"From award-winning novelist Patrick Neate, a literary mystery that introduces a new kind of British detective, Ugandan-Indian Tommy Akhtar, and a ...
read full description
reviews
Jul 04, 2010
Hester
rated it: 
Tommy Akhtar is Phillip Marlow's heir. I have read modern noir books, but none of them capture the 40s flavor. Early Harry Dresden had a similar feel, but somehow Tommy Akhtar's London slang, obsession with cricket, and alcoholism are that era, updated. Akhtar is troubled, squared. After his mother died, he became a mujahideen in the Afghan/Soviet war, came back mentally ill, and then became an alcoholic detective. In spite of his drinking, he has ties to the local community in the form of h
More...
Dec 10, 2010
Darrenl
rated it: 
This is an entertaining and thought provoking book which relocates the Raymond Chandler detective style to modern day London. Neate pays homage to every noir cliche - from the mysterious femme fatale with the deadly case to the wise cracking private dick but it's still infused with his own original style and as the story develops it becomes a comment on London's unique multicultural soup and the post 9/11 world. It's clear that this was a labour of love for Neate letting him indulge his love
More...
Mar 29, 2011
Greg
rated it:
This book was going pretty good until the end. You know how you're holding, oh-so-much of the book left and by what you've read, you know the author couldn't possibly wrap it all up with total satisfaction? Yeah, a pretty abrupt- (and everything sort of worked out)- sort of ending. Some of the prose was just stall and page filler which, I'm not totally against but its more telling when you find it towards the end and the ends haven't been tied up yet.
The twist at the end explains someth More...
The twist at the end explains someth More...
Feb 09, 2011
Marcelo
rated it:
Enjoyed it. Neate writes wonderfully and, as with any good noir, character and social commentary (the realities of immigration and anti-immigrant prejudice in western society, the symbiotic relationship between those who will enact terror and those who will exploit the fear of it to cling to power) both inform and advance the main crime plot . Both Tommy Akhtar and his father make indelible characters I'd love to visit with again (while at the same time I could use a bit less of Av's quasi-Ali-G
More...
Mar 24, 2010
Trish
rated it:
I have been waiting a few days to write about this book because I wasn't sure what I thought or how I felt about it. But now I've finished Intuition and I'm itching to try to explain how incredibly kick ass it is, so I have to deal with Tiny Lights first, and I guess the contrast kinda clarifies things.
I adored Neate's London Pigeon Wars. OK, I didn't always get the pigeon parts, the weird bird patois, but I stuck with it and I can't immediately recall any other literary ending that More...
I adored Neate's London Pigeon Wars. OK, I didn't always get the pigeon parts, the weird bird patois, but I stuck with it and I can't immediately recall any other literary ending that More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Feb 05, 2008
Jamal
rated it:
A modern tale in the best tradition of hard-boiled detective stories. Written like Dashel Hammet with an education in geo-politics. It's flaws are easily forgotten as you come to care for the characters, even feeling a jolt of adrenaline a few times.
The heavy dose of timely (biting?) political and social commentary is not out of place as it would be in other stories of the type owing to the characters and London itself, a place where you cannot escape the World if you tried.
More...
The heavy dose of timely (biting?) political and social commentary is not out of place as it would be in other stories of the type owing to the characters and London itself, a place where you cannot escape the World if you tried.
More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Aug 27, 2009
Doug
rated it: 
The protagonist is an londonstani (pakistani living in london) now trying to work as a private investigator. Some of the material is a bit raw, but it was, I thought, an interesting intro into the problems of aculturization in England. The mystery that is the plot is well done, if a bit convoluted, but it's probably the convolutions that serve as a vehicle to showing the challanges of the cultural changes.
Jun 03, 2008
Steve
rated it:
I totally picked up this book because of the pixel art cover (and the sale price at Powell's). But I was pleasantly surprised that the book was actually quite decent, serious. A good half of it was the way the writer used language; I don't know if everyone in London talks like this, but I really liked the lingo. As a mystery, it's not that suspenseful, but it has plenty of colorful characters and twists and turns. It would help if I could understand cricket, for real.
The author appea More...
The author appea More...
Jun 08, 2009
Sarah
rated it:
I picked this one up on a lark, at the Friends of the Library book sale, because I thought the cover was clever and it was $1. Little finds like this at the sale is what keeps me going back. This was such a fun book to read. I found myself carrying it around in my too overloaded purse, looking for opportunities to sneak another few pages.
This book is a hard boiled, neo-noir style, detective mystery set in London in the post 911 age. I loved the characters, the language, the settin More...
This book is a hard boiled, neo-noir style, detective mystery set in London in the post 911 age. I loved the characters, the language, the settin More...
Sep 22, 2010
Brendan
rated it:
I'm probably being generous. But it's better than 3 stars. Plenty of plot twists and weird characters. I liked the narrator / protagonist - a jaded do-gooder type of guy, easy to root for. There were way too many cricket references. Since the terminology went over my head, it got a bit irritating after a while.
Dec 15, 2009
Dave
rated it:
Not nearly as interesting as The London Pigeon Wars (which was, itself, a bit of a disappointment), but not bad. I probably wouldn't recommend it, but wouldn't speak against it either. But I think this does it for me and Neate.
Jan 17, 2012
Judy
rated it: 
I was disappointed when I first began reading this random library pick. I couldn't help but think it was going to be yet another noir crime novel with a very predictable plot. In many ways it was just that and in many ways it was so much more.
The book is set in the dregs of London and the hero is a Ugandan-Indian P.I. The level of detail that Neate goes to in developing this character is remarkable. I didn't care so much for the story as much as the backstory. The history of the character More...
The book is set in the dregs of London and the hero is a Ugandan-Indian P.I. The level of detail that Neate goes to in developing this character is remarkable. I didn't care so much for the story as much as the backstory. The history of the character More...
4 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Apr 07, 2009
Katie
rated it:
A pretty good dective novel. I don't normally do this genere but I liked it. It has a lot of refrences to the game Cricket which were obviously lost on me, but it didn't really matter too much.
Aug 04, 2009
A substantial helping of new phrases; "what, what, what", and a dose of cricket that makes me think I'd better get a closer look. Enjoyable and clever all the way around.
Apr 19, 2011
Kyle
rated it:
This was my first time reading a Noir novel. I enjoyed this book makes me want to read a lot more Noir. Sam Spade and such. Also makes me want to move to England more, I love Cricket.
May 05, 2010
Tuck
rated it:
great funny noir from london. on the means streets of the brown side of england. not sure exactly when i read this. its been awhile
May 28, 2010
Kevin
rated it:
A great find from Powell's Bookstore in Portland, OR. About an English-Pakistani P.I. in London. Great language. Fun read.
Aug 07, 2008
Gail
rated it:
A fascinating idea and some brilliant writing. However, the novel suffers from too much drinking, smoking (to the point where the narrator does not seem to getting any oxygen at all), a lot of long cricket analogies, and a narrator who is so disaffected and detached we start to feel more sympathy for the people around him than for him. In addition, his father’s constant refusal to speak plainly becomes very annoying.
Nevertheless, the novel offers a lot of valuable insights into a wor More...
Nevertheless, the novel offers a lot of valuable insights into a wor More...
Aug 17, 2011
Goransle
rated it:
A very good mystery set in modern day London in the background of the Indian/Pakistani community. A very good read.
May 14, 2010
Mike
rated it:
It was "OK" simply because Neate's language and dialogue crackle. Everything else is a shitty Chandler knockoff.
Dec 28, 2010
Daniel
rated it:
A fresh take on the noir novel set against an east london background. Had a great time reading this.
Nov 21, 2008
Karen
rated it:
I loved this book; enjoyed reading it a lot - great voice, as well as an interesting story. Highly recommend.
Apr 02, 2009
Tanya
rated it:
London-based detective book, better than I expected, however still not wonderful.
Nov 19, 2007
Forest
rated it:
This caught my eye from the remainder pile due to the cover art, which isn't even original to the book but taken from a series of posters. The book itself starts as a semi-parodic multicultural modern noir, complete with tongue-in-cheek hard-boiled detective novel prose, piles on cricket references and crazy British slang (the word "geezer" must appear no less than 500 times), throws in a timely suicide train bomber subplot, and somewhere along the way manages to turn into a biting soc
More...
Jul 29, 2008
Rachael
rated it:
The story was good enough - British-Ugandan-Indian provate eye who is solidly small time until he lands in the middle of a messy case - but it was Tommy's attitude and turn of phrase, plus the occasional digression into the nature of race, loyalty, patriotism, terrorism, colonialism, etc., that made it great. Although I might have appreciated it all the more if I understood even the slightest thing about cricket, I was not compelled to read up on that. Still, I might even read it again some ti
More...
Jul 14, 2008
Jessica
rated it:
This was a completely enjoyable, fast-paced, neo-noir crime story. Not normally a genre I enjoy, but the setting (London) and the characters (mostly Pakistani and Indian working class)added some twists and depth not normally seen in American works. The 3-star rating has nothing to do with the quality of the story and writing--it's really an excellent book. But, alas, at the end of the day I cannot make myself like hard-boiled detective novels, try as I might!
Aug 25, 2009
Brilliant sense of place in London's polyglot neighborhoods, eccentric characters -- esp the alkie former-mujadiheen private eye protag -- but the storyline takes forever to basically go nowhere. If you love Frears flicks but find them too depressing and not Freudian enough, you might give this one a try.
