The Red Riding Quartet: Nineteen Seventy Four, Nineteen Seventy Seven, Nineteen Eighty, Nineteen Eighty Three (Signed First Printing Set)

Peace, David

ISBN 10: 1852426349 / ISBN 13: 9781852426347

Published by Serpent's Tail, 1999

About this Item

A first edition, first impression set of the Red Riding Quartet - ALL FOUR VOLUMES HAVE BEEN SIGNED TO THE TITLE PAGE BY DAVID PEACE (1983 has been additionally inscribed by the author 'To John/ Best Wishes…'). Three paperback originals (1974, 1977, and 1983) and one hardcover, 1980 (issued simultaneously with the PB, the only one thus). The three paperbacks are crisp, clean and bright, presenting as unread: 1974 is Near Fine, having a couple of shallow spine creases; 1977 is Fine; 1983 is essentially Fine, with some toning to the edge of the page block and gentle rubs to a couple of corners. Similarly, 1980 presents as unread and is Fine, albeit with the toning to the edge of the page block that is typical for this printing; the unclipped dustwrapper is Near Fine with a little rubbing to the spine tips. An attractive, complementary set. All orders are sent very carefully wrapped in bubble wrap and sturdy cardboard.

Seller Inventory # A185

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Red Riding Quartet: Nineteen Seventy Four, Nineteen Seventy Seven, Nineteen Eighty, Nineteen Eighty Three (Signed First Printing Set)
• Publisher: Serpent's Tail
• Publication Date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1852426349
• ISBN 13: 9781852426347
• Binding: Soft cover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine
• Signed: Signed by Author(s)
• Seller catalogs:
  • Crime & Mystery

About this title

Synopsis

The year is 1974, three girls are missing, the work of one man or more? Edward Dunford, correspondent for the Yorkshire Post is putting the pieces together.

Reviews

Peace's homage to Orwell's 1984 takes place in Yorkshire, England, in the two weeks leading up to Christmas 1974. Against a backdrop of IRA bombings, economic collapse, and government blundering, reporter Edward Dunsford scrambles to ferret out the truth behind a series of baffling child murders. Instead, he stumbles into a world of corruption as pervasive as oxygen. Adapting the structure of 1984, Peace leads a puppetlike naif through revelation, betrayal, and unreasoning fear to the ultimate destruction of the soul at the hands of a dystopian society. The novel presents not a warning about the future but a rueful tale of the shabby and unethical recent past upon which our current reality is built. This is an extremely violent novel; Dunsford witnesses and suffers more punishment than Mike Hammer ever imagined. Peace interweaves this violence and obscenity with the bland pap of Christmas carols and mind-numbing 1970s pop music, underlining how debased society has become. Riveting but unsettling. George Needham