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Post by Lord Emsworth on Jul 10, 2022 14:48:13 GMT
Anthony who?.... Anthony Frewin, in addition to having written three novels, was assistant film director to Stanley Kubrick for over 20 years en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_FrewinI recently finished this slice of seaside noir  Sidney Blattner is the most successful — and the most brutal — organised crime figure in London, and now someone has dared to execute his innocent brother in the seaside resort of Margate. When Sidney attends the funeral, his chauffeur disappears and two aides turn up dead. Will Vince, the sharpest member of Sid's firm, have better luck when he arrives in the seaside town? |
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Post by Lord Emsworth on Jul 10, 2022 14:48:55 GMT
Scorpian Rising (2001) is a classic pared down gangster noir novel. If you enjoy Ted Lewis and Derek Raymond then you should like this too. I certainly did.
I’m a big fan of books set in either London or seaside towns. Double bubble here given all the action takes place in London and on the Isle of Thanet (Margate and Ramsgate).
When London crime boss Sidney Blattner learns his innocent brother has been executed in Margate, he sets out to find out why he was killed. Is someone sending him a message? Various emissaries get killed so he sends down his main man Vince, and most of the novel is narrated from Vince’s point of view. When this move doesn’t go to plan Sid becomes ever more anxious and disconcerted.
So far so familiar, right? There are echoes of Get Carter and other novels, but what elevates this one is the storytelling, and the depiction of the crime milieu. Best of all, the Isle of Thanet is powerfully portrayed. The bleak and down at heel Kent coast making a wonderfully disconcerting backdrop for the unsettling storyline.
It may all be fairly predictable but, when it’s done this well, I’m all in. An intriguing slice of British seaside noir that is well worth a read.
Anthony Frewin, in addition to having written three novels, was assistant film director to Stanley Kubrick for over 20 years. I will be reading his other two novels ASAP.
4/5
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Post by Lord Emsworth on Jul 10, 2022 14:49:56 GMT
I'm now I'm back aboard the Frewin train and am already a few chapters into.... London Blues (1997) by Anthony Frewin It's taken a while to get going but once the protagonist arrives in London in 1959 things pick up fast It's chock full of wonderful and well informed period detail, all aligned to a compelling story Soho-tastic The chance discovery of a 30-year-old porn film leads back to the film’s maker, Tim Purdom, and the London of the late 50s and early 60s. Purdom was a pioneer of the British blue movie as well as a figure on the periphery of the Profumo sex scandal. He directed 8 films—but who was directing him, and what was their hidden agenda? And where is Tim now? London Blues is a provocative, totally original crime novel |
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