Product Description
Kandinsky's life is at rock-bottom. He's a gambler in debt to a vicious loan-shark and he's going nowhere fast. Then, by chance, he overhears a conversation and realises he has a way out of his mess. He decides to hijack a robbery of seven hundred and fifty grand's worth of drug money.
He thinks it's going to be easy - a sure thing.
But when your partners are even bigger losers than you are, and the owner of the money is a sadistic drug-dealer who's prepared to kill everybody in his way, nothing's ever easy. And when the people you've stolen from want a piece of you too, the only thing that's sure is there's going to be blood. And lots of it.
The Gamblers is a dark, fast-moving and violent odyssey through the Bristol underworld - the kind of place where every smile hides a betrayal and the hand of friendship usually carries a gun. The Gamblers is a vicious British noir in the tradition of Derek Raymond and Ted Lewis.
--Here's a review of The Gamblers by Heath Lowrance, acclaimed author of 'The Bastard Hand' and 'Dig Ten Graves'--
"THE GAMBLERS - Martin Stanley: Kandinsky is a hardcore gambling addict and loser who owes far more than he can repay to loan shark. He’s a guy who’s screwed from the get-go. But when he overhears a plan to rob a drug dealer, he convinces himself and his friends—who are even bigger losers than him—that they can pull off a miracle. THE GAMBLERS is a sprawling, complicated novel with lots of intriguing characters, a great sense of humor, and a beautifully constructed sense of impending doom. The large cast are all tied together in really clever ways that you wouldn’t suspect, and as each of their personal sagas play out, and wind closer together, you’re left slightly amazed that Stanley is able to pull it off. It’s a very well-structured novel, but Stanley’s real strength is the depth and believability of his characters."
He thinks it's going to be easy - a sure thing.
But when your partners are even bigger losers than you are, and the owner of the money is a sadistic drug-dealer who's prepared to kill everybody in his way, nothing's ever easy. And when the people you've stolen from want a piece of you too, the only thing that's sure is there's going to be blood. And lots of it.
The Gamblers is a dark, fast-moving and violent odyssey through the Bristol underworld - the kind of place where every smile hides a betrayal and the hand of friendship usually carries a gun. The Gamblers is a vicious British noir in the tradition of Derek Raymond and Ted Lewis.
--Here's a review of The Gamblers by Heath Lowrance, acclaimed author of 'The Bastard Hand' and 'Dig Ten Graves'--
"THE GAMBLERS - Martin Stanley: Kandinsky is a hardcore gambling addict and loser who owes far more than he can repay to loan shark. He’s a guy who’s screwed from the get-go. But when he overhears a plan to rob a drug dealer, he convinces himself and his friends—who are even bigger losers than him—that they can pull off a miracle. THE GAMBLERS is a sprawling, complicated novel with lots of intriguing characters, a great sense of humor, and a beautifully constructed sense of impending doom. The large cast are all tied together in really clever ways that you wouldn’t suspect, and as each of their personal sagas play out, and wind closer together, you’re left slightly amazed that Stanley is able to pull it off. It’s a very well-structured novel, but Stanley’s real strength is the depth and believability of his characters."
