Vacuum
Published on 1. September 2018
192 pages
978-1-78010-136-1 (ISBN)
Description
Harpur and Iles juggle a new drug
kingpin and a new chief in this hilarious police procedural from "the Elmore Leonard of Britain's underworld" (
Kirkus Reviews).
After his wife and son are gunned down in what appears to be a hit gone wrong, Local drug boss Mansel Shale turns to religion, leaving his drug business up for grabs. His second-in-command, a weirdo who believes he is Generalissimo Franco, is the wrong man to lead the organization, especially with rival Ralph Ember eager to gain control of Shale's territory. Neither Assistant Chief Desmond Iles nor DCS Colin Harpur wants a drug war. Both believe in the motto "No blood on the pavement." But their new chief has a different motto-"Lock 'em up and toss away the key"-and is pushing matters in the wrong direction.
"The qualities that make James's books stand out from the crowd are his masterful ability with words and his howlingly funny, darkly brutal humor.... Despite the seriousness of the plot, it's impossible not to laugh aloud at the fierce ripostes, subtle digs, and overt insults peppered across every page. A true delight from a genre master." - Booklist(starred review)
"Not only the most stylishly adventurous books in British crime fiction today but also the funniest." - The Telegraph
After his wife and son are gunned down in what appears to be a hit gone wrong, Local drug boss Mansel Shale turns to religion, leaving his drug business up for grabs. His second-in-command, a weirdo who believes he is Generalissimo Franco, is the wrong man to lead the organization, especially with rival Ralph Ember eager to gain control of Shale's territory. Neither Assistant Chief Desmond Iles nor DCS Colin Harpur wants a drug war. Both believe in the motto "No blood on the pavement." But their new chief has a different motto-"Lock 'em up and toss away the key"-and is pushing matters in the wrong direction.
"The qualities that make James's books stand out from the crowd are his masterful ability with words and his howlingly funny, darkly brutal humor.... Despite the seriousness of the plot, it's impossible not to laugh aloud at the fierce ripostes, subtle digs, and overt insults peppered across every page. A true delight from a genre master." - Booklist(starred review)
"Not only the most stylishly adventurous books in British crime fiction today but also the funniest." - The Telegraph
More details
Other editions
Person
Bill James has been called ""the Elmore Leonard of Britain's underworld"" (Kirkus Reviews) and has been named a ""Master of Crime"" in a mystery roundup by the London Sunday Times, which said, ""There is nothing else quite like this series of police procedurals. James is concerned with the dilemmas and difficulties of policing Britain's inner cities, and he addresses these in hard-edged narratives that leave readers gasping and flinching, praying the people in these stories never come to live in their streets."" In addition to the Harpur and Iles series, James is the author of other mystery series and a book on Anthony Powell. He lives in Wales.
