King of the Road [Paperback]

Stuart MacBride Reviews King of the Road

It might seem a little odd to be recommending the third book in a series, but this was probably the best book I read last year.

King Of The Road follows Royston Blake as he tries to reclaim his place in society after a particularly disastrous outing in Booze and Burn left him cooling his heels for a while in a secured psychiatric hospital. The whole Mangel series is narrated from Blake’s point of view, and a lot of the joy comes from picking up on all the clues he’s oblivious too. There are jokes aplenty, moments to make you wince, others to make you curse Blake for the idiot that he most definitely is...  

You could just read this on its own, or better yet: start with the first two books in the series. That way you’ll get the whole build up, and it’ll make the payoff all the sweeter.

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--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

"'Deadfolk was a fantastic debut and Fags and Lager is even better. Royston Blake is a truly original anti-hero' Mark Billingham 'Fags and Lager is yokel Tarantino... Roll on Mangel book three' Metro London 'There's a real depth to the characters... anyone famillar with small town life will appreciate the pitch-black sense of humour' Big Issue in the North (6/6/05) 'Blake is a dazzling creation of well-intentioned prejudice and overblown machismo, dripping with dramatic irony' BBC Online 'Fags and Lager is seriously funny... Anyone who's ever grown up and put up with rude boys, growlers and thugs in a crappy, rain-soaked market town in the middle of nowhere, will no doubt fall in love with this all-too-fictional nonfiction' Front"

'A sharp and bitingly funny novel that will go down well with fans of the TV series Shameless'

‘This is gloriously funny stuff and so original that other writers must be gnashing their teeth in jealousy’

Released after a long stretch at Parpham Mental Hospital, Royston Blake finds that the world has moved on. Even in Mangel. Gone are most of his old haunts, including Hoppers. In its place: a huge shopping mall, servicing the town's every consumer need. But not everyone is happy seeing the old ways swept aside, and the "Old Guard" - a mysterious opposition group well known on the letters page of the local paper - sets about recruiting Blake as its agent of retribution. Meanwhile Blake just wants to settle down with Sal, get to know the son he has never met, and do the right thing. King of the Road is the final volume in Charlie Williams' acclaimed Mangel trilogy. With his inimitable blend of satirical humour, slapstick action and rural noir, Williams has carved a unique niche in modern British crime fiction.

Charlie Williams was born in 1971 in Worcester. He read English at Swansea University. During a brief visit to Worcester he was arrested for fighting a bouncer and bound over to keep the peace for six months. He moved to London but couldn't resist the lure of his hometown and moved back to Worcester in 2003. His first novel, Deadfolk, was published in 2004. 45