Among Thieves

Among Thieves

Described in the publisher's blurb as a "counter-cultural thriller", this is a story of sex and drugs and revenge, set partly in 1980s Coventry, partly in Hoxha's Albania, partly in Malaga and partly in India. The radical politics, the racism, and the 2 Tone music scene in 1980s Britain are vividly recreated. There are three first-person narrators: Jez, a working-class petty criminal with mental health issues; Pads, a middle-class drug-dealer of slightly sociopathic tendency; and Mehmet, an Albanian killer on the run. Their stories don't converge until the very end.

Mez Packer has triumphantly pulled off the trick of writing across the gender divide – each of her male characters is complex and convincing. The energy of the writing and the darkness of the story are reminiscent of Martin Amis, circa Dead Babies and Success – but it is better plotted. It's a hard-edged story with plenty of tension and violence, but it has a heart, too. What starts out as a sour tale of grievance and revenge has an unexpectedly sweet and satisfying conclusion.

Brandon Robshaw