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You'd think that having the prestigious job of head doorman at Hoppers would mean you had the world on a string. As much as Royston Blake has felt that way in the past, he sees that something is changing at the most popular bar in Mangel, the crappiest town in England. Before, the beer was flowing and the atmosphere kinetic; now, the patrons are younger, blissed out and not even quaffing a pint or two or five. Unbeknownst to Blake, Hoppers has a new owner. In fact, Royston is soon replaced by a man he refers to as Frankenstein who doesn't have a clue about what it takes to be a top-notch doorman. But Blake always has things going on, and now is no exception. Doug the shopkeeper offers him a bounty of 400 fags (cigarettes) and 400 cans of lager if he will find his wayward daughter Mona and bring her home. That sounds easy enough until Blake finds out what kind of people Mona is involved with. Soon things are totally out of control; various people are mauled, beaten, drugged, killed and trodden upon. Just another day in the neighborhood. In the meantime, the new owner of Hoppers has asked Blake to be his minder. The mind boggles at the thought of trusting Royston to do a job like that well. Royston is a fellow who deludes himself completely about his skills and talent. The reader can see that he is a man who has a lot of 'challenges'. A lot of humor arises out of Blake's erroneous opinion of himself and his justifications when he is facing danger and scared spitless. He reminds me a lot of Eva Wylie, the female wrestler, in the series by Liza Cody, but with a harder edge. In both cases, the characters are tragicomic. Royston Blake was introduced in the first book in this series, DEADFOLK. That book was such a totally original work that I fell in love with it completely. FAGS AND LAGER lost a little bit of its edge because of the familiarity with the setting, dialogue and characters that were introduced in DEADFOLK. Blake was a bit sweeter in the first book as well; in FAGS AND LAGER, I don't recall that he was ever nice to anyone on purpose. The one addition in this book that I loved was the introductory chapter pieces that were excerpted from various reporting pieces from the local paper. Some of them were laugh-out-loud funny. I think the blurb for the book provided by Mark Billingham says it all: "Royston Blake is a truly original anti-hero, and reading this latest misadventure is like being smashed in the funny bone by a lump hammer." You'll find yourself laughing, but you'll also find yourself cringing. FAGS AND LAGER features an unlikeable protagonist who you find yourself liking while shuddering at every violent action that takes place and every uncaring word that is spoken.
Reviewed by Maddy Van Hertbruggen, November 2005
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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