Coming out originally in 2005, THE LAST LLANELLI TRAIN finally arrives in the United States. This is a debut novel and the first in a series from Robert Lewis, whose main protagonist and narrator is Robin Llewellyn, a low-rent private eye more concerned with dodging bookies and having another drink.
Robin is anti-social and just a shade away from being a full-on prick to those around him. But opportunity knocks in the form of a new case, when a woman contacts him about setting up her husband in a blackmail scheme involving a hotel room and a hooker. Robin thinks it will be easy money and that it will provide drinks for a while, once all is said and done. But this being a noirish type story, things like that never go easy.
More to the point, Robin spends most of his time drinking his advance away, doing very little prep work for the case. So when push comes to shove of finding a hooker who gives a price that Robin knows is just bullshit, he figures, “What the hell? I’m not footing the bill.” This is when things take an unexpected turn for him, through slow reveals and a serious beating that is laid into him.
Lewis has carved a very dark world to insert his characters. For fans of Derek Raymond, it will be like a walk in the park, since Lewis pops in enough humor to balance out all the darkness that peremeates the story from the first word. Robin has pretty much burned every bridge in his life, with no plans on stopping. It’s a promising debut novel from overseas, and thankfully, Serpent’s Tail also reissued the second book in the series at the same time — SWANSEA TERMINAL — so you can delve even further into a world none more black. —Bruce Grossman
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I live in Llanelli. I haven’t heard of this book before so thanks for bringing it to my attention. I just hope the author hasn’t made my home town sound more thrilling than it really is!
No fear Zokko, its set in Bristol.
and mainly in bars
I got a review copy of this one, but I skipped it. I hated Swansea Terminal. In that book, Llewellyn spends three fourths of the book sitting on his ass drinking, which is to say Lewis makes him a pretty realistic alcoholic. Unfortunately, realistic alcoholics make lousy fictional characters. They’re boring.
Good or bad, that cover is ass-tastic.
or fant-ass-tic.