Cracks in the Pavement
By Martin Hopkins
I really liked this book. But, First things first, warning this book contains adult material. So if you are offended by explicit sex scenes look away now.
This is dark.. A Dickensian novel that follows an ordinary man Dan. He works in an ordinary job. The story starts off following Dan's life, a kind of hamster wheel like existence. To work, back home, the pub, sleep, to work, back home, Pub, sleep.
Dan's mundane and eventless life, is short circuited when he throws some spare change to a street beggar. GUILT is ever-present. The book transports us to an underworld of beggars, prostitutes deviants and cops. I love the dark humour that is sprinkled around the story, it's like a shaft of sunlight bursting through the clouds, then it's back to business as usual. This book is implacably dark. This book is rare in that it is an honest mirror reflecting real life. Statutory rape is hard to read but it's even braver to write about it. You won't read many books like this because few authors dare delve this deep into the cesspit of Britain's underworld.
Emily, is not a woman feminist will be comfortable with. Women with the histrionics personality disorder are fascinating. The movie The Getaway with Steve McQueen in the 1970's implied some women enjoy being sexually masochistic enjoying thing we dare not mention. it's all taboo. This book kicks down this door. So be warned its not easy to read. But it's essential to tell the story. The sex scenes in the beggar's doss house are grim, the characters are Dickensian again brilliantly drawn and well observed.
This book was interesting to me this is a world police find hard to penetrate. To a few globalisation is a great idea. Factories in the UK have closed down in large numbers, millions have no home, no job, no pension and no future. When they fall through the cracks in the pavement what becomes of our children? The drugs dealers, the Fagin like characters and porn movie makers are waiting for them with open arms. Look out for the mad professor the string puller a 3D chess player.
There is this friends reunited aspect to the book, where a girl a porn (a porn is whore in Latin) is caught up in the underworld, She is in this reduced dehumanised state and may be as readers we are supposed to despise her?
But the books asks us to flash back a few short years to her school days. Look Look the book asks .. It's shocking because this is REAL life in the UK in 2012. The villains live off society by providing "services" drugs, porn, prostitutes, they have recruiters, safe houses and cash. Not all beggars are poor, This is a really dark story... all the more shocking because it's rooted in reality.
This was a review of the kindle edition the book is adult material but it's highly recommended
Paul Kendall Leeds UK
Buy it now Amazon UK http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cracks-in-the-Pavement-ebook/dp/B006PUFPG8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1339425407&sr=8-1
Buy It Now Amazon USA http://www.amazon.com/Cracks-in-the-Pavement-ebook/dp/B006PUFPG8/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1339425612&sr=8-4
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