Новинки Кевина Сэмпсона

Detective Chief Inspector Billy McCartney discovers a headless corpse in the scrubland close to Liverpool docks. The slaying carries all the hallmarks of a gangland hit – a message from the underworld to snitches, cops and rival gangs. One mile away, a girl staggers into a run-down bar, dazed and confused. The bar’s owner, a career criminal called Shakespeare, cannot get a word out of her. DCI McCartney is all too well aware that the clock is ticking. The body was one Kalan Rozaki, youngest brother of a notorious crime family – except Kalan is no criminal. For almost a year his brothers have been under full-time Drug Squad surveillance as McCartney slowly closed the net on their heroin trafficking. McCartney’s chief informant on the case is someone with insider knowledge of the Rozaki clan’s operation...their newly deceased baby brother, Kalan. McCartney’s investigation into Kalan’s murder peels back layer after layer of a decades-long dynasty of drug smuggling. Each revelation plunges McCartney back into the dark heart of an unsolved drug crime that weighs heavy on his soul. He wants to catch the Rozakis – badly – but he wants the shadowy men behind their drug empire even more. The closer McCartney gets to Kalan’s killer, the closer he comes to facing down a lifetime’s torment.

Detective Chief Inspector Billy McCartney discovers a headless corpse in the scrubland close to Liverpool docks. The slaying carries all the hallmarks of a gangland hit – a message from the underworld to snitches, cops and rival gangs. One mile away, a girl staggers into a run-down bar, dazed and confused. The bar’s owner, a career criminal called Shakespeare, cannot get a word out of her. DCI McCartney is all too well aware that the clock is ticking. The body was one Kalan Rozaki, youngest brother of a notorious crime family – except Kalan is no criminal. For almost a year his brothers have been under full-time Drug Squad surveillance as McCartney slowly closed the net on their heroin trafficking. McCartney’s chief informant on the case is someone with insider knowledge of the Rozaki clan’s operation...their newly deceased baby brother, Kalan. McCartney’s investigation into Kalan’s murder peels back layer after layer of a decades-long dynasty of drug smuggling. Each revelation plunges McCartney back into the dark heart of an unsolved drug crime that weighs heavy on his soul. He wants to catch the Rozakis – badly – but he wants the shadowy men behind their drug empire even more. The closer McCartney gets to Kalan’s killer, the closer he comes to facing down a lifetime’s torment.

DCI Billy McCartney has gone to ground, disillusioned with his job. When a runaway turns up on his doorstep, her story plunges Mac back to the summer of 1990, and one of his most traumatic cases. McCartney and his partner DS Millie Baker are in Ibiza, on a joint venture with the Spanish serious crime agency. Their objective: to infiltrate the Liverpool-based drug gang responsible for a wave of ecstasy-related deaths. But their stakeout takes both Mac and Millie to the heart of a dark empire whose tentacles stretch from Ireland to Morocco, and whose activities include industrial-scale drug production – and terrorism. They’re close to their big bust when Millie is abducted by the gang, and killed. McCartney never quite recovers from it. The waif who knocks on Mac’s door twenty-four years later has escaped from those same captors; a dynasty of international dope dealers based high in the Moroccan Rif. What she tells McCartney blasts his apathy away, and sends him on a mission that goes far beyond law and order. This is his chance for redemption.

It's 1979 and in Birkenhead smack and Maggie Thatcher are still less of an issue than Lois jeans and Adidas Forest Hills training shoes. For Paul Carty, 19, and his mystical, Joy Division-loving mate Elvis, life revolves around the Pack, a mob of violent Tranmere Rovers supporters. Carty and Elvis travel the Northern wastelands, always by train, causing mayhem in the "woollyback" strongholds of Halifax, Crewe and Chesterfield. For most of the mob, the Pack is their reason for living. But Elvis, who loves Ezra Pound, and Carty, still getting over the death of his mother, are starting to get bored with it all. The question is: will the Pack let them go? And can they get by without each other?

Знаешь, что им сейчас нужно? То же самое, что и тебе, - отдохнуть и оттянуться. Монстр вечеринок Пастернак, юный романтик Мэтт, развеселые голландские девчонки, молодая семейная пара на грани развода - все они устремляются на пляжи Коста-дель-Соль, чтобы горячее испанское солнце растопило их страхи и зажгло любовь.

Кэвин Сэмпсон живёт и работает в Ливерпуле. Автор девяти новелл. Начал свою карьеру в журнале NME (New Musical Express) в 80-х как автор концертных обзоров.

Его первая книга Awaydays вышла в 1998 и моментально приобрела коммерческий успех. На русский язык не переведена. В 2009 по мотивам книги был снят фильм, который довольно сильно отличается от истории Сэмпсона. Однако фильм атмосферен, и если кому-то хочется окунуться в соответствующую эпоху, его можно посмотреть. (Там засветился даже Майлз Кейн). Правда, перевод на русский очень плох. Нужно смотреть в оригинале или с субтитрами.

Издатель книги не предлагает никакого собственного описания Awaydays, однако приводит мнения британской прессы.

New Musical Express: "Тёмная сторона 'Футбольной лихорадки' Хорнби".

Guardian: "Отличная дебютная новелла Кевина Сэмпсона...забавная и чёткая...Сэмпсон отличный расказчик...Он идеально передал типичную речь скаузеров...Жесткая, прекрасно написанная история".

Daily Telegraph: "Лирический герой - умный парень из среднего класса, работающий на Inland Revenue. Это позволяет Сэмпсону подвергать сомнению, что хулиганизм является увлечением исключительно выходцев из рабочих семей... Сэмпсон не боится анализировать жестокость, которую он изображает в книге. Хотя, его герой не имеет глубоких моральных принципов, конец этого мрачного и завораживающего романа оптимистичен".