Judas Pig

It’s hard to know whether the pseudonymous Silver is really an English criminal mastermind as claimed. This novel seems like a book such a man might plotless and self-aggrandizing. Billy Abrahams is a sharp-dressing thug who has risen from abuse and poverty to become one of London’s most notorious gangsters. Pausing occasionally to explain proper villain decorum, he tells his story as a series of on-the-job anecdotes, chockablock with murder, mayhem, and misogyny. One suspects that running even a criminal empire might include managerial mundanities, but Billy’s life is more like a Scorsese flick with all the exposition cut out. What ultimately keeps this tale afloat is its relentless energy and wonderfully inventive slang. No way to tell if the latter is authentic, either, but lines like “”bifocal bins so thick his mince pies look like a couple of currants”” are too good to resist. For crime fans who think Ken Bruen a bit mild.””–Booklist