Dogknife

by Liam Rodgers

In this Multi-5* review-grabbing, page-turning debut novel we meet street-wise and gutsy 17 year old Gizmo, who is kicked out of home and into a hostel for teenagers in Radford, Nottingham. Gizmo quickly makes friends with two other residents, Val and Boo Boo Girl and the girls realise that by selling their bodies for money in the infamous Forest Road red-light district, they can fund their lifestyle of drugs, alcohol and battling to have a good time. The reality and darkness of inner city life engulfs the feisty trio as Boo Boo Girl is raped by a middle-aged punter, Robert. The ensuing court case collapses when Boo Boo Girl is humiliated on the witness stand for being a working girl and Robert is acquitted. Armed only with a small knife, her Dogknife, compelled by rage and her deep sense of justice, Gizmo's plans for bloody revenge catapult her away from the increasingly dangerous streets of Nottingham into the world of imprisoned young offenders and institutionalised cycles of violence. Told from Gizmo’s slang-heavy point of view, by a writer who knows, Dogknife is a gritty account of life on the streets of Nottingham in the late 90s, when drugs and crime are on the rise and the city is about to hit the national headlines for all the wrong reasons. Welcome to Nottingham, this is Dogknife.

192 pages, Paperback

First published May 31, 2014

Reviews

[Julia O · Rating 5 out of 5]

The writer of Dog knife by Liam Rodgers has brought to life a number of issues

Firstly our lovely quirky Nottingham slang language which runs like a river through this book . The writer portrays society's attitude to prostitution. They are human beings whatever society thinks of them they should be treated fairly and as human beings. They have rights and should not be beaten and exploited.

The writer portrays a deep thinking of inhumanity and mistreatment of prisoners. Cleanliness of cells and more space between prisoners, more money spent on psychoanalysing our fellow human beings is imminent. Let's encourage teaching them how to live properly, forgive, not fight and be more angry and violent to increase and understand to live well and not to exploit them.

The writer has a great honesty in telling it how it "REALLY IS". So us as a society may follow in his example.

[Debbie Lilley · Rating 3 out of 5]

A true look at life on the streets in Nottingham and life as a 1st timer in prison from a young girls point of view

[Rebekah · Rating 4 out of 5]

*I received a free copy of this book by the author in exchange for an honest review*

This was a quick and mesmerizing read that I managed to devour in pretty much one sitting. The author tells the tale of a 17-year-old girl growing up on the streets of Nottingham UK during the 90's. It is told in the young girl's voice with lots of slang. I am not from there, so I cannot attest to the authenticity, but it seemed legit to me and the prose was easy to read. It is an interesting tale of a life of poverty, generational drug abuse, crime, and violence and how that effects the choices this young girl makes. Given the fact the author is male, he was able to write pretty convincingly from the female perspective without being patronizing or way off base.

I am not sure if the author's purpose is to give us a glimpse into the realities of life for this girl, to make social commentary, or to try and promote change. If it is the first one, then he succeeded. That being said, I had a hard time feeling sorry for and connecting with the main character. Her life is pretty bad and there are some injustices definitely thrown her way, but she also makes terrible choices and seems like an antisocial narcissist.

Not being from England and written from the main character's voice, there is little explanation for those not familiar with the UK's social policies. I was confused as to the hostel all the teenage characters were living in. Does the UK let teenage runaways, drug users, prostitutes, gang members and criminals live in free housing and run amok doing all the drugs they want and committing crimes? The main character also appeared to have access to free education, which she outright rejects, and had stable access to employment, which she also rejects. She instead chooses the thrill of prostitution, non stop drug use, petty crime, and violence, which she admits she finds a rush. Her mom is a heroin addict that still seems to love her but she has no real attachment to her mother or her sisters, which are barely mentioned. She thinks she is going to be a famous rich white rapper one day. Her friendships also seem shallow and more about impressing or intimidating people than any real connection. Even at the end she has a very cavalier attitude about crime or violating other's rights, including thinking people shouldn't go to jail just for stealing from shops. She is violent throughout the book in a way that is quite disturbing and in my opinion, went way beyond a need for justice but instead a sick pleasure and power in harming people. Finally her big turn-around in the book seems to be a reaction to finally facing actual consequences for her behavior and not wanting to spend her life locked up, rather than any real guilt or change of heart over her past or current behaviors. She only cries after she is in trouble. This thug life wasn't working for her any more, so she quit it. That is at least a motivation towards moving in the right direction, but she still comes across as antisocial and dangerous to me. She also seems shocked that she received FOUR years for kidnapping and purposefully carving up a man with a knife to permanently disfigure and traumatize but not kill him. Yes, the man was a rapist and the rapist got off, but that was still pretty sick. Maybe I just cannot separate from my US upbringing, but homeless teenagers(almost adults) in the US do not get to live in free housing and our prisons are a lot worse than what this girl described here (I was LMAO when she was whining about not getting milk and having to eat her cereal dry while in jail) and I am pretty sure her sentence would be harsher.

Honestly, I think the story of Boo Boo Girl and her recovery and survival from the rape would have been the more interesting one here.

Overall, a gritty look at a culture that I was not very familiar with, well-written and interesting. I recommend this author to others and look forward to seeing more of his future work!

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ll be honest in saying that this book isn’t what I would usually read, but I decided to give it a chance and try it out. Rodgers tells the story from the POV of Gizmo, a 17-year-old girl living in a world of prostitution, drugs and violence in Nottingham, UK in the 90s.

I can’t attest to whether this is a true representation of the way things were in Nottingham in the 90s. I was only a child back then and have never been to Nottingham in my lifetime. However, I do know people from the city so I could imagine how Gizmo would speak and behave. I didn’t know some of slang but it didn’t matter it worked perfectly with the voice of the narrator.

This is an interesting story of drugs, crime and poverty and how one bad decision could change a person life. I believe that Rodgers did a great job writing from a female perspective. It’s a glimpse of the harsh reality of the streets and what the girls did to get by. I did feel that Gizmo needed a reality check sometimes but I also understand that she had a hard life growing up.

I liked Gizmo’s relationship with Boo Boo Girl and how the reason landed in prison was delivering justice to a rapist. She generally cared for Boo Boo Girl and Rodgers highlights that really well in the book. Although I don’t agree with how she went about delivering justice to Henley I can see through her narration how angry she was at the injustice. How he got off because Boo Boo Girl was a prostitute and that was the harsh reality of the justice system.

I do wish I knew more about Boo Boo Girl’s recover but Gizmo wouldn’t know much about it, seeing as she was in prison for the second half of the book. The brutality delivered to the inmates by the officers shocked me, I didn’t realise that sort of thing would happen in prisons.

Overall, this story is well-written and interesting. I would recommend this author to others and I look forward to reading more of his work.

[Liam Rodgers]

I have obviously read my own book, like twenty+ times but it felt wrong to give it a rating as it would be bias, of course!

However I do call out to other readers and reviewers to give me their honest reviews...

Liam.