Now's the Time by
John Harvey
hbk out September 02
Published by Heinemann
at £17.99
This is a collection of twelve short stories by John Harvey, concerning the
world inhabited by his closely observed policeman, Charlie Resnick. All but one
have appeared elsewhere as separate stories, and indeed have been published before
as a collection. But if this is your first encounter with them or with Resnick, they
form the perfect introduction to an unforgettable character. Personally, I find Resnick
far more convincing than his Scottish colleague with a similar beginning to his name
(pace Ian Rankin).
Now you might think like me that short stories aren't appealing. Think again.
These short stories link together so beautifully, suiting the episodic nature of Charlie
Resnick's life, that you can read Now's the Time as a novel anyway. Much of
Charlie's life we already know - the Polish background, the delicatessen sandwiches,
the cats, the love of jazz. They and the Nottingham environment are the familiar
surroundings that slide the reader easily into the tangential look at the lives of the
petty crooks that inhabit Resnick's world. The unfortunate Snape family figure in
three of the stories, and Raymond Cooke, abattoir worker, with his Uncle Terry, and
Terry's troubled girlfriend Eileen are central to the sequence of four stories at the
core of the book. Indeed Eileen reappears in the final story - Billie's Blues - which is
newly written for this edition. In it, Resnick almost manages to make a commitment
to Eileen, stripper and former prostitute. But of course, when he finally rings the
number she has given him, all he gets is number unobtainable. How very Resnick.
The stories are simultaneously humorous, and hard-edged, the feeling laid-
back and yet uncompromising. I wish I had given an airing to my thought that
Harvey's writing put me in mind of the piano rhythms of Thelonius Monk, of whose
music Resnick is so fond. I could have claimed some originality for the concept. But
unfortunately John Harvey himself got there first, acknowledging the influence in his
'coda' to the collection. Maybe I can at least claim that 'great minds think alike'.
(
Ian Morson
Author of Falconer books and short listed for 1999 Ellis Peters Historical Crime Dagger)
