Fancy Readin' a Bitta Good Crime Tale, Brov?

books:


	• Layer Cake J. J. Connolly Grove Press, Black Cat, 2004 - 344 pages average customer review:based on 8 reviews view larger image
	for more information click here

highly recommended

Great book for you geezers!

If you liked the movie you'll enjoy the book the movie was based on! For a US reader it takes time to get all the UK slang down, but it is well worth it.

Fancy Readin' a Bitta Good Crime Tale, Brov?

Written back in 2000, J. J. Connolly's debut novel is receiving a lot of buzz these days because of its recent film adaptation. The movie was directed by Matthew Vaughn, producer of the British underworld capers "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" and "Snatch". There will doubtless be many comparisons drawn between the three works based on similarities in setting and characterization. However, "Layer Cake" ultimately distinguishes itself with a more hard-boiled tone and straightforward characters.

The narrator is a mid-level player in the London drug scene who is looking to retire in one piece before his upcoming 30th birthday. However, the head of his syndicate has other plans for him - a pair of daunting jobs that will earn him his freedom to leave the crime family for good with no bad feelings.

The voice of the unnamed first-person narrator is both the strength of the book and its biggest burden. The narrator's language is slick yet credible, leading to some great dialogue scenes accompanied by well-conceived commentary in his thoughts. Being proper criminals in the London scene, everybody uses Cockney rhyming slang, which takes a while to pick up. There are times that I wished for annotated version with editor's notes - I recommend looking up rhyming slang on the Internet or else checking out the bonus material on fhe "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" DVD. For credibility's sake, there is a mountain of profanity as well, including some "strongly-worded" phrases that are apparently more commonplace in Britain than here in the States (check out the Statistically Improbable Phrases section above to decide whether or not this book is for you). On the downside, the stream-of-conscious flow sometimes hindered the plot and rendered certain action passages very difficult to follow. For example, the protagonists cycle through numerous nicknames for rival gangs with no warning, making it a real task at times to keep up with who's dealing with whom. This device has a tendency to smother the plotting more than the Cockney rhyming slang and phonetic misspellings ever could.

The plot is a straightforward stream of cons and double-crosses as each faction tries to get the upper hand and escape with the loot. I was disappointed that the initial thrust of the plot - the narrator's quest to retrieve the runaway-junkie daughter of a friend of the boss - abruptly fizzled near the end for the sake of adding yet another twist. Plot twists are dime-a-dozen in many fiction genres today, and I felt that the plot would have been better served by credibly finishing what it started rather than piling on implausible surprise after surprise for the last 100 pages.

I'm also surprised to see reviews that proclaim this a funny book. While many of the characters displayed a quirkiness that drew an occasional sly smile, I found the book's tone to be subtly very gritty, lacking any of the slapstick Benny Hill buffoonery of "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" or "Snatch". That tone is mercilessly reinforced by our protagonist's actions. He graduates through several levels of casual amorality by the end, casually building up his personal rap sheet for the singular goal of getting out of the gangster game with as much profit as possible. Those looking for a morality play with tearful self-examination leading to confessionals about the harm done will be sorely disappointed by our hero's selfishly blase attitude throughout.

Overall, this book is a good read, recommended for fans of crime fiction who are looking for new locales. Well-crafted dialogue and voice coupled with interesting settings manage to outshine an ultimately predictable plot.

for more information click here

Very good

Realities are a zig-zaggy thing in Layer Cake. The plot, character motives and entire belief systems changed directions almost on the paragraph. If you don't pay quick attention, you might as well be reading the phonebook by the last several chapters. And I admit I got swallowed up by the multitude of thinly explained switcharoos at some points. But all these traits are complementary to the novel, whose characters are themselves desperately trying to keep up. A recurring euphemism in Layer Cake? "Don't lose the plot, brov." That's right.

Better than I expected

I really didn't go into this book expecting to like it because crime / drug / action mysteries are not my normal genre. A few chapters in I was completely hooked, could not put it down. There is a really great array of characters, the author does a good job of developing them (e.g. their personnas and motivations). The hero is not perfect, no one is perfect in this book. The plot moves along on its own and keeps you guessing what will come next. Be warned, the movie really pales in comparison and does not follow the intricate storyline of the book.

for more information click here

Snatch meets Dutch

This novel comes across like a Guy Ritchie movie crossed with an book by Elmore Leonard. Very enjoyable and engaging. I'll have to check out the British movie when it hits Canada.

reviews: page 1, 2

Our narrator's too smart to tell you his name ("if I [did], you'd be as clever as me"), but he's not afraid to tell you everything else about the "layer cake"-London's intricately arranged constellation of underworld fiefdoms. He's a drug dealer who's planning to retire on his thirtieth birthday-after one last great score-to a life as "a gentleman of leisure." Only problem is his boss, the crime kingpin "don" Jimmy Price, has other plans. He can walk away from the life for good only if he can track down a runaway daughter for Jimmy's old friend.
Complicating matters are two million top-grade Ecstasy tablets that were robbed from a factory in Amsterdam by a renegade outfit in Jimmy's employ who are now looking for someone to offload the ill-gotten loot. With an angry mob of German neo-Nazis in hot pursuit, and all crosses and double-crosses leading back to Jimmy, our narrator finds he may have to negotiate a new exit strategy.
With a rich supporting cast of dozens of characters, Layer Cake is a gripping, linguistically inventive thriller, a cross between Irvine Welsh and Dennis Lehane that keeps you turning the pages until the very end.

for more information click here

hot

not?

What's your opinion?

Write a review and share your thoughts!

recommendations

Novels That I Loved to Read
Must Reads By Age 25

cake

The Bread Baker's Apprentice: Mastering the Art of Extraordinary Bread
Hello, Cupcake!: Irresistibly Playful Creations Anyone Can Make
Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World: 75 Dairy-Free Recipes for ...
More Great Good Dairy-Free Desserts Naturally
The Pastry Queen: Royally Good Recipes from the Texas Hill Country's ...

search for books
layer cake, cake, layer

Impressum / about us