Amazon.co.uk Review
Jake Arnott's He Kills Coppers opens in August 1966 when the feel-good factor is running high as England enjoys World Cup victory and a seemingly endless summer. But the sunshine brings some nasty creatures out, and the brutal slaying of three policemen in a west London street sends shockwaves right to the heart of the nation. For three men, the killing is more than a front-page outrage. For Billy Porter, a war-time hero turned petty thief, it's a plan that went fatally wrong. For Frank Taylor, a Detective Sergeant trying to climb the Met's career ladder without resorting to corruption, it's a bereavement--the loss of a loyal comrade which must be avenged. For Tony Meehan, cub reporter on the Sunday Illustrated, it's nothing more than a fortuitous scoop that assures him his job. But reporting the crime awakens sinister urges that he's unable to resist and soon Meehan is creating his own news. Three men who've never met; three lives inextricably linked, in a chain of events that changed history.
Those who raved about Arnott's debut novel The Long Firm will not be disappointed by its successor, a tale combining the tension of a hard-boiled crime thriller with a Dickensian eye for detail. The sounds and the spirit of 60s London are evoked with almost filmic precision, while the plot advances in that swift, inexorable fashion of the very best myths. A few of its peripheral characters, such as Jeannie, the whore with the conscience ("I never want to rely on bad money again"), and Mooney the Masonic vice-cop ("Through the Mysteries of the Craft you can keep yourself clean"), might be slightly clichéd, but the principal trio of narrators is vivid and utterly convincing. For a story that combines morality, the authentic whiff of Soho sleaze and a plot that goes straight for the jugular, readers need look no further. --Matthew Baylis

RELEASE NOTES:

Taking to Cherry Tree meet in Steventon

Brought back in a box of books from the meet at the Cherry Tree in Steventon, and promised to be wild released.

Requested by a new BCUK member. I'll send it to her when I get a chance to go to the post office.

RELEASE NOTES:

Just been to the post office and put this in the post to mellowdaisy (sp?) Anyway, it's on its way!

Sent to me as a RABCK by a fellow BookCrosser - thank you very much!! I'm managing to steadily build up my TBR pile, but looking forward to reading this book too :-) Hopefully it won't take me too long to get round to it!

I had very mixed feelings about this book, I was really gripped in places, desperate to find out what happened next, and quite bored in others, having to re-read parts where I'd got confused. All in all it was a bit abrupt, nothing really stuck - just as it was getting good it would switch to someone completely different!

Anyway, only my personal opinion - it's now available for anyone who would like to have a read for themselves :-)

RELEASE NOTES:

Left in a phone box opposite the Hurst Park Tesco!