Glasgow, 1974 – a time of power cuts, strikes and the three-day week.
Twelve-year-old Ginger Bannerman is playing in the local woods when he stumbles across a gunman in hiding. The man has incriminating evidence of police corruption and forces Ginger to steal a tape recording from a major criminal’s flat.
But when Ginger discovers that his dad, a police constable, is mentioned on the tape, his world is turned upside down.
With both the gunman and the criminal in hot pursuit, he must prevent the tape falling into the wrong hands if he’s going to save himself and his family. Things have suddenly got very serious.
What did I think?
Setin Glasgow, the author brings the 1970’s to life through the eyes of two young boys – Ginger & Milky. The opening real grabs you attention and made me want to read on. They stumble upon something that will change their lives forever.
This book gave me some real ‘Stand By Me’ vibes, as the main characters were two young boys who find themselves mixed up in some pretty dark and twisted gangland-style crimes.
How the story was delivered was clever – past and present, we get a full view of the action and consequences.
I really enjoyed how the author captured the setting and delivered the story so that the reader is fully immersed – a brilliant sense of place. The characters have you either loving or hating them and the humour had me in stitches at times.
Would I recommend this read? Absofrigginlutely! Gordon J. Brown is a master at bringing the darkness of the criminal underbelly to light. This book is gritty, dark but also quite full of hope and redemption. Emotive, captivating and definitely had me wanting more. Add this to your TBR today!
