Product Description

Gunned down in broad daylight on his own home patch in 1998, the young man's murder seemed like just another street squabble between drugs dealers. The police marked the file unsolved. In a one-mile stretch of Glasgow's slums the victim's bodies started falling, disappearing, overdosing and meeting accidents. The police were at a loss. This is the story of organized crime gone paranoid and turning in on itself, seen through unusual eyes. Kay, a call-girl by profession, was a member of the inner circle of one of the countries most vicious gangs. Raised in a rural middle-class home, sexually abused by her grandmother, she was drug-running for her mother when still a small child. She spent her teenaged years in rough housing schemes, and was conned into prostitution by her mother. After a chance meeting with a gangster in a bar, she was recruited by him as his confidante. Soon she was carrying a loaded gun. She took a lover, the gang's equalizer, who was the young man gunned down in the street. For Kay it was the start of her way out.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #122976 in Books
• Published on: 2002-05-23
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 224 pages

Synopsis
Gunned down in broad daylight on his own home patch in 1998, the young man's murder seemed like just another street squabble between drugs dealers. The police marked the file unsolved. In a one-mile stretch of Glasgow's slums the victim's bodies started falling, disappearing, overdosing and meeting accidents. The police were at a loss. This is the story of organized crime gone paranoid and turning in on itself, seen through unusual eyes. Kay, a call-girl by profession, was a member of the inner circle of one of the countries most vicious gangs. Raised in a rural middle-class home, sexually abused by her grandmother, she was drug-running for her mother when still a small child. She spent her teenaged years in rough housing schemes, and was conned into prostitution by her mother. After a chance meeting with a gangster in a bar, she was recruited by him as his confidante. Soon she was carrying a loaded gun. She took a lover, the gang's equalizer, who was the young man gunned down in the street. For Kay it was the start of her way out.

About the Author
Reg McKay is a former social worker, an investigative journalist and the author of None so Pretty: The Sexing of Rebecca Pine and The Ferris Conspiracy.

Customer Reviews

wee man
This true life tale set in south glasgow gangland is a good read.Although pseudonyms r used for most of the characters , if you read any of the scottish papers around the time of john simpsons (paul sim )shooting it is quite easy to figure out who is who.Bud cummings is gangster stuart boyd who died in a car crash in 2004.

A brilliant and exceptionally written novel.
For the first time, I literally could not put down this book. It is a very detailed and magnificently written novel, which left me with a sense of really knowing the characters. At the end of each chapter you're left wondering if things will work out well for Kay, the main character, but despite kick after kick in the teeth, she perseveres. Some readers have said that they found the strong, vivid descriptions too graphic (as well as questioning the realism behind the story) but isn't that what you want when you read a novel? To be able to imagine and believe. I liked the structure Reg McKay uses: you are given parts of the story here and there, describing different periods in Kay's life - you are given a few pieces of a puzzle and are left to read between the lines. (The good thing is, it's not hard to follow, so it's easy to understand when different events take place throughout the novel.) A fascinating story, whether fictitious or not, brilliant characterisation and an 'un-disappointing' and unexpected finale. Unlike some novels I have read, there is no anti-climax here! A brilliant book to read anywhere, anytime. Perhaps not for the easily offended. Ten out of ten.

True story or fantasy???
I have to agree with other reviews that the book was a little too graphic. Many times I was left saying to myself "stop now..I've got the picture" Although the book was a good read I was left asking myself is this a true story or not. There are references to key underworld figures and events which are aimed at authenticity but these can easily be researched. I can't understand why there is a need to change names and be vague about dates and places if indeed she is trying to expose the underbelly of Glasgow's organised crime. Surely "people in the know" including police will easily piece this together and know who is who...that is, if it is a true story. My opinion is that this is 100% creation of the author and he has invented Kay Petrie telling her story to add a different angle to the book and give it a touch of realism. If this is the case I commend the author for creativity. There are two events in the book which give me this sceptical view. Firtsly the meeting with BC and asking if she will be safe to return to Glasgow. This did not have a ring of truth to it and I simply could not imagine this taking place in the manner in which it did. I also do not understand why she would reveal herself and return to Glasgow on "his word" that she will be safe when throughout the book she has painted him as a lieing, two faced, sneeky not to be trusted so and so. The second event is the scenario of the chance meeting between the author and Kay Petrie in an Edinburgh brothel. Once again I cannot imagine a scenario like this being true to the story.

All in all I was left with many doubts but not a bad read.