Amazon Review
Danny King writes like a foul-mouthed jack the lad who also happens to possess irresistible storytelling skills and a wicked sense of humour. Bex, the chief protagonist, has long given up on the idea of a straight office job and is content to get by on dodgy dealings and botched jobs, but occasionally he does give in to the odd scruple. For example, despite the encouragement of his hapless mate Ollie, our narrator refuses to extract money from a kiddie's piggy bank and passes up the opportunity to cash in on a wedding ring belonging to a recently deceased old lady. He further redeems himself when, naturally in the line of "duty", he exposes firstly some neglectful parents and later an evil paedophile ring--exploits that earn him a hero's mention in the local 'paper. That said, this is far from a tale of robbing the rich to feed the poor and while Bex is a hugely entertaining creation, his chosen profession will not endear him to every reader.
King's first book is a devilishly funny insight into the mind of a petty criminal with hilarity at every turn. The Burglar Diaries, a remarkable debut from a man with a bright future on the "outside", looks set to ignite a cracking series. --David Thwaites
Product Description
Bristling with a razor-sharp wit, The Burglar Diaries is the first person account of petty thief Bex: a bit of a geezer who, with long-time partner-in-crime Ollie, just about gets by on the money he makes from house-breaking in small town suburbia. Not the sharpest of tools in the box, Bex and Ollie get into more than their fair share of scrapes but they stick together, have a laugh and make just enough cash to stay out of gainful employment. A lippy raconteur, Bex frequently shares his thoughts on life which are as dodgy as he is and offer a hilarious insight into the mind of the petty criminal.
Not for kids or do-gooders.
Adapted for TV by the BBC.
"King wisely stop short of turning Bex into a simple lovable rogue. He continually slags off everyone else in the book, including his friends, yet is himself utterly egocentric, immoral, disloyal and stupid, so that his narrative offers ambiguous pleasures" – The Independent
"Hilariously un-PC account of the jobs he has known and loved – the line-ups, the lock-ups and cock-ups. If ever there was an antidote to Bridget Jones's Diary this is it" – The Mirror
"Occasionally hilarious if morally dubious, The Burglar Diaries is well-worth buying – and definitely worth half-inching" – GQ Magazine
"... a collection of very funny burglary blunders in which King successfully humanises a bunch of people often considered to be worthless, gutless b*stards. Wonderful therapy for anyone who has been a victim of crime and one of the best reads of the year" – The Big Issue In the North
