Product Description

Included in the Fathers Day 2008 Bin -"Hotter than a smoking gun" Now bereft of both youth and ambition, Detective Inspector Ray Lennox is recovering from a mental breakdown induced by occupational stress and cocaine abuse, and a particularly horrifying child sex murder case back in Edinburgh. On vacation in Florida, his fianc 'e Trudi is only interested in planning their forthcoming wedding, and a bitter argument sees a deranged Lennox cast adrift in strip-mall Florida. He meets two women in a seedy bar, ending up at their apartment for a coke binge interrupted by two menacing strangers. After the ensuing brawl, Lennox finds himself alone with Tianna, the terrified ten-year-old daughter of one of the women, and a sheet of instructions that make him responsible for her immediate safety. Lennox takes her across the state to an exclusive marina on the Gulf of Mexico, and quickly suspects that he has stumbled into a hornet's nest: a gang of organized paedophiles, every bit as threatening as the monster that haunted him back in Edinburgh. His priority is to protect the abused girl, but can the edgy Lennox trust his own instincts?And can he negotiate her inappropriate sexuality, as well as his own mental fragility, while still trying to get to grips with the Edinburgh murder and the emotions it unleashes in him? A novel about the corruption and abuse of the human soul and the possibilities of redemption, Crime is a thrilling journey into the bright glamour of the Sunshine State and a seething underworld of utter darkness.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #58662 in Books
• Published on: 2008-07-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

The Times, Doug Johnstone
'"Crime" is by some distance Welsh's most restrained and thoughtful work...Welsh's take is surprisingly considered and compassionate'.

Review
"One for readers with strong stomachs but soft hearts"

Review
`A good, old-fashioned cop drama... written with the pace and drive of a much-younger Welsh'

Customer Reviews

A Taut Thriller; Also a Probing Look at the Pedophiliac World
"Crime," a new novel by Scottish author Irvine Welsh, now comes to us in paperback. Welsh is the critically-acclaimed author of Trainspotting; (made into a movie of the same name,Trainspotting [DVD] [1995], by Gaelic director Danny Boyle; who recently won an Oscar for Slumdog Millionaire [DVD] [2008]). Welsh has also penned the cult classics Porno;Filth; and The Bedroom Secrets of the Master Chefs. In "Crime," Welsh seems to have borrowed a page from his best-selling countryman Ian Rankin, penning a British mystery/police procedural/thriller partially set in Edinburgh, Scotland -- as are Rankin's police procedurals -- and in glitzy, glamorous, and, yes, sometimes, down-on-its heels Florida, U.S.A. Mind you, with his outstanding literary gifts, Welsh has given us far more than a police procedural here. Could it be characterized as tartan noir? Who knows. It's a British mystery as written by a Scot, perhaps tougher and more bloody-minded than the average run of mysteries; it does have that dark Scots humor; but he's certainly considered a higher-brow of author than a mere mystery writer...

Welsh gives us police detective inspector Ray Lennox, of the Edinburgh P.D., (as Rankin has given us John Rebus.) Lennox has recently solved a particularly ugly child kidnapping/abuse/murder; but has solved it too late for the child, Britney Hamil. Lennox, a brilliant cop, is physically and mentally exhausted; finding it far too easy to fall back on his favored crutches: alcohol, cocaine, and whatever else he can. His superiors put him on mental health leave. He and his fiancée Trudi jet to sunny Miami; but, while Trudi is poring over "Perfect Bride," nagging him to pick the date and the venue, Lennox is continuing to fall apart. They quarrel; he's off for a night, during which he hooks up with two desperate young women, Robyn and Starry: and follows Robyn home for a coke session, painted in dark realism. Robyn's 10-year old daughter Tianna sleeps in her bedroom off the living room as best she can. Two threatening strangers, who obviously mean Tianna no good, burst in. Lennox grabs the young girl, and, in an interesting reversal of Vladimir Nabokov's famous book Lolita; he rents a car and hits the road with the child - not to abuse her, but to try to protect her from abuse.

The author has crafted a book that I found thoroughly satisfying as a taut police procedural/thriller; but it's also a probing psychological evaluation of Lennox, and a scalding observation of the pedophiliac world. His descriptive and narrative writing are superb. His characters are carved to the life, off-the wall; their profanity-rich dialog is inventive. They interact in a threatening, topsy-turvy universe, filled with Welsh's well-known comedic absurdity and wit, in which Trudi's well-thumbed copy of "Perfect Bride" plays its - unexpected - part. And yet, he offers us hope.

Very Good
Welsh has never let me down with a novel or short story, and he kept up the great work here. Any other author right now that seems to be putting out a lot of work has chucked out glorified novellas and called them novels. I really can't say a single bad thing about this book. It is a true mature novel. The character development was great. The writing itself was brilliant. Welsh created scenes that made you feel exactly how he wanted you to. If you want Trainspotting part 47 or Filth part 2 don't bother with this because it is completely different. I am not a guy who gives you the entire synopsis in a review, all I can say is that if you want a great, great book to spend some uncomfortable time with, this is one to get.

Who said it doesn't pay !
What with him being a writer an all that young Mr Welsh does seem to have a way with words. I thoroughly enjoyed this bit of fiction, it draws a little bit from the frame of reference drawn up in Filth although this time the copper is goodie (despite his fondnes for the Bolivian Bicarb) who goes on holiday to Florida with his bride to be, only to get himself caught up in child sex ring.

Irivine has a clever knack of addressing challenging issues while still keeping them entertaining. He sits comfortably in the hinterlnd between Andy McNab and Proust, neither embarassingly low brow or pretentiously high brow. If I hadn't already bought "Crime" I'd be happy to buy it again. The only downer on reading Irvine Welsh's books is that as an author I know I'll never be as good as him. Makes you sick doesn't he !

Cheers