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Stegs Jenner and Paul Vokerman are involved in a drugs deal in a hotel room at Heathrow airport with some Colombian gangsters. The adrenaline is running high both inside and outside the room. The deal is a meticulously planned undercover police sting called Operation Surgical Strike. Unfortunately, it would seem that the operation hasn't been as meticulously planned as they had thought and, instead of a neat scar, the patient is left with a major artery that appears to have sprung a leak. The ensuing shoot-out leaves a number of people dead, the maverick Stegs Jenner under suspicion, and Slim Robbie -- the police informer who helped set up the whole deal -- conspicuous by his absence. The story unfolds primarily from the viewpoints of DI John Gallan, who has to clean up the mess, and Stegs Jenner -- a loose cannon at the best of times, now out for revenge for what happened at Heathrow. Simon Kernick is excellent at switching the narrative viewpoints in this tale that has the reader at least one step behind the whole way along. Gallan's side of things is told in first person, while Stegs Jenner's is third person which works really well -- especially as you're never quite sure exactly whose side Stegs is on (apart from his own, that is). THE CRIME TRADE is the third book in what is not so much a series as a collection of tales involving interconnecting characters who weave in and out of each one. DIs Gallan and Malik are familiar faces, and Simon Kernick introduces some new and very memorable supporting characters -- including a bad guy with an interesting use for an ordinary household appliance. This is a really good read -- fast, furious and with some welcome humorous moments to break the tension.
Reviewed by Donna Moore, June 2004
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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