Last Year's Man
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- $0.99
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- $0.99
Publisher Description
A troubled, ageing hit man leaves London and returns to his hometown in the north east of England hoping for peace. But the ghosts of his past return to haunt him.
Last Year’s Man is a violent and blackly comic slice of Brit Grit noir.
Praise for LAST YEAR’S MAN:
“Brazill offers a series of amusing episodes filled with breezy banter in this offbeat slice of British noir.” —Publishers Weekly
“It’s all here, everything you’ve come to expect from a Paul D. Brazill caper—the fast pace, the witty banter, the grim humour and the classic tunes—except this time he’s REALLY outdone himself. Unlike the lament in the song the title takes its name from, Paul’s best years are surely still ahead of him.” —Paul Heatley, author of Fatboy
“Paul D. Brazill is the Crown Prince of Noir. That’s my opinion, granted, but I stand by it. For those who require proof, just pick up his latest novel, Last Year’s Man, and it will be clear why I make that statement. All hail the crown prince!” —Les Edgerton, author of The Rapist, The Bitch, Just Like That and others
“Brazill is brilliant, a unique voice which stands out from the crowd.” —Keith Nixon, author of the Solomon Gray books
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Tommy Bennett, the narrator of this violent, darkly funny short novel from Brazill (A Case of Noir), is nearing 60 and the end of his unlikely career as a killer-for-hire. After two jobs go bad and a couple of crooked cops pressure him for his services in London, he decides it's time to retreat to Seatown, his birthplace, in northeast England. After getting off the train, Tommy, who has a weakness for drink, enters the first pub he sees, the Tap and Spile ("inevitably nicknamed the Spinal Tap back in the bad-old-good-old days"), where he witnesses an assault in the men's room. When the police show up, he polishes off his pint and leaves. Outside the pub, he's nearly run over by his grown daughter, Tamsin, on her motor bike. Tommy's happy reunion with Tamsin leads to his reconnecting with less savory people from his past, including psychopathic gangster Drella and Drella's drug-dealing sidekick, Sniffy, who enlist him in a scheme that could be his last. In lieu of a plot, Brazill offers a series of amusing episodes filled with breezy banter in this offbeat slice of British noir.
