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London Calling

Inspector Carlyle, Novel 1

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About this listen

Can you win an election and cover up murder at the same time? When Inspector John Carlyle finds a body in a luxury London hotel room he begins a journey through the murky world of the British ruling classes which leads all the way to the top. In the middle of a General Election, a murderer is stalking the man poised to be the next Prime Minister.

With power almost in his grasp, Edgar Carlton will not stand idly by while his birthright is threatened. Operating in a world where right and wrong don't exist and the pursuit of power is everything, Carlyle has to find the killer before Carlton takes the law into his own hands.

©2011 James Craig (P)2013 Audible Ltd Crime Crime Thrillers International Mystery & Crime Mystery Police Procedural Thriller & Suspense Fiction Thriller Murder

Critic reviews

"In this hard-bitten political thriller, the author skillfully portrays Carlyle as a good cop who genuinely struggles with the problems of his job and his lifestyle. Mr. Craig, a former journalist, writes with brutal candor about crimes as vicious as crimes can get.... It says something about the author's capacity for the darkest of humor when his description of a corpse superglued to a car can evoke a chuckle from the reader as police try to detach the body." ( Washington Times)
"As the title of James Craig's London Calling suggests, The Clash should be the soundtrack for this close to pitch-perfect debut introducing Inspector John Carlyle." ( Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel)
"Craig lards his familiar tale of revenge served cold with enough expository detail for a primer on politics and enough personal background about his hero to insure that his debut mystery won't be his last." ( Kirkus Reviews)
All stars
Most relevant
London Calling is definitely NOT your run of the mill crime novel, Inspector Carlyle is a plodder, a square peg in a round hole, he's not very nice, complacent and impotent to the powers that be who surround him.
I found his inner monologues and observations wry, crude, witty, strangely insightful and honest, also very cynical. This point of view was refreshing and the rude tongue in cheek dark humour had me chuckling.
It does meander and jumps between every mundane thought he thinks to titbits of of London historical facts that entertained.
The politics and very real social hard truths are inescapable and strips bare the nastier side and selfishness of human nature, it kind of left me rather depressed, but still morbidly fascinated as sadly even though amplified in the novel is sad but true.

Some might be uncomfortable with our murderers point of view as they are graphic and I could not help but grimace and twinge in sympathy.
What was new for me is that I could empathise with the murderer I wanted the protagonists all to suffer, just maybe not in the way the murderer wanted.

I'm in two minds about this début that even though I found the subject matter distasteful it will stay with me for a long time,..

Gritty..

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I look forward to coming across a new author and enjoy political crime, but this one did not make it. Carlyle himself comes over quite well as do some of the Cambridge educated politicians, but the violence was too graphic and the sex was there to shock but just became repetitive. Seemed like a copy and paste job after a while.
His method of showing why Carlyle is isolated as a detective by time-hopping, worked well, but I don't think I will be following this series

Disappointing debut

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Is there anything you would change about this book?

Although I quite enjoyed the book and liked the character of the policeman, I really felt that the posh, privileged, boys from a private school and university who had their circle of underlings beholden to them - enough to do whatever is asked, even when they are all adults, a bit hackneyed.

Would you recommend London Calling to your friends? Why or why not?

It was an OK read and I enjoyed it and would recommend as a light, holiday-type read.

Did Joe Jameson do a good job differentiating each of the characters? How?

Yes, the reading was good, his accent, tone and intonation really matched each character and mad when come alive

Could you see London Calling being made into a movie or a TV series? Who would the stars be?

Yes, I can, but it would be like so many others...... I haven't bothered to cast it In my mind, which I usually do with most books.

Rather two dimensional and stereotypical

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What did you like best about London Calling? What did you like least?

I like the protagonist and the setting of the story. Some of the portrayals of crimes were rather off putting, particularly the rape scene.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

I had guessed the ending quite early.

Which scene did you most enjoy?

The scenes depicting Carlyle at his work, which is most of the book.

Any additional comments?

London Calling is a solid detective story with a likeable protagonist and interesting plot twists.

A detective story set in the world of politics

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The over descriptive scenes of of some of the sexual acts were unnecessary and quite offensive. I am no prude but it almost made me give up, if not throw up!

Disappointing

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