No Smoke by Hugh Collins
Hugh Collins' debut novel is at turns a vicious, hilarious, and highly original crime novel set in 1976 in his native Glasgow. This was a time when the Sensational Alex Harvey Band were gods; flares, mullets and flick-knives were the currency of cool; and the old criminal codes of honour had yet to be destroyed by the new breed of gangster that emerged in the 1980s. Barney Boone and his gang are running around town, thieving, conning and getting involved in all sorts of minor criminal activity. Then a scam goes wrong and dead bodies start to pile up. Including the murder of a young Asian man in a Glasgow police cell. The police are quick to try and pin it on one of the local hard men. But the real suspects could be much closer to home. No Smoke captures the language, humour and culture of Scotland's most violent city in a way unsurpassed since James Kelman or William McIlvanney. And most remarkable of all, it marks the arrival of a major new voice in both Scottish literature and crime fiction.
No Smoke is a vicious, original and very funny crime novel set in 1976.. With consummate plotting, a host of brilliantly drawn rogues and an uncanny sense of pacing, No Smoke is set to do for Glasgow what Ian Rankin did for Edinburgh. * * Crime Time * *
A masterpiece. * * Big Issue in the North * *
Collins' writing is brutal, instructive, philosophical and, at time, pantomime-funny. * * Sunday Herald * *
A slim volume that packs a punch like a knuckleduster. * * Bizarre * *
A masterpiece. * * Big Issue in the North * *
Collins' writing is brutal, instructive, philosophical and, at time, pantomime-funny. * * Sunday Herald * *
A slim volume that packs a punch like a knuckleduster. * * Bizarre * *
Hugh Collins was born and brought up in Glasgow. In 1977 he was sentenced to life imprisonment for a murder that took place in a Glasgow bar. Released in 1992, he has since written two volumes of autobiography - Autobiography of a Murderer (1998) and Walking Away (2000), as well as two novels, No Smoke (2001) and The Licensee (2002). He is married and lives in Edinburgh.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781841951164 |
| ISBN 10 | 1841951161 |
| Title | No Smoke |
| Author | Hugh Collins |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Canongate Books |
| Year published | 2001-07-07 |
| Number of pages | 224 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |