The Crime Trade

Tina Boyd #1

by Simon Kernick

The Crime Trade Kernick, Simon

Genres: Crime, Fiction, Thriller, Mystery, British Literature, Procedural, Mystery Thriller

446 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Simon Kernick (born 1966 in Slough, Berkshire) is a British thriller/crime writer now living in Oxfordshire with his wife and two daughters. He attended Gillotts School, a comprehensive in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire. Whilst he was a student his jobs included fruitpicker and Christmas-tree uprooter. He graduated from Brighton Polytechnic in 1991 with a degree in humanities. Kernick had a passion for crime fiction writing from a young age and produced many short stories during his time at polytechnic. After graduating Kernick joined MMT Computing in London in early 1992, where a relative was the Chairman and Managing Director. Kernick was a key member of the sales team and was very highly regarded. However, he left the company after 4 years in the hope of trying to secure a publishing deal. Despite interest from a number of publishers Kernick was unable to secure a deal, so he joined the sales force of the specialist IT and Business Consultancy Metaskil plc in Aldermaston, Berkshire in 1998 where he remained until he secured his first book deal (The Business of Dying) in September 2001. His novel Relentless was recommended on Richard & Judy's Summer book club 2007. It was the 8th best-selling paperback, and the best-selling thriller in the UK in the same year

Reviews

[Ceecee · Rating 2 out of 5]

The fact that it took me this long says it all. Further brief thoughts to come when I’ve collected them!

I was curious about this author as he seems to have plenty of positive feedback on his books and so I splashed out the princely sum of 50p for this at my local charity shop. This was meant to be Tina Boyd #1. Where was she? So hidden behind a preponderance of men as to be invisible! There were way too many characters (men) one of whom insisted on calling his wife ‘the missus’. Even if I’d liked the book I’d dock a point for that one. There was way too much superfluous detail that I glazed over but more importantly it made me lose sight of the overly complicated plot and so boredom set in. If this is typical of his books then no thanks. Next?

[Gary · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the 1st book in the Tina Boyd series by one of my favourite authors Simon Kernick. For some reason I have managed to leave the very first novel in the series to the end, having already read the others. I was already familiar with the other characters which always helps when starting a new book but for some reason I struggled to get into this book and there was no stage when I felt truly gripped by it.
This novel is about Operation Surgical Strike, a police sting which is designed to catch Colombian drug traffickers in the act of selling a large consignment of cocaine to undercover police officers in a Heathrow hotel. Things go horribly wrong and suspicion falls on 'Stegs' Jenner who is one of the officers involved. 'Stegs' is not a normal officer and has an unfortunate disciplinary record, he's always lived life on the edge. With his close friend dead in the shoot-out, he now determines to go it alone.

Meanwhile DI John Gallan and his partner DS Tina Boyd members of the Serious Crime Squad are investigating the murder of ex-gangster turned informer Slim Robbie O'Brien. Slim Robbie had helped Gallan and Boyd set up the operation and is now dead too, shot with his mother in his council flat in Islington while events at Heathrow were taking place.
While DI John Gallan and Tina Boyd close in on the man responsible for the Heathrow shooting, they uncover a murderous conspiracy that will take them to the heart of one of London's most notorious criminal gangs. What they don't know is that they are also embarked on a collision path that will lead one of them straight into the rifle sights of the enemy.
A good read but I already know that the series improves as it goes on.

[Sibel Gandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5 / 5

[Terence M [on a brief semi-hiatus] · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book in the early 2000s and liked it.
My "Date Finished" is a guess, it is also my birthday so I used my date of birth.
When I loaded my books into Goodreads after I joined in October, 2011, I thought this one had been worthy of 3-Stars, but I don't think I have listened to the audiobook.
Unfortunately, while I was rating my audiobook listens, I wasn't writing reviews at the time.

[Seán B · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars rounded up for this one

Not really sure where to start with this one, first half of the book I wasnt quite sure what to make of this. I'm a big fan of Kernick having read 8 other books of his. I read Relentless before (which is installment 2 of the Tina Boyd series) so I thought I would go back to the beginning.

We are introduced to Stegs Jenner, undercover cop involved in taking down a Colombian drug bust with colleague Paul 'Yokes' Vokermann when things don't go according to plan. The fall out from the drug bust sees Stegs pit his wits against the rest of the force as all his colleagues are keen to point out his flaws and suspicious circumstances surrounding Operation Surgical Strike (hoping I got the name right).

In steps DI John Gallan and DS Tina Boyd, who were involved in setting up the operation to take down the Colombian drug bust. Trying to deal with the blowback at how the operation went asunder, John and Tina go to work in putting the pieces back together to try find out how it could have all went wrong. John and Tina meanwhile are involved in a behind the scenes relationship outside the workplace and agree to keep it from their colleagues for now as the relationship develops.

For the first 20% or so I wasnt really convinced I was going to enjoy this - we were introduced to a graphic violent scene around this as we discover a bit more about Stegs undercover operations that have lead him to this point. I found his character hard to like, and much preferred the moments of DI John Gallan and DS Tina Boyd investigative movements leading them on this case.

The book's pace increased as I hit the 50% mark and became more enjoyable and ended up coming to a worthwhile conclusion at the end.
As I am a big fan of Kernick I will read 'Deadline' (Tina Boyd 3) and see if the series progresses much better than the first one.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice British police procedural, but not as engaging as his good bad-guy series, Dennis Milne.

[Clare O'Beara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some readers will enjoy this more than I did. The British police procedural comes in a few forms and in this instance we see the nastier and less teamworking side of London crime. I found it unusual that the narration jumps from a third person to a first person. Then the first person is a man, DI John Gallan, not the female called DS Tina Boyd who is the overall title of the series. Seems to me that the book came first and the series came later. When we are in third person, which is most of the time, we often follow a man called Stegs Jenner who would be an antihero if he was worthy of the title but really comes across as pathetic.

Maybe there are policing units where a cop can spend his life sinking pints and swallowing speed. Maybe no police dog has ever sniffed him and sat with eager ears at his feet, waiting for the handler to notice. And maybe some criminals really don't notice if they leave fingerprints, trace evidence and hairs all over the place - the author doesn't seem to care. Discipline and teamwork are appalling and I found no sense of cohesion whatsoever among the coppers - perhaps because they kept on being pulled off one job and put on another with no regard for who worked with whom or was expert at what. North and east London are the main districts worked, no very scenic locations. We are shown a web of plots and characters, many of whom are mere names, like a gangster family and all of whom on the criminal side live by drugs, prostitution and threats.

Anyway expect violence, gory death, strong language and sexual references from the start. Almost all characters are male and we get only a few pages of female viewpoint. If that's not your scene, try Ruth Rendell's Inspector Wexford books or Cynthia Harrod-Eagles's DI Bill Slider books.

[Siobhan · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading and enjoying Simon Kernick’s Dead Man’s Gift and Other Stories, I was eager to read a full-length novel from the author. The Tina Boyd series has interested me for a while, and I was happy to dive into it.

Although I enjoyed The Crime Trade, it didn’t really feel like a Tina Boyd read. She was in the book, she played a vital role, but less of the story followed her than expected. I’m hoping the series will go in the same way Lisa Gardner’s D.D. Warren series went – that is, we’ll get more Tina Boyd with each book. Despite this, the book certainly hooked me. I was pulled right in, and there was plenty of action packed into the pages to keep me guessing. It’s not my favourite in the genre, as there were some things that were a bit too cliched and predictable, but it certainly has me wanting to grab the second book in the series.

Without a doubt, I’m eager to see what the second book brings.

[KurdishBookworm · Rating 2 out of 5]

I guess Simon Kernick likes to dramatize everything
I only read first book and even though it says "Tina Boyd" series this girl wasn't noticeable at all
About Stegs Jenner how stupid is this name issue he cals himself something different than his father named him but then his wife doesn't like any of his nicks and decides to call him Mark ?!
This book is so boring I don't know how to read the rest of the series as I already bought 4 books.

[Catriona · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks for the series recommendation Debbi -loved it, Relentless next.

[Didem Bayraktar · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kötü bir çeviri ve baskı ama yazarın okuduğum diğer kitapları içinde de en zayıf olanı.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Contains spoilers
I must admit that this review is based on the audiobook narrated by Dave John, who I really can't stand as a narrator due to the unconvincing voices used and the delivery of dialogues. Leaving aside the 'narration' of this book, I don't feel Simon was 'fair' in delivering 'twists' in the story by not giving the full story as it progressed. Even though the finger was, correctly, pointed at Steggs from the offset, his side of the story denied this from the beginning leading the reader to think otherwise.

This same style was present also in Stay Alive and I feel that, in order to create more of a thrilling read and attain the 'ahhh' at the end when the story is laid out to the reader, other twists should have been incorporated.

I did enjoy the ending as it's nice to think that sometimes the bad guys do win and crime does pay, but I found the plot quite confusing to follow and, as was the case with a couple of Kernick's other works, the final explanation of the story was necessary to explain how the plot was supposed to have been laid out.

Admittedly, this was an early book in his career and I have enjoyed numerous others so it's not all bad. If you can, however, avoid Dave John's readings and look for something Paul Thornley has narrated.

[Betty · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have read a fair few Kernick books, but of them all this was rather tedious. I'm glad I read this (Tina #1) AFTER I'd already read Tina#2 and lots of others, because it would put me off all of the books. Life is too short to be unexcited by a book.

If you want to read a Kernick, look at another one first.

[Slinkysnake · Rating 2 out of 5]

I needed something disposable for the day and this fit the job. Everyone is comically seedy, the violence is nasty, and every chapter laments life. Not recommended

[Debbi Barton · Rating 5 out of 5]

My first Simon Kernick book was Relentless back in 2008, and that was number 2 in the Tina Boyd series, thought 14 years later I better read the first. As I have come to expect Kernick keeps up the fast pace. Amazingly too it didn't feel dated. My holiday companion was suitably impressed with my review that she bought all 7 in the series. Hope they enjoy it as much as I did!

[Debbie White]

Well written but too graphic for me had to leave it as I read at bedtime.

[Anthony]

Another cliff
hanger

[SJM77 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed this book. He is now in my top 3 authors!! I love it when I find a good author who grips me from start to finish :)

[David Stimpson · Rating 5 out of 5]

very good book ..beginning to really love SIMON KERNICK

[Hilal Tunçkol · Rating 2 out of 5]

How is this book the first book of Tina Boyd series? Tina isn't even in the book. The main narrators are Tina's BF, who is also a cop, and this guy Stegs, aka the bad guy. Tina does some researching in the background and catches some criminal, getting shot in the process, and that is pretty much all she does in the book.

The first half is slow, with so many redundant details, making the story even slower. There are simply way too many names, way too many characters and that also took away some of my enjoyement. The actual story is told in between said redundant details, and since I was skimming the book at that point, it wasn't super easy for me to wrap my head around it. Even if I were reading properly, it still wouldn't have been easy, because the plot is unnecessarily complicated.

And even when I watch crime shows, episodes that focus on crime bosses, and gangs, and drug trades aren't a favorite of mine.

SPOILERS AHEAD

What initially happened though, is that the drug operation of two cops, Stegs and Vokes failed miserable and Vokes ended up dead. Then, some police informants and men police knew worked for crime bosses kept dying. What police uncovered was that two major crime bosses Vamen and Tyndall wanted to show the other who is better. Stegs was working for Vamen, but he made the mistake of underestimating him, so Stegs changed sides, giving info about Vamen's operation to Tyndall. He was the reason why Vokes died, and even though he was a good guy and a good father. As if it wasn't enough that he got Vokes killed, he told the other cops investigating what went wrong during the operation that Vokes was the bad guy, that Vokes was the one working for th crime bosses, and that is why had to die in the end.

Stegs really was despicable. No wonder his wife kicked hm out.

This book had many flaws, at least for me, and I honestly didn't enjoy it as much as I hoped, but I lost myself because a particularly good discount, and I have six books of Tina Boyd series now. I will be reading them, since I have them. But I don't despair, I read some reviews saying this series get better with each book. So, I guess I am cautiously optimistic.

[Angie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I bought this as I had recently been given book 5 in the series for my birthday and thought I would start at the beginning, rather than the end. I was excited as the author is described as the 'British Harlen Coben', an author I enjoy.

The eponymous Tina doesn't feature highly in the book. We see her tailing a suspect alone without the knowledge of her superior so we find out that she doesn't always follow rules to the letter. At times the book is written in the first person from the pov of her lover, a fellow police officer, and we get to know how he feels about Tina and the sort of person he thinks she is, but we don't get much first hand evidence of her personality. Her insights are good, and she is instrumental in cracking the case, but at no point does she feel like the main character. When the book is in the third person we are usually following Stegs Jenner, an undercover policeman who may or may not be corrupt. I found him to be the most rounded character and would be more interested in reading the rest of the series if I thought he would be returning.

The end of the book felt as though the author had run out of time to write, so just gave us a plot summary to tie up any loose ends. Tina's insights (as reported by her partner) had already theorised most of it, and a few paragraphs of Jenner reflecting on events that led to the situation he finds himself in at the end would have filled in any gaps. Instead we get two chapters which read like the summary that comes at the end of dramas based on real events - a dry recitation of the facts that inspired the story.

I've read Stuart McBride and JD Kirk and with both these authors I downloaded the next book in the series immediately after finishing one and continued until I'd read the whole series. On finishing this one last night, I started a Stephen King book instead of buying Tina Boyd #2.
Overall, it's not badly written, I was just not engaged by it.

[Stefan Schulz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, Tina Boyd, her first case in the series is given with The Crime Trade by Simon Kernick. I was always curious about this series and finally got around to start with number one. And quite right from the beginning I had my suspicion about who was behind the initial incident written in the book. But I was wrong.

The novel is very well written and a pacy and gripping read, no surprise here, this is a Kernick book. In the beginning, a police sting operation goes deadly wrong, one of two cops participating dies and the hunt for the culprit starts. Meanwhile, some other murders keeps the investigators busy, which turn out to be connected somehow. While the main officer seems to be DI John Gallan, the core findings are by his partner DS Tina Boyd.

The view of the story changes several times between the investigators and one subject, the surviving cop of the sting operation: Stegs Jenner. And to be honest, I wonder why the book isn’t subtitled “Stegs Jenner” instead of Tina Boyd, as Jenner and his point of view seems to take the biggest part of the book. The funny thing is that Jenner seems somewhat like Dennis Milne, an ex-cop and the protagonist of another series of Kernick. But things turn out to be quite different in this case.

Overall I loved this story. I am curious about the follow-ups and hope to learn more about Tina Boyd and hope she has a more present role. I’ll see, one day or so.

[Melanie Lewis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book in the series featuring Tina Boyd and her work, and life partner, John Gallon. I enjoyed the story, which was clever, even if at times I thought I hadn't completely got to grips with exactly what was going on. Ultimately, I discovered I didn't need to know every single little detail. I knew who was wearing the white hats and who had the black hats on, (or so I thought!). As an introduction book to a new series I thought we got enough of a taster of Tina and John to work out if we were going to find a connection to them and if it was enough to take us to the next book and onward. With a fast moving plot and cracking dialogue, I certainly want to see where this series goes and will definitely be buying the next one. Dave John provides excellent narration. My only complaint, and I say this all the time, and it's absolutely nothing to do with the quality writing, is why can't publishers make it very clear that this is the first, (or second or third etc) in a series? Why doesn't the title say, "The Crime Trade - Book 1 of the Tina Boyd series", so we know what we're getting into. I HATE it when I buy a book and it transpires that not only is it part of a series, it's book 3 and I'm then forced either to buy books 1 & 2, or start with 3 and read through in a haphazard fashion. It's incredibly misleading and quite shabby practise. OK, rant over, this is the FIRST book in the series and well worth investing in.

[Val Ras · Rating 4 out of 5]

Second book with DI John Gallan and first one with his partner Tina Boyd. I would give it five stars for fast and enjoyable read if not for the plot ending that doesn't make total sense to me. First, one of the reasons Steg (the bad cop) did set it all up is for Tyndall to get rid of 'loose cannon' Strangleman working for him. But since everybody knew that Strangleman works for Tyndall it was a sure way to bring suspicion to Tyndall. And more importantly, it was designed to make sure that Tyndall' rival Vamen will not get out of prison. It was a set up designed for Maven to go after the main witness in his trial Merriweather. But it would only work if attempt to kill Merriweather was unsuccessful. Otherwise, Vamen will be out of prison with potentially disasterous consequences for Tyndall. And yet, Vamen people almost succeeded killing Merriweather, Steg's phone call to the police not withstanding. It all worked out for them in the end, but risk of it failing was ridiculously high. Which is too bad, since, otherwise, it was entertaining.

[Ankita · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story didn't bore me that much. It was a good read but the plot seemed too off the road. There were missing ends to cover but the author decided to let it hang in there. The story wasn't as promising either. It was twisted over twists and at some point would leave you to scratch your head before you would know whats going on exactly.
So many names to get a hold on throughout the book too. And it seemed to be overstretched. Not that it was unnecessary but it confuses you if you're not reading the book with a motive to finish it off in one read. And it drives you off the track as well.
Anyway I liked it. Not the character of Tina, who wasn't the main character in the book either. I don't know why the series named is after her. He fucked up badly in the story and I think it made her not a very good cop. Actually in this book nobody was a good cop.
There were so many killings, some I didn't expect and wanted to happen but it did which saddened me.

[Grw · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great British little cop / villain story, with some good twists and turns along the way.

Interesting narrative changing between first person for the lead cop, and third person for the other characters allowing us to see the thought processes as the investigation goes on, without giving anything away.

However, calling this the first of the Tina Boyd series is a bit of a cheek as although she does appear, she is barely a bit player in the story and seems to be tagged on to the lead cop as his girlfriend more than a cop in her own right as she would be in later books.

Yes, that does mean I read the books in the wrong order, but that's just as well, as if I'd read this first I probably wouldn't have bothered with the others, as least not for Tina, which would be a great shame as she does turn out to be a great character. Just not in this book.

[David Wilding · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just didn't like it for many reasons.

But before all that, let's look at the good things. I did like the characters in the book - both good and bad. Very well done.

OK, enough praise. So among the reasons not to like it are...

-- too many guns and shooting making it very American and over-dramatic
-- unless I missed a lot, there were too many big jumps from one thing/fact/conclusion to another
-- give that this was supposed to be a Tina Boyd book, she didn't really figure much till the end really
-- this book was more a written movie and not a BOOK
-- too much London for my liking in it all!

Nothing much more to say really. I'm close to giving it two stars, but I did like the characters so three will stay.

Now I'm wondering why I liked the Kernick book, "The Last Ten Seconds"...
Well, it's enough Kernick for me! No more!

[Katerina · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mystery/ thriller taking place in London. A police operation that goes tremendously wrong and the investigation that follows it. Corrupt and honest policemen, drug dealers, assassins, all together in a solid story. The elements of tge story are presented nicely, the narration moves from one to another person, so as to follow both sides. Stegs Jenner the protagonist: is he corrupt or not? A bit exaggerated to claim that Tina Boyd is a protagonist too. She is there and she is clever and essential for the investigation, but I wouldn't have thought that this is a book of a series about her.

I got tired with all the abbreviations. They might be clear if you are British, but not at all to the rest of us. There coukd have been an explanation of tge abbreviations somewhere.

[hugo van der wildt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Een kaft die niet veel vertelt.
Een titel d ie geen link heeft met de oorspronkelijke titel: the crime trade.
Het gaat trouwens niet over een doodgewone misdaad.
Het gaat over innerlijke strijd bij de politie om te weerstaan aan de lokroep van het grote geld van de onderwereld.
De politie heeft veel contacten met de onderwereld, de vele informanten, waardoor de stap naar het andere kamp gemakkelijk is gezet.
De infiltratie van de onderwereld in recht, politie en andere organisaties is vandaag reeds een groot probleem in onze maatschappij.
Een ruw, rauwe beschrijving van de werkwijze van deze onderwereld waar een leven niet veel betekend.
Daarom is het nog geen goede thriller.
Het kan echter goed gebruikt worden als script voor een film.
Niet slecht maar zeker geen aanrader.

[Laraine · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 - 4 1/2 star read. This book is the first in a series featuring DI John Gallan and DS Tina Boyd and it was an intelligent, well written and very good police procedural/thriller. Stegs Jenner is a cop who works undercover and who blurs the lines between cops and killers. When a sting he's involved in goes horribly wrong and people are killed, suspicion falls on Stegs. Tina Boyd in particular thinks Stegs is hinky and tries to prove it. And the criminals involved in the deaths are ruthless. Is Stegs a bad cop or is Boyd wrong about him? A very good read and I look forward to reading book 2 in the series.