Know Your Place

by Andy Knaggs

It was a humdrum kind of life... polishing City boys’ shoes by day, and counting the meagre pennies by night.

But for Nick Newman life was about to take an astonishing turn. A chance encounter shakes his world to the core – and leads him unsuspectingly into the heart of a vicious plot that’s about to be played out on the streets.

Nick is soon playing a major role in the opening move...if only he knew it.

292 pages, Paperback

First published November 30, 2012

About the author

Andy Knaggs writes magazines for a living, but has tried his hand at fiction for the first time with "Know Your Place", published on Amazon by M-Y Books in December 2012.

Such was the positive response from Mum, Dad and his best friend down the pub, that he was cajoled into writing a sequel, "Natural Father".

Andy's next project is a historical novel, set during the English Civil War of the 1640s.

He lives and works from a small home office in Hertford, with a small sausage dog as his constant companion.

Reviews

[Keith Nixon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nick Newman used to be a City trader but now he shines shoes in a busy London train station for a living. He was happy with his lot until Kay Talbot and her husband, Lee enter his life. When Kay employs Nick to carry out an unusual task his world steadily becomes more complicated and when he stumbles upon a nasty conspiracy things get deadly.

This is a good, solid debut from Knaggs. It’s pretty well written with a decent small set of characters that play out their anguished lives during Know Your Place. Talking of place, London, its busy concourse and the relatively hectic pace of life is well drawn, a major strength. Nick’s shoeshine oasis is an interesting contrast. The dialogue is pretty good too.

I hesitate to be critical of it simply because it’s not my type of book. Fundamentally, it’s about relationships – Kay is in an unhappy marriage, whilst Nick is happy with his girlfriend, Justine. But Kay cannot help herself and embarks upon several destructive relationships. There are periods of introspection whilst Kay and Nick examine their respective situations. Again, I’m not saying this is wrong.

The conspiracy is only alluded to and doesn’t seriously come into play until the final chapters. This is particularly well written and creates good tension. The hanging ending is pleasing and leaves plenty of questions for a sequel.

I’d certainly recommend it and, on the evidence of Know Your Place, Knaggs is likely to deliver in the future too.

**Originally reviewed on Books and Pals Blog. May have received free copy.**

[Catherine Burns · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. The small cast of characters are well developed and I enjoyed the detailed descriptions of London and its suburbs. It builds to a frantic climax which demands a sequel!