Reviewed by: Keith Nixon
Genre: Crime
Approximate word count: 70-75,000 words
Availability
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Author:
Tom Pitts
learnt about life on the mean streets of San Francisco where he still lives,
works and writes today.
You can
learn more about the author at his website.
Description:
Donny and
Big Rich work the streets for a living, turning tricks, doing drugs in their
spare time in an endless downward spiral. But Rich reckons he has a meal ticket
out in the form of Gabriel Thaxton, one of his clients. He's a wealthy man and
wouldn't want his secret to be out there.
The trouble
is Thaxton's already being blackmailed...
Appraisal:
My
expectation was raised when I saw the introduction to Hustle was by Les Edgerton - that the story would be of a certain
type and quality. And I wasn't wrong. Hustle
is a tightly written novel with a straightforward, no nonsense plant, excellent
cast of characters and a real treat to read, surrounded by some testing subject
matter.
Everything
about this novel is neat. There are few characters and all are very well drawn.
Pitts managed to make me care about and like or hate the whole cast. Donny and
Big Rich are two kids who spend their time waiting for a score, whether selling
their bodies to a client or taking drugs. Donny is new to the scene, Big Rich
the more experienced hustler who teaches Donny the ropes.
There's
Thaxton, once a tough lawyer, able to get any criminal off any charge - a legal
version of Gordon Gecko - but now a shadow of his former self. He's paid a very
high price for his success. He's being blackmailed by one of his ex-clients, a
drug addict called Dustin. He's truly excellent, a lunatic of the highest
order. Dustin has something over Thaxton and is using it to his advantage. And
finally Bear, by name and nature, another of Thaxton's clients, but one who's
trying to help him. And that's pretty much it for the cast, with another couple
of ably supporting bodies.
Successive
chapters flip between Donny and Rich, hatching their plan, executing it, then
realising it's not going to work as planned, cut in with narrative on Bear or
Thaxton. The conclusion is very well done. As I said, a real treat.
FYI:
Violence,
swearing and drug taking.
Format/Typo Issues:
Nothing
worth mention.
Rating: ***** Five Stars
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