A White Merc with Fins

by James Hawes

Hardcover with jacket in very good condition. First edition, first printing. Jacket is lightly scored and worn. Jacket and hardcover spine ends are lightly bumped. Page block and pages are tanned. Text is clear throughout. HCW

Genres: Fiction, Crime, Contemporary, Noir, Novels, London

282 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

Reviews

[Char · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Life isn’t for saving, it’s for spending, before the big taxman with the scythe comes to claw it back. Spend spend spend, lovelyboy.” (P. 157)

[Rob · Rating 5 out of 5]

Before I start, I must declare an interest. Jim Hawes was my German tutor while I was at university and he's a great guy.

I also know that there's a humongous wadge of autobiography in this book, even down to some of my friends being featured.

However, that doesn't get away from the fact this is a brilliant slice of 90s lad lit, with a rollicking plot and Tarantino-style of writing.

He's never bettered it since.

[🐴 🍖]

there's this book dalkey put out ca. the mid-aughts called mr. dynamite (go read it if you haven't i'll wait) which it disturbs me to no end that the author hasn't published anything else... the idea that somebody could create a work so full of life/humor/nervous energy & then just not put anything else out... it's messed up, man. while i'm still holding out hope for a followup from meredith brosnan this is the next best thing, a crime caper boiling over w/ righteous (and often p funny) anger re: economic inequality & lack of class mobility, the robbery (of a private bank belonging to the director of death wish) perpetrated by a group of folks who woulda made great minor characters on peep show. yes there's too much hamlet-style dithering and yes the narrator's too much at pains to prove he's a sex-haver; but anything with this much of an electric thrum to it is worth peeping (and holy moses go read mr. dynamite already!!)

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was one of the first pieces of Brit-pop fiction to be published in the early nineties and I was totally evangelical about it - I think I must have bought about a dozen copies for friends and anyone I thought would enjoy it. I tried to re-read it recently and was disappointed by its predictability, but at the time I know it was ground-breaking, both in terms of style and content. And the description of Suzy rolling a joint on the steering wheel of her mini while driving like a maniac around London will stay with me forever. If you are over the age of 20 now though, by all means borrow a copy but I wouldn't recommend you buy one. If you're an angsty freshman, it will probably still appeal. Let me know what you think...

[Neil · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was honestly surprised at this. At the start I thought it was merely going to be a jolly romp; a comedic heist novel with an obvious film script in mind. No problem; that's why I bought it.
But the author's investigation of the hopes, fears, and deep psyche of the main character is insightful and fascinating.
Yes, it's a fairly funny movie/book. But it's not one I'm going to give away. Very nearly a four-star.

[Purple · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reasonable pulp fiction. Nothing extraordinary here - enjoyable in a bland sort of way. You can pretty much see where things are going. There's a few nice conversations spread throughout, but the heist plot is nothing new. It certainly doesn't live up to the Reservoir Dogs comparisons that the cover boasts about. That's not surprising though.

Additionally (and superficially) I hate the cover.

[Budge Burgess · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book which has funny moments and some interestingly distracting observations of London life in the 1990s, but which is ultimately disappointing.
Our hero, desperately seeking escape from the greyness of a middle class career and life, devises the Plan ... a bank robbery destined to be both profitable and free from capture and prosecution. This is no Hollywood shoot 'em up bank robbery - loud, violent, magazines of ammunition blazed away indiscriminately. This has to be a discreet, genteel, largely non-violent performance of a robbery, following scripted lines which will ensure both success and liberty.
The mystery, the book's hook, is in waiting to discover what is the secret guaranteeing the success of the Plan. How will our hero and his crew get away with such an audacious robbery?
And the writing is very hip, very crisp, Tarantino comes to England - it's a written graphic novel. Very middle class, embracing the patois of white, bourgeois, 1990s London. In places it's funny and insightful, at times it can be boringly self-reverential. There are passages you feel could have been edited out.
It's an entrtaining story ... well structured (in the main), a good idea played out to the full ... until we get to the actual robbery. At this point it loses its edge, loses its dynamism. The author has never actually robbed a bank - the tale loses its authenticity, loses its honesty, loses the sense of being a journal written from life. It gets a bit arthritic.
And the ending? It falls flat. It simply peters out. You're left wondering if the author couldn't find a satisfactory conclusion ... or maybe he hoped to write a sequel. You're left a course short of a satisfying meal.

[Honor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was pleasantly surprised by this book. It taught me what the word caustic meant and gave me insight to lower middle class struggle that I knew of but had just never discussed. I was hoping that it would end in failure instead of success, I thought it would be a better commentary of the entrapment of class division- however I think the success was brought about in a great way- how now that he was free, he had no idea what to do with it, and that being free didn’t matter any more because he had no one to be free with, “loneliness is Hell”, I think he said. And I think that’s true. Overall, this isn’t a book that consumes my thoughts and has me recommending it to everyone, but one I found easy to read, with well explored themes and interesting characters that I found myself caring about.

[Olly Colluphid · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not sure about this one. I read it back in the 90s when it was new-ish and remembered it affectionately. However twenty odd years later I don't know if it has dated (it tries to mimic the Tarentino vibe of the time) or if I've got old.

Anyway it has some good bits and I'm a sucker for a good heist story but... but...

It definitely gets better after the first few chapters and is worth persevering with.

[Documentally · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this 24 years ago on the 28th of January.
I only know that as I'm currently writing up my travel journals and I mention that I'd just finished it. I called it a fine book. Which is not the best review but I was sat on a beach on Koh Chiang sipping whisky while nursing some minor lacerations after climbing a cliff that tried to kill me.
I do remember enjoying it and thinking it was a fresh new style of writing. I still have the book somewhere.

[Patrick Stuntebeck · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 - quite fun and all over the place, in a good way. Mostly liked the writing style, although I must say the internal monologue of which scenarios might happen or not happen, of the main character, were sometimes a bit annoying. But in the end, it showed the character's deeply rooted feeling of nervousness and "undeserving-ness" of the lower middle class which show the sheer commitment it would take to break out of it, and not by legal means in this case.

[Naya Shafat · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think it’s actually one of my favourite books, it’s all over the place but the pace is still really good. All the characters stand out and are really funny. the main character being pathetic was very relatable. He’s very male fleabag, including that he doesn’t have a name. I’d also love to play the end of the world game.

[Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book intrigued me straight away. I found it a really enjoyable and surprising read. I found the central characters did have depth and I liked the story-within-story style. I won’t spoil the ending but it’s well worth a read! Made me a laugh and really made me think. Would recommend!

[Antonella Caporale · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5 - Disfruté de esta lectura, si bien por momentos me perdía y me costaba entender bien qué estaba sucediendo, es una trama muy completa donde te reís genuinamente y te encariñas con los personajes, porque son muy reales y te identificas con cómo se sienten. Altamente recomendado

[Venatici · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reservoir Dogs meets a class rife London. A satirical social study wrapped around a brilliantly devised bank robbery - Michael Winner's personal bank to boot. Excellent stuff.

[James Harper · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed it

[Pietro Caliceti · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed it

[Iván González · Rating 3 out of 5]

tarde un mes para leer la primera mitad y dos dias para leer la segunda pero al fin lo termine

[Mark Speed · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm amazed to read the blurb 'dazzling debut'. This was rammed full of two-dimensional characters thrown together in a pretty thin plot. Quite how it earned the (claimed) status of 'cult' is beyond me. In terms of characterisation, it looks like the author's attended a Creative Writing class on the matter and taken on board the basics but not realised that characters also have to be expanded from their defining characteristics. In the intervening years I keep thinking back to this one character who keeps saying "It's easy for you..." except with some modification to the sentence so that it sounds like Spanglish. I do recall that there were some redeeming features, hence two stars rather than one. I really, really hate to pan the work of other authors but in all honesty I would advise you not to read it. Sorry.

[Ben · Rating 2 out of 5]

James Hawes' 1996 debut novel, a story about a heist, set in London. I read it 10 years ago and it provided very little amusement and not many enduring memories. Highly derivative (it published 2 years after Pulp Fiction and 5 years after Reservoir Dogs and it tries to bring their action and mood to a grittier, grimmer London) and full of cliched, two-dimensional characters. I'd say there's also something of Hornby in there as well but, again, this is of a lower order.

[Roel Torres · Rating 5 out of 5]

(Okay, I am glad to see the outstanding average rating this book has received from the goodreads community. It helps reaffirm my faith in the book and this site...)

A crisp caper novel. Very influential to my own personal writing style. I re-read it every couple of years just to refresh my appreciation for it. Highest recommendation.

[Alistair · Rating 3 out of 5]

this is a fun read where pulp fiction meets reservoir dogs and is based around a heist in london . very contemporary and fast paced with many acidic digressions about people and life in general . i don't know whether it is any good and readers of this type of fiction may well find it old hat . to an old hat like me it was an exciting read .

[Godzilla · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmmm - this hasn't dated too well in my eyes. I remember reading it and enjoying it first time round. This time I felt the structure was unwieldy and the build up to "The Plan" was drawn out for what it actually turns out to be.

There are some good observations and humour interspersed, but it didn't make me turn the page as I'd like.

[AKT · Rating 3 out of 5]

Andy: 3.6 Peaks: ...is easy for me...
Jim: 3.6 Peaks and a very flat tummy.
Chad: 3 Peaks and sex with Suzy next to the garden weasel.
Noel: 3.3 Peaks: Girl with Scottish accent and a bank job--who could ask for more.
Scott: 3.4 Peaks: Lock, Stock and receding hairline.
Seamus: 3.4 Peaks: A smorgasbord: The IRA, the MC, the flat stomach and Tim Roth's bloodstained tie.

[Summer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my most favorite books ever. It's a very snarky, pop, english crime heist. I love the rants and the game of leaving earth.

[Kris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this!

[Tovah Aho · Rating 4 out of 5]

If there is a time and a place for every book, when a freind gave this to me that was the right time.. long ago in Boston, for some reason I needed it.. Now its no longer relevent.. but then.....

[Neal · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a smart, funny book. It is a British bank job book written with a lot of humor. Think kind of like the Italian job or Ocean's 11. The "plan" is worth the wait.

[Kis · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Ees easy for you!"

Disappointment is funny and universal, and makes sane people do crazy things. LOVED this book.

[Kate]

A great fun read. The books he's done since don't quite reach the same level.