By J.J. Connolly
ISBN-10: 0802199720
ISBN-13: 9780802199720
Our narrator’s too shrewdpermanent to inform you his identify (“if I [did], you’d be as smart as me”), yet he’s now not afraid to inform you every little thing else in regards to the “layer cake”—London’s intricately prepared constellation of underworld fiefdoms. The worst factor approximately drug dealing—according to our unnamed narrator—whether you're a sophisticated best broker buying and selling hundreds of thousands or a down-and-out road pusher, is you should relate to plenty of overall idiots - loudmouths and tough-guy wannabes who aren't afraid to "get nicked by means of previous invoice and thrown within the boob" (arrested via police and jailed). Our narrator is a easily diplomatic 29-year-old cocaine broker who has earned a revered position between England's Mafia elite. talking in a language wealthy with drug jargon, vulgarities, British slang, and Cockneyisms, he manages high-level trafficking with a difficult outdated veteran companion, Mister Mortimer, a guy who gave the narrator his commence within the enterprise, and who has visible his percentage of legal (five and a part 12 months time period) and lethal fights (he owns a porn shop, and likes to organize men searching for baby porn through directing them again at a unique time, then beating the dwelling daylights out of them after they return). Our narrator’s aim is to retire at 30 and spend his closing years faraway from the chance and double-dealing of London's crime gangs. yet like so much excessive rollers, he unearths it tough to stroll clear of "just one more" deal.
Morty earrings up our narrator one early Saturday morning with a call for participation to an specific participants in simple terms eating place far flung within the English geographical region. They’re off for “a spot of luncheon” with the Don, Jimmy cost. Jimmy is a legend, against the law boss who’s been within the company for years through hiring the easiest legal professionals and preserving a low-key profile. it is a guy who's constantly will get what he wishes, and isn't used to humans refusing him favors. that is precisely the spot our narrator quickly unearths himself in while over lunch, Jimmy arms down a difficult task: locate Charlotte Ryder, the lacking wealthy princess daughter of Jimmy's outdated buddy Edward, a strong development enterprise participant and gossip papers socialite. It’s a troublesome deal to refuse, yet Jimmy can spot the sting on our narrator and makes him a deal – in the event you locate Charlotte, you could depart the existence for good.
Our narrator units out to discover Billy Bogus, a grifter with a present for mimicry and ingratiating himself into any quarter of society he desires. financial institution and bank card fraud is his exchange, with a fit dollop of hustling younger ladies out in their belief cash for sturdy degree. On his strategy to meet Bogus, he runs right into a small time punk named Sid in an area nightclub who runs with a band of thugs referred to as “the Yahoos.” With him is a beautiful lady, a “real love-a-player type” named Tammy. Sid tells our narrator a bloody tale a few pal of his named “The Duke” who lately acquired ambushed by means of a cutting-edge team armed with laser sighted Uzis. Our narrator won’t work out the importance of this tale until eventually later as he’s too busy trying out Tammy, who flirtatiously offers him her quantity whereas Sid is distracted.
Our narrator stories to Jimmy’s correct hand guy, Gene, that he’s at the case, yet Gene has different company. seems that the Yahoos have million pounds' worthy of Grade A ecstasy to promote, and Gene wishes our narrator to address the deal. It’s an impossible to resist deal, simply the correct amount of cash to stock up his retirement fund. He units up a gathering with him, Mort, and the Yahoos kingpins, huge Frankie and JD whereas ultimately catching up with Billy Bogus, who is of the same opinion to assist locate our narrator Charlotte by way of monitoring down Charlotte’s boyfriend Kinky—for a cost, of course.
Big Frankie and JD continue quiet approximately the place they’ve gotten the drugs, however the “gear” is top of the range, proven by way of none except Sir Alex (“chief chemical taster”). issues are taking a look up whilst Mort units up his gang to fulfill up with a team, headed by means of a guy named Trevor, up in Northern England who he thinks should be excellent to sell off the products on. There’s just one challenge – they don’t wish the products. This workforce informs our narrator that an Ecstasy manufacturing facility has been hijacked—most most probably by way of the Yahoos—and now a brutal neo-Nazi sect desires these capsules again. They’ve already hit up a home that belongs to “the Duke”, and this is the place Sid’s tale from the membership all makes sense.
Our narrator drives again to London with Mort in tow and will get a choice from Bogus, who tells him he’s chanced on Kinky. lifeless. In a London housing undertaking. It appears like a regular drug overdose, yet a tender child drug broker who helped Bogus locate Kinky says he was once murdered.
Meanwhile, our narrator units up a rendezvous with Tammy in a lodge room. As he steps out of the bathe, toughs ambush him, who roll him up in a carpet, and abduct him in an extended field. The toughs take him to a building website to fulfill with their boss, Eddie Ryder, Charlotte’s father. Eddie tells our narrator that Jimmy cost has pulled a quick one on him – his daughter’s isn’t missinnnnnng. What’s worse, Jimmy’s made a take care of a few renegade Chechens that experience swindled him to the track of 13 million kilos. to tug himself out of the outlet, he manage the narrator to discover Eddie’s daughter, then carry her for ransom. The double pass, although, becomes a triple pass whilst Eddie performs our narrator a tape that finds Jimmy expense is an informer for the police and has organize a sting for our narrator the place he plans to ship him to reformatory for very long time, and make off with the narrator’s retirement fund.
Finding himself undercut, double-crossed, frolicked to dry, and suffering to outlive, our narrator’s survival instincts kick in. he alters from a turn-the-other-cheek diplomat to a revenge-charged hit guy in a single day, beginning via killing Jimmy cost. subsequent, he has the same opinion to promote the ecstasy pills to Ryder, who plans to sell off them to the Yakuza in Japan, in an effort to placed a pleasant chew of switch in our narrator’s pocket. earlier than he leaves, our narrator mentions a little airborne dirt and dust that Jimmy gave him in passing approximately Eddie, insuring that Eddie won’t kill our narrator—just in case he will get any humorous principles approximately doing so.
Suddenly, the entire narrator’s difficulties regarded solved. Jimmy’s useless, and people million tabs of ecstasy are headed to Japan. Then, Jimmy’s correct hand guy Gene asks for a gathering with Mort and our narrator. Gene accuses our narrator of killing Jimmy and threatens to kill him until he confesses. Our narrator performs the tape Ryder gave him for Gene and Morty, revealing Jimmy’s double-dealings with the police. Gene we could our narrator move and has the same opinion by no means to debate the crime again.
All that is still is the little topic of 2 million tabs of ecstasy. In a flourish of double and triple crosses, our narrator’s deal to interchange the tabs for funds at Heathrow Airport falls aside, yet finally ends up with the tabs in Amsterdam. As he prepares to sprint off to Amsterdam to assemble the loot, he comes to a decision to offer Tammy a choice ahead of he leaves. regrettably, Tammy’s jealous boyfriend Sidney tailed her, and shot the narrator 3 times, together with two times within the head. The narrator lived, recovered within the clinic, and is ordered into retirement and exile by way of the law enforcement officials. He earrings Tammy to supply her yet one more probability to satisfy, yet she tells him “girls like risky men yet you’re heavily fuckin’ existence threatening. what number ladies are you aware prove coated in blood, leader prosecution witness in an tried homicide trial on their first date?” She needs our narrator good, who has lots of time to mirror on his existence as an ex-pat in Curacao, Brazil. He recognizes that, in existence, you by no means cease studying, yet you by no means cease forgetting both. He has lots of time now to ruminate on either, residing a lifestyles the place he can have in mind why he left the enterprise, yet always remember why he can’t let us know his identify.