Product Description

When Billy Evans, kingpin football hooligan, decides to go semi-legit and start his own security firm he believes no one can touch him. But when he agrees to help a football club out of its financial crisis by putting its young Irish star out of action so they can claim the insurance money, his troubles are only just beginning. For the footballer has connections in Ireland who will not let this crime go unpunished. Suddenly Billy Evans realises that everything he holds dear is under threat.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #688194 in Books
• Published on: 2002-04-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

David Mattin, The Times
'Enertaining...as long as you are not too faint-hearted'

Review
'Enertaining...as long as you are not too faint-hearted' (David Mattin, The Times )

From the Publisher
A thriller in the tradition of 'The Long Good Friday.'
Hooligan gang leader Billy Evans is above the law. He knows it, and they know it. And when you regard the law as an irrelevance, all kinds of opportunities can open up for you. Especially when you begin to exert your increasingly powerful influence over the back street pubs and clubs of East London. So when Billy gets the chance to make some serious money very quickly by helping a football club with an insurance scam, he grabs it with both hands. But he’s about to discover that this time, he's finally pushed his luck too far. And this time it isn't the law he'll have to contend with. It's something far more dangerous.

Review from 'Over Land and Sea.'

For those of you who are familiar with the genre of ‘Football’ books, Dougie Brimson needs no introduction as an author. He has given us many factual title’s including Derby Days and Capital Punishment to name but two. Last year he came up with a ‘fictional’ story entitled ‘The Crew’. In this, Dougie introduced us to the character of Billy Evans who, as leader of the infamous West Ham CSS (Cockney Suicide Squad) led a team of lads from various ‘crews’ around England on a trip to the Euro Championships. Now, as a follow up, Dougie has written a story that, for all West Ham fans at least, is a must for your collection!

The story revolves around the CSS again but this time, in more depth. We travel with the gang to various football locations and read, in great detail, the workings of the fans minds on away trips. The description of the match at Old Trafford is one that will transport you so as to be able to feel ‘you are there’

Mind you, the story is not just another ‘soccer violence’ yarn. Interwoven within the football is the story of a ‘business’ man trying to get on in life and, setting up a company to give fellow lads various forms of ‘employment’.

The story runs along at a furious pace, but never loses sight of detail. The author has gone to great lengths to do his research and, from this reviewer’s point of view, has done a marvellous job. His characterisations will have readers thinking that they even know people exactly like the one’s in this novel and the plot will have you caught up in the web of intrigue from beginning to end, especially the end as there is rather a good twist written in to this book.

All l can end on saying is……MORE PLEASE!

Review from 'The Yellow Experience.'

While a natural follow up to the highly acclaimed ‘The Crew’ this book is not a sequel in the true meaning of the word. Many of the key characters remain, and the gritty world of underground business still provides the central plot to the story; but other than that, the similarity of the 2 books rests with the quality of story, and the unnerving final twist to the plot. Billy Evans, like all top boys, believes he is infallible. Cocky, arrogant and successful! Everything he gets involved in seems to work out for his benefit. He has the uncompromised support of his mates in the CSS, a sense of loyalty that any true fan of the beautiful game will instantly recognise. But perhaps he has just too much confidence. I am not going to give you any help with the storyline, and you will thank me for that. For ‘Top Dog’, like ‘The Crew’ is a scintillating journey. But this time it is not Europe, but the dark streets of the East End where on every corner there is a way for Billy Evans to improve his position. It is a must read book as the current season gives way to summer, which will give way to the new season, and new opportunity for someone.

Customer Reviews

err we go, err we go....
Great read, as an armchair football fan, this book gave me an insight into another world. What I really liked was the plot and great story line. It would be easy to fill the book with hooligans fighting, but it was not. What really stood out was the plot and story. Excellent read

A TOP DOG of a read!,
Having written a number of non-fiction books covering the hooligan issue, Dougie eventually turned his hand to a fictional account of the culture with his first novel, The Crew. A book many regard as superior even to John Kings masterpeice, The Football Factory. Whilst not necessarily agreeing with that, there is no doubt that for me, The Crew is far better than the majority of the supposed autobiographies that seem to have become standard fare within the hoolie genre. But when news broke of a sequel to The Crew, I had reservations that the quality and pace of the original could be maintanined. I need not have worried for if anything, Top Dog is slightly better than The Crew because in this second book, the author has given the character of Billy Evans a true personality. More importantly, whilst the plot of The Crew was credible, there was a slight air of fantasy about it. In Top Dog, the storyline is totally believeable. Indeed, anyone who knows the hooligan culture will read this and spend much of their time wondering how much of it is based on fact!

Typically, there are the usual trademark twists with a corker coming right at the end. And if the rumours of the film version of The Crew are true, then with this book, Dougie has definately delivered the second installment.

A truly cracking read.

Real Lad Lit
At long last there seems to be some 'real' books written by 'real' people, finding there way on to the shelves. Streetwise, working class 'bloke' authors are somehow getting passed the stuck up twats in publishers who don't seem to realise that a lot of people have no interest in the diary of some fat old boiler, or struggling through a novel where the author seems more intent in proving how clever he or she is, rather than writing an entertaining story.

This book is real lad lit. Colin Butts, Is Harry On The Boat? and Kevin Sampson, Powder, are two other authors who seem to fall within this category, and I wish there were a lot more. Unlike the two aforementioned books, Top Dog probably wouldn't appeal to the fairer sex. What it has in common though, is a feeling that it would make great viewing. All these books seem to contain little mood or scene setters, which are great for conjuring up mental images.

In Top Dog though, one of these is done to death and has made me take off one star - smoking. Was the author sponsored by B&H as well as a computer co? It became tiresome, annoying and almost laughable. More imagination and variety next time please!

On the whole the book was well researched and the best complement any book can have in my opinion, is that I looked forward to picking it up again. To make the reader care for such an obnoxious 'hero' is no mean achievement. The ending had some nice twists and didn't quite go down the Long Good Friday route I was expecting.

On the whole, this is the sort of book I'd recommend to friends who don't normally read books. If there were more Lad Lit books like this, then I reckon the book buying greater than it already is. Keep churning them out son!