- Paperback: 256 pages
- Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC; New edition edition (9 April 2001)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0747552584
- ISBN-13: 978-0747552581
- Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.8 x 2.2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 978,942 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
| ||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
In Painkillers, Simon Ings deftly teases out his knotted story that, with its many conventional elements, could have run a risk of overfamiliarity: sinister Oriental Triad gangsters, their even more sinister wives, a speedy Hong Kong with its ruthless Brit yuppies and its nightlife ridden with drugs, strange sex and violence. Shooting back and forth between a glamorous Hong Kong, in 1990, and a straitened London, in 1998, Ings sustains suspense by dropping hints but never telling enough.
Adam Wyatt and his wife Eva run a small café near Southwark Market. They bicker a lot, Adam drinks and visits to their autistic son Justin tend to go awry. But underneath Adam's drinking are secrets from their previous life in Hong Kong, when he worked for the Independent Commission Against Corruption and got in with some very dubious local society types; one of whom includes "Call me Jimmy" Yao Sau-Lan, "a big nasty man, in a big nasty suit", whose father just happened to kill Eva's grandfather. When Jimmy's widow and sons come calling, Adam knows he's in trouble.
The book's success lies in its handling of Adam's anguished love for his son, and the horribly convincing evocation of pain--both physical and mental--that tortures its hero and will leave some readers squirming. Oh, and make sure you lock up your dog tonight. -- Alan Stewart --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Product Description
This title tells the tale of Adam's odyssey into a nightmare of corruption and violence, where it is his forlorn hope that he is helping his autistic son Justin. As everything implodes around him, Adam risks everything to lay hands on the one thing that might save him - a small bakelite box.
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organise and find favourite items. |
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The cover calls it a 'lethal pacy thriller' but this book is much more than that. Ings has written science fiction, and the mysterious bakelite box at the heart of the story will satisfy readers of his earlier novels. But this is also a story about how a bright, ambitious man can become caught in a spiral of self-destruction. Adam is pursued by his slightly shady past and seems determined to destroy any chance he has of a future. He's hitting the bottle and wrecking his marriage. The one constant in his life, and his only real chance of salvation, is his autistic son. Adam is on a desperate lifelong search for a way of alleviating his son's autism, and the bakelite box just might offer a solution ... Painkillers is sharply written, and on top of everything else it's great on south-London and Hong Kong. And check out Ings's previous novel, Headlong - another dark, unexpected, stylish read.
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
