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Glasgow Underworld Series #1
The Necessary Death of Lewis Winter
An arresting, gripping novel of dark relationships and even darker moralities: introducing a remarkable new voice in crime fiction.
A 29-year-old man lives alone in his Glasgow flat. The telephone rings; a casual conversation, but behind this a job offer. The clues are there if you know to look for them. He is an expert. A loner. Freelance. Another job is another job, but what if this organisation wants more? A meeting at a club. An offer. A brief. A target: Lewis Winter. It's hard to kill a man well. People who do it well know this. People who do it badly find out the hard way. The hard way has consequences.
A 29-year-old man lives alone in his Glasgow flat. The telephone rings; a casual conversation, but behind this a job offer. The clues are there if you know to look for them. He is an expert. A loner. Freelance. Another job is another job, but what if this organisation wants more? A meeting at a club. An offer. A brief. A target: Lewis Winter. It's hard to kill a man well. People who do it well know this. People who do it badly find out the hard way. The hard way has consequences.
9 pages, Audiobook
First published January 1, 2013
144 people are currently reading
2414 people want to read
About the author
Malcolm Mackay
22 books178 followersMalcolm Mackay was born and grew up in Stornoway where he still lives. The Necessary Death of Lewis Winter, his debut, is the first of a trilogy set in the Glasgow underworld.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 380 reviews
December 10, 2021
This is a gritty crime novel about Calum, a 29 year old hit man in desperate need of career counseling. Should he continue to freelance, or should he accept a permanent position with a Glasgow crime boss. For the time being, he accepts a hit on Lewis Winter, a low level drug dealer with girlfriend problems. Calum plans the hit meticulously but he can’t control the consequences. The book was fast paced with sharp dialogue. The characters were interesting, although none of them could be described as “good”. This is the second book that I’ve read by this author and I enjoyed each of them.
January 24, 2021
By far η πιο φρέσκια, ουσιαστική και ενδιαφέρουσα νουάρ φωνή.
September 8, 2015
The Necessary Death of Lewis Winter: Malcolm Mackay's First Volume of the Glasgow Trilogy
Mackay is an extraordinary new voice in crime fiction. It's dark. It's gritty. And Mackay takes the reader by the throat and immerses the hapless plonker who happens to pick up this ambitious trilogy into the underworld of organized crime without mercy. He is unblinking in a straightforward tale of a twenty-nine year old hitman, Colum MacLean, a freelance artist in making other people's problems disappear.
MacLean is careful. He can kill a man well. The object is being cautious, careful, not being rash or reckless. Others in the game can be talkers, bragging about how well they take out a target. That gets you caught. That's not killing a man well. MacLean keeps his own counsel.
More important, MacLean knows you cant stay too busy in this profession. Especially when you're freelance and don't work for an organization. Too many jobs, too close together attracts attention. MacLean is patient. He works regulary, but only enough to keep food on the table and some spending money in the pocket.
But things can become complicated when you get picked up by an organization. Sure, it may be a short term arrangement, as here. The Syndicate of Jamieson and Young have a problem. Their regular button man, an old professional is out of commission with a broken hip. Frank MacLeod, the regular recommends young MacLean as his fill in. MacLeod has taken a shine to the boy. He's got the makings of a careful man who solves a problem well.
Jamieson and Young are in the drug trade. Their problem is Lewis Winter. Winter's been in the business for twenty-five years. Never considered a serious competitor. But Winter wants to improve his station in life. He has a beautiful younger woman, Zara Coe, who aspires to a flashier life style. Winter knows he's getting too old to hold onto Zara. He's beginning to bore her. In the clubs Zara demands Winter take her, men much younger than Winter are paying her welcome attention. Winter's got his pride. Tired of being humiliated.
So, Winter is ready to make a move. Maybe he has support. Maybe he doesn't. Jamieson and Young decide that Lewis Winter has become a necessary death. Winter is a short term solution. If Winter has new muscle behind him, removing him sends a message to his unknown higher ups.
Mackay's prose crackles. His sentences are clean, precise, and race at a staccato pace. Not an unnecessary adjective or adverb interrupts the breakneck pace of this story.
The hit is clean. Simple. Professional. But that's only half the story. Mackay introduces character after character, each with pitch perfect voice. Every chapter builds on the preceding one. This writer has talent that will hold the reader's attention completely rapt.
Perhaps the only honest character is Inspector Michael Fisher. He is not necessarily likable. His assessment of the suspects in the death of Lewis Winter is formed out of complete cynicism. On the right track to solving the murder of Lewis Winter, Fisher is sidetracked by focusing on suspects who are only tangential to the actual solving of the murder case assigned to him. Not even Fisher is without fault in looking for the easy answer.
In an interview regarding his literary influences as a writer, Mackay mentions the obvious. Jim Thompson, Chandler, Hammett. His remarkable narrative is evidence that all those authors have taken seed in Mackay's craft. Add in Richard Stark and Elmore Leonard. Mackay is a force with which to be reckoned.
This first novel leaves Colum MacLean no longer a freelance agent. He is now a member of a Glasgow crime syndicate. His future will be revealed in the final two volumes, How a Gunman Says Goodbye and The Sudden Arrival of Violence. I'll eagerly move from this first novel to its ultimate conclusion.
Read this one. This one comes with my highest recommendation. Five Stars. Solid.
"It's ieasy to kill a man. It's hard to kill a man well.
Malcolm Mackay
Mackay is an extraordinary new voice in crime fiction. It's dark. It's gritty. And Mackay takes the reader by the throat and immerses the hapless plonker who happens to pick up this ambitious trilogy into the underworld of organized crime without mercy. He is unblinking in a straightforward tale of a twenty-nine year old hitman, Colum MacLean, a freelance artist in making other people's problems disappear.
MacLean is careful. He can kill a man well. The object is being cautious, careful, not being rash or reckless. Others in the game can be talkers, bragging about how well they take out a target. That gets you caught. That's not killing a man well. MacLean keeps his own counsel.
More important, MacLean knows you cant stay too busy in this profession. Especially when you're freelance and don't work for an organization. Too many jobs, too close together attracts attention. MacLean is patient. He works regulary, but only enough to keep food on the table and some spending money in the pocket.
But things can become complicated when you get picked up by an organization. Sure, it may be a short term arrangement, as here. The Syndicate of Jamieson and Young have a problem. Their regular button man, an old professional is out of commission with a broken hip. Frank MacLeod, the regular recommends young MacLean as his fill in. MacLeod has taken a shine to the boy. He's got the makings of a careful man who solves a problem well.
Jamieson and Young are in the drug trade. Their problem is Lewis Winter. Winter's been in the business for twenty-five years. Never considered a serious competitor. But Winter wants to improve his station in life. He has a beautiful younger woman, Zara Coe, who aspires to a flashier life style. Winter knows he's getting too old to hold onto Zara. He's beginning to bore her. In the clubs Zara demands Winter take her, men much younger than Winter are paying her welcome attention. Winter's got his pride. Tired of being humiliated.
So, Winter is ready to make a move. Maybe he has support. Maybe he doesn't. Jamieson and Young decide that Lewis Winter has become a necessary death. Winter is a short term solution. If Winter has new muscle behind him, removing him sends a message to his unknown higher ups.
Mackay's prose crackles. His sentences are clean, precise, and race at a staccato pace. Not an unnecessary adjective or adverb interrupts the breakneck pace of this story.
The hit is clean. Simple. Professional. But that's only half the story. Mackay introduces character after character, each with pitch perfect voice. Every chapter builds on the preceding one. This writer has talent that will hold the reader's attention completely rapt.
Perhaps the only honest character is Inspector Michael Fisher. He is not necessarily likable. His assessment of the suspects in the death of Lewis Winter is formed out of complete cynicism. On the right track to solving the murder of Lewis Winter, Fisher is sidetracked by focusing on suspects who are only tangential to the actual solving of the murder case assigned to him. Not even Fisher is without fault in looking for the easy answer.
In an interview regarding his literary influences as a writer, Mackay mentions the obvious. Jim Thompson, Chandler, Hammett. His remarkable narrative is evidence that all those authors have taken seed in Mackay's craft. Add in Richard Stark and Elmore Leonard. Mackay is a force with which to be reckoned.
This first novel leaves Colum MacLean no longer a freelance agent. He is now a member of a Glasgow crime syndicate. His future will be revealed in the final two volumes, How a Gunman Says Goodbye and The Sudden Arrival of Violence. I'll eagerly move from this first novel to its ultimate conclusion.
Read this one. This one comes with my highest recommendation. Five Stars. Solid.
December 10, 2022
Εξαιρετικό πρώτο μέρος!
Λιτό,απόλυτο,ξεκάθαρο.
5/5
Λιτό,απόλυτο,ξεκάθαρο.
5/5
August 10, 2025
Calum Maclean is very good at his job. His job is killing people. He's free-lance now, but he has parties interested in hiring him on full-time, and he's considering it. They offer benefits that working solo simply doesn't. Currently, he has been hired to kill a small-time drug dealer named Lewis Winter. It's a ridiculously easy job, in and out. The hit goes swimmingly. It's what happens after the hit that creates problems.
This is the set-up for Malcolm Mackay's superbly intense and un-put-downable novel, "The Necessary Death of Lewis Winter", which is the first book in his Glasgow Underworld Trilogy. The gritty urban streets of contemporary Glasgow, Scotland could just as easily be the streets of New Orleans in 1900 or the streets of Chicago in the 1930s or the streets of New York City during the 1980s, in terms of the violence and bloodshed.
The characters within this novel may be hit men, drug dealers, intrepid detectives, mob bosses, gun molls, drivers, and innocent bystanders, but they are anything but stereotypes. Some of them may be minor characters, but they are all human and believable. They just happen to live in a world in which violence and crime is an accepted way of life, and they live by unwritten rules that they know have dire consequences if broken.
Calum has, somewhat wittingly, become embroiled in a turf war between an up-and-coming young crime boss named Shug Francis and the man who hired him, Jamieson, the long-standing older boss in this part of town. Winter was one of Francis's men, and Jamieson put the hit out to send a message to Francis. Message received. Now, Francis is pissed, and he may have to do something in retaliation, like go after Calum.
Calum, of course, is ready.
Mackay's novel is dark, mean, and gritty. Its pacing is that of a machine gun. These are very bad people, and yet you can't help but sympathize with some of them. That is, perhaps, the most fascinating and unexpected aspect of the novel. You will want to read the next two books in the series immediately.
This is the set-up for Malcolm Mackay's superbly intense and un-put-downable novel, "The Necessary Death of Lewis Winter", which is the first book in his Glasgow Underworld Trilogy. The gritty urban streets of contemporary Glasgow, Scotland could just as easily be the streets of New Orleans in 1900 or the streets of Chicago in the 1930s or the streets of New York City during the 1980s, in terms of the violence and bloodshed.
The characters within this novel may be hit men, drug dealers, intrepid detectives, mob bosses, gun molls, drivers, and innocent bystanders, but they are anything but stereotypes. Some of them may be minor characters, but they are all human and believable. They just happen to live in a world in which violence and crime is an accepted way of life, and they live by unwritten rules that they know have dire consequences if broken.
Calum has, somewhat wittingly, become embroiled in a turf war between an up-and-coming young crime boss named Shug Francis and the man who hired him, Jamieson, the long-standing older boss in this part of town. Winter was one of Francis's men, and Jamieson put the hit out to send a message to Francis. Message received. Now, Francis is pissed, and he may have to do something in retaliation, like go after Calum.
Calum, of course, is ready.
Mackay's novel is dark, mean, and gritty. Its pacing is that of a machine gun. These are very bad people, and yet you can't help but sympathize with some of them. That is, perhaps, the most fascinating and unexpected aspect of the novel. You will want to read the next two books in the series immediately.
October 9, 2016
Όταν μου το δάνεισαν αυτό το βιβλίο πίστευα ότι δεν θα ήταν ενδιαφέρον διότι την υπόθεση την μαρτυρούσε ο τίτλος...
Τελειώνοντας το ανακάλυψα ότι όντως δεν είναι τόσο ενδιαφέρων σαν πλοκή αλλά είναι ενδιαφέρων ο τρόπος γραφής του συγγραφέα...
Αν και άνετα κάποιος θα του έδινε 5 αστέρια ... εγώ θα του δώσω 3,5 με 4 ...
Πάντως αξίζει να διαβάσετε την ιστορία του Κάλουμ... και για τον αναγκαίο θάνατο του Γουίντερ....!!!
Τελειώνοντας το ανακάλυψα ότι όντως δεν είναι τόσο ενδιαφέρων σαν πλοκή αλλά είναι ενδιαφέρων ο τρόπος γραφής του συγγραφέα...
Αν και άνετα κάποιος θα του έδινε 5 αστέρια ... εγώ θα του δώσω 3,5 με 4 ...
Πάντως αξίζει να διαβάσετε την ιστορία του Κάλουμ... και για τον αναγκαίο θάνατο του Γουίντερ....!!!
June 7, 2018
Βαθμολογία: ★★★
Το ξεκίνησα με ενθουσιασμό, αλλά δυστυχώς το βρήκα επίπεδο, χωρίς σασπένς και ανατροπές. Ο Mackay δεν αξιοποίησε καθόλου τη Γλασκώβη, θα μπορούσε κάλλιστα να διαδραματίζεται σε οποιαδήποτε άλλη σκωτσέζικη πόλη. Οι χαρακτήρες είναι αρκετά ενδιαφέροντες, αλλά απουσιάζει εντελώς το γυναικείο στοιχείο, με εξαίρεση τη Zara Cope. Είχα καιρό να διαβάσω ένα noir με οργανωμένο έγκλημα και πληρωμένους δολοφόνους και το απόλαυσα όσο γινόταν, αλλά δε νομίζω να διαβάσω την υπόλοιπη τριλογία.
Το ξεκίνησα με ενθουσιασμό, αλλά δυστυχώς το βρήκα επίπεδο, χωρίς σασπένς και ανατροπές. Ο Mackay δεν αξιοποίησε καθόλου τη Γλασκώβη, θα μπορούσε κάλλιστα να διαδραματίζεται σε οποιαδήποτε άλλη σκωτσέζικη πόλη. Οι χαρακτήρες είναι αρκετά ενδιαφέροντες, αλλά απουσιάζει εντελώς το γυναικείο στοιχείο, με εξαίρεση τη Zara Cope. Είχα καιρό να διαβάσω ένα noir με οργανωμένο έγκλημα και πληρωμένους δολοφόνους και το απόλαυσα όσο γινόταν, αλλά δε νομίζω να διαβάσω την υπόλοιπη τριλογία.
December 3, 2025
I stumbled onto this novel, titled beautifully in the most pulply fashion, accidentally - as a suggestion that's buried under obvious and mainstream answers on a post thread on reddit for crime novels if you like Don Winslow's sprawling and maze-like narrative. The Necessary Death of Lewis Winter along with a few other novel were suggested as sprawling noir but set in the UK. Now normally something out of the UK, one would often think of London or some place within the Midlands, but occasionally and ironically the Ireland that's not even in the UK, because that's what many movies or TVs often depicted but The Necessary Death of Lewis Winter took place in a contemporary Scotland and has been characterised as "Tartan Noir", a fairly popular subgenre of noir on the literary side of crime fiction but infused with Scottish cultural elements or if you're cynical - a marketing tag that can rival noir's more recent-esque incarnation, such as Neo Noir or Nordic Noir.
True to the genre of Noir, there are no good guys here, except the one "good" cop and he does not appear for the first half of the novel so it's all just bad folks all around. When the coppers started to pop up, calling them the "good" guys falls merely as a fallacy from a moralistic belief, yes including the "good" cop. Everyone in the story has their own status designated by the big system - the underworld where their importance can be compared to chess pieces standing on a metaphorical chess board that is the Glasgow's underworld. The list of characters is a long one and a dramatis personae was attached by Mackay first, before the first chapter. This should not confuse readers into thinking there are no likeable characters just because they live on the other side of the law. Among the cast of characters that inhabited the Glaswegian underworld, Callum Maclean could be considered to be the "primary" protagonist. He's an independent hitman hired by the Jamieson Organisation to assassinate the titular Lewis Winter. Callum, while clearly is not a guy good, he's written as a likeable guy or at least one you could root for in an ocean inhabited with different kind of sharks. Callum is shown to be street smart and has a "wiser than his age" outlook to his world view. Lewis Winter the would be the polar opposite; shown to be a barrel scraper of the underworld and whatever moves he makes or made was to change his fortune but not only that, it's to solidified his relationship with his current paramour - Zara Cope, a worthy character of her own with her own agenda and agency. Just like Callum, both Lewis Winter and Zara Cope are chess pieces that are lowered value.
Mackay, similarly to Winslow, writes in a bare-bones, short, snappy and punchy style perfect for a noir story. Unlike Winslow though, it's not "casual" in the sense the prose could be construed as a conversation between two buddies reminiscing the good old days while sipping drinks but cold and sometimes prosaic. The story is told in a 3rd person point of view but not just limited to external/physical happenings because Mackay also put us into the mind of his characters; their inner monologue and some of the best tender human happened because of what we know from the character's mind that's not necessarily shared/acknowledged among the characters. The narrative moves pedal to the metal fast and it's done with an abundance of information overload; aspect of a killer, drug dealers, mob enforcers and police procedural, sprinkled throughout the story. The narrative does move from point A to point B, but to say that is to simplify things. More accurately, the narrative resembles what David Tennant's incarnation of the Doctor would say "it's not a river but more like a big ball". There's a river source and a river mouth but it sits in between of other river sources and river mouths that it could've wrapped around each events as causality for one another in one gigantic ball. We get to see and feel the effect of such action on every corner of Glasgow's Underworld and it's what I like in my crime fiction - the huge sprawling and maze-like repercussion.
I don't have much or any to be honest, insight on what differentiate "Scottish/Tartan Noir" from your regular noir (contemporary or period pieces) just like I'm not too sure what differentiate Nordic Noir other than the setting, but the novel does emphasised greatly on status. Like the comparison to chess pieces, everyone is deemed to be the pawn, rook, queen and king by the big system. Slight change, even a tiny one in the underworld would affect everything. If that's it, then colour me intrigued.
While I don't think The Necessary Death of Lewis Winter reinvent the wheels, Mackay's wrote a damn fine and enjoyable piece of a crime story fitting of the noir genre. His voice through the way he writes is a fresh one with characters that are nuance and in turn made me invested in the story. Mackay uses the characters and story to propagate the novel's big theme of status effortlessly that would otherwise be bashed on our head in the hands of lesser writers. The real achievement here, to me at least is that Malcom Mackay is able to tell his gritty noir story in just 290+ pages and be just as good as Don Winslow or David Goodis large sweeping 600-700 pages novels.
True to the genre of Noir, there are no good guys here, except the one "good" cop and he does not appear for the first half of the novel so it's all just bad folks all around. When the coppers started to pop up, calling them the "good" guys falls merely as a fallacy from a moralistic belief, yes including the "good" cop. Everyone in the story has their own status designated by the big system - the underworld where their importance can be compared to chess pieces standing on a metaphorical chess board that is the Glasgow's underworld. The list of characters is a long one and a dramatis personae was attached by Mackay first, before the first chapter. This should not confuse readers into thinking there are no likeable characters just because they live on the other side of the law. Among the cast of characters that inhabited the Glaswegian underworld, Callum Maclean could be considered to be the "primary" protagonist. He's an independent hitman hired by the Jamieson Organisation to assassinate the titular Lewis Winter. Callum, while clearly is not a guy good, he's written as a likeable guy or at least one you could root for in an ocean inhabited with different kind of sharks. Callum is shown to be street smart and has a "wiser than his age" outlook to his world view. Lewis Winter the would be the polar opposite; shown to be a barrel scraper of the underworld and whatever moves he makes or made was to change his fortune but not only that, it's to solidified his relationship with his current paramour - Zara Cope, a worthy character of her own with her own agenda and agency. Just like Callum, both Lewis Winter and Zara Cope are chess pieces that are lowered value.
Mackay, similarly to Winslow, writes in a bare-bones, short, snappy and punchy style perfect for a noir story. Unlike Winslow though, it's not "casual" in the sense the prose could be construed as a conversation between two buddies reminiscing the good old days while sipping drinks but cold and sometimes prosaic. The story is told in a 3rd person point of view but not just limited to external/physical happenings because Mackay also put us into the mind of his characters; their inner monologue and some of the best tender human happened because of what we know from the character's mind that's not necessarily shared/acknowledged among the characters. The narrative moves pedal to the metal fast and it's done with an abundance of information overload; aspect of a killer, drug dealers, mob enforcers and police procedural, sprinkled throughout the story. The narrative does move from point A to point B, but to say that is to simplify things. More accurately, the narrative resembles what David Tennant's incarnation of the Doctor would say "it's not a river but more like a big ball". There's a river source and a river mouth but it sits in between of other river sources and river mouths that it could've wrapped around each events as causality for one another in one gigantic ball. We get to see and feel the effect of such action on every corner of Glasgow's Underworld and it's what I like in my crime fiction - the huge sprawling and maze-like repercussion.
I don't have much or any to be honest, insight on what differentiate "Scottish/Tartan Noir" from your regular noir (contemporary or period pieces) just like I'm not too sure what differentiate Nordic Noir other than the setting, but the novel does emphasised greatly on status. Like the comparison to chess pieces, everyone is deemed to be the pawn, rook, queen and king by the big system. Slight change, even a tiny one in the underworld would affect everything. If that's it, then colour me intrigued.
While I don't think The Necessary Death of Lewis Winter reinvent the wheels, Mackay's wrote a damn fine and enjoyable piece of a crime story fitting of the noir genre. His voice through the way he writes is a fresh one with characters that are nuance and in turn made me invested in the story. Mackay uses the characters and story to propagate the novel's big theme of status effortlessly that would otherwise be bashed on our head in the hands of lesser writers. The real achievement here, to me at least is that Malcom Mackay is able to tell his gritty noir story in just 290+ pages and be just as good as Don Winslow or David Goodis large sweeping 600-700 pages novels.
September 18, 2015
Description: A twenty-nine-year-old man lives alone in his Glasgow flat. The telephone rings; a casual conversation, but behind this a job offer. The clues are there if you know to look for them. He is an expert. A loner. Freelance. Another job is another job, but what if this organisation wants more? A meeting at a club. An offer. A brief. A target: Lewis Winter. It's hard to kill a man well. People who do it well know this. People who do it badly find out the hard way. The hard way has consequences.
Opening: It starts with a telephone call. Casual, chatty, friendly, no business. You arrange to meet, neutral venue, preferably public.
It is valid to say that this is an unnecessary wooden monotonic drek of a book, however, to be charitable I will just say that I have no interest in reading further into the series. I did read through to the end to see if the pedestrian prose ever garnered a zestful slant - rest assured, it didn't break out of the tedium.
Opening: It starts with a telephone call. Casual, chatty, friendly, no business. You arrange to meet, neutral venue, preferably public.
It is valid to say that this is an unnecessary wooden monotonic drek of a book, however, to be charitable I will just say that I have no interest in reading further into the series. I did read through to the end to see if the pedestrian prose ever garnered a zestful slant - rest assured, it didn't break out of the tedium.
September 9, 2016
3.5*
Ο Κάλουμ ΜακΛιν είναι ένας περιζήτητος κ ακριβοθώρητος εκτελεστής της Γλασκώβης που προτιμά να δουλεύει με τους δικούς του ρυθμούς κ όρους. Δεν ανήκει σε καμία απ'τις συμμορίες της πόλης αν κ όλες θα ήθελαν να τον έχουν στις τάξεις τους. Δουλεύει με την ίδια ακρίβεια που ο συγγραφέας στήνει το χαρακτήρα του επιλέγοντας έναν πρωτότυπο τρόπο να διηγηθεί την ιστορία του, μπαίνοντας δηλαδή στο κεφάλι του πρωταγωνιστή του (όπως κ στους περιφερειακούς χαρακτήρες όπως ο επιθεωρητής Φίσερ) κ με σταθέρο στακάτο ρυθμό ανακαλύπτουμε τι έχει στο μυαλό του.
Το βιβλίο δεν χαρακτήριζεται απ΄τη δράση που συνηθίζεις να συναντάς στα βιβλία του είδους, αντιθέτως το μεγάλο του όπλο κ ο κύριος λόγος που το έκανε ιδανικό ξεμούδιασμα μετά τον Λευκό Θόρυβο, είναι ότι είναι ένα πολύ ζωντανό κείμενο, ένα όμορφα στημένο ψυχογράφημα. Μου έλειψαν μάλλον κάποια πράγματα, θα ήθελα να συνεχιστεί κ άλλο η πορεία του (οκ, τριλογία είναι με το δεύτερο μέρος ήδη μεταφρασμένο στα ελληνικά αλλά κ πάλι) ενώ ήθελα κ λίγη περισσότερη Γλασκώβη στο βιβλίο αλλά αυτό είναι προσωπικό κόλλημα γιατί αγαπάω πολύ την πόλη.
Αργά ή γρήγορα θα επανέλθω με το δεύτερο μέρος.
Ο Κάλουμ ΜακΛιν είναι ένας περιζήτητος κ ακριβοθώρητος εκτελεστής της Γλασκώβης που προτιμά να δουλεύει με τους δικούς του ρυθμούς κ όρους. Δεν ανήκει σε καμία απ'τις συμμορίες της πόλης αν κ όλες θα ήθελαν να τον έχουν στις τάξεις τους. Δουλεύει με την ίδια ακρίβεια που ο συγγραφέας στήνει το χαρακτήρα του επιλέγοντας έναν πρωτότυπο τρόπο να διηγηθεί την ιστορία του, μπαίνοντας δηλαδή στο κεφάλι του πρωταγωνιστή του (όπως κ στους περιφερειακούς χαρακτήρες όπως ο επιθεωρητής Φίσερ) κ με σταθέρο στακάτο ρυθμό ανακαλύπτουμε τι έχει στο μυαλό του.
Το βιβλίο δεν χαρακτήριζεται απ΄τη δράση που συνηθίζεις να συναντάς στα βιβλία του είδους, αντιθέτως το μεγάλο του όπλο κ ο κύριος λόγος που το έκανε ιδανικό ξεμούδιασμα μετά τον Λευκό Θόρυβο, είναι ότι είναι ένα πολύ ζωντανό κείμενο, ένα όμορφα στημένο ψυχογράφημα. Μου έλειψαν μάλλον κάποια πράγματα, θα ήθελα να συνεχιστεί κ άλλο η πορεία του (οκ, τριλογία είναι με το δεύτερο μέρος ήδη μεταφρασμένο στα ελληνικά αλλά κ πάλι) ενώ ήθελα κ λίγη περισσότερη Γλασκώβη στο βιβλίο αλλά αυτό είναι προσωπικό κόλλημα γιατί αγαπάω πολύ την πόλη.
Αργά ή γρήγορα θα επανέλθω με το δεύτερο μέρος.
July 26, 2020
Rounded up from 3.75 ⭐️ I really enjoyed the quick/snappy style of this book. It felt like it was constantly moving, never slow or boring. By the end, I was reluctant to put it down.
Despite most of the characters being part of various gangs, I felt a great warmth towards some of them. I was surprised at how much I wanted the best for them, despite their criminal activities. I’m looking forward to reading the next book in the series.
Despite most of the characters being part of various gangs, I felt a great warmth towards some of them. I was surprised at how much I wanted the best for them, despite their criminal activities. I’m looking forward to reading the next book in the series.
July 31, 2015
You start reading the story of Calum McLean and you can't stop reading. The novel is written in a staccato style. Short sentences. Nothing unnecessary. Just the bare bones. No nice guys and no bad guys, except that everybody is a wee baddy. The novel depicts the gangland of Glasgow in a neutral and non-partisan way. Interesting plot. Interesting characters. A world of solitude and debts, moral and pecuniary. A world of changing alliances of trust and distrust.
It is my third book about a hitman in not a long time. While Matar y guardar la ropa turned around the family life (or lack thereof) of a gunman enmeshed in a situation involving his own family and was of rather funny nature, not necessarily looking for credibility, The Necessary Death of Lewis Winter and The Killer Is Dying turn around a solitary man, who trusts nobody, who knows that solitude is the only guarantee to survival. Both novels share a minimalistic writing and a rather gloomy perspective. In the Glasgow novel you even have an elderly gunman. Indeed, his hip having to be replaced and the job offered to him is passed to Calum and there starts the whole story.
This is Mackay's first novel, but I am already planning to read the following two, which complete his Glasgow trilogy and which can be read as a big novel in three big chapters.
A nice surprise coming from Stornoway. My first Tartan noir!
It is my third book about a hitman in not a long time. While Matar y guardar la ropa turned around the family life (or lack thereof) of a gunman enmeshed in a situation involving his own family and was of rather funny nature, not necessarily looking for credibility, The Necessary Death of Lewis Winter and The Killer Is Dying turn around a solitary man, who trusts nobody, who knows that solitude is the only guarantee to survival. Both novels share a minimalistic writing and a rather gloomy perspective. In the Glasgow novel you even have an elderly gunman. Indeed, his hip having to be replaced and the job offered to him is passed to Calum and there starts the whole story.
This is Mackay's first novel, but I am already planning to read the following two, which complete his Glasgow trilogy and which can be read as a big novel in three big chapters.
A nice surprise coming from Stornoway. My first Tartan noir!
April 11, 2022
Fast. Engaging. Entertaining. 3 days and 4 sittings is all it took to get through this one.
Short sentences and a clear plot are the two highlights of this book. You delve in a world that is disagreeable and yet invest in the characters. As a book it is well put together.
Just a small note : Glasgow doesn't feature prominently in the story. It could be set anywhere.
Short sentences and a clear plot are the two highlights of this book. You delve in a world that is disagreeable and yet invest in the characters. As a book it is well put together.
Just a small note : Glasgow doesn't feature prominently in the story. It could be set anywhere.
July 7, 2017
τόσο καλογραμμένο, τόσο ενδιαφέρον, τόσο ατμοσφαιρικό. Ανυπομονώ για τα επόμενα!
December 23, 2017
Μικρά κεφάλαια, κοφτές, στακάτες προτάσεις, λιτές περιγραφές. Σπουδαίο χτίσιμο των βασικών χαρακτήρων, ένας "αξιαγάπητος" πληρωμένος δολοφόνος.
Μου άρεσε πολύ, θα διαβάσω και τα επόμενα.
Μου άρεσε πολύ, θα διαβάσω και τα επόμενα.
June 28, 2017
Enorm genoten van dit boek! Spannend terwijl je eigenlijk toch al weet wat er gaat gebeuren, snedige en snelle zinnen, actie maar ook reflectie,... En alles verteld vanuit steeds wisselende standpunten van heel uiteenlopende personages! Was dan ook heel blij met de personagelijst.
Minpunt: ik wil starten in deel 2, maar de bib blijkt enkel deel 1 aangekocht te hebben 😬
Minpunt: ik wil starten in deel 2, maar de bib blijkt enkel deel 1 aangekocht te hebben 😬
February 1, 2015
This was a book I stumbled upon when I was in one of my strange reading moods. I was looking for a crime novel, any crime novel, set in Scotland (preferably Glasgow). I don’t even know why, but I was looking for something that had the same gritty feel about it as the newest series of Taggart. The Necessary Death of Lewis Winter sounded interesting enough and it was available as an ebook download from my library. Sadly, this book and I weren’t really meant for each other.
One of the biggest thing in any book for me is connecting with the characters. Now, this doesn’t mean I like the characters, just that I care enough about them to want to finish the book. But McKay’s writing style just wasn’t for me. While the short, concise sentences kept the pace nice and quick, the third person, present tense left me feeling detached from the characters. I found the frequent changes between characters confusing and was often trying to catch up with whose mind the reader was in at any point.
While The Necessary Death of Lewis Winter was an interesting vignette into Glasgow’s gangland, I finished the book feeling totally underwhelmed and even a little bored. I had a soft spot for Callum, but don’t think I’ll be reading the sequel.
This review and many more can be found at The Unfinished Bookshelf.
One of the biggest thing in any book for me is connecting with the characters. Now, this doesn’t mean I like the characters, just that I care enough about them to want to finish the book. But McKay’s writing style just wasn’t for me. While the short, concise sentences kept the pace nice and quick, the third person, present tense left me feeling detached from the characters. I found the frequent changes between characters confusing and was often trying to catch up with whose mind the reader was in at any point.
While The Necessary Death of Lewis Winter was an interesting vignette into Glasgow’s gangland, I finished the book feeling totally underwhelmed and even a little bored. I had a soft spot for Callum, but don’t think I’ll be reading the sequel.
This review and many more can be found at The Unfinished Bookshelf.
January 17, 2023
Πολύ καλό, καθαρό νουάρ, που (όπως πρέπει) δίνει περισσότερο έμφαση στους χαρακτήρες και στην ατμόσφαιρα, και λιγότερο στην υπόθεση. Εξαιρετικό σαν πρώτο μέρος μιας τριλογίας.
November 14, 2013
Really enjoyed this one and have book two in the trilogy ready to pick up from the library - book one tees that one up very nicely and I can't wait to get to it. Quite an unusual book in that it goes into quite some detail on the life of the gunman and the other characters in the book - found it useful to have the key of who everyone is at the start as that saved me having to go back and reread to check who everyone was as there are quite a few characters. My only complaint with it was that I'd been initially attracted to the book by the fact that it was set in Glasgow but neither the dialogue, characters or setting referenced Glasgow much at all - it could have been set anywhere. That wasn't a huge problem though and I still think that I have found a new author to add to my list of favourites.
January 6, 2017
This book came to my attention when it was nominated for "The CWA John Creasey New Blood Dagger (Best New Crime Writer)" in the 2014 Crime Thriller Awards....& I can certainly see why it was nominated.
The story is told in short snappy sentences. There's no time wasted with unnecessary descriptive passages or long dialogues & yet this blunt, no-nonsense format creates a really believable picture of gangland life, while also doing a great job of making you feel you know what's going through the characters minds.
This was gripping, gritty & ended in a way which has guaranteed I'll be on the look out for the next instalment.
The story is told in short snappy sentences. There's no time wasted with unnecessary descriptive passages or long dialogues & yet this blunt, no-nonsense format creates a really believable picture of gangland life, while also doing a great job of making you feel you know what's going through the characters minds.
This was gripping, gritty & ended in a way which has guaranteed I'll be on the look out for the next instalment.
June 13, 2018
Ιδιαίτερη γραφή, κοφτή, στακάτη, χωρίς λογοτεχνικά στολίδια, αλλά άκρως ατμοσφαιρική. Οι ήρωες του βιβλίου επαγγελματίες δολοφόνοι. Το στόρυ, μια πληρωμένη δολοφονία. Ο Λιούις Γουίντερ πρέπει να πεθάνει. Η ιστορία κυλάει χωρίς κρεσέντο και ανατροπές. Οι διαδικασίες, πριν, μετά και κατά την διάρκεια της εκτέλεσης. Ο κόσμος των συμμοριών και ο πόλεμος μεταξύ τους. Υπόκοσμος, ναρκωτικά, εμμονικοί μπάτσοι, διαφθαρμένοι μπάτσοι. Μέσα σε όλα αυτά μια femme fatale. Αυτό που μου έλειψε ήταν η Γλασκώβη που δεν την έβλεπες πουθενά. Ο χώρος μοιάζει ουδέτερος. Ο Κάλουμ ΜακΛιν ιδιαίτερα συμπαθής για δολοφόνος! Ο Mackay δίνει μαθήματα νουάρ λογοτεχνίας.
July 8, 2016
Εξαιρετικό.Δεν μοιάζει με τίποτα από οτι έχω διαβάσει τα τελευταία χρόνια.Καταπληκτική γραφή.Περιεργη και όμορφη.Ανυπομονώ για τη συνέχεια.
December 27, 2017
Wonderfully dark, nasty book. The book follows not only the person carrying out the titular death, but all of the people affected by the hit both directly and peripherally. The writing is spare and effective and does not draw attention to itself the way a lot of noir writing does. I enjoyed following the cops and the girlfriend, and my only complaint is that we didn't follow them any further. I was a surprised the book ended because, while Colum's arc is great, I was invested in those other characters too. I hope they show up in the next one, which I will definitely be reading.
August 11, 2016
Πρωτότυπη οπτική καθώς είναι από τα λίγα μυθιστορήματα που εξιστορεί την υπόθεση αλλά από την οπτική του εκτελεστή. Έξοχη απόδοση των σκέψεων και των συναισθημάτων του εκτελεστή αλλά και των υπολοίπων προσώπων που δρουν στην ιστορία.
Για ακόμα μία φορά οι εκδόσεις Πόλις έκαναν εξαιρετική δουλειά στη μετάφραση. Ας μου επιτραπεί να δώσω συγχαρητήρια με την ελπίδα κάποιος από τις εκδόσεις να το δει!
Προτείνεται ανεπιφύλακτα.
Για ακόμα μία φορά οι εκδόσεις Πόλις έκαναν εξαιρετική δουλειά στη μετάφραση. Ας μου επιτραπεί να δώσω συγχαρητήρια με την ελπίδα κάποιος από τις εκδόσεις να το δει!
Προτείνεται ανεπιφύλακτα.
April 15, 2023
Σχετικά δυνατό θριλεράκι, που δίνει μεγαλύτερη έμφαση στους χαρακτήρες απ' όσο στην πλοκή. Χάνει λίγο λόγω μεγέθους (θα μπορούσε να έχει 50-100 σελίδες ακόμα και να αναπτυχθεί λίγο περισσότερο, ή έτσι μας έχουν μάθει οι σύγχρονοι αλκοολικοί νορβηγοί μετρ του είδους) και επειδή παρ' όλο που είναι μέρος της τριλογίας Glasgow Underworld, ενώ έχει αρκετό υπόκοσμο, η Γλασκώβη παραμένει μόνο στην περιφερειακή όραση του αναγνώστη.
Μη σας αποθαρρύνει το 3άρι, δεν είναι απογοήτευση το βιβλίο.
Μη σας αποθαρρύνει το 3άρι, δεν είναι απογοήτευση το βιβλίο.
November 11, 2018
Το βιβλίο το τελείωσα ουσιαστικά σε 1 μέρα. Είναι καταιγιστική η γραφή. Ο Mackay προσπαθεί να σκεφτεί όπως οι ανθρώποι του υποκόσμου και πιθανότατα το καταφέρνει σε ένα βαθμό. Η ιστορία είναι ωραία. Ψυχογραφεί καλά σε ένα βαθμό. Αυτό που θα ήθελα περισσότερο είναι να μπλέξει την πόλη πιο πολύ. Να την ξαναθυμηθώ μέσα από τις περιγραφές. Πράγμα που δεν το κάνει. Θα διαβάσω πάντως και τη συνέχεια.
May 19, 2021
I think what made this different was the super-omniscient narrator...addressing motivations, thoughts, and in-depth reasoning of all characters. It made for a very fast-paced narrative and I found myself compelled despite the unlikability of virtually every character...very interesting. I'm looking forward to the rest of the series.
December 24, 2019
Cold-blooded and cautious like its hitman protagonist. A super slice of Glasgow gothic with crooks and coppers, villains and vice, in constant orbit. I picked this up to make up numbers for free delivery. Turned out to be a bit of a cracker.
October 16, 2018
A little background on this & the others in the series - I had them all on my "Want to Read" list with no real sense of urgency until a recent foray to Jim Thorpe, PA & a visit to a local used bookstore. They had the 2nd & 3rd installments for sale, so I purchased them & then requested this one through an Inter-Library Loan (ILL). If you ever need a motivation to read a book, do an ILL since the overdue fines are steep! Starting at $60. steep. 8=O
The title is rather ironic since yes, the titular character's death was necessary to put a gangland takeover in motion, but it was not really necessary in the greater scheme of things. The book & its events introduce us to a host of characters from Glasgow, Scotland's underworld & the filth who pursue them. It was not the best in the series, but it is a necessary read if you are going to have any hope from then on. The pace is quick, the dialogue is snappy, but in comparison to the rest of the series, it is only 4/5.
The title is rather ironic since yes, the titular character's death was necessary to put a gangland takeover in motion, but it was not really necessary in the greater scheme of things. The book & its events introduce us to a host of characters from Glasgow, Scotland's underworld & the filth who pursue them. It was not the best in the series, but it is a necessary read if you are going to have any hope from then on. The pace is quick, the dialogue is snappy, but in comparison to the rest of the series, it is only 4/5.
August 11, 2023
Un encargo, algo sencillo. Matar a Lewis Winter. Un sicario, efectivo, profesional. ¿Qué puede salir mal? ¿Nada? ¿Todo? Serie negra en estado puro. Personajes grises, con un sentido moral muy particular, preocupados por sí mismos, por su supervivencia. Todo es profesional, nada es personal. Muy recomendable.
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