Billie Morgan by
Joolz Denby
pbk out November 03
(Serpent's Tail)
at £8.99
Billie Morgan is a murderer. A forty-year-old ex-biker who now lives a quiet life
working in a jewellery shop in Bradford. Back in the 70s Billie is one of the Devil's
Own: hardcore Angels who lead a drug-fuelled speed-obsessed existence. Almost by
chance, Billie becomes a drugs mule and gains elevated status in the gang but after the
murder she soon leaves the scene and tries to hide from the past. In the present day
she struggles to look after her beloved godson Natty, a young man who could easily
go to the bad, and to keep her demons at bay.
Written as memoirs in a blistering conversational style, Billie Morgan is a really
gripping thriller. The pitch perfect characterisation means we quickly come to know
and care about Billie as a flesh and blood character with a sharp wit and an unblinking
take on the world and her place in it. There's a rigorous honesty to the portrayal of
life on the fringe, to the grim realities of drug addiction and the equally dismal truths
of family life, as well as a passionate, warts-and-all depiction of Bradford. As present
events awaken the past, the plot quickens to culminate in a series of three shocking
and heartbreaking revelations and Billie's world implodes.
(
Cath Staincliffe
author of the popular Sal Kilkenny mysteries and the series creator of TV Blue Murder)
Billie Morgan by
Joolz Denby
