Layer Cake

From Publishers Weekly The worst thing about drug dealing, whether you're a classy top dealer trading millions or a down-and-out street pusher, is that you have to relate to a lot of total idiots - loudmouths and tough-guy wannabes who aren't afraid to "get nicked by old bill and thrown in the boob" (arrested by police and jailed). The unnamed main character of Connolly's flawless, lightning-swift pulp crime drama - rich in the language of the British underworld - is a smoothly diplomatic 29-year-old cocaine dealer who has earned a respected place among England's Mafia elite. He manages high-level trafficking with a tough old veteran partner, Mister Mortimer, a man who has seen his share of prison and deadly fights. Just as the young dealer is eyeing an early retirement from the business, big boss Jimmy Price hands down a tough assignment: find Charlotte Ryder, the missing rich princess daughter of Jimmy's old pal Edward, a powerful construction business player and gossip papers socialite. Complicating matters are two million pounds' worth of Grade A ecstasy, a brutal neo-Nazi sect and a whole series of double crossings. Navigating the many levels of the international underworld, Connolly convincingly chronicles his anti-hero's transformation from a turn-the-other-cheek diplomat to a revenge-charged hit man, setting his sights on anyone who stands in his way. It's the good bad guys against the bad bad guys in this brilliantly crafted, linguistically dense, European wise-guy tale, and readers will find themselves funning for the triumph of lesser evil. Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Booklist Connolly's stunningly original debut tells the story of a young London gangster who is only 29 but has already made a mark for himself dealing drugs. His goal is to retire at 30 and spend his remaining years far from the danger and double-dealing of London's crime gangs. But like most high rollers, he finds it hard to walk away from "just one more" deal. His latest opportunity--unloading two million Ecstasy tablets--could be just the thing to top off his retirement fund. The deal's irresistible, but our hero soon finds himself undercut, double-crossed, hung out to dry, and struggling to survive. Connolly brilliantly captures the tawdry flamboyance, peculiar camaraderie, creepy characters, and flashpoint violence of the drug world, a place he makes both repugnant and strangely compelling. Even though the dialogue--a combination of drug jargon, vulgarities, British slang, and Cockneyisms--can be hard to grasp, and the plot is occasionally difficult to track, Connolly's slice of low life is utterly mesmerizing. A two-thumbs-up effort by a talented British newcomer. Emily Melton Copyright American Library Association. All rights reserved “A fiendishly sharp, intelligent examination of modern human life that is as funny as hell.” — The Times (London) The end is nigh and the Prince of Darkness has just been offered one hell of a deal: reentry into Heaven for eternity—if he can live out a well-behaved life in a human body on earth. It’s the ultimate case of trying without buying and, despite the limitations of the human body in question (previous owner one suicidally unsuccessful writer, Declan Gunn), Luce seizes the opportunity to run riot through the realm of the senses. This is his chance to straighten the biblical record (Adam, it’s hinted, was a misguided variation on the Eve design), to celebrate his favorite achievements (everything from the Inquisition to Elton John), and, most important, to get Julia Roberts attached to his screenplay. But the experience of walking among us isn’t what His Majesty expected: instead of teaching us what it’s like to be him, Lucifer finds himself understanding what it’s like to be us. By an author hailed by the Times Literary Supplement as one of Britain’s top twenty young novelists, I, Lucifer is “a masterpiece . . . startlingly witty, original and beautifully written” ( Good Book Guide ). “Duncan’s witty and perverse, yet somehow life-affirming, Lucifer is powerful indeed.” — Booklist "A fiendishly sharp, intelligent examination of modern human life that is as funny as hell" ( The Times , London). The end is nigh and the Prince of Darkness has just been offered one hell of a deal: reentry into Heaven for eternity?if he can live out a well-behaved life in a human body on earth. It's the ultimate case of trying without buying and, despite the limitations of the human body in question (previous owner one suicidally unsuccessful writer, Deelan Gunn), Luce seizes the opportunity to run riot through the realm of the senses. This is his chance to straighten the biblical record (Adam, it's hinted, was a misguided variation on the Eve design), to celebrate his favorite achievements (everything from the Inquisition to Elton John), and, most important, to get Julia Roberts attached to his screenplay. But the experience of walking among us isn't what His Majesty expected: instead of teaching us what it's like to be him, Lucifer finds himself understanding what it's like to be us. By an author hailed by the The Times Literary Supplement as one of Britain's top twenty young novelists, I, Lucifer is "a masterpiece . . . Startlingly witty, original and beautifully written" ( Good Book Guide ). "Duncan's witty and perverse, yet somehow life-affirming, Lucifer is powerful indeed." ? Booklist Offered a chance to redeem himself by living a good life in human form, Lucifer inhabits the body of a suicidal writer and intends to set the world straight on everything from Adam and Eve to the Inquisition and Elton John