Cracker: Best Boys (Cracker Series) [Hardcover]

Gareth Roberts (Author), Jimmy McGovern (Creator)

Book Description

Series: Cracker Series | Publication Date: March 2, 2000

With a baby on the way and a marriage on the way out, all Fitz wants is a pint to wash away his troubles. Thoughts of a good drink quickly disappear when an elderly land lady in his beloved Manchester is visciously murdered. Why anyone would want to kill a kindly old woman is anyone's guess, but Fitz is the only one with the know how to find the answers.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

"Fitz is a genius on the job, digging rentlessly into the psyches of the suspects to discover why they behave the way they do."-The New York Times

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Minotaur Books; 1st edition (March 2, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312204981
• ISBN-13: 978-0312204983
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,805,784 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Too dark and depessing for my taste, February 17, 2000

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cracker: Best Boys (Cracker Series) (Hardcover)

Manchester Police psychiatrist Dr. Edward "Fitz" Fitzgerald accepts that his life is far from perfect due to his gambling and drinking habits. His wife was ready to divorce him until she learned she was pregnant. Now raising a three-month old boy, she feels trapped, especially since Fitz still works with the woman he had an affair with, Jane Penthaligon.

Bill Nash is a lonely seventeen-year-old without any friends. He has lived most of his life in the foster care system. No one gives a damn what happens to the teen until he meets Grady, an older person who also happens to be Bill's boss. An attraction springs up between the two males, but Grady denies those feelings. Bill kills two people with Grady's aid. Only Fitz can prevent more deaths if he can find the courage to set aside his own woes and confront the killer.

The latest adaptation of the British TV show Crackers is a dark, bleak urban noir. The criminals gain more reader sympathy than the hero does, that will not surprise fans of the series. The future looks even grimmer than the disheartening present for everyone involved with the case. Anyone expecting a "happily ever after" needs to pass on this novel. However, those who enjoy the human condition at its slimy worse will go crackers over a novel that will prove to be a best buy.

Harriet Klausner