualise clearly what was happening - this is a hard thing to do, I've read so many that don't work.  The suspense is superbly suspenseful (!), as is the build up of Joe's frustrated outbursts.  A classy writer, this!

This is the second novel in Leigh's Retribution Trilogy - I can't wait to read the third.   It's a complete stand alone, the stories are not connected in any way, so you don't have to read Kill Line first (though it's so good, I would if I were you!!!).

KILL LINE by Robert Leigh reviewed HERE

FROM LIME STREET TO YIRGACHEFFE by Robert Leigh reviewed HERE

LIVING IN THE SHADOWS by Judith Barrow

4 out of 5 stars

1960s family drama, 3rd part of a trilogy

On Amazon UK HERE
On Amazon.com HERE

I was looking forward to reading the third part of Judith Barrow's warts-and-all saga about the working class Howarth/Booth/Schorrman family living in Wales and northern England.  The first part took place in WW2, the second in 1950, and Living in the Shadows takes us into the next generation, in the late 1960s.

These books are very much an every day story of ordinary people, a bit like listening to The Archers or watching Emmerdale Farm before it lost its 'Farm'; I'm sure someone makes someone else a cup of tea every ten pages!  They will hold a great nostalgic appeal for those who have lived through these times in similar circumstances, which explains their popularity.  But they're more than just a real life drama; Judith Barrow has a clever and subtle way of showing the attitudes of the time amongst Mr and Mrs Average, rather than giving them a gloss, like a nostalgia programme on TV; this, for me, is their greatest strength.

So, the 1960s... it wasn't all free love, Union Jack minis and Twiggy; the atmosphere of the war years of the 1940s and the struggle back in the 1950s prevailed.  The extended family in this book come face to the face with scenarios of the type that were brushed under the carpet fifty years ago, ie, homosexuality and domestic violence.   The storyline I found the most interesting was that of eighteen year old Victoria, who experienced the sinister side of the hippie movement; it shows how young people, eager to take on new trends, can be manipulated and taken advantage of.  Oddly enough, I had only recently watched a few TV programmes about Charles Manson and his strange commune of brainwashed young women; Victoria's tale rang all too true.

As for the older members of the family, the loss of one of them near the end made me feel very sad, even bringing a tear or two to my eye; this bit was very well written indeed.  I suspect this is not the last we shall see of this family!


PATTERN OF SHADOWS by Judith Barrow reviewed HERE

CHANGING PATTERNS by Judith Barrow reviewed HERE

 

KILL LINE by Robert Leigh

5 out of 5 stars

Murder thriller

On Amazon UK HERE
On Amazon.com HERE

Reviewed by me as part of Rosie Amber's Review Team

I liked this book a lot, so much that I've already downloaded Robert Leigh's latest one, Any Man Joe.

Shaun Dolan works in a call centre, and murders customers who are unnecessarily rude to him.  Yet I still kind of liked the guy.  I didn't want him to get caught.  That's a real art - making the reader root for a brutal psychopath.  Oh dear, I hope it's not just me...

The strength of this book is the sharp observation by which the characters have been created, from Shaun's boozy mates, to the chav ex-girlfriend, to the begging victims Barry Johnson and the revoltingly pompous Derek Page-Dove (great name!), and, best of all, the ghastly, dreadful supervisors and management at Skymiles and Calltex call centre.  Well done, Robert Leigh - the section in the middle about the changeover from Skymiles to Elevation, with all its corporate BS, is a masterpiece - it's obvious the author has worked in one of those places, and the production of this novel must have made every soul destroying moment worth it.  The dialogue is spot on, with every awful buzzword and phrase these people use; yes, and don't they always refer to their staff, etc, as 'you guys'??!  Ugh!  

This is not a novel for the squeamish; the violence is graphic, and you'll want to weep for the victims.  But it's kind of funny.  If you can believe that.  Not laugh out loud funny, but witty and clever.  

I wavered between 4 and 5 stars all the way through it, eventually deciding on 5.  I think it needs some tidying up, I thought the Harry Collins part was too much, and I was a tiny bit disappointed by the ending, but these are very minor complaints (in fact, not even complaints), are only my opinion, and the good bits are so very good that I couldn't have given it less.

Highly recommended!

From Lime Street to Yirgacheffe by Robert Leigh reviewed HERE

Any Man Joe by Robert Leigh Reviewed HERE

THE PRODIGAL by Nicky Black

5 out of 5 stars

Gritty crime drama

On Amazon UK HERE
On Amazon.com HERE

About half way through this book I discovered that Nicky Black is actually a combination of two friends called Nicky and Julie ~ Julie originally wrote this as a screenplay for Granada TV, though it was never shown, and then she passed it to Nicky to turn it into a novel.  Shame it never became a TV series, it would have been terrific!

Nicky might have been given a readymade, extremely good plot to work with, but the writing of this novel is surely down to her own skill - in the wrong hands it could have been flat, clichéd, the characters ghastly stereotypes, the action tired, etc etc.  The Prodigal is none of those things - it's excellent, I enjoyed every page and didn't skip read once!

London cop Lee Jamieson returns home to Newcastle, and becomes mixed up with Nicola Kelly, wife of local hoodlum Micky.  The story is told through the eyes of Lee and Nicola.  Lee also gets to know Louise, his teenage daughter who is the result of his own teenage relationship with her mother, Debbie.  Valley Park, the council estate around which the novel centres, is fictional, but I am sure it's a well drawn representation of those that exist.

Lee escaped life within the underclass of society after his own family tragedies; there is one particularly emotive passage when he looks into the eyes of Nicola's troubled young brother, Mark, and sees what he might have become had he stayed there.

One of the reasons this novel was of interest to me is that I moved up to live in this area (nowhere like Valley Park, thank goodness!) about six years ago, so I recognised not only the landmarks but also the language; I've always been amused by the sound of teenage girls referring to each other as 'man'!  I liked the way the story outlined the differences between the north and south of England that really do exist, and the futility of the regeneration projects in poor areas - as Nicola so rightly points out, it's not the houses or estates that are the problem, but the people who live in them.

The plot's great - I love a bit of gangster conspiracy, and it all fits together nicely, with the twists not being too obvious and nothing unfeasible taking place.  Any negatives?  Only one - throughout the book there is a fair amount of 'head-hopping', ie, the point of view changing suddenly; I'd think, hang on, I thought I was reading through Lee's eyes, but suddenly I'm seeing it through those of Debbie.  This isn't too obtrusive, though, and it probably wouldn't bother most people.

The Prodigal is realistic without being over the top, perfectly paced and held my interest throughout - loved it!

ULTRA VIOLENCE by Mark Barry

4.5 out of 5 stars

Violent drama, football hooliganism

On Amazon UK HERE 
On Amazon.com HERE

The blurb:
Forty. Receding pate. Dental problems. Failing marriage. Delinquent son. Psycho boss parachuted in to cut the big earners.
A few lost marbles.
It hadn't always been like this.
He used to be a Face. A Player. A Terrace Celebrity. Now he’s just another faceless nobody on the brink of despair in a world he no longer recognises.
Yet, one freezing winter’s day, a chance meeting with a face from the old days at Notts County changes everything.
Especially when there’s an intriguing proposition on the table. One he may find difficult to refuse. 

I know nothing about and have zero interest in football, and the culture of organised football hooliganism fascinates me only in a horrified sort of way, but having recently read Mark Barry's fabulous Once Upon A Time In The City of Criminals I wanted to know more, so I chose to read this, his most successful book to date.

Something I've noticed after reading a book I've loved is that I can't always remember if it was written in the first or third person.  This is, I think, because the characters have come alive to the extent that I've been able to see inside their heads, whether their tale has been told in their own words or not.  Ultra Violence, however, has set a new standard.  It's written in the SECOND person, yet I still felt I knew the unnamed main character as well as if he'd told the story himself, or if I'd had it narrated to me.  Yes, that's right, a whole novel written in the second person, and it works so well.  A curious and clever choice and yet another indication of the talent of Mr Barry, who is fast becoming my favourite 'indie' of all those I've read.

Ultra Violence is depressing, it's sad, it made me feel fed up about how different things were in my own youth, it tells of the unsavoury, the prejudiced, the lacking in culture, the unwashed underclass of society (the Bullys!) and those who've wrecked their own lives, but I couldn't put it down.  The story alternates between the past and the present all the way through, until they meet at the end, a structure I always find effective.  Fabulous ending, too.  I love a great ending. I gather in the new edition there are two alternatives, but, alas, I had the old one on my Kindle.

Oh, and I still think the main character is a closet homosexual, by the way.  So closet he couldn't admit it to himself, perhaps.  Don't know if anyone else agrees with me.  From about fifty per cent in I was waiting for the Big Reveal....


ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE CITY OF CRIMINALS by Mark Barry reviewed HERE 

CARLA by Mark Barry reviewed HERE

THE NIGHT PORTER by Mark Barry reviewed HERE 

ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE CITY OF CRIMINALS by Mark Barry

5 GOLD STARS

Violent drama

On Amazon UK HERE
On Amazon.com HERE

This book is of the type for which the 'indie' or self published world was made - fearless, quality writing that would probably never get taken on by a traditional publisher or larger independent press, because it fits into no established genre and would perhaps not appeal to the mass market, but for style and talent can rival the best and leave half of them standing.  This is the sort of novel that reaches cult status; maybe in five years' time people will be saying, "What, you haven't read City of Criminals?  Where have you been?"

I read it over a period of a couple of days and would have finished it sooner if I'd been able to.  It's terrific.

In brief:  Terry Valentine is an ex-con, a part-time crackhead, a ex-football hooligan, and a small-time crook with a chip on his shoulder about the middle classes and control of the populace by the rich.  Rapidly going to seed, he gets an emotional kick in the pants when he takes on the job of driver to young lesbian prostitute Chloe, and falls in love with her.  Once he gets into his head that she needs saving from her major client (who happens to be in love with her, too) and the gangsters who control her, all thoughts of a reconciliation with his one time love, sexy dope fiend Marge, go out of his head.

At first I worried that the free flowing writing style of narrative interspersed with Terry's inner dialogue, together with the lack of speech marks in conversation, might get on my nerves or even seem a little contrived, but it doesn't - it really works, more so as the book goes on, and is perfect for this story.  Mark Barry knows what he's doing.  The dark and dangerous underclass of brutal criminals, football hooligans, drug users and gamblers is obviously one he understands so well, too.  One thing I loved was the way in which the language of the world between the pages is not explained by some patronising glossary at the back of the book; if you're not sure exactly what is meant by a phrase or word on its first outing you soon pick it up, or if you don't it doesn't really matter. 

Barry has written before about a man with a serious dark side who falls hopelessly in love with and thinks he can save a woman half his age (in Carla), but this is an entirely different sort of novel, and by far his best of the ones I've read, I think.  What struck me most was that in the first half of the book Terry Valentine just seems like a bit of a sad case, but as the story moves on to violent confrontation you start to understand the mind of the type of man for whom only a fairly constant supply of class As (and large amounts of black market prescription medication) can replace the thrill of the brawl.  Although his feelings for Chloe are the basis for the whole story, it's about so much more. 

You'll like this book if you appreciate brilliant, sparky writing that doesn't nod to convention, if you have any interest at all in the football violence of the 1980s and gangsters in general, if the 'c' word and decidely unromantic sexual reference doesn't make you wince (actually, I found the sexual depiction in this book a lot less cringe-making than the would-be sexy bits added to many otherwise not otherwise erotically orientated novels these days.  It's real, it's not written to titillate; not an arched body or ecstatic moan to be seen). You'll like it if you're not put off by the mention of blood, and if you enjoy reading sharp, edgy, contemporary drama by a novelist who knows his stuff and isn't afraid to use it.

I couldn't put it down, abandoning my own work-in-progress in order to finish it.  It's fab, it really is.

CARLA by Mark Barry reviewed HERE

THE NIGHT PORTER by Mark Barry reviewed HERE

ULTRA VIOLENCE by Mark Barry reviewed HERE