- Paperback: 288 pages
- Publisher: Tindal Street Press (5 Mar 2009)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0955647622
- ISBN-13: 978-0955647628
- Product Dimensions: 19.3 x 13 x 2.5 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 160,157 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
A countercultural thriller set in India, Spain and 2 Tone Coventry.
It's 1984. Jez, a no-good 2 Tone loving Cov lad, and Jamaican Bas are drawn into a money laundering scam in Spain by two ambitious ex-university dealers, Andy and Pads. These middle-class wide-boys are locked in a feud of mysterious origin - chilly Pads has the upper hand, and the money, whereas charming Andy has the charisma, and the girls. But Andy takes a step too far when he sets up a deal with IRA gangsters and has to ask Pads to bail him out financially.
Over in Spain, Jez is sure they re being followed and begins to unravel. Bas keeps the operation rolling until he meets Becca, a working class girl from up North employed by Pads to spoil their plans. She eventually impresses both leaders and is recruited for the next scam: smuggling charras from India.
Meanwhile Mehmet is caught up in a violent revenge killing and needs to escape Hoxha's prison-like Albania. When he reaches Spain he intersects with the team and his fortunes change. Revenges ripen.
''A brilliant headlong narrative by a thrilling story-teller'' Graham Joyce
''Engaging and very innovative.'' - Howard Marks, author of Mr. Nice
''A highly original debut.'' - The Guardian
''Mez Packer has triumphantly pulled off the trick of writing across the gender divide each of her male characters is complex and convincing. The energy of the writing and the darkness of the story are reminiscent of Martin Amis - but better plotted. It's a hard-edged story with plenty of tension and violence, but it has a heart, too.'' - Independent on Sunday
SELECTED FOR THE PEOPLE'S BOOK PRIZE OCTOBER 2009 LONGLISTED FOR THE COVENTRY INSPIRATION BOOK AWARD
'Coventry 1983. As the city skanks to the 2 Tone beat, so another multicultural youth enterprise gets under way, uniting wildly divergent characters looking to smash the system and get rich quick on the music's narcotic spur: hashish . . . Comical, sometimes profound, this is a highly original debut' Guardian
'A witty, fast-paced thriller . . . Packer has a gift for quirky conversational detail and social satire. A promising new novelist' Times Literary Supplement
It's 1984. Jez, a no-good 2 Tone loving Cov lad, and Jamaican Bas are drawn into a money laundering scam in Spain by two ambitious ex-university dealers, Andy and Pads. These middle-class wide-boys are locked in a feud of mysterious origin - chilly Pads has the upper hand, and the money, whereas charming Andy has the charisma, and the girls. But Andy takes a step too far when he sets up a deal with IRA gangsters and has to ask Pads to bail him out financially.
Over in Spain, Jez is sure they re being followed and begins to unravel. Bas keeps the operation rolling until he meets Becca, a working class girl from up North employed by Pads to spoil their plans. She eventually impresses both leaders and is recruited for the next scam: smuggling charras from India.
Meanwhile Mehmet is caught up in a violent revenge killing and needs to escape Hoxha's prison-like Albania. When he reaches Spain he intersects with the team and his fortunes change. Revenges ripen.
''A brilliant headlong narrative by a thrilling story-teller'' Graham Joyce
''Engaging and very innovative.'' - Howard Marks, author of Mr. Nice
''A highly original debut.'' - The Guardian
''Mez Packer has triumphantly pulled off the trick of writing across the gender divide each of her male characters is complex and convincing. The energy of the writing and the darkness of the story are reminiscent of Martin Amis - but better plotted. It's a hard-edged story with plenty of tension and violence, but it has a heart, too.'' - Independent on Sunday
SELECTED FOR THE PEOPLE'S BOOK PRIZE OCTOBER 2009 LONGLISTED FOR THE COVENTRY INSPIRATION BOOK AWARD
'Coventry 1983. As the city skanks to the 2 Tone beat, so another multicultural youth enterprise gets under way, uniting wildly divergent characters looking to smash the system and get rich quick on the music's narcotic spur: hashish . . . Comical, sometimes profound, this is a highly original debut' Guardian
'A witty, fast-paced thriller . . . Packer has a gift for quirky conversational detail and social satire. A promising new novelist' Times Literary Supplement
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant, filmic and funny,
By Alex Brunel "Riveralex" (Edinburgh, Scotland) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Among Thieves (Paperback)
Among ThievesSo you're feeling a little jaded by 21st century life? Take this trip back to the 80's, if you can remember them, and if you can't, open your eyes to the real truth about what Margaret Thatcher did to Britain (but funny and more thrilling) before she and her inheritors made everything so very stylish. Great characters, taut writing and a gripping plot make a nourishing, entertaining page-turner. Buy it.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Gripping 80's sub-culture adventure,
By
This review is from: Among Thieves (Paperback)
I really enjoyed this book; the characterisations are excellent, I couldn't wait to be back inside these people seeing the world through their eyes.The writing manages to be gripping without losing some very evocative descriptive passsages, and overall I found it compelling, funny, moving and shocking! It pulls seemingly disparate threads (middle class drug dealers, working class lads & lasses and a few Albanians!) together in a remarkable but easy way... It has a great ending too..
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Refreshing,
By
This review is from: Among Thieves (Paperback)
It doesn't take particularly long to realise that Mez Packer has a very different style of storytelling, like a conversation that veers on and off topic. This does take a while to get used to, and at times can seem needlessly wordy, but her characters are all the more vivid for it.This fantastic first novel is reminiscent of The Catcher In The Rye, but with a far stronger (yet simple) plot. Pads, the villain of the piece, has one of the more moving stories I've read in a couple of years, while Jez, 'a racist Cov Lad' serves as a chilling reminder of the dangers of drugs. Altogether, this was an entertaining read, and I'd definitely recommend it. What I found particularly refreshing was the way Packer seems to resist the urge to write according to 'the rules' at every step - perhaps it is a testament to the originality and colour of her story that nothing pans out as you would expect.
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