Synopsis/blurb........
A
twenty-nine-year-old man lives alone in his Glasgow flat. The telephone rings;
a casual conversation, but behind this a job offer. The clues are there if you
know to look for them.
He is an expert. A
loner. Freelance. Another job is another job, but what if this organisation
wants more?
A meeting at a club.
An offer. A brief. A target:
Lewis Winter.
It's hard to kill a
man well. People who do it well know this. People who do it badly find out the
hard way. The hard way has consequences.
An arresting,
gripping novel of dark relationships and even darker moralities, The Necessary
Death of Lewis Winter introduces a remarkable new voice in crime fiction.
The second book in
the Glasgow Trilogy How A Gunman Says Goodbye will follow soon . . .
Wow! If I read a better book this month I’ll be extremely
surprised and delighted.
Cool, incisive, sharp, interesting, addictive and totally satisfying.
Mackay lifted and transplanted me straight into the heads of a hitman, a cop, a
tart, a drug dealer and a crime boss, among others. I have to wonder whether he
was one of these, or perhaps even all five in a previous life, before he turned
his hand to writing.
The prose and narrative is so smooth and impressive, had
circumstance permitted I would have read all 312 pages in one sitting. Never a
lull in the story, never a page or chapter where my interest dipped, each and
every strand of this story sustained my interest. Totally captivating.
Violence? Yes.
Unsavoury, amoral characters and chancers? Yes.
Decent folk? A
couple.
These are the people
I like reading about.
With thanks to Raven for pointing me in the direction of
this. Raven Crime Reads’ review of Lewis Winter is here.
I’m looking forward to the 2nd installment in the
trilogy about Glasgow’s criminal underworld, How A Gunman Says Goodbye. Incidentally this follow up book won the Deanston
Scottish Crime Book of the Year prize.
6 stars out of 5!
I borrowed my copy from my local library.
Col - So very glad you enjoyed this so much. And it just goes to show that even unsavoury characters can be compelling and interesting to read about if they're well drawn.
ReplyDeleteMargot, thanks. I'll be interested to see how good the 2nd book is, later this month hopefully!
DeleteUnavailable here. Hey, maybe that's a good thing because I was ready to purchase. Gotta love geo restrictions.
ReplyDeleteKeishon, that's a shame. I hope it becomes available soon.
DeleteSounds good, your review convinces me, I will put it on a someday list.
ReplyDeleteTracy, I hope you cross paths with it at next year's book sale! Assuming the restrictions are lifted.
DeleteI saw that The Necessary Death of Lewis Winter has been shortlisted for the new author award by the CWA. Also an interesting one by Hanna Jameson... Have you read her book?
DeleteI hadn't seen that or heard of the Jameson book, which I have just looked up. It seems quite interesting, thanks.
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