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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fantastic!, April 29, 2006
This review is from: City of Tiny Lights (Mass Market Paperback)
This is an incredible book - suspenseful, smart, funny, and loaded with vivid, memorable characters. The best of the batch is the narrator, Tommy Akhtar, a hard-bitten but sentimental, self-loathing but self-congratulatory, alcoholic, chain-smoking ex-mujahedeen London private detective of Ugandan-Indian descent. As a detective novel, CITY OF TINY LIGHTS totally satisfies. But it isn't just a detective novel. Long after after the ingenuity of the plot has faded from memory, I'll remember Tommy's fumblingly earnest attempts to connect with the people in his life. Even more, I'll remember his voice: equal parts gumshoe, smartass, working-class London tough guy, immigrant, eldest son, and disillusioned ideologue. This character and this book have a wonderful, vibrant humanity.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
London Calling to the Underworld, July 19, 2006
This review is from: City of Tiny Lights (Mass Market Paperback)
Neate's lastest novel is an engaging take on the hard-boiled detective genre, albeit one that perhaps somewhat overextends itself just a bit to much to be considered a total knockout of a book. Set in contemporary London (with a minor excursion to the Lymington seaside), the book revolves around Tommy Akhtar. Now in his mid to late 30s, Tommy was born in Uganda to Indian parents who immigrated to England when Idi Amin came to power. But don't let his colorful background fool you (in his youth he fell in with some people at the local mosque and ended up killing Soviets in Afghanistan), he's a classic Chandleresque private eye. Alcoholic? Check. Chain-smoker? Check. Smart aleck? Check. Cynic? Check. Good-hearted? Check. Got a "friend" on the police force? Check. Poor family life? Check. Pursues interesting case even though he's finished what he was paid to do? Check. It all kicks off when a hooker hires Tommy to track down her missing flatmate/partner, who apparently owes her money. By the time the book is over, this simple case will have spiraled out of control into a very complex situation involving the murder of a Minister of Parliament, a mysterious Russian, an alleged terrorist group, and a cadre of MI5 and CIA agents. Interwoven with this is background on Tommy's life and his relationship with his dodgy brother and whacked out artist father. When the story follows Tommy down the mean streets, doing his work, tracking down the missing girl, sneaking into hotel rooms, and bantering with the supporting characters, the book works very very well. Neate brilliantly catches the patter and rhythm of dialogue, from Tommy's father's stern scolding to the local Pakistani teenage rude boy's patois. Where the book is somewhat less successful is the convoluted plotting, especially once the intelligence agencies are brought into the thick of things and it all gets rather conspiracy-theoryish. There's a lot to like in the book as Neate takes the reader along for a very colorful and often funny ride. One aspect that's very welcome is that Tommy is a private eye who takes a lickin' and comes away quite wobbly. It's a rare case of the detective getting roughed up and there being real consequences. Some American readers may have trouble deciphering some of the book's pervasive Brit-slang and there's are running references to cricket tactics, lore, and legends which will elude those not familiar with the sport. These minor quibbles aside, it's a pretty entertaining read that's unlike almost anything else out there in the crime genre. I'll definitely be going back to check out Neate's previous books. Note: The cover of the U.S. paperback edition has an awesome playful cover illustration of London by design outfit "Eboy", whose work (including similar pixel panoramas of Berlin and Venice) is easily found online.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Neate book!, June 22, 2006
This review is from: City of Tiny Lights (Mass Market Paperback)
Neate's exploration into the Pakistani/Indian subculture of London via Tommy Akhtar's private detective agency is at once entertaining and fascinating. This first person POV ("I did this, I did that.") can distract some people, though I don't mind it. Tommy Akhtar, the hard-boiled PI, was a muhjahdin in Afghanistan fighting against the Soviets. He came home to London with a drinking problem and a conscience problem. In this novel, a prostitute (her URL is exoticmelody.com) contracts him to find her flatmate, sexyrussion.com, who has disappeared. From there, Tommy gets involved with the Russian mob, some MPs, and Islamist extremists. The novel is beautifully written. The characters are all round and wonderfully drawn. Tommy himself is a model for a character. He's deep and round, and I think he's wonderful. The main stopping point for me in this novel was the Briticisms. While that's certainly not a problem in Britain, and I don't think you can change them without substantially changing the flavour of the book (which would be a shame), it can make the reading tough for an American. Tommy's father quotes pithy cricket aphorisms. I read a couple to my husband, who was first batsman for his university, and he didn't get a few of them. Another friend of mine (who emigrated from the Indian subculture of London when he was 16) read the book, and he found some of the phrasing hard to follow. That, and for some reason, in this hard-boiled detective novel, the "eff word" is dashed out, like "f---ing". That drove me insane. This book gets five stars for the beautiful characters, wonderful background and setting, and intricate plot. Don't let the bleedin' Briticisms stop you from enjoying this great book. TK Kenyon Author of Rabid: A Novel and Callous: A Novel
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