Customer Reviews

Gun (Crime Express)

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I took this novella to the coffee shop thinking I'd read a few pages and get on with my errands. No such luck. This story is so compelling, so funny and harrowing that I didn't stand up until I'd finished the entire thing. Banks is one of the best hard-boiled/noir writers around. While not sparing the violence and darkness his prose is never cartoonish. He keeps his eye on the humanity of his characters, resulting in a beautifully moving tale.

Given that it's not of an epic length, this is as good as it gets. This novella has a taoist vibe to it. Less is more, like Bruce Lee said. It's short yeah, but nothing is superfluous, every detail matters. It's an achievement in English language for crime fiction and a pretty damn good story on top of that. I don't know if this was supposed to make me curious about Ray Banks' novels but it sure as hell does. Try GUN, it will only cost you a buck and it will stay with you for longer than the movie you paid fourteen dollars to go see.

There is something about certain English accents that really makes it hard for Americans (even Canadians) to understand the English language. I remember channel surfing one time a couple years back and MTV had some British teen reality show with actual subtitles. Bollocks! Anyway, if you like crime stories set in the UK but have trouble with the accents, try reading a book. In fact, you should read this one.

Gun is a novella about a guy named Richie. Richie needs a job, but he's not cut out for the nine-to-five routine, so he asks the local crime boss, Goose. The job: go to Leam Lane, deliver a payment to a hood named Al, pick up a gun for Goose in exchange, and bring it back. Sounds simple, right? Well, it should be, but Richie is a magnet for misfortune. His girlfriend know it too, and despite her warnings and pleas for him to get on the straight and narrow, Richie needs money--fast.

Richie gets the gun without too much of a bother--the gay porn on Al's telly he could've done without--but he barely gets to the bus stop before a trio of charva thugs beat the hell out of him and mug him, namely stealing the gun Richie needs to get back to Goose. And there in lies Richie's problem. He can't go back empty-handed, can't go sulking to Goose for help either, so he dusts himself off and goes in search of the gun.

The extent of my experience with British noir is limited to Guy Ritchie films, so Gun was like a teaser of what I've been missing. To say Gun is a potent, gritty odyssey is like saying a howitzer has a bit of a kick. Ray Banks has a few novels under his belt, but considering the amount of story he packed in this compact novella, this novels must feel downright epic in scale. Whatever the case, I wholeheartedly recommend this book, and I believe I'm going to have to track down more of Ray's work. One of his books recommended to me was Saturday's Child. Sounds like as good a place to start as any.

Originally published in 2008, Ray Banks brings his GUN novella to the Kindle and well worth the low 99 cent price tag.

Richie has done time, his girlfriend is in a family way and legit work doesn't set well for him, so he turns to Goose for some easy cash. A simple pick up in the next village, Liam, to pick up a gun. Easy, but of course it goes to bollocks. This is a Ray Banks story after all.

Short or long, Banks always pays out. This exceptional story is no exception, it delivers and the last punch will have you seeing black.

Another great Crime Express novella from Five Leaves. Richie is 18 and has recently been released from jail where he spent eighteen months for ABH, doing a job for local drug dealer, Goose. And if he'd given up Goose to the police, he might not have spent as long inside. Richie's girlfriend Becka wants him to get a proper job, and he's planning to, but he needs to make some money and working for a drug dealer pays well. So he agrees to go and pick up a gun - a nice simple task...only it's not. From the moment you find out that Goose doesn't even remember Richie - which makes Richie's stint in jail even more pointless - everything has a hopeless inevitability about it. Brutal and heartbreaking. Petty criminals and their grim, futile lives - bloody brilliant stuff. Ray Banks is one hell of a writer.

Gun is just what I needed. The story and the prose is lean and mean but with just a few brushstrokes Mr. Banks is able to capture both the criminal world of this novella as well as the mental state of the young protagonist, Richie - a bit of a criminal Holden Caufield.
Richie makes mistake after mistake, but it is difficult not to like him. Banks justifies every bad decision. Those looking for a happy ending are reading the wrong genre but Richie's final realization of what he should have done makes it all the more dark and I think what raises it above the standard crime fiction.
Filled with colorful characters and conversations, this book is well worth your time.

I like to discover new authors with as few preconceptions as possible. I don't read up on them. I don't read reviews. I just dive into the icy waters of a new writers imagination. However, everyone I know in the crime writing fraternity, which I am new to, raves about Ray Banks. Still I bided my time and read his novella Gun when I was good and ready.

On the face of it the plot was a simple one. A guy just out of prison wants earn some cash without the drudgery of the 9 to 5. Who can blame him eh? He runs an errand for a dodgy character that he feels owes him a favour. Things pretty much go downhill for Richie from there on in.

The dialogue throughout the story is absolutely spot on. It is never overdone nor underdone. I have discovered a great secret. The most powerful adhesive in the world: Ray Banks. Try as I might I could not put down my kindle. It was stuck fast to my hand. I was absolutely captivated. Gun had realism, grit, wit, violence and given the tone of the story, surprisingly also hope. Yes my crime writing friends Banks the master has sucked in another one.

This is just a fabulous wee story about the boys that you see wandering around any high street in the UK and the trouble they can get themself wrapped up in.

The dialogue is superb and Banks shows he has a well tuned ear for how real folk talk and I greatly enjoyed the realistic patter. The story is just so typically noir; it goes from bad to worse and then really, really bad for our poor wee hero Richie, who's just out from the jail and goes straight back into the same social network of small time criminals that got him banged up in the first place. He's actually quite a nice guy and he'd much rather, I'm sure, be with his girlfriend Becka and mooch around the shops on a Saturday afternoon but he's got no dosh....and as he says, ' He couldn't make money and look for a job at the same time.'

Richie gets teamed up with Goose again, the guy who gave him the job that landed Richie in prison, but this time it's not a bit of GBH he wants Richie to do but he asks him to venture into enemy territory to buy a gun off another gadgie called Florida Al.

Great characters, tight plot and wonderful dialogue. This Ray Banks is pretty good you know..... Don't miss out on this little gem.

A great, short read about a simple job that goes wrong for a down-on-his luck kid looking for some quick cash. I loved the snappy dialogue and the almost lyrical nature of the prose. There is a lot of UK slang, but it's very easy to follow in context for yanks like me and it gives the novella a very grounded, gritty feel. Highly recommended.

One of the great things about Kindle and e-readers in general: the return of the novella. If no one else has already predicted this, I'll do the honors. Novellas and short novels are coming back. And thank Christ for that, maybe the days of over-blown doorstop thrillers are nearing an end, eh? One can only hope.
If Ray Banks novella, Gun, is any indication, there's some seriously tight, noir-to-the-bone stuff to read. Although, to be honest, most of it won't come anywhere NEAR Banks' quality. He's one of our finest writers, and all his formidable skills are on display with Gun.
The story: our young hero, Richie, has a simple enough task: go to Florida Al's place, pick up the gun his boss wants, and bring it back. Piece a'cake, right? If you answered "yes" to that question, then you clearly haven't read enough modern noir. I want to avoid spoilers here, but I can safely tell you that Richie is in for one seriously bad day.
One of my favorite things about Banks is his knack for great dialogue. Crime writers in England, Scotland and Ireland have a big advantage over us Americans in that their vernacular is so colorful and entertaining. Everyone's always saying "Oh, aye," and talking about "chining" someone or calling other people "lad"... let's face it, Brit criminals talk cooler than American ones. And Banks knows how to pepper the dialogue with this great language without it ever becoming incomprehensible.
If you haven't read Ray Banks yet (and honestly, why haven't you?) Gun is a good place to start. Short, hard, and brilliantly written.