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I LOVE MY SMITH AND WESSON
by David Bowker
St Martin's Griffin, August 2004
240 pages
$13.95
ISBN: 0312328257


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

I loved I LOVE MY SMITH AND WESSON by David Bowker. It's a seriously deranged dark comic gothic romp that had me laughing and cringing all at the same time. It's only been a few days since I finished reading the book, but I'm already experiencing withdrawal symptoms.

The book opens in Manchester, England, with Billy Dye about to marry Nikki, mother of his daughter Maddy. He is scared to death when he gets a card from (he assumes) his childhood friend, Steve Ellis, aka Rawhead, which implies that the honeymoon might be very abbreviated, being as they will be very busy at their own funeral services.

As it turns out, Billy has misunderstood the message, but the fact that Rawhead is back in his life means that bad things are bound to happen. Billy has just experienced some unexpected success with the publication of a book that is based on Rawhead and about to be turned into a TV series. One of the funniest scenes is when Billy meets with the producers who want to change the lead character Bonehead from an assassin into a more sympathetic lead by making him into a conjurer who juggles oranges.

Meanwhile, Rawhead is on a mission of his own. In Manchester, there's a gang formed by Malcolm Priest, known as the Priesthood. A nasty piece of work by the name of Chef is its leader, and he has a contract out on Rawhead, who he says murdered Priest. Priest's son, Little Malc, has been placed in a secondary position running one of the nightclubs that the gang controls but is not really part of the overall operation.

Rawhead makes it his business to take over the Priesthood and reap the rewards that follow with leadership of a bunch of drug dealers, intimidators and thieves, with Little Malc serving as the CEO, if you will. Serving as Little Malc's bouncer and going by the name Abraham Stoker, Rawhead really tears the Priesthood apart.

Rawhead is one of the most interesting characters I've come across in a long time. He is essentially an emotionless assassin. But on the other hand, he really cares about Billy and has a touching sense of loyalty to him, even helping Billy cover up a murder of his own. What more could one ask of a friend?

I don't know how Bowker does it, but he manages to put a humorous spin on the most gruesome events you can imagine. There's a completely over-the-top scene at the end of the book involving piles of rotting corpses and lovemaking that absolutely works. The man is a genius! I sure hope that he is a quick writer, because based on this book, he's become a must-read for me.

Reviewed by Maddy Van Hertbruggen, January 2005

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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