A dazzling literary crime novel from a CWA-nominated author as Sergeant Leon Geats - our savage yet sentimental guide to lawless 1930's Soho - dedicates himself to finding a sadistic killer; a decision that will echo for over half a century.
***BEST CRIME BOOKS OF THE YEAR - THE TIMES/SUNDAY TIMES***
***CRIME BOOK OF THE MONTH - THE TIMES***
'Brings the obsessional dread of James Ellroy to 1940s London.' IAN RANKIN
'Extraordinary...a career-defining performance.' THE SUNDAY TIMES
'This is crime writing of the highest quality' DAILY MAIL
SOHO, 1935.
SERGEANT LEON GEATS' PATCH.
A snarling, skull-cracking misanthrope, Geats marshals the grimy rabble according to his own elastic moral code.
The narrow alleys are brimming with jazz bars, bookies, blackshirts, ponces and tarts so when a body is found above the Windmill Club, detectives are content to dismiss the case as just another young woman who topped herself early.
But Geats - a good man prepared to be a bad one if it keeps the worst of them at bay - knows the dark seams of the city.
Working with his former partner, mercenary Flying Squad sergeant Mark Cassar, Geats obsessively dedicates himself to finding a warped killer - a decision that will reverberate for a lifetime and transform both men in ways they could never expect.
'Savage, beautiful, mesmeric...a very special book.' CHRIS WHITAKER
'A stirringly ambitious novel that pairs the scope of James Ellroy's LA CONFIDENTIAL with the psychological depth of Graham Greene's BRIGHTON ROCK. Extraordinary.' A. J. FINN
'A tour de force. A brilliant marriage of tension and rich detail.' HARRIET TYCE
'Nolan is set to become Britain's Michael Connelly' DAILY MAIL
'An epic, brutal, blockbuster of a crime novel. It's the best film noir you've never seen complete with a love story that might just rip your heart out.' TREVOR WOOD
'An enthralling tale that takes you into the seamy heart of Soho's past. Written in Nolan's visceral, muscular prose, it is a joy to read.' LESLEY KARA
'A rich, ambitious, masterpiece of a crime novel' OLIVIA KIERNAN
'Poetic and tragic...but also vibrant, with a great depth of world and character' JAMES DELARGY
Wow! This is a crime thriller with an epic feel . . . Gritty, brutual, "real", the writing is electric
