Brown Bread in Wengen by
Jeremy Cameron
pbk out April 00
(Scribner)
at £6.99
A bit of an old Barry Took this a bit leery if you know what I mean
and make no mistake geezers doing the business a bit w'hey and
apparently they speak like this in Walthamstow (a.k.a. East London).
Years of watching "Eastenders" and "Only Fools and Horses" (not to
mention Holstein Pils adverts) should prepare you for the absence of
comas and the confusing sentences but if didn't `alf give me an
headache after a few pages.
To paraphrase Norman Mailer (talking about George V Higgins) you've
got to be a bit suspicious of the fuzz - or in this case a probation
officer - writing a book like this. How does he explain it to his clients?
"Look, guv, is that me in chapter six?".
But I digress and, headaches aside, this is almost as good as
Cameron's two earlier books. I say almost because there is a bit of a
feel that the series is starting to lose its momentum. Mind you I
wouldn't let this bother you too much. There is plenty in here to
amuse and distract. A zippy plot which has a dead MP turning up on our
Nick's doorstep with his brains resembling bonemeal. Natch he's in the
frame with villains and filth alike. There are plenty of laughs,
action and a nifty change in location to keep it all rolling along.
Cameron belongs in there with a growing and generally excellent Brit.
pack which includes Blincoe, Higson, Bateman et al. For my money they
- Cameron included - are as good as anything from the States.
Brown Bread in Wengen by
Jeremy Cameron