Nick is a bouncer in a London club and it’s while working that he meets Lisa who soon becomes a fixture in his life. Providing him with a steady stream of sex and drugs it’s not long before the latter has an effect on his employment when he is let go for not performing his duties properly. As Nick has become accustomed to always having some cash on hand he eventually succumbs to Lisa’s suggestion to get some quick money. Her proposition is to kidnap and ransom a local businessman who now owns a string of establishments similar to the one Nick was recently fired from. He also travels around without any bodyguards for protection so it should be a simple job. To accomplish the job they’ll need one more person so they enlist Nick’s neighbour and friend Dex to assist. When they proceed with the kidnapping each of the three does so for a very different reason. Can they work together to get what they want or will their differences impact their chances of success and will their poetry espousing victim be compliant enough to pull it off?

This is classic noir albeit set in London and written by an Irishman. It’s harsh and brutal (probably more so than his Jack Taylor books) with not much in the way of light relief. There’s a bit of sex and a lot of violence to accompany the snappy dialogue. It’s a short nove, weighing in at just 150 pages and a quick read. It is one of the author’s early novels and while not as accomplished as his later ones it definitely shows signs of promise to come. Not one I’d recommend as a starter for his work but for those looking for a quick Bruen fix without the entanglements a series brings then this might just fit the bill. ( )