Gun
by Ray
Banks
self-published
(2011)
originally
published via Crime Express (2008)
There is something about certain English accents that really makes it
hard for Americans (even Canadians) to understand the English
language. I remember channel surfing one time a couple years back and
MTV had some British teen reality show with actual
subtitles. Bollocks! Anyway, if you like crime stories set
in the UK but have trouble with the accents, try reading a book. In
fact, you should read this one.
Gun is
a novella about a guy named Richie. Richie needs a job, but he's not
cut out for the nine-to-five routine, so he asks the local crime
boss, Goose. The job: go to Leam Lane, deliver a payment to a hood
named Al, pick up a gun for Goose in exchange, and bring it back.
Sounds simple, right? Well, it should be, but Richie is a magnet for
misfortune. His girlfriend know it too, and despite her warnings and
pleas for him to get on the straight and narrow, Richie needs
money--fast.
Richie gets the gun without too much of a bother--the gay porn on
Al's telly he could've done without--but he barely gets to the bus
stop before a trio of charva thugs beat the hell out of him and mug
him, namely stealing the gun Richie needs to get back to Goose. And
there in lies Richie's problem. He can't go back empty-handed, can't
go sulking to Goose for help either, so he dusts himself off and goes
in search of the gun.
The extent of my experience with British noir is limited to Guy
Ritchie films, so Gun was like a teaser of what I've been
missing. To say Gun is a potent, gritty odyssey is like saying
a howitzer has a bit of a kick. Ray Banks has a few novels under his
belt, but considering the amount of story he packed in this compact
novella, this novels must feel downright epic in scale. Whatever the
case, I wholeheartedly recommend this book, and I believe I'm going
to have to track down more of Ray's work. One of his books
recommended to me was Saturday's Child. Sounds like as good a
place to start as any.
1 comments:
You're right about the language being difficult for North Americans. I struggled with the issue in GUN, but it's not a problem in Banks' latest DEAD MONEY which I strongly suggest to you.
It's not as dark, but it's more unique, flavorful.
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