The Crime Trade: A Novel - Hardcover

Kernick, Simon

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0312340591 ISBN 13: 9780312340599

Publisher: Minotaur Books, 2005

Synopsis

When Operation Surgical Strike, a police sting designed to catch Colombian drug traffickers in the act of selling a large consignment of cocaine to undercover police officers, goes horribly wrong, suspicion quickly falls on one of the police officers involved: "Stegs" Jenner. Stegs is no ordinary cop. Something of a maverick, he has in the past played the role of a criminal just a little too well. Now suspended from duty, and with his close friend killed in the shoot-out, he determines to go at it alone.

DI John Gallan and his partner Tina Boyd are part of the subsequent investigation that will take them to the heart of one of London's most notorious criminal gangs. What they cannot know is that they've also embarked on a journey that will lead one of them straight into the rifle sights of the enemy.

About this title

About the Author:

SIMON KERNICK lives near London with his wife and young daughter. Both The Business of Dying and The Murder Exchange have won him popular and critical acclaim.

From Booklist:

The third entry in Kernick's loosely knit London gangland series opens with a bang, as the ironically named Colombian narcotics sting, Operation Surgical Strike, dissolves into a bloodbath when uninvited thugs make the scene. Among the dead is the partner of nasty undercover cop Stegs Jenner. Things get perplexing fast as DI John Gallen, whose recent promotion seems to have rubbed off some rough edges, finds the probable leak shot dead and must include Stegs among a dwindling pool of suspects. In Kernick's world, coppers mostly come in three varieties: bent, twisted, and broken; not surprisingly, then, much of this book's suspense hinges on just how far Stegs will go and whether we will end up respecting or loathing him when the smoke has cleared. Although Stegs is not as compelling as Milne, the antihero at the black heart of the series debut, The Business of Dying (2003), this remains a solid, morally ambiguous mystery with some great tricks up its sleeve. Kernick belongs on the second tier of Brit noir, right below Bruen, Lawrence, and Harvey. David Wright
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About this edition

• Publisher: Minotaur Books
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0312340591
• ISBN 13: 9780312340599
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 384