RaveCrime Fiction LoverJack Price is a coke dealing free market entrepreneur. He sells Pale Peruvian Stallion which is, in fact, grown and processed locally. He arranges his deliveries with freelancers in the zero-hours, gig-economy spirit of modern capitalism. As Price says, he is the Uber for illegal drugs ... It’s a genius set up with a minimal supply chain that reduces any opportunities for leaks and snitches ... Then his highly successful one-man startup goes pear shaped. First, his elderly neighbour, Didi, ends up dead...She might have been an ugly bad-tempered old lady but that doesn’t mean he is happy about it. Price starts making some enquiries but earns himself a beating and a warning. He doesn’t let it go and quickly he ends up with a contract on his head. It’s a spectacular escalation but the Seven Demons are now after him ... if the style doesn’t induce grammatical apoplexy then you’ll be able to appreciate that the writing sparkles. It’s caustic and cutting. The Price You Pay is also a surprisingly warm book given the cool and calculating sociopathy of Jack Price. He’s not infallible either and for all his slightly manic thought processes he’s straight down the line. There’s no unreliable narrator here.
Denise Mina
RaveCrime Fiction LoverNeither of the two main characters are particularly likeable and it is grimly fascinating to sit in on their conversations. We follow them through a night of drinking together as they tour around Glasgow. There is a macabre quality as they dance around their own egos and desires. Watt stumbling through an ego-haze of alcohol and Manuel, devoid of empathy, unable to read his fellow man. Manuel is an arrogant psychopath; there’s no insight, no human connection. These are exquisitely drawn scenes and Mina’s prose pulls you in. It is spare, precise and frequently devastating ... The narration has an omniscient quality and it feels as if Mina is sitting us down to tell us the tale. Her style is wide-ranging and modern but not judgemental and the story is laid bare for us to judge. We all know that Mina does not lack talent and it is clear from the first few pages that she has rolled up her sleeves and is flexing her literary muscles. The Long Drop is an atmospheric dive into the menace and folly of men. It is a delicious evocation of some dark days with tone-perfect dialogue. This is a relatively short novel but, like a classy single malt, The Long Drop is one to savour.
