GBH by Ted Lewes

Ted Lewes wrote Jack's Return Home, which was turned into the film Get Carter, starring Michael Caine. I read Jack's Return Home last year, and I thought it was good, but perhaps the film shaded it. This book, GBH, is even better. It's a crime noir book set in 70s London and a seaside town on the east coast of England. Each chapter is titled either 'Smoke' or 'Sea', depending on whether the events described occur in London or in the seaside resort, where our hero is laying low. Our hero, well, he's not so much a hero as an anti-hero; in fact, describing him as an anti-hero would be pushing it quite a lot. He is, however, a man of intelligence and ability. He is also a man of vigour and determination. He runs a very lucrative business, but he comes to suspect someone is skimming his profits, which leads to ramifications. I actually preferred the Sea chapters, where our hero passes the time playing pinball, drinking in crummy pubs, talking to a wannabe rock star, and becoming intrigued by a young woman he meets there.