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Original Title: The Long Firm
ISBN: 0340748788 (ISBN13: 9780340748787)
Edition Language: English
Series: The Long Firm Trilogy #1
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The Long Firm (The Long Firm Trilogy #1) Paperback | Pages: 343 pages
Rating: 3.86 | 1534 Users | 101 Reviews

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Title:The Long Firm (The Long Firm Trilogy #1)
Author:Jake Arnott
Book Format:Paperback
Book Edition:First Edition
Pages:Pages: 343 pages
Published:2000 by Sceptre (first published January 1st 1999)
Categories:Fiction. Mystery. Crime. Historical. Historical Fiction. Noir. LGBT

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A peppy, stylish tour of the London underworld of the 60’s and 70’s, punctuated by sudden bursts of gruesome violence. This is the story of Harry Starks, an East End gangster, a charismatic, feared, and fearless man as told by five very different characters who encounter Harry at different stages of his career. Harry is an interesting man. He’s a brutal thug, but charming and protective. He’s perceptive, a natural born genius at psychology, but he employs these gifts to terrorise his victims. And he’s openly gay, though the time period and his chosen profession are virulently homophobic. As Harry explains so succinctly; “I ain’t ashamed of it,” a platitude that seems to extend well beyond his sexual preference.

It’s well paced and easy to read. Hints of James Ellroy, but not quite as grim and depraved. The five different characters’ stories are used well to not only tell the story of Harry Starks, but to also tell stories Harry isn’t aware of, like a second secret history behind this secret history of Swinging London, a world of dirty little secrets and discrete back alley business.

Though he is the main character, Harry always remains always at arm’s length, viewed through the eyes of other characters, and I think that’s a smart choice. He retains a sense of mystery throughout, allowing Arnott to constantly surprise the reader with a new facet of Harry’s personality. It also removes any of the excuses and self justifications Harry might have for some of his more despicable acts - though I suspect Harry himself would offer none. “I ain’t ashamed of it.”

Rating Of Books The Long Firm (The Long Firm Trilogy #1)
Ratings: 3.86 From 1534 Users | 101 Reviews

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The Long Firm is Arnott's first novel and quite a tour de force. It is the indirect portrait of 1960's London gangster, an amalgamation of the Kray brothers. Although Harry Starks is the true subject here, the book is divided into 5 parts that present the various points of view of people that gravitate around Starks and know different facets of his personality. There's a rent boy, a lord (based on real life Lord Boothby), Jack the Hat (a historical personage though he story is not quite

A friend lent me this book she'd picked up from a charity shop along with Arnott's second in the series, He Kills Coppers. The novel gives POV's of several characters who knew the main protagonist,Harry Stark, 60's London gang boss and psychotic leader of The torture gang. It's a great read and particularly resonates if you live in London and recall some of the seedier times and infamous news stories around the Kray twins and Richardson gang. Some of the passages of torture are hard to read but

There's an almost nightmarish quality to the opening pages of 'The Long Firm', in that you know that something really, really bad is going to happen. Something involving a white hot poker and a man tied to a chair. But you can't look away: you can't stop reading. It's that good, and that powerful - a level of writing which is maintained throughout the book.The book chronicles the career of Harry Starks, a London based criminal and gang boss. Tough, intelligent, homosexual and with a talent for

Setting: London; 1960s-70s. Gritty and gripping tale set in London's gang culture, featuring gangster, racketeer and club owner (although he would say 'businessman') Harry Starks - a fictional character trying to make money at the time of the Krays and other criminal gangs. The story was brilliantly narrated by a number of different characters who were under Harry's influence at one time or another. Disturbingly violent and shocking at times, the book is the first in 'The Long Firm' trilogy and

Like all the stories I used to read in The News of the World. Very enjoyable.

This book was a good read but the first 4 sections out of 5 were full of cliches. Every cultural reference for London gangster land in the 60s and 70s possible was thrown into the mix. It really had little to set it apart from other more authentic books and felt it was being written for a TV series. However the final section suddenly became riveting as a sociology university academic visits the gangsters in jail to open their minds to the latest theories about how society should take the blame

Very readable. Interesting format. Enjoyed the coded message in the letter to the Times.