Published
by Freight Books,
3 October 2016.
ISBN978-1-911332-00-8
3 October 2016.
ISBN978-1-911332-00-8
Boddice, a Glasgow crime lord, is feeling the pinch
– his local pond is now full of much bigger fish and, though he is still sufficiently
feared and loathed to command respect, he is no longer one of the local movers
and shakers. So he comes up with a Plan,
something that would put him into an altogether different league, one which the
newcomers on the block wouldn’t dream of touching. This will be his final act and will fund his
retirement.
He selects his gang
from the professional hard men who work for him, offering them the promise of
great wealth if they join him or serious grief if they don’t. The ill-assorted and ill-equipped men are in
no position to refuse: Prentice and Kyle
are really hard men, willing to kill on Boddice’s order, though Prentice is
starting to want to get out. Boag, an
ex-serviceman gets work from Boddice because of his father’s long and loyal
service. The Twins, a particularly important
part of the Plan, run a tattoo parlour, but their main source of income is
letting their business be used for laundering Boddice’s illegal profits. Leggett is not popular with any of his
colleagues, and falls from favour when Boddice realises he is taking an
unauthorised cut from profits. Each of
this ill-matched group has a part to play in the Big Plan, the theft of the
famous diamond known as the Dark Side of the Moon, which is to be displayed in
a Glasgow department store.
This is a
fast-moving, high-pitched novel. The
characters are well-written and, despite being largely unlikeable, there are moments
when the reader’s sympathy is engaged.
The humour is black, the dialogue sharp and the finale spectacular. This debut novel will gain the author many
fans.
------
Reviewer: Jo Hesslewood
Les Wood's
writing has been widely anthologised. He has a Masters in creative writing from
the University of Glasgow and a doctorate in Physiotherapy. Les teaches as
Glasgow Caledonian University.
Jo Hesslewood. Crime
fiction has been my favourite reading material since as a teenager I first
spotted Agatha Christie on the library bookshelves. For twenty-five years the commute to and from
London provided plenty of reading time.
I am fortunate to live in Cambridge, where my local crime fiction book
club, Crimecrackers, meets at Heffers Bookshop . I enjoy attending crime fiction events and
currently organise events for the Margery Allingham Society.
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