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Billy Rucker is a private detective with a difference who specialises in finding missing teenage runaways. The difference is that, when he finds them, Billy takes some photos, talks to them, and reassures the parents only that they are OK. For Billy has a social conscience and he's not prepared to drag these kids back to the home life which was usually the cause of their problems in the first place. Billy also has an unusual technique, no suits and ties and awkward interrogations, he dresses to blend in with the street scene and finds his targets by fitting in and observing. Baron takes a fresh approach to the PI novel and it works very well. Billy starts this second outing by finding two teenage girl runaways in one place, the trouble is that he doesn't even know he's looking for the second one yet. When the second girl's mother hires him Billy has trouble finding her again despite several good leads. The scene where Billy finally sees her again is an amazing and almost surreal description of the London clubbing scene, booze, drugs, loud noise, constant movement - worth the price of admission for this section alone. Billy loses the girl again outside the club and then finds himself embroiled in a murder investigation and under suspicion from his former police colleagues. Billy Rucker is an intriguing multi-faceted character who relates his story in first person. He has a brother, Luke, who lies in a coma from an attack that was meant for Billy. Billy left the police after Luke's attack, his girlfriend was once Luke's fiancée, he works out at a boxing gym run by attractive widow Sal, and much more. All this combines into a blend of guilt and conscience and street savvy that make Billy one of the best characters in modern crime fiction, sometimes he's not very nice, but he's always interesting. Hold Back The Night takes the reader from the frenetic London street scene to the estates of the runaway's parents with a nicely varied pacing that had me racing through the action scenes yet savouring the more thoughtful sections. The blend of violence with social commentary and some quite disturbing scenes reminds me very much of Dennis Lehane, but with a British flavour and a London atmosphere that you could cut with a knife. Add an ending which is both surprising and thoughtful and you have a book which should satisfy any hard-boiled enthusiast. Hold Back The Night is an excellent second novel by a British author who deserves much greater recognition. Grab a copy now while it's still available.
Reviewed by Paul Richmond, May 2003
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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