GBH
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4.1 • 9 Ratings
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
The lost masterwork of British crime icon Ted Lewis—author of Get Carter—is an unnerving tale of paranoia and madness in the heart of the late 1970s London criminal underworld.
In London, George Fowler heads a lucrative criminal syndicate that specializes in illegal pornography. Fowler is king, with a beautiful woman at his side and a swanky penthouse office, but his world is in jeopardy. Someone is undermining his empire from within, and Fowler becomes increasingly ruthless in his pursuit of the unknown traitor, trusting an ever smaller set of advisers.
Juxtaposed with the terror and violence of Fowler’s last days in London is the flash-forward narrative of his hideout bunker in a tiny English beach town, where he skulks during the off-season, trying to salvage his fallen empire. Just as it seems possible for Fowler to rise again, another trigger may cause his total, irreparable unraveling.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
First published in 1980, this gritty tale of paranoia and violence from British author Lewis (1940 1982) shines an unflinching light on London's thriving pornography scene in the 1970s. In the past, George Fowler was the undistributed kingpin of hardcore pornographic films known as "Blues," and he lived the high life with his devoted wife, Jean, the two sharing a penchant for violence and sex. In the present, George is hiding out, alone, in the seaside town of Mablethorpe under an alias. Jean, who also pulled double duty as his bookkeeper, discovered someone in the distribution operation which in the days before the Internet involved a series of middlemen to produce and ensure discreet delivery to recipients was skimming substantial amounts. This sent George and his seemingly trustworthy right-hand man on a hunt to find the person or persons responsible, with dire consequences. As George's vendetta unspools in the past, it becomes clearer why he's hiding out, as every new face in town is greeted with fear and suspicion. Lewis, best known for Get Carter, gives new meaning to suspense with this masterly tale of a man's downfall and the bloody trail he leaves behind.
