What I Read In May

[Donna Moore]

Here are my small, but perfectly formed, May reads.

DONKEY PUNCH - RAY BANKS

Protagonist: Cal Innes

Series?: Second

Setting: Manchester and LA

After a very brief (and extremely unsuccessful) stint as a PI, Cal Innes
is helping out at his mate Paulo's gym in Manchester and reluctantly agrees to chaperone a teenage boxer to an important amateur boxing tournament in LA. Liam is a talented boxer, but also a bad tempered obstreperous teenager, who's not keen on having a nanny. Which is fine, because Liam's obstreperousness is matched by Cal's. What a pair. Despite the fact that it's an amateur competition, there's nothing amateur about the sleaziness and corruption Cal encounters, and things get darker and more dangerous. Superb writing, atmospheric, black humour, great dialogue. And Cal is a memorable protagonist - both honest and deluded at the same time, full of emotional depth, and utterly realistic. Ray Banks just gets better and better.



AMONG THE DEAD - KEVIN WIGNALL

Protagonist: Five friends

Series?: Standalone

Setting: An English university town

Five friends are driving home from a night out when they accidentally
run down a girl who turns out to be a fellow student. In one of those life changing decisions they agree that they will keep quiet about it rather than turn themselves in. This is a superb story about guilt, loyalty, friendship, fear, morality and loss. It looks at the consequences of the actions of the protagonists, how sometimes what seems like the easy way out can be the most difficult and traumatic, and how sometimes the way we punish ourselves can be worse than any punishment meted out by the authorities. Wonderfully taut, spare and atmospheric. Kevin Wignall's writing is understated and chilling. Superb stuff. This is the sort of book you want to buy multiple copies of and press into the hands of people who love great books.



HORSE'S ARSE - CHARLIE OWEN

Protagonist: Ensemble cast of mismatched characters you wouldn't want to
meet in a dark alley

Series?: Standalone

Setting: A fictional town near Manchester

Horse's Arse is the affectionate name for a fictional town which is the
place where police get posted when they have been naughty. It's the 1970s, a time when community policing apparently meant kicking the crap out of suspects and victims alike, and the police read suspects their rights with the aid of a baseball bat. The cops are just as mad, bad, and dangerous to know as the thugs and villains they are there to police. They are racist, sexist, sadist and every other sort of -ist you can think of. There's a constant battle for supremacy between the police and the violent local mafia and the cops will stop at nothing (and I mean NOTHING) to nick them. This is a look at an ensemble cast of cops and robbers, with a lot of anecdotes which are great fun. However, the plot that holds all the anecdotes together is fairly slight and I didn't get to know any of the characters very well. But who cares - it's a lewd, crude, disgusting romp and I thoroughly enjoyed it.



THE ENDINGS MAN - FREDERIC LINDSAY

Protagonist: Writer Barclay Curle/Inspector Jim Meldrum

Series?: 6th

Setting: Edinburgh

Barclay Curle is a crime fiction author who has been receiving some odd
fan mail. And then someone he knows is killed in the same fashion as in his books. Needless to say, Curle comes under suspicion by Inspector Jim Meldrum. Meldrum is not the main character in this one and the focus on Barclay Curle is interesting. He's not a particularly likeable guy and, despite the fact that he's having misery upon misery loaded on him there's a sort of schadenfreude about each new torture he finds himself in. I really liked what I saw of Jim Meldrum and this will definitely not be my last - good stuff.

[Kevin Wignall]

Flattered, and also wishing all reviews everywhere were written by you.

Thanks, K