Count Me Out
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- $2.99
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- $2.99
Publisher Description
South-east London gangland meets the alternative lifestyle of a travelling fair. Jet Heywood is a fairground boxer past his prime who, after a street brawl, finds himself nursing a head wound. His brother Scott has long wanted out of his dead-end life as a security van driver. When his van disappears with a two million pound payload Jet doesn’t know whether Scott was victim or thief. But Scott’s old gang knows – and they reckon Jet knows where he is.
They are an evil crew – Gottfleisch, a gargantuan and sinister fence; Ray Lyons, a vicious thug out for revenge; and little Ticky, a paedophile with his own malevolent aims. When Jet decides to take his eight year old daughter with him on the road the travelling fair provides no hiding place. Hounded by press, police and intrusive social workers – and by his brother’s determined gang – Jet has to fight outside the ring.
This is a dark yet moving thriller from ‘one of Britain’s most stylish and uncompromising writers’, moving from the hard streets of south east London to the last fairground boxing booth in Britain.
Some reviews of this book:
‘His best in ages. Relish the darkness.’ - Time Out
‘Two of the most memorably drawn villains I've come across for quite some time ... A vivid evocation of life on the road with the travelling boxing booth ... An ending that will chill you to the bone.’ - Bob Cornwell in CADS.
‘One of Britain's best Noir writers, producing dark, powerful novels with a distinctive South London setting. In his novels, humour and humanity flourish in strange places, accentuating - and occasionally redeeming - the bleakness of the setting. ... The combination of an honourable loner, a powerful narrative and an interesting specialist background suggests an unexpected parallel: the novels of Dick Francis.’ - Andrew Taylor in Tangled Web magazine
‘James has created an entirely loathsome and creepy pair of criminals (bringing to mind Sidney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre in their roles in the Maltese Falcon) who balance the plucky and admirable father-and-daughter team of Jet and Stella.’ - Publishers Weekly
‘Deftly combines chilling suspense and insightful characterization, leaving us both breathless and satisfied after a heart-stopping finale.’ - Peter Handel in the San Francisco Chronicle.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Even before his brother Scott steals 2 million, kills a man and disappears, Jet Heywood, rough-edged hero of James's knock-out new mystery (after Slaughter Music), has problems. Mainly, they focus on how to make enough money to feed and clothe his eight-year-old daughter, Stella, and keep the social workers at bay. Jet, a former boxer, and Stella begin a nomadic life with a carnival where Jet boxes in "he-man" contests and tries to keep a low profile. But Gottfleisch, the man who masterminded the robbery, thinks Jet knows where his brother and the money are. Gottfleisch and his pedophilic minion, Ticky, resort to any means--including kidnapping Scott's family, pouring gasoline on a child and threatening to set him on fire--to locate the money. James lays boxing details on a bit thick, but he has also created an entirely loathsome and creepy pair of criminals (bringing to mind Sidney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre in their roles in The Maltese Falcon) who balance the plucky and admirable father-and-daughter team of Jet and Stella. FYI: Count Me Out was published in England in 1996 by Serpent's Tail Press.