The Drop is the debut novel from County Durham’s own Howard Linskey.  It focuses on a panic-stricken investigation by white collar gangster David Blake, as he scours Newcastle for clues as to the whereabouts of “the drop,” a gangland payoff gone astray.  Blake has just 72 hours to find the money and those responsible for its disappearance, or he faces an early and rather grim death.

To add to his woes, Blake is surrounded by genuine hard-men who revel in the misfortune of the man they see as a precocious upstart, and the further he gets in his investigation, the more serious his situation, and that of his criminal associates, becomes.
Blake himself is an excellent protagonist.  Styling himself as an “ideas man,” he sits uneasily alongside the violent sociopaths he works with, rendering him permanently vulnerable to attack either from outside his circle or within.  His brains are his only commodity in gangland, and his quick-wittedness is what endears him to the reader from the outset.  He inhabits the underworld with the same fascination most readers would experience; he is beguiled by the benefits and glamour of criminality, but always terrified of the violence that is meted out on its front lines.

Blake is, however, just one star in Linskey’s wonderfully crafted Geordie firmament.  Linskey writes with an eye for detail and character befitting a far more experienced writer.  The enforcers are not merely leather-clad thugs, nor do they blindly follow some outdated criminal code.  Instead, even as tertiary characters they are given apt but powerful back stories which inform their behaviour and manner perfectly.  The female characters, while each still conforming to the genre pre-requisite of heightened sexuality, are complex and tenderly drawn.

The strong characterisation is honed further by Linskey’s excellent depictions of human relationships.  These are always impeccable, from the micro-level, in which he expertly breaks down the minutiae of bar-room confrontations, up to the macro-, in which he deals with the politics of crime, both internal among gang leaders, and external, in its interactions with law enforcement and government.  In a relatively short text, every last word is utilised to maximise the potency of the world Blake moves in.

No less skill is in evidence when Linskey describes the city of Newcastle.  It is a sordid, grimy city in which drunken revellers rub shoulders with gangsters on a constant basis; it teems with scantily clad hen parties, while brothels operate with apparent impunity and the licensed drinking establishments harbour the most unsavoury of characters.  While the Newcastle tourist board may be cursing Linskey for some time to come, even they must concede it will take a writer of phenomenal skill to depict their city more evocatively than this.

Early commentary on The Drop has likened it to classic British gangster entertainment such as ‘Get Carter’ and ‘The Long Good Friday,’ and it more than merits these complimentary comparisons.  The Drop is overflowing with the grit that defines the very best of British gangster fiction.  It is stark and unflinching, but always utterly enthralling.  As the tale reaches its shattering climax, even the most reserved reader will struggle to read the book without a whitening of the knuckles.  It is with delight that this reviewer reads that 2012 brings with it Linskey’s second book, but in the interim period, anyone with an interest in excellent British crime writing is strongly advised to avail themselves of a copy of The Drop.

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