Customer Reviews

Long Firm

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

THE LONG FIRM is an excellent crime novel with an unconventional approach. It tells the story of London crime boss Mad Harry Starks from the first-person viewpoints of several of his associates through the 1960s and 70s: his rent-boy turned house-boy Terry; closeted politician Lord Thursby; aging freelance villain Jack the Hat; failed sex-symbol and minor actress Ruby Ryder; and finally, socialist criminologist Lenny. Arnott's description of scams such as 'the long firm', demurrage, airport rackets and pornography smuggling is fascinating, and so detailed that it feels almost autobiographical. He has also done a superb job of capturing the seedy side of London in the '60s.

When we first meet Harry, he is singing "there's no business like show business" while heating up a poker to torture a former lover, and despite his charm and his attempts to seem respectable, we never forget how dangerous Harry really is. The plot mostly concerns Harry's attempt to build up his own empire in the shadow of the Kray twins, with some assistance from a corrupt vice squad detective who wants to see all of London's porn business run by one firm. Occasional touches of humour lighten the sleaziness, but can't dispell it, and the book never becomes a comedy. Even if you're not normally a fan of crime fiction, but are looking for a well-written character-driven novel, THE LONG FIRM is well worth reading.

In "The Long Firm," British author Jake Arnott tries to do for London what crime writer extraordinaire James Ellroy did for L.A. Label the results "Ellroy lite," which isn't a bad thing. Using swinging '60s London as a backdrop, Arnott creates a fast-paced gangster story filled with cool characters and memorable violence. The central character, Harry Starks, is a gay, Jewish goodfella who wants to be seen as a respectable businessman. He wears Saville Row suits and hangs with fringe celebrities and retired athletes. He also is prone to dark moods and even darker actions. Harry's story is told by five characters whose lives intersect with his. Terry, a young gay hustler, is Harry's kept boy until he falls out of favor. In a nasty torture scene, he receives a very real tongue-lashing. Lord Teddy Thursby has a drinking problem. His homosexual tendencies land him in Harry's circle, where he becomes mired in a shady scheme in Nigeria. Jack the Hat is a boozing, pill-popping loser who thinks he has it made when Harry recruits him to head a profitable scam involving airport luggage handlers and parking lot attendants. Ruby Ryder is a B-movie actress who makes the mistake of falling in love with one of Harry's boys. Lenny, a young criminologist, is seduced by Harry's deviant charm. As in Ellroy's novels, real people from the period - Judy Garland, the Kray brothers - move through Arnott's story. "The Long Firm" was a best seller in England last year. (The BBC is doing a series based on the novel.) Harry Starks won't make Harry Potter's trans-Atlantic splash, but this British bad boy's tale should be a hit with fans of gangster fiction.

The Long Firm is a gripping novel of the 1960s London crime syndicate headed by gay mobster Harry Starks. Arnott's juxtaposition of the two elements (the mob & homosexuality) provide a truly uncommon combination and tension that's utterly fascinating. The atmospheric work is amazing as well. The underground scene vividly comes to life, is driven by a solid plot, peopled with excellent characters (especially Harry himself), and given great period touches...and it even includes a guest appearance by Judy Garland. The Long Firm is a bold and successful literary undertaking that really delivers on it's promise...and makes the reader an offer he/she can't refuse. Seedy, sensational, and a truly unique gay historical/cultural treat.

The Long Firm
Swinging London in the 60s, but forget London of Cliff Richard and Summer Holiday, more a London of the shadows; gangsters, corrupt police, rent boys and a decayed and decadent aristocracy. This is the story of Harry Starks, club owner, racketeer, porn king. He is violent and sadistic, a believer in Queen and country, Judy Garland fan, depressive and gay.
We first meet Harry through the eyes of one of the young rent boys he takes up and employs to run an illegal business scam, (The Long Firm of the title). Harrys story is filled out by Lord Thursby, Jack the Hat, Ruby Ryder and Lenny the sociologist. Arnott has done his research, the decadent and corrupt peer of the realm has echoes of the scandalous Profumo affair, Jack the Hat (Mc Vittie) was a known gangster and associate of the notorious Kray twins, Ruby Ryder the Rank Starlet could be Barbara Windsor (the blonde buxom one in the Carry On movies) with her involvement in Londons underworld. Lenny the sociologist is a cruel characterisation of the inept idealist. Arnott has used Harry Starks to provide a thumbnail sketch of how the UK progressed from the cosy days of P.M. Harold Macmillan to the social maelstrom that was the legacy of Thatchers Britain. We see glimpses of the nascent National Front and its hatred of Asians; the pervasiveness of the drug culture, and the importance of dress to define class, tribe and social standing  that appearance was everything to these men my hippy aesthetic didnt impress them at all .It didnt look confrontational, it merely looked sloppy.
This book has a gritty realism that is essentially English and specifically London flavoured. Think Lock Stock and 2 Smoking Barrels, The Long Good Friday, The Krays, yes they are all movies and can it be any surprise that the BBC are already filming this as a 5 part series?

A nice little introduction to the dark side of swinging 60's London.Rent boys,old lags on bombers,ska loving skins and (...)jewish gangsters, these are a few of the interesting characters we meet in this well written ode to a special time in the Citys criminal history.The second book in Arnotts trilogy flings us around the night clubs,seedy east end drinking dens and aristocratic country estate parties of merry old England following the murder investigation of a rent boy,dodging a bent cop and trying to make some cash at good old fashioned gangsterism.At the same time the author details the changes in english youth culture during that period in a very enjoyable way.Well worth the 5 bob!

I couldn't put it down. The characters and locations seemed very real (They should, many were real.). Jack The Hat's chapter was the most engaging, but each narrator gave a different, and interesting view of Harry.

I disagree with the reviewer who didn't find redeeming qualities in Harry. Perhaps I've fallen for the same mythic appeal of the outlaw as the characters in the book, but I found Harry to be quite likeable.

(I'd also like to say that the author's understanding of mod/skinhead culture was surprisingly accurate. This element doesn't take up much of the book, but is frequently misrepresented in fiction, so it seems noteworthy when someone gets it right. The author obviously took great pains to make his characters as genuine as possible.)

I thoroughly enjoyed the original slant Arnott put on this book. While dealing with the same character throughout the book, he manages to use different views to keep the story fresh and the reader uneasy. It is truly a page turner that exceeds the reader's expectations.

Harry Starks is a British recidivistic businessman (gangster of sorts) in the 1960s and 1970s who just happens to be homosexual. Told through various points of view of people who've encountered Starks (a lover, an employee, a friend, a former movie star, a professor), it develops into a brooding, deeply fascinating story on the nature of justice and law. Starks is not a heroic figure, but rather a noble one, in a way, despite his dark moods and his knowledge of torture. Definitely one of the most arresting books in the mystery genre I've read in ages.

Well, I'll leave the plot description to the reviewer below... Setting aside the clever, interwoven story line which gave a brilliant 'hall of mirrors' perspective on central character Harry, the author pounds the senses with his depiction of 60's East End London.

The main focus of the story is, however, far more subtle and the author only throws it at us in the last third of the book. Arnott then questions the concept of law and order which, he suggests, runs railroad over subcultures in the quest of attaining universal good behaviour. Through his depiction of Harry and his co-stars, the author quite rightly challenges the system stating that common law condescends to judge the life of the mobster and the crimes he commits against others from his world.

The people Arnott depicts live in a subculture that does not infringe on society at large and which has its own set of rules governing punishment and reward. Those people are there by choice and have a responsibility to live by the rules of this world. In turn, can these individuals then be judged by common law, or choose to turn their back on this life and 'squeal'? These are questions Arnott addresses with venom and dark realism questioning a system that is on the one hand totalitarian in its regulation and on the other influenced by weak liberalism which believes in re-adjusting such criminals to a wider society they never belonged to.

Arnott's book is basically a quick-read, light novel, but it uses some interesting devices from more "serious" literature to make an engaging little book. The book focuses on Harry, a gangster in 60s London, but it does it by portraying him solely through the eyes of others. The book has five sections, each of which is written from within the perspective of each of 5 characters who relate to Harry in markedly different ways. Some characters are handled more effectively than others, but overall it is competently done. The gay sex scenes are described with more enthusiasm than the straight, and the last section in which the relevant character is a professor becomes somewhat didactic, but otherwise it is fairly well-balanced. I enjoyed reading it, and would have been happy for it to continue.