Trouble's Braids

Farrell & Cobb #2

by Ray Banks

"You know I wouldn't be calling if it wasn't life and death ..." Jimmy Cobb is a changed man, working the door at a Newcastle gay bar, minding both his alcohol intake and his temper. He has friends. He's putting down roots. But when a routine restraint turns bloody, he has no choice but to get out of town. Sean Farrell hasn't changed a bit. He's been playing go-between for a Galway drug lord and a botched deal has left him cokeless, cashless, and staring at a thirteen-year prison stretch. Farrell's a goner unless he can blag the Kensington Mafia, his psychotic employer, and a couple of London Met detectives who think they're working Miami Vice. Farrell has a plan; all he needs is the Man from Newcastle. But Cobb insists his braying days are behind him. With reinforcements on their way from Ireland and the police closing in, Farrell might have pulled on trouble's braids for the last time.

210 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 26, 2017

Reviews

[Georg · Rating 5 out of 5]

excellent!
when farrell tried the welsh accent, i nearly pissed myself.

[Martin Stanley · Rating 5 out of 5]

A frenetically paced blackly comic thriller by one of the best Brit Grit authors around. Ray Banks' dialogue remains peerless and his dual first person narration is full of sarcastic wit and verbal inventiveness. This sequel to Wolf Tickets find Irish smart-mouth Farrell and Geordie roughneck Cobb at the top of their games as the pair find themselves stealing from upper-class dealers and crooked cops. Barnstorming entertainment.

[Warren Stalley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Before I started reading Trouble’s Braids I decided to read a couple of chapters of the previous novel in the series Wolf Tickets. Before I knew it I’d read the complete book again, which just goes to show how good Ray Banks is at pulling you into a story even if you’re already familiar with it. Trouble’s Braids finds the bickering duo of Northerner Jimmy Cobb and Irishman Sean Farrell unexpectedly thrown together again. This time round they’re in London trying to steal from a high society drug buyer when things go predictably pear shaped. With drug dealers, bent coppers and other assorted villains after them it becomes a wild adventure which threatens to split the two fiery rogues apart for good. To summarise it’s an absolute pleasure to enjoy the stormy company of Farrell and Cobb again but be warned this is a gritty and violent crime story laced with black humour and finely tuned dialogue from one of Britain’s most talented authors.