Broken Dreams [Paperback]

 

 

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Nick Quantrill's Broken Dreams won't hit the shelves until March 2010 but this is a fantastic urban gritty noir thriller set in Hull. Reading it brought back shades of 'Get Carter' and Rankin's Febus novels. Quantrill's main character, Joe Geraghty is a tough but likeable addition to the genre. The novel is short and snappy and zips along, taking the reader into the underbelly of urban life in the North East. Quantrill is carving a reputation for himmself as a crime fiction writer to watch. Grab this book as soon as it hits the shelves. Broken Dreams

Over the last couple of years, Nick Quantrill has made an enviable reputation for himself as a highly accomplished true-to-the-gospels (of St. Elmore Leonard and St. Raymond Chandler) crime fiction writer who reliably delivers precisely crafted plots, authentic hardboiled dialogue and classic PI fisticuffs action in tales suffused with an atmosphere of compounding tension which slices through the shifting dynamics and corkscrew effects of the narrative and where the characters will inevitably find themselves hanging upside down in their own story.

After many successful and celebrated shorter tales, Nick wrote the full-length e-book `Black & White' which started out in leisurely fashion but soon got into its stride as a police procedural investigation of the dark fate of a body found in a dockside container. I particularly enjoyed the accompanying side-story of the relentless stress of the anti-heroic DS Coleman's working life being exacerbated considerably by his wife's undermining resentment of her husband's all-hours, underpaid job (not a new theme, but tenderly done).

In his first paperback novel, published by the recently-established Caffeine Nights imprint, we get to catch DS Coleman from another angle, as an incidental character, while two new characters step to the fore - the private detective Joe Geraghty whose wife died during an arson attack two years previously, and the City of Hull itself.

Nick has a tremendous knack of making his prose sound like it is pounding the streets as he types but this time he has raised it to a pitch which is almost CCTV, where you can follow Joe Geraghty in telescopic close-up as his footsteps echo against the tarmac amid the faded after-life of the Hessle Road distributaries, in the sleazy town centre of casinos and massage parlours offset by the glistening St. Stephen's Centre, and in the aspiring trendiness of the Newland Avenue bistro and bar zone. This book looks Hull, smells Hull, sounds Hull, and maybe even tastes Hull, meticulously rendered as it is in reams of flat, blunt, staccato, wry dialogue which dominate the text.

Whereas `Black & White' tarried awhile to establish its premises, its successor `Broken Dreams' fizzes and crackles from the first page as it outlines the puzzle to be solved - a murdered wife, a mysterious embezzlement and a missing daughter, soon to be supplemented by loads of other seedy and tragic goings-on. The side-story is much more lusty too this time as it tracks the increasingly affectionate relationship emerging between Joe, still seeking closure for the death of his wife, and his partner Don's more than attractive daughter, Sarah, whom Joe will be required to invite to join him in a swingers' club to assist him in his enquiries - something for Joe to get worked up about!

Between scenes of continual action and painstaking investigation Nick interweaves the thick atmospheric thread of the history of Hull itself and especially that of the shattered fishing industry once the raison d'être for the vibrant, tough and close-knit Hessle Road trawling community. To readers brought up with Hull folklore in each nipple, the stark realities of a trade classified as casual labour carrying with it no fringe benefits, no accident or redundancy compensation and sometimes not even any pay, and yet in its day representing the most dangerous and brutal industry in Britain, will come as no surprise. To foreigners from beyond the borders of the East Riding of Yorkshire these details will add an enthralling documentary underpinning to the story, enhancing its already earthy credibility.

As someone who also has a recent book - Missio - which uses the Hull fishing industry as its back-plot, I was delighted to find that our facts and takes matched impeccably almost to the point of repetition, as did our respective side-swipes at the dissipated state of the Hull Royal Infirmary. I have noticed that in his last couple of outings Nick has been increasingly willing to have his characters snarl provocatively at unsatisfactory features of the city, adding pleasingly to the spicing of his literary concoctions while no doubt discomforting its targets accordingly - no Hull Tourist Board (sic) sponsorship there.

Apparently Nick's next book is already progressing even more smoothly than this one, to which I can only comment that if it turns out to be better still, it will be beyond brilliant.

Having read numerous short stories by this author, i'm looking forward to this first full length book. The short stories capture the essence and reality of life in a northern city to a tee - reminiscent of John Godber's works for the stage - with descriptions of local landmarks that make them easily recognisable, even to anyone unfamiliar with the area. The 'whodunnit' twists are always the surprise you're not expecting, in true crime fiction style. Always an enjoyable read.

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4.0 out of 5 stars A slow burner - well worth a look
I really enjoyed this, the first in a proposed series of Joe Geraghty books. Nick's prose is well put together, and atmospheric enough to give a real feel for life in modern day... Read more

Published 3 months ago by Bishbashboogie

5.0 out of 5 stars Skilful plotting and subtle characterisation
For Joe Geraghty, former rugby league professional and now private investigator based in Hull's Old Town, a routine job looking into a local woman's absenteeism from work takes a... Read more

Published 5 months ago by Country Publications

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent British crime fiction!
Joe Geraghty is a private investigator. Asked to investigate a member of staff's absenteeism by a local businessman, he soon becomes embroiled in a murder investigation. Read more

Published 6 months ago by GuiltyConscience

5.0 out of 5 stars Broken Dreams - a fine debut novel
BROKEN DREAMS is Nick Quantrill's debut novel, and it's a cracker.

It can't be easy being a PI in northern England - Hull, to be precise - and in Joe Geraghty, we have... Read more

Published 8 months ago by Julie Lewthwaite

5.0 out of 5 stars It's a Hull of a novel!
Hull is a much maligned place, usually by people that have never visited. What Nick manages to do in this excellent debut novel is bring Hull's rich history to life whilst at the... Read more

Published 11 months ago by Grooydaz39

5.0 out of 5 stars BRIT GRIT KING!
This is a cracking book. It's the story of a man- Joe Geraghty- and a city - Hull- that have taken many a good kicking and are trying to get back on their feet. Read more

Published 15 months ago by Paul D Brazill

4.0 out of 5 stars Definitely a Series Debut
Joe Geraghty might not own shares in "Queen's" but sups enough within its walls to be a virtual alckie by the time the novel reaches its denouement, leaving the reader with the... Read more

Published 16 months ago by Linda Acaster

5.0 out of 5 stars Grittier than a newly coated road!
As a law abiding citizen of Hull, it was both fascinating and worrying to read private investigator Joe Geraghty's first tale, and I had to keep reminding myself that it was in... Read more

Published 19 months ago by Mr. R. Sutherland

5.0 out of 5 stars To Hull and Back
Being born and bred in Hull and now living away, as I started this book the memories came flooding back. The area where his local is is where I was born!! Princes Avenue! Read more

Published 23 months ago by P. D. Roberts

5.0 out of 5 stars This is how a detective novel should be written
First of all, I don't like detective books. I've always found them to be either too predictable or so convoluted and pretentious, they've left me cold. Read more

Published 23 months ago by Lifelongdagger

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