Genre: Crime/Noir
Description:
Gus Dury is a down at heel ex-reporter with a dark past. He’s kicking
his heels in life when Danny Murray, a runner for local gang boss Boaby ‘Shaky’
Stevens, asks Gus to do a job for him – find an old friend, Barry Fulton. Gus
is reluctant, but £3,000 helps sweeten the deal. Gus quickly learns Barry has
got involved with Irish gangsters encroaching onto Shaky’s patch and, unless he
finds him soon, someone’s going to end up dead.
This standalone novella is part of Black’s Gus Dury series, the other
four (Paying For It, Gutted, Loss, and
Long Time Dead) are full length novels.
Author:
Tony Black is an award winning national journalist who covered a
diverse range of stories from crime to nightclub reviews. Tony then moved into
writing crime novels, with nine now published to critical acclaim.
More information can be found about Tony Black on his website.
Appraisal:
Long Way
Down is a gem of a story. It’s theoretically a quick read, however I found
myself spending a lot longer than normal with it simply because I wanted to
stay immersed in the prose. This was a challenge because the action starts on
the first page, when Danny steps into Gus’s sphere, and doesn’t let up.
The characters are very strong, Gus himself clearly has a deep
background with references made to a difficult upbringing. He drinks, swears,
fights – not someone you’d want your daughter to bring home. But he’s resolute,
loyal, tough – someone you’d want at your back. The supporting cast of (few)
friends and (many) enemies are equally entertaining – Gus mixes with some
dubious company. A particular favourite is Mac the Knife, a man not to be
messed with.
The dialogue is sharp and at times witty, despite the gritty and
grimly sharp Edinburgh location which, is excellently described with a minimum
of carefully chosen words and some local vernacular. For example:
The bar was dark, dingy. In days gone past there’d have been a pall of
grey smoke you’d struggle to shine headlamps through. Now the nicotine-stained
walls and ceiling looked painfully over-exposed – the woodchip papering would
turn to writhing maggots after a few scoops.
And another:
I picked out the smell of p*ss and sickly-sweet Buckfast mingling on
the grimy stairwell. Some of the young crew had been in to tag the walls since
my last visit, and despite being a respecter of the creative urge I couldn’t
help but think their efforts sucked balls. Right into a hernia.
The only ‘disappointment’ with Long
Way Down? I finished it too quickly! Top drawer noir.
FYI:
Frequent strong language.
Added for
Reprise Review: Long Way
Down by Tony Black was a nominee in the Thriller/Suspense category for
B&P 2013 Readers' Choice Awards. Original review ran January 13, 2013.
Format/Typo
Issues:
None.
Rating:
***** Five Stars
Reviewed
by: Keith Nixon
Approximate
word count: 10-15,000 words
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