The Smoke: A Creeping Narrative - Hardcover

Broadbent, Tony

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0312290276 ISBN 13: 9780312290276

Publisher: Minotaur Books, 2002

Synopsis

Brought up in one of London’s famed street markets, Jethro the cat burglar is as smart as he is streetwise, which is just as well, as he always needs all of his wits about him to pull off the perfect job and not get caught. After he breaks into the Soviet embassy and steals jewels belonging to the ambassador's wife, Jethro comes to the attention of His Majesty’s Secret Service, who forces him to revisit the place again to retrieve a code book for them. But this is all just a set up for a thief to catch a thief, and it leads to a deadly game of cat and mouse to see who will get to Jethro first: London’s gangsters, MI5, or one of the Soviet’s most formidable secret agents.

About this title

About the Author

Tony Broadbent lives in Marin County, California.

Reviews

An evocative and witty style distinguishes Broadbent's first novel, set in austere 1947 London (or "the Smoke," per the glossary of underworld slang that precedes the main text). Chapter One opens with the marvelous sentence: "So there I was lying on the roof, seeing through my ears and taking in the sounds of the night, my face pressed against the damp soot-covered tiles, yellowy-grey wisps of fog folding about me like cast-off mortuary shrouds." An initially slow, overly familiar plot and a rushed climax, however, show that this talented author is not yet master of his craft, while some readers may wish an editor had pruned some of the verbal extravagance. Where Broadbent excels is character, starting with his picaresque and charming rogue of a narrator, Jethro, whose spellbinding exploits as a "creeper" or cat burglar occupy much of the story. After breaking into the Russian embassy and stealing jewels belonging to the ambassador's wife, Jethro finds himself at odds with several gangs of dangerous people, including MI5, who want his services in retrieving a code book from the Soviets. He escapes harm by the intervention of one deus ex machina after another. Almost as engaging as Jethro are those out to give him trouble, especially Robert Browno of Scotland Yard's Flying Squad, an ogre of a DCI; the gangster Messima, aka the "Emperor of Soho"; and Chalkie White, Messima's weasel-like henchman. This strong debut marks Broadbent as definitely an author to watch.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

*Starred Review* "The Smoke," according to Broadbent's "Glossary of London Underworld Slang," is London. This knockout first novel carries the reader deep into the labyrinthine streets of London immediately after World War II, a time of continued rationing, chaotic railways and roadways, and a populace in which just about everyone, from long habit, is constantly figuring how to bend the rules just a bit, or a great deal, to get ahead. Broadbent's hero, cat burglar Jethro, fits perfectly into this post-Blitz zeitgeist. A witty and jaunty opportunist, Jethro serves as combination narrator and tour guide through his own adventures and craft. The first four chapters (arguably one of the most exquisitely suspenseful openings in crime fiction) offer Jethro's take on a "creep" (slang for a cat burglary) he conducts in the Soviet Embassy. Jethro just barely gets away with the jewels and his life, but he doesn't escape completely. His Majesty's Secret Service learns of the successful heist and coerces Jethro into going back one more time, to lift a ledger that contains a highly sensitive code. Unfortunately for Jethro, others, including London criminals and Soviet secret agents, have thrilled to his expertise as well and watch his every move in order to snare him and the codebook. An anguishing game of cat-and-mouse plays out over the bulk of the book, heightening tension with each move. Remarkable history-mystery, with fascinating background. Connie Fletcher
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Minotaur Books
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0312290276
• ISBN 13: 9780312290276
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 320