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Duffy #1
Duffy
In the grimy underbelly of London, private detective Duffy takes on an extortion case and finds himself pitted against one of the city’s most dangerous crime lords
Rosie McKechnie was alone when the two men entered her home, tied her to a chair, and cut her with a switchblade. It was a message for her husband, Brian. To outside appearances, Brian McKechnie is just a businessman. But to Big Eddy Martoff, London’s underworld kingpin, McKechnie is a big fat mark. With a history of crooked business deals and extramarital affairs, McKechnie is the perfect target. To beat back the blackmail, McKechnie needs someone who understands lowlifes like Martoff—and Nick Duffy knows lowlifes.
Duffy was a copper until four years ago, when malicious rumors about his sex life ripped through the force. Now he is in private security, and McKechnie’s case is one he cannot refuse. Duffy, no stranger to his city’s seedier offerings, dives into a world of prostitutes, hoods, and porn moguls. Can he find a way to put the pinch on Big Eddy before Soho swallows him whole?
Rosie McKechnie was alone when the two men entered her home, tied her to a chair, and cut her with a switchblade. It was a message for her husband, Brian. To outside appearances, Brian McKechnie is just a businessman. But to Big Eddy Martoff, London’s underworld kingpin, McKechnie is a big fat mark. With a history of crooked business deals and extramarital affairs, McKechnie is the perfect target. To beat back the blackmail, McKechnie needs someone who understands lowlifes like Martoff—and Nick Duffy knows lowlifes.
Duffy was a copper until four years ago, when malicious rumors about his sex life ripped through the force. Now he is in private security, and McKechnie’s case is one he cannot refuse. Duffy, no stranger to his city’s seedier offerings, dives into a world of prostitutes, hoods, and porn moguls. Can he find a way to put the pinch on Big Eddy before Soho swallows him whole?
192 pages, Paperback
First published July 3, 1980
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 68 reviews
July 29, 2017
a concedersi un po’ di psicologia da settimana enigmistica, verrebbe da pensare che negli anni ‘80 il dottor julian barnes jekyll facesse scrivere al signor dan kavanagh hyde i romanzi che più davano spazio al suo lato oscuro. pieni di sesso promiscuo, e decisamente trucidi anche quando non ci scappava il morto (se si eccettua qui il gatto del primo capitolo, che finisce arrostito allo spiedo qualche anno prima che adrian lyne mettesse a bollire in pentola un altro animale domestico, rendendo celeberrima una scena di attrazione fatale e facendo forse precipitare il consumo mondiale di stufato di coniglio).
non sempre però il lato oscuro è quello della forza. e in questa storia, di potenza narrativa ce n’è proprio poca: il romanzo è complessivamente banale e noiosetto, tolto giusto il fatto che il detective protagonista non è un duro sciupafemmine che nasconde un cuore tenero, ma un bisessuale professo che sguazza nel mondo del porno. peccato che la variazione sul tema non basti a reggere l’insieme. (e soprattutto, il prossimo che chiama in causa per un motivo o per l’altro philip marlowe verrà preso per le orecchie e alzato come una coppa uefa. anzi arzato, visto che si parlava di trucidità).
non sempre però il lato oscuro è quello della forza. e in questa storia, di potenza narrativa ce n’è proprio poca: il romanzo è complessivamente banale e noiosetto, tolto giusto il fatto che il detective protagonista non è un duro sciupafemmine che nasconde un cuore tenero, ma un bisessuale professo che sguazza nel mondo del porno. peccato che la variazione sul tema non basti a reggere l’insieme. (e soprattutto, il prossimo che chiama in causa per un motivo o per l’altro philip marlowe verrà preso per le orecchie e alzato come una coppa uefa. anzi arzato, visto che si parlava di trucidità).
March 2, 2018
We are all very lucky that Julian Barnes decided not to stick with writing thrillers (this one is quite good, though!).
Here’s a little interview in case you’re interested.
Julian Barnes on writing thrillers as Dan Kavanagh: "I wrote my first thriller in ten days"
Here’s a little interview in case you’re interested.
Julian Barnes on writing thrillers as Dan Kavanagh: "I wrote my first thriller in ten days"
April 12, 2025
Unter dem Pseudonym Dan Kavanagh schrieb Julian Barnes Anfang der 1980er eine Krimireihe mit dem Privatdetektiv Duffy, einem hartgesottenen, zynischen Mann, der aus dem Polizeidienst entlassen wurde, vermutlich wegen seiner Bisexualität und seines unangepassten Verhaltens.
Duffy wird vom Importeur McKechnie engagiert, da bei ihm eingebrochen, seine Frau bedroht wurde und er seitdem erpresst wird. Die Polizei scheint nichts zu unternehmen. Bei Duffys Nachforschungen stößt er auf den Gangsterboss Big Eddy, der offenbar McKechnies Geschäft übernehmen will und Duffy klar macht, dass er sich durch ihn nicht aufhalten lassen will.
Ein durchaus komplexes Geflecht aus Erpressung, Korruption, Gewalt, Rotlichtmilieu und den eigenen Dämonen, das Duffy hier entflechten muss. Der Roman besticht vor allem aus der Milieuschilderung des düsteren London der heruntergekommenen Nebenstraßen mit Pornoschuppen, zwielichtigen Nachtclubs etc. Dementsprechend hartgesotten, teilweise zynisch, sind Sprache und Figuren. Der Plot fällt dagegen etwas ab. Trotzdem für Freunde von unangepasster Kriminalliteratur sicherlich lesenswert.
Duffy wird vom Importeur McKechnie engagiert, da bei ihm eingebrochen, seine Frau bedroht wurde und er seitdem erpresst wird. Die Polizei scheint nichts zu unternehmen. Bei Duffys Nachforschungen stößt er auf den Gangsterboss Big Eddy, der offenbar McKechnies Geschäft übernehmen will und Duffy klar macht, dass er sich durch ihn nicht aufhalten lassen will.
Ein durchaus komplexes Geflecht aus Erpressung, Korruption, Gewalt, Rotlichtmilieu und den eigenen Dämonen, das Duffy hier entflechten muss. Der Roman besticht vor allem aus der Milieuschilderung des düsteren London der heruntergekommenen Nebenstraßen mit Pornoschuppen, zwielichtigen Nachtclubs etc. Dementsprechend hartgesotten, teilweise zynisch, sind Sprache und Figuren. Der Plot fällt dagegen etwas ab. Trotzdem für Freunde von unangepasster Kriminalliteratur sicherlich lesenswert.
August 5, 2017
Brutal și inteligent. Un prim roman cu detectivul Duffy foarte bine scris și de care aflu din nefericire sau fericire abia acum. Dan Cavanagh e pseudonimul scriitorului Julian Barnes și acesta e primul dintre cele 4 romane polițiste scrise de britanic.
Bun, foarte bun și cum le-am găsit pe okazii pe toate patru le voi devora destul de repede. Recomand tuturor.
Bun, foarte bun și cum le-am găsit pe okazii pe toate patru le voi devora destul de repede. Recomand tuturor.
June 18, 2015
This was a good story and my first by this author, but it wasn't the kind of intriguing hard-to-solve mystery that I normally like.
Everyone in the story was kind of seedy to a greater or lesser degree and not in a lovable rogue kind of way either. None of the characters were particularly appealing - no heroes here, just a group of shady cops and shady criminals trying to outwit each other and yet working alongside each other.
This book was written in 1980 and so it is unsurprising that it has a Sweeny feel to it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Swe...
It is British (yay) and manages to capture the kind of bad image that British policing had in the UK in the eighties especially in the cities.
Duffy is an ex-cop. He was pushed out of his job for crossing the line. Not the ethical lines the police should have but the unethical lines of loyalty and not making waves for his superiors. Four years later finds him running his own security company and allowing things to tick on. His life is flat. He has no expectations or hope, he does what ever comes along to do, his relationship (if you can call it that) with Carol is at an impasse. And then he gets a client who is being pressured by some shady character and the client (who is by no means an upright person) wants the pressure to stop. Having gone to the police and not getting much help the client turns to Duffy and employs him to find out who is behind the threats.
And Duffy does find out in a rather low key 'I'd rather be elsewhere' kind of way. But Duffy also discovers other things some of which show him who was behind the stitch up that cost him his career in the police.
It was an excellent narration with all the menace of dirty policing and the seedier side of London coming to life. It also evoked the early eighties especially when Duffy agree to work for twenty pounds a day. Back then that must have been a good wage. Today you would get a latte, lunch and two trips on the tube for that.
All in all it was a good story but I felt it was too easily solved and I wanted more of a mystery with much more convoluted twists and turns. Still a good read though or good listen as the the case may be.
Everyone in the story was kind of seedy to a greater or lesser degree and not in a lovable rogue kind of way either. None of the characters were particularly appealing - no heroes here, just a group of shady cops and shady criminals trying to outwit each other and yet working alongside each other.
This book was written in 1980 and so it is unsurprising that it has a Sweeny feel to it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Swe...
It is British (yay) and manages to capture the kind of bad image that British policing had in the UK in the eighties especially in the cities.
Duffy is an ex-cop. He was pushed out of his job for crossing the line. Not the ethical lines the police should have but the unethical lines of loyalty and not making waves for his superiors. Four years later finds him running his own security company and allowing things to tick on. His life is flat. He has no expectations or hope, he does what ever comes along to do, his relationship (if you can call it that) with Carol is at an impasse. And then he gets a client who is being pressured by some shady character and the client (who is by no means an upright person) wants the pressure to stop. Having gone to the police and not getting much help the client turns to Duffy and employs him to find out who is behind the threats.
And Duffy does find out in a rather low key 'I'd rather be elsewhere' kind of way. But Duffy also discovers other things some of which show him who was behind the stitch up that cost him his career in the police.
It was an excellent narration with all the menace of dirty policing and the seedier side of London coming to life. It also evoked the early eighties especially when Duffy agree to work for twenty pounds a day. Back then that must have been a good wage. Today you would get a latte, lunch and two trips on the tube for that.
All in all it was a good story but I felt it was too easily solved and I wanted more of a mystery with much more convoluted twists and turns. Still a good read though or good listen as the the case may be.
September 8, 2021
I recently learned that Julian Barnes, winner of the Booker Prize, wrote four crime novels in the early 1980's under a pen name--Dan Kavanagh. They are hard to find in papery form, but you can buy the Kindle versions for a nominal amount. Fairly daring for their time, they have a bisexual former policeman as private eye. The story here is a bit too nastily violent and sexually lubricious for me; but it is also occasionally quite funny, has believable characters, and is genuinely suspenseful. It makes London (especially Soho) so unpleasant that if I hadn't already visited several times I probably would think twice or three times before ever going.
July 3, 2016
I read this because Kavanagh is a pseudonym of Julian Barnes, whose writing I admire. This however is not especially great. It is a 1980 detective story involving a seedy private detective called Duffy, the area around Soho in London, and a fairly lightweight tale of protection money, prostitution, rather gratuitous use of fluid sexuality and crime in Croydon. It spawned a short series based on the character of Duffy. None of the characters are in any way sympathetic and it feels somewhat contrived. No real tension or anticipation of the ending which rather fizzled out. Shan't bother with any more in the series.
March 4, 2020
Enjoyable stuff. I picked it because the author is a pseudonym of Julian Barnes, whose Sense of an Ending I loved so much recently. This is quite a tame affair, which I ought to have expected from a "literary" author, but was a tad disappointing for a crime novel. Some great characters, though, and an interesting plot, though the ending felt rather rushed.
April 11, 2011
I loved this. If Dan Kavanagh were a band he would be my new favourite band and this, his debut album, is an unmitigated triumph.
January 13, 2017
Boring and, in places, downright disgusting.
Read
February 23, 2025Definitely a book that gets better at every chapter, it is not the regular crime novel we're used to. I read books by Julian Barnes (Kavanagh's real name) before, so I blame myself for expecting it so.
Written in the 80s, this book is very sexual and violent, with a bisexual private investigator handling a case of blackmailing that escalates and becomes personal.
There are three more books in this saga and if this was the first one, I'm curious to know where the next ones take me.
Written in the 80s, this book is very sexual and violent, with a bisexual private investigator handling a case of blackmailing that escalates and becomes personal.
There are three more books in this saga and if this was the first one, I'm curious to know where the next ones take me.
May 18, 2026
Divertida, irreverente y muuuy inteligente novela negra que se desarrolla en la zona roja de Londres en 1979. Duffy, un ex policía bisexual caído en desgracia que se convirtió en detective y “consultor” de seguridad se enfrenta a un misterio que conecta inesperadamente con su pasado. Esta primera entrega de una tetralogía escrita por Julian Barnes bajo el seudónimo Dan Kavanagh, deja claro que el autor se estaba divirtiendo mucho al escribirla. Una historia policiaca que va mas allá en la creación de personajes, pero se queda un poco corta en cuanto a los giros de tuerca del caso central. Veremos que tal están las siguientes. Por cierto, la lectura se complica con los modismos londinenses y referencias setenteras muy locales… pero nada que no se encuentre en un diccionario urbano en Google.
May 22, 2018
He, he he, ce avem noi aici (cu intonaţia lui Dem Rădulescu din BD, vă rog!)?
O super carte de vacanţă, pe care o recomand la toţi iubitorii de cărţi poliţiste tandru ironice, încă înainte de a mă zvîrli cu entuziasm în vîltoarea volumului al doilea.
O, Barnes, îmi placi rău şi cînd eşti Kavanagh, şi bag mîna-n foc că te-ai distrat nespus cu Duffy al tău!
O super carte de vacanţă, pe care o recomand la toţi iubitorii de cărţi poliţiste tandru ironice, încă înainte de a mă zvîrli cu entuziasm în vîltoarea volumului al doilea.
O, Barnes, îmi placi rău şi cînd eşti Kavanagh, şi bag mîna-n foc că te-ai distrat nespus cu Duffy al tău!
March 10, 2025
Polisiye sevenleri memnuniyetle gülümsetecek bir kitap.
Read
October 31, 2019I read this book.
September 3, 2015
I enjoyed this book, was hovering between three and four stars.
It's not really a mystery, more of a detective story. There's no revelations, just events and it ends abruptly.
On the positive side this is I believe the first book I have read with a bisexual narrator. Bisexuals seem a bit like unicorns in that they supposedly exist but no one knows one, so I was glad to read this and the book has merit for that alone.
The other thing I liked was the location and time period. The book is set in very late 1970's London and specifically in the sex trade. Duffy includes visits to blue movie clubs, massage parlours, and booths where you stick a coin in and get to see a naked lady for a few moments. I would imagine much of this has been upgraded or lost and the book is a great time period of the illicit side of London life.
Not rushing to read the next in the series but probably will.
It's not really a mystery, more of a detective story. There's no revelations, just events and it ends abruptly.
On the positive side this is I believe the first book I have read with a bisexual narrator. Bisexuals seem a bit like unicorns in that they supposedly exist but no one knows one, so I was glad to read this and the book has merit for that alone.
The other thing I liked was the location and time period. The book is set in very late 1970's London and specifically in the sex trade. Duffy includes visits to blue movie clubs, massage parlours, and booths where you stick a coin in and get to see a naked lady for a few moments. I would imagine much of this has been upgraded or lost and the book is a great time period of the illicit side of London life.
Not rushing to read the next in the series but probably will.
July 8, 2024
If I could give this book 0 stars I would. If you want a male gaze book, this is it. The women are either sex workers and/or defined by their sexual relationships with male characters and that's it. The men, including the main character, are super into the sex trade and have all the sex.
This book also has virtually no detective work. The main character figures the bad guy is in the sex industry so asks a sex worker to identify the main boss in the sex trade. She identifies the boss (who is the bad guy) and when Duffy confronts the bad guy (accidentally because he got caught since he's an idiot), the bad guy is like, "lol, yeah it's me, but you'll never catch me so I'll monologue a confession hahaha."
This book also has virtually no detective work. The main character figures the bad guy is in the sex industry so asks a sex worker to identify the main boss in the sex trade. She identifies the boss (who is the bad guy) and when Duffy confronts the bad guy (accidentally because he got caught since he's an idiot), the bad guy is like, "lol, yeah it's me, but you'll never catch me so I'll monologue a confession hahaha."
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 24, 2014
Despite some occasional instances of violence, "Duffy" seemed like a cosy mystery to me. Laid-back in many ways, the characters are charmingly inept. Nick Duffy is a "former cop left under a cloud" turned private security entrepreneur, running on a shoestring, laconic. Even the police seem laid-back, or even obtuse on occasion. Yet I raced through the story, unable to set it aside.
April 18, 2015
A bit of Sunday afternoon fun, this book has a very 80's English vibe. No computers or mobile phones, just London crooks and a very fun main character: "a bisexual former policeman with a phobia of ticking watches and a penchant for Tupperware." (Blurb) And top things off, Dan Kavanagh is Julian Barnes's pseudonym!
February 2, 2021
I was looking forward to this once I found out that this is Julian Barnes, I was however disappointed, for a short novel some of the dialogue is long winded . I may give the series one more go in the hope that this great writer can warm into this genre.
October 16, 2014
Really interesting start but went downhill fast and didn't bother to finish it - glad it was a freebie !!
December 2, 2014
Sorry I found this book awful!
January 3, 2015
Not one of my favourites. Amusing in parts. A boys book, maybe. Won't be reading another Duffy book.
February 26, 2015
I'll stick to Julian Barnes.
October 10, 2016
Skimmed the last half; just did. not. care. what happened to Duffy.
September 20, 2018
A thriller by Julian Barnes written in 10 days.
Not his best work.
Not his best work.
February 14, 2019
I had a hard time finishing this book, even though is relatively short and the plot is not that complex.
I actually thought this one would be one of my favourite reads of last year, but it definitely wasn't. Probably because it passes as something that really isn't, a crime novel. Is more the story of the protagonist who happens to be a detective, putting an strange emphasis in the sexual side of his life.
I liked that he was bisexual in the London of the 80s, especially taking into account that the book was first published around that time. It was an innovative and daring idea, and the way the author introduces this aspect of his persona felt smooth and effortless. I'm not bisexual, nor a man, but the description of his sexuality felt accurate, and most importantly the plot didn't focus only in this fact as if this was a way of selling more books. It was part of the nature of the character the same way that being a detective was (sorry if this is not written correctly, and if it's difficult to understand, I didn't know another way to put it and English is obviously not my first language).
Anyway, there were good parts, interesting parts. The description of the sexual life of London's population in the 80s and how the porn industry worked at the time was particularly entertaining. But I didn't start reading this book looking for that, I was expecting a detective story with a crime to be solved and maybe some villain who would make his great appearance at the end when every piece of the puzzle finally came together.
I don't know if it was my fault for interpreting in the wrong way the sinopsis at the back or for not taking more time to read reviews, but in the end this wasn't the book that I was hoping for. It didn't make me feel engaged and it focused too much in scenes that didn't serve the plot. A shame, really.
I will try to give Duffy a second chance by reading the second book of the series, but I'm not hopeful in actually finishing it.
I actually thought this one would be one of my favourite reads of last year, but it definitely wasn't. Probably because it passes as something that really isn't, a crime novel. Is more the story of the protagonist who happens to be a detective, putting an strange emphasis in the sexual side of his life.
I liked that he was bisexual in the London of the 80s, especially taking into account that the book was first published around that time. It was an innovative and daring idea, and the way the author introduces this aspect of his persona felt smooth and effortless. I'm not bisexual, nor a man, but the description of his sexuality felt accurate, and most importantly the plot didn't focus only in this fact as if this was a way of selling more books. It was part of the nature of the character the same way that being a detective was (sorry if this is not written correctly, and if it's difficult to understand, I didn't know another way to put it and English is obviously not my first language).
Anyway, there were good parts, interesting parts. The description of the sexual life of London's population in the 80s and how the porn industry worked at the time was particularly entertaining. But I didn't start reading this book looking for that, I was expecting a detective story with a crime to be solved and maybe some villain who would make his great appearance at the end when every piece of the puzzle finally came together.
I don't know if it was my fault for interpreting in the wrong way the sinopsis at the back or for not taking more time to read reviews, but in the end this wasn't the book that I was hoping for. It didn't make me feel engaged and it focused too much in scenes that didn't serve the plot. A shame, really.
I will try to give Duffy a second chance by reading the second book of the series, but I'm not hopeful in actually finishing it.
Read
February 1, 2026First a bit of admin; Dan Kavanagh is a pseudonym for Julian Barmes, named for his wife (Pat Kavanagh) written alongside his other books but very different in style - I would say unrecognisable? Barnes said they were typically written, '[in] less than two weeks each … an experiment to test what it would be like writing as fast as I possibly could in a concentrated way.’ He was also freed to write in a more liberated way in a more permissive era (trigger warning for Millennials and Gen-z!), including the sex industry, [sexual] violence, and sexuality; Duffy the eponymous private eye is a bisexual ex-detective.
*includes spoilers* Duffy is no more or less screwed-up than others in this sub-genre; he has beef with his former employers; he has an untraditional relationship with his long-term partner; he adopts unusual practices, makes mistakes, but is ultimately successful. It reminds me of recent characters Harry Devlin (Martin Edwards) and River Cartwright (Mick Herron's ‘Slow Horses’) but with added perversions in 1980’s Soho. Duffy is employed to investigate the blackmailing of a businessman Brian McKechnie following an assault on his wife and some creative violence, not for squeamish cat lovers! It is obvious that more is going on with McKechnie, bent cop Sullivan, and the blackmailer ‘Salvatore’ (actually rising gangster Anglo-Maltese ‘Big Eddy’ Martoff). It takes Duffy a long time to put the pieces together, and he is tortured and leaves a trail of collateral damage on the way. I was worried that Barnes/Kavanagh had left it too late with a lot of the internal dialogue and minutiae of Duffy’s life before the plotting escalates in the final 10 pages or so. Despite defeating Big Eddy and getting revenge on Sullivan for his staged disgrace and sacking - we find that these are events are related - we know that there is more to come. Duffy is clever, complex, with shades-of-grey that make this such fun, and hopefully a recipe for some interesting sequels. I can’t wait!
*includes spoilers* Duffy is no more or less screwed-up than others in this sub-genre; he has beef with his former employers; he has an untraditional relationship with his long-term partner; he adopts unusual practices, makes mistakes, but is ultimately successful. It reminds me of recent characters Harry Devlin (Martin Edwards) and River Cartwright (Mick Herron's ‘Slow Horses’) but with added perversions in 1980’s Soho. Duffy is employed to investigate the blackmailing of a businessman Brian McKechnie following an assault on his wife and some creative violence, not for squeamish cat lovers! It is obvious that more is going on with McKechnie, bent cop Sullivan, and the blackmailer ‘Salvatore’ (actually rising gangster Anglo-Maltese ‘Big Eddy’ Martoff). It takes Duffy a long time to put the pieces together, and he is tortured and leaves a trail of collateral damage on the way. I was worried that Barnes/Kavanagh had left it too late with a lot of the internal dialogue and minutiae of Duffy’s life before the plotting escalates in the final 10 pages or so. Despite defeating Big Eddy and getting revenge on Sullivan for his staged disgrace and sacking - we find that these are events are related - we know that there is more to come. Duffy is clever, complex, with shades-of-grey that make this such fun, and hopefully a recipe for some interesting sequels. I can’t wait!
April 20, 2021
În ziua când au crestat-o pe doamna McKechnie, în West Byfleet nu se întâmplase mare lucru. Nici în Pyrford şi nici în întregul orăşel Guildford. Trebuia să munceşti pe brânci o săptămână ca să umpli pagina din Guildford Advertiser dedicată infracţiunilor, dar chiar şi atunci apăreau doar câteva chestii în care erau implicaţi oameni educaţi, din clasa de mijloc: fraude comerciale, furturi din magazine, comise de femei lovite de menopauză, evaziuni de la plata taxei pentru deţinerea de câini; uneori, se mai înregistra şi câte-o încăierare la o discotecă, dar mai toţi puştii erau speriaţi că-şi vor pierde calitatea de membri ai clubului tineretului pentru o asemenea treabă, aşa că se mai abţineau. Prin urmare, când i-au făcut-o doamnei McKechnie, ar fi fost de aşteptat ca pagina a şaptea din Advertiser să aibă în frunte exact această întâmplare, dar n-a fost să fie. Începea cu altceva ce făptuiseră oamenii aceia, un soi de răzbunare, o treabă urâtă, dezgustătoare, pe care nici măcar Marele Eddy, înzestrat cu simţul umorului, nu a înghiţit-o prea uşor. Asta arată ce specie aparte sunt jurnaliştii.
Când Rosie McKechnie a deschis uşa principală a casei în acea după-amiază din miez de august, a crezut că venise cititorul contorului de gaze. Oricine şi-ar fi închipuit acelaşi lucru. Când te apropii de uşă şi prin vitraliu zăreşti silueta neclară a unui bărbat scund, scoţi lanţul de siguranţă şi imediat după aceea auzi cuvântul „Gazele”, eşti convins bineînţeles că e omul de la gaze. Nici nu-ţi mai aduci aminte când ţi s-a citit contorul ultima oară.
Când Rosie McKechnie a deschis uşa principală a casei în acea după-amiază din miez de august, a crezut că venise cititorul contorului de gaze. Oricine şi-ar fi închipuit acelaşi lucru. Când te apropii de uşă şi prin vitraliu zăreşti silueta neclară a unui bărbat scund, scoţi lanţul de siguranţă şi imediat după aceea auzi cuvântul „Gazele”, eşti convins bineînţeles că e omul de la gaze. Nici nu-ţi mai aduci aminte când ţi s-a citit contorul ultima oară.
May 13, 2020
Invictus
Duffy is not the slick detective that most often stars in TV series and books. The soldiers for whom everything just somehow falls his way with little effort and who always has a clever line and a lightbulb moment. Duffy is the antithesis of those characters. Villains see him as an average "copper" who blundered into their criminal underworld. He's a nuisance, a victim easily handled. However, Duffy has a quirk. Well, several quirks but the important one is that he's a dogged investigator and that makes him dangerous to his enemies
The author has created an area of London so well that one walks the gritty streets with Duffy. I enjoy that kind of immersive experience in a story. The denizens of this world are bent i.e.. dishonest, corrupt, cynical, and morally depraved. This book isn't for everyone. There is, for me, one scene towards the end of the story that I'm trying to forget! Nevertheless, I'm intrigued.DUFFY is Book 1 of a series and despite the scum that I'll have to deal with, I think that I'm hooked!
And for readers who want to know about the sex, there is some but it's not prolonged over page after page. The sex is not the focus of this story and could be eliminated if not for some aspect of it (trying not to spoil) being necessary for characterization and plot.
Duffy is not the slick detective that most often stars in TV series and books. The soldiers for whom everything just somehow falls his way with little effort and who always has a clever line and a lightbulb moment. Duffy is the antithesis of those characters. Villains see him as an average "copper" who blundered into their criminal underworld. He's a nuisance, a victim easily handled. However, Duffy has a quirk. Well, several quirks but the important one is that he's a dogged investigator and that makes him dangerous to his enemies
The author has created an area of London so well that one walks the gritty streets with Duffy. I enjoy that kind of immersive experience in a story. The denizens of this world are bent i.e.. dishonest, corrupt, cynical, and morally depraved. This book isn't for everyone. There is, for me, one scene towards the end of the story that I'm trying to forget! Nevertheless, I'm intrigued.DUFFY is Book 1 of a series and despite the scum that I'll have to deal with, I think that I'm hooked!
And for readers who want to know about the sex, there is some but it's not prolonged over page after page. The sex is not the focus of this story and could be eliminated if not for some aspect of it (trying not to spoil) being necessary for characterization and plot.
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