Barbary Coast

Salford 1968

Change is in the air and dapper Johnny Carter is feeling the pinch. With the looming threat of container shipping on the horizon, Salford’s dock gangs are preparing for a war over control of what’s left. Boss of bosses Carter has banned all drugs from the city, but his arch-enemy, Vic “The Viper” Jones, plans to distribute heroin through a Liverpool connection and make huge profits. Jones is already challenging Carter’s supremacy; menacing the girls who work in his massage parlours and committing brass-necked armed robberies in areas controlled by his enforcers.

With Salford’s terraced streets and tight-knit communities being demolished, and with his personal treasure trove and income from the docklands under threat, Johnny must assert his firm’s dominance and erase Jones’ mob.

Ian Hough’s atmospheric, razor-sharp debut novel is filled with caustic Salfordian dialogue and an increasingly desperate cast of characters set against the backdrop of a city contemplating a desolate future, but determined to party like there’s no tomorrow.