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Ken Bruen’s ‘Blitz’ reviewed by Conor Tannam

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Jul 162011

Blitz is a novel that grabs your attention from the outset and refuses to relinquish control until the final page. The seedy and violent world of South London that Brant calls home is brought to life in a frantic and unrelenting plot. Whether it can be classed as noir or not is immaterial. It is the quality of Bruen’s writing that sets him apart. It possesses a definite lyrical quality. Terse and sharp prose keeps the reader engrossed from the very first line and this momentum is maintained throughout. Blitz is written in a clipped style and the characters are immensely believable. An intelligent and vicious villain makes for a well above average game of cat and mouse between killer and cop. The bizarre nature of the relationship between a member of the British National Party and a black WPC adds an extra dimension to what is already a multi-layered text.

The continuation of The White Trilogy sees the police squad suffering from an almost collective burnout. Relationships are strained within the department and Brant has been sent to a psychiatrist due to his erratic and unconventional behaviour. When a sociopath targets police officers the pressure mounts even further. The killer is determined to slaughter as many officers as is possible and his contact with a tabloid journalist ensures that the media are swarming over what is fast becoming a notorious case.

Sexism, racism, and misogyny all feature heavily as individual prejudices come to the fore. There is no shirking from any controversial subject and much of the black humour is derived from this attitude. To those who feel rather precious about their politically correctness, this book may appear a tad controversial. But as usual, that is the safest road to missing the point entirely. The often vile statements that characters routinely produce merely reflect the opinion that a lot of people hold dear. Bruen is neither condoning nor promoting these rather unpleasant views, merely recording them, and the intensity of the experience is a further testimony to the Galway man’s outstanding talent.

Blitz is a novel you could happily devour in a lunch break. But be warned, you might not get anything else done that day.

The Crime Interviews: Volumes I and II

The Crime Interviews: Volume Two includes interviews with:

William McIlvanney
Tony Black
Doug Johnstone
Helen FitzGerald
Quintin Jardine
Gordon Ferris
Craig Russell
Douglas Lindsay
Ray Banks
Denise Mina

Find out more at the publisher's website,
BlastedHeath.com.

The Crime Interviews: Volume One includes interviews with:

Ian Rankin
Stuart MacBride
Karen Campbell
Neil Forsyth
Chris Brookmyre
Paul Johnston
Alice Thompson
Allan Guthrie
Louise Welsh

Find out more at the publisher's website,
BlastedHeath.com.

'Len Wanner is the perfect interrogator, subtle, accommodating, and incisive, and these interviews elicit many layers of deep, dark, and vital intelligence.'
JOHN BANVILLE, Booker Prize winner

'Wanner is a skilled conversationalist and extractor of information.'
THE SUNDAY HERALD

'The Crime Interviews has some enjoyably trenchant comments from Scottish crime writers.'
THE GUARDIAN

'A comprehensive and entertaining collection that incorporates a wide range of styles and ambitions... Wanner conducts the interviews in a conversational manner that proves accessible and inclusive, although the jaunty tone belies an impressive depth and breadth.'
THE IRISH TIMES

'Len Wanner's interviewing skills are showcased in his collection of conversations with Scotland's crime novelists. Wanner guides each author through an overview of their career while allowing his subject to sound off on pet hates and loves.'
THE SCOTTISH REVIEW OF BOOKS

'This is fascinating reading and a real treat. A rare insight into the minds of a diverse group of crime writers, writing in one genre, living in proximity, but all with utterly different, individual voices.'
PETER JAMES, author of Dead Like You

'These interviews cut to the very marrow of Scottish crime writing, deep, incisive and bloody. Bloody good fun too.'
COLIN BATEMAN, author of Mystery Man

‘Len Wanner is a gift to any serious writer, but especially contemporary crime writers... Wanner captures these writers at their best, lures them into unconventional terrain, and obliges improvisation, with bracing results.’
DAVID CORBETT, author of Do They Know I'm Running?

'With direct questions, with conversational extrapolations, Wanner has encouraged his interviewees to illuminate, edify, entertain, and amuse us, and yet has also persuaded them to give us something of real worth... There is a refreshing vitality and energy present in the text, as if we were right there listening, as if this was for our ears only. Highly recommended.”
R.J. ELLORY, author of A Quiet Belief In Angels

'Time was, the best and brightest author interviews were contained in three books: John Williams’ Badlands, and Craig McDonald’s Art in the Blood and Rogue Males. But blasting into the Zeitgeist is Len Wanner’s amazing, in-depth, funny and compassionate collection, showing a side of these authors previously unseen. A stunning, dark jewel in the library of great interviews.'
KEN BRUEN, author of Blitz

'Len Wanner’s superb interview collection offers a profusion of revelation, dark wit, and tremendous insight and will undoubtedly become a touchstone for the study and celebration of Scottish crime writing.”
MEGAN ABBOTT, author of The End of Everything

‘Len Wanner’s interviews with crime writers represent the gold standard for literary conversation... Indeed, these exchanges with Wanner may well represent the authors’ career-defining interviews.’
CRAIG MCDONALD, author of Art in the Blood and Rogue Males

‘Wanner asks the tough questions and gets the tougher answers from this stellar cast of crime writers. Entertaining, insightful, heartbreaking, and hard to put down.’
JASON STARR, author of Cold Caller

'An extremely valuable series of interviews with some of the most important authors in the contemporary crime fiction genre.'
ADRIAN MCKINTY, author of Falling Glass

'No fluff here. Wanner asks the questions that cut to the core of what it is about these writers and their homeland that has shaped them and their work. Read it and learn.'
REED FARREL COLEMAN, author of Innocent Monster

'Len Wanner has a real talent for asking the straight question and eliciting a straight response. And he’s obviously an energetic listener... The questions are sharp, the question-master probes in a sympathetic but masterly way, and the subjects seem to be at great ease.'
CAMPBELL ARMSTRONG, author of JIG

‘In interviews as whiplash-smart as they are meticulous, these nine authors reveal the kind of insight about craft that makes you want to take a copy and start bludgeoning creative writing students out into streets. There’s no gang of folks you could better spend an evening with, and no guide better suited to give you a tour of their world-weary and shrunken hearts than the immensely knowledgeable Len Wanner.’
BENJAMIN WHITMER, author of Pike

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