It's thirty years since Harry Starks and his gang kept the underworld of Soho under control but the consequences of their brutal reign are still being felt. Julie McCluskey, the actress daughter of one of Starks' victims, has grown up without a father and now that she's discovered it was money from her father's murderers that put her through drama school, she's furious. Furious with her mother for accepting it, but even more furious with Harry Starks - and she's decided she wants revenge. Tony Meehan, journalist and part-time murderer ('I've only killed three') has added another occupation to his list: he's ghostwriting the autobiography of one of the Bullion Job (Brinks Mat) gang, a robbery in which Starks was also involved, and the gold's still missing. And then there's Gaz, who worked for Starks' rival Beardsley in the 80s and is now running bouncers, taking too many drugs, and playing a very dangerous game. Moving his focus on to the greedy 80s and the rave scene of the 90s, Arnott delivers another hard-edged, riveting, brilliant novel that will delight his many admirers and win him more.
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'A rollercoaster journey through a landscape most honest, decent people wouldn't know existed . . . sparklingly witty, immensely profound . . . it should be read as a matter of urgency' (Erwin James, Guardian )
'The most expansive, ironical and funny novel of the series' (David Isaacson, Daily Telegraph )
'The popularity of Arnott's work rests on his fluent, readable style and strong storytelling. While challenging the hype surrounding the genre, he avoids hypocrisy by stopping just short of glamorising his subject matter.' (New Statesman )
'Arnott delivers a beacon-bright satire . . . a literary triumph' (Metro )
'Arnott's satire is right on the money' (Observer )
'Arnott's clever, style-conscious book is brutally authentic, yet at the same time ironically "knowing", with an almost satirical attitude to gangster entertainment and the cult of criminal celebrity. Its total readability consolidates his status as a blue-chip crime writer'. (Sunday Times )
'Arnott has a sharp sense of humour and a real concern for the consequences of crime on his characters and society.' (Daily Telegraph )
'Arnott is both witty and gritty.' (Daily Telegraph )
'The most expansive, ironical and funny novel of the series' (David Isaacson, Daily Telegraph )
'The popularity of Arnott's work rests on his fluent, readable style and strong storytelling. While challenging the hype surrounding the genre, he avoids hypocrisy by stopping just short of glamorising his subject matter.' (New Statesman )
'Arnott delivers a beacon-bright satire . . . a literary triumph' (Metro )
'Arnott's satire is right on the money' (Observer )
'Arnott's clever, style-conscious book is brutally authentic, yet at the same time ironically "knowing", with an almost satirical attitude to gangster entertainment and the cult of criminal celebrity. Its total readability consolidates his status as a blue-chip crime writer'. (Sunday Times )
'Arnott has a sharp sense of humour and a real concern for the consequences of crime on his characters and society.' (Daily Telegraph )
'Arnott is both witty and gritty.' (Daily Telegraph )
About the Author
Jake Arnott was born in Buckinghamshire in 1961. He has worked as a labourer, a mortuary technician, a theatrical agent's assistant, an artist's life model and a sign language interpreter as well as enjoying many fruitful periods of unemployment. His acting experience has included work on the Fringe in London, Edinburgh and Toronto as well as improvised comedy.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
18 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
TRUECRIME is a worthy successor to THE LONG FIRM and HE KILLS COPPERS (the latter, in my opinion, one of the single best books on England and English culture to ever be published), although it is perhaps the weakest of Arnott's loosely connected gangland trilogy.
I read Arnott's first two novels last year (when I was 21), back to back, and - although I was enthralled and gripped by the atmosphere of THE LONG FIRM and the sublimely handled plot of HE KILLS COPPERS - thus found that a lot of those books' density went over my young head (refrences being pointed out by others). Arnott's period pieces were received by young readers purely for their stylistic, thematic and narrative content.
Not so TRUECRIME, which is set mostly in 1995, with the rise of Britpop, New Labour and gangster chic providing the colourful backdrop. Historically more immediate, the overwhelming amount of references - Guy Ritchie, Dave Courteney, Lenny McLean, Ministry of Sound, to name but a few - this time cast a strange shadow over Arnott's writing. Is he the immense literary talent some have claimed, or is he merely bringing together a wealth of thinly-veiled references and calling it a 'novel'? Though TRUECRIME is a fast, witty and blistering read, readers might find themselves playing 'spot-the-reference' instead of following the three stories that Arnott dexterously weaves together.
With multiple first-person narratives, TRUECRIME is a closer relation stylistically to Arnott's debut, THE LONG FIRM, but by keeping it down to three voices this time, Arnott creates a tighter, more intimate world that readers soon get lost in. There is no doubting Arnott's ability to string sentences together, which he does better than 9 out of 10 writers with publishing deals.
... Read more ›5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
By mrtbm
Format:Paperback
Read the triology long after they first came out...not sure why so many reviewers dislike this one. Thought Truecrime was brilliant. A superb critique of the underbelly of contemporary life, not just cashing in on it or glamourisisng it. Couldn't put it down. Again, as with the previous Arnott books there are the excellent characters of fiction mixed with the backdrop of real life references that gives the book a very real feel to it. As a one time long time London resident really could relate to the settings and the stories....so on a personal level was quite thought provoking. A fine finish to a fantastic trilogy.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By Oldevers
Format:Paperback
truecrime provides a fitting end to Jake Arnott's highly-enjoyable The Long Firm trilogy by bringing it all the way from the 60s to the rave culture, glamourised Lock Stock gangsters and Cool Britannia of the 90s.
Like its two predeccesors truecrime weaves multiple narratives and plots skilfully into one. Arnott's hallmarks are all in evidence as he places his characters againt the backdrop of real events and twists them into his own gripping plot using the voices of three different storytellers. Characterisation is definitely one of his strengths, whether it be the struggling actress, the posh boys struggling to look like ganagsters, the wizened old hack or the criminals.
There is also a large dose of irony in the stories being told here, with public perceptions being blown apart by reality and parody aplenty, particularly of those seeking to become famous.
Like its two predeccesors truecrime weaves multiple narratives and plots skilfully into one. Arnott's hallmarks are all in evidence as he places his characters againt the backdrop of real events and twists them into his own gripping plot using the voices of three different storytellers. Characterisation is definitely one of his strengths, whether it be the struggling actress, the posh boys struggling to look like ganagsters, the wizened old hack or the criminals.
There is also a large dose of irony in the stories being told here, with public perceptions being blown apart by reality and parody aplenty, particularly of those seeking to become famous.
8 of 10 people found the following review helpful
By "roughanc"
Format:Paperback
Having read Jake Arnott's first two books, and enjoyed them both, it was inevitable that I'd buy the third book in the Harry Starks trilogy.
With a backdrop of 60s criminality this book is set in the pre- New Labour nineties. Like the latter chapters of The Long Firm, Harry Starks is an enigma, the strong link between the four main characters in the book.
The story telling is of the usual high- quality, dialouge is realistic and the stories are interwoven well (although knowing Arnott's style, it does seem more forced than his debut and a little stretched towards the end).
If you, like me, jumped on the bandwagon of Lock Stock, this book panders to the glamour of Cool Brittania and 60s 'geezers'. But it is also heavily ironic. Arnott's reference to a 'show within a show' in his fantasy world mirrors what he has acheived in reality. The 'coolness' of villany is parodied.
I heard there was going to be TV version of The Long Firm last year. I'm not sure what happened to it, but I bet people wanted it to be very 'Lock Stock'. Maybe this books is Arnott's way of getting his own back. Who knows.
I loved the book. Buy it, borrow it, steal it ....
By Elizabeth
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Bought the trilogy for a friend's birthday. These Jake Arnott books are an excellent study of the London crime scene. See also He Kills Coppers and The Long Firm.
By Colin Mayo
Format:Paperback
I read the superb The Long Firm and He Kills Cops and they are without doubt 5 star books, unfortunately trying to update the Essex/gangland genre for the 1990s just doesn't work. The problem with the multi-viewpoint style of Arnott's is that you have to be involved with each character and some just don't ring true (also, in places, the dialogue is totally unbelievable). The plot is just too thin to hold your attention and as you have little interest in the cliched characters and their motivation it all falls a bit flat. I actually gave up half way through and read 2 other books and then decided to go back and finish it - but, unfortunately I was left totally underwhelmed by the ending. It's a pity as I was expecting so much more after the excellence of The Long Firm and He Kills Cops and would recommend those books rather than this work as a true representation of Jake Arnott's talent.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
Final Part of Arnott's Trilogy
The final part of Jake Arnott's trilogy. Set in 1995 (mostly in and around London) the book charts the sagas of three very different individuals whose lives will (almost... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Walton White
5.0 out of 5 stars
Arnott on top form.
His first novel, "The Long Firm" was good, and Jake Arnott pulls all the same narrative tricks here. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Ignorant Bystander
2.0 out of 5 stars
Jake has finally become a parody of himself
My prior reviews of Arnott's first two volumes in this series reflected that having lived through the times of all those events, I did not find his dramatised fiction versions... Read more
Published on 1 Mar 2009 by Siriam
2.0 out of 5 stars
Disappointing
I thoroughly enjoyed both The Long Firm and He Kills Coppers but it wasn't far into Truecrime that I began to lose interest. Read more
Published on 15 Mar 2005 by P. Fox
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good Not Great
I liked this book enough (it was my first Arnott) to now read The Long Firm, but it definitely petered out about 3/4 of the way through when too much unreality crept in. Read more
Published on 19 Feb 2005
4.0 out of 5 stars
A compelling and very enjoyable read
Whilst this doesn't match the brilliance of The Long Firm it is a great book that is superior to much other crime fiction. Read more
Published on 15 Sep 2004 by pboropixie
1.0 out of 5 stars
Lacklustre
Having read the Long Firm and thought that many references and storylines came from the Krays (and in particular John Pearsons brilliant - The Profession of Violence) I wasn't... Read more
Published on 9 July 2004 by Jabbers
1.0 out of 5 stars
Jake's lost the touch
Regardless of the downhill slide indicated by 'He Kills Coppers' after 'The Long Firm', this is a mess by any standard. Read more
Published on 3 July 2004 by archieleach
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