Sweet Gum by Jo-Ann Goodwin is a slice of urban criminal life which on reading reminds one of a life played out on screen for all to see.
Sweet Gum by Jo-Ann Goodwin is a slice of urban criminal life which on reading reminds one of a life played out on screen for all to see.
The central character Eugene is an amoral hero who is a drug dealerwho is fed up of only running errands. His 'upstanding manner' and good behaviour soon brings him to the attention of two well known and well-connected gangland bosses. Eugene is a strange character he still lives at home with his mother along with his sister Simone (the star attraction at SweetHearts a lap dancing club) and worries about his young nephew Nero who along with some very strange and worrisome habits, is obsessed with murder and soon becomes uncontrollable and violent. When a series of murders happen Eugene finds himself and his life turned upside down with devastating effect.
This is not an easy book to read and it is one of the books that you will either love or hate. The characters certainly take soe getting used to and one finds that it is difficult to have much sympathy for anyone of them. If however you like your crime novel adorned with gruesome detail and characters with a lack of morals a lá Hannibal Lecter then read on.
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Ayo Onatade