Synopsis
Double glazing salesmen Alan Slater and Les Beale are out on the town, doing what they always do: getting hammered and losing money. It all kicks off when Beale trades aggro with some Chinese lads. As always, Alan's on hand to pick up the pieces. But he's getting sick of it. Beale used to be a good salesman and an okay friend, but since his wife left him, he's become a bigoted, fat, falling-apart-at-the- seams, victim of drink, paranoia and his own greed. And to make matters worse, he's about to lose his job. One thing's for sure, Alan doesn't want to be dragged down with him. There's enough on Alan's plate keeping his sales up for his boss and his pecker up for his student girlfriend. But on a dark, rainy Manchester night, a road accident spells the end of his old life and the beginning of a brand new world of shite.
Publishers Weekly
In his diverting noir debut, British author Banks pulls off the challenge of creating a repellent protagonist with few virtues who still manages to engage the reader. A salesman of double-glazed windows, Alan Slater feels his bleak life begin to spiral out of control when he accidentally kills a dog. Slater is then drawn into the violent world of a fellow salesman whose requests for help become increasingly demanding. The one ray of light in Slater's life, his young girlfriend, demonstrates a remarkable and baffling tolerance for his irregular habits and schedule. The author's own experiences in double-glazing sales lend an authentic flavor to his character's sometimes darkly humorous efforts to close a deal, though the story lacks the power and force that one associates with the work of a classic noir writer like Cornell Woolrich. A blurb from Ken Bruen, the king of Hibernian noir, may give a boost. Agent, Marc Gerald at the Agency Group. (Jan.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.