Just a quick honourable mention of this amazing crime novel I’ve been sent. In this classic of the ‘caper’ genre an unnamed villain discovers that his recently dead associate and mentor has left some business for him to clean up – a favour that sounds simple but unfolds into a complex nightmare of violence, intrigue and betrayal. The narrator ricochets between London and Manchester, organising prison breaks and armed robberies, telling the tale in a pragmatic-staccato style. The background of Fat Blackmail’s authors – one a crime correspondent, the other an ex-villain – ensures that the book is fine on detail on everything from Serbian trafficking gangs to the mechanics of bank jobs. An excellent plot, with twists that are genuinely surprising.
