Get Carter
(Libby/OverDrive eBook, Kindle)

*Starred Review* First published in the UK as Jack's Return Home (1970), and filmed as Get Carter (1971) with Michael Caine in the title role, Lewis' second novel became a bona fide crime-fiction classic, influencing hard-edged writers Derek Raymond, James Sallis, David Peace who then went on to be influential themselves. It's an unrelenting story of revenge: hard man Jack Carter returns from the Smoke (London) to his industrial hometown in the Midlands to find out who killed his brother and why. (With Carter as a one-man wrecking crew going up against each and every one of the town's crime bosses, you can't imagine that Lee Child didn't read this as a teenager.) In the process, he uncovers the kind of England not preceded by the words Merry Olde. Film director Mike Hodges points out in his foreword that Lewis' milieu of gambling, prostitution, pornography, drugs, and corruption punctuated the beginning of a period of disillusionment for many Britons. Despite a taste for hard-boiled on wry (He fell forward and cracked his forehead on the dashboard. With a little bit of assistance from myself), Lewis has the soul of a serious novelist, capturing the brothers' troubled relationship, the grimness of the surroundings, and, ultimately, the futility of being top dog. It's not too late to get Carter.--Graff, Keir Copyright 2014 Booklist

Originally published as Jack's Return Home in 1970, this impressive novel, the first in a trilogy, inspired the classic 1971 Michael Caine movie. After eight years away from home, London fixer Jack Carter returns to Yorkshire to attend the funeral of his brother, Frank, who was killed in what was officially ruled an auto accident. Despite mixed feelings about Frank, Carter is resolved to learn the truth, and to get revenge if it turns out the death wasn't accidental. Evocative prose, such as a description of the local steelworks "stretching to the rim of the semicircular bowl of hills, flames shooting upwards-soft reds pulsing on the insides of melting shops, white heat sparking in blast furnaces," sets this above similarly themed crime stories. Lewis (1940-1982) also manages to inject humor into the mostly gritty proceedings. For example, one obese character is the "kind of man that fat men like to stand next to." Ian Rankin fans who have not yet read Lewis will be pleased. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

*Starred Review* First published in the UK as Jack's Return Home (1970), and filmed as Get Carter (1971) with Michael Caine in the title role, Lewis' second novel became a bona fide crime-fiction classic, influencing hard-edged writers—Derek Raymond, James Sallis, David Peace—who then went on to be influential themselves. It's an unrelenting story of revenge: hard man Jack Carter returns from "the Smoke" (London) to his industrial hometown in the Midlands to find out who killed his brother and why. (With Carter as a one-man wrecking crew going up against each and every one of the town's crime bosses, you can't imagine that Lee Child didn't read this as a teenager.) In the process, he uncovers the kind of England not preceded by the words "Merry Olde." Film director Mike Hodges points out in his foreword that Lewis' milieu of gambling, prostitution, pornography, drugs, and corruption punctuated the beginning of a period of disillusionment for many Britons. Despite a taste for hard-boiled on wry ("He fell forward and cracked his forehead on the dashboard. With a little bit of assistance from myself"), Lewis has the soul of a serious novelist, capturing the brothers' troubled relationship, the grimness of the surroundings, and, ultimately, the futility of being top dog. It's not too late to get Carter. Copyright 2014 Booklist Reviews.

First published in 1970 (titled Jack's Return Home), this British noir novel, as well as the 1971 film of the same name starring Michael Caine, are credited with redefining British crime fiction and cinema. Crime writers such as Dennis Lehane, Derek Raymond, James Sallis, and David Peace praise Lewis's novels (he wrote nine, including three "Jack Carter" books) as "classic," "the finest," "the most influential" and call Lewis "one of the first British writers in the Sixties to take Chandler literally." This is the story of London-based "fixer" Jack Carter, who returns to his steel mill hometown in northern England to investigate the suspicious death of his brother, Frank. Mike Hodges's directorial debut was such a hit that subsequent issues of Lewis's book were retitled; Hodges provides a foreword to this edition. His brief discussion of class differences and the Sixties and Seventies vibe in England is eye opening. This and all the other Ted Lewis (1940–82) novels will be rereleased by Syndicate Books, a "new publishing venture" by Paul Oliver, a former bookseller who now works at Soho Press as director of marketing and publicity. The plan is to publish five to ten novels a year, "focusing on out-of-print or neglected mystery and crime fiction of cultural relevance," according to the press release that accompanied Get Carter. (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Originally published as Jack's Return Home in 1970, this impressive novel, the first in a trilogy, inspired the classic 1971 Michael Caine movie. After eight years away from home, London fixer Jack Carter returns to Yorkshire to attend the funeral of his brother, Frank, who was killed in what was officially ruled an auto accident. Despite mixed feelings about Frank, Carter is resolved to learn the truth, and to get revenge if it turns out the death wasn't accidental. Evocative prose, such as a description of the local steelworks "stretching to the rim of the semicircular bowl of hills, flames shooting upwards—soft reds pulsing on the insides of melting shops, white heat sparking in blast furnaces," sets this above similarly themed crime stories. Lewis (1940–1982) also manages to inject humor into the mostly gritty proceedings. For example, one obese character is the "kind of man that fat men like to stand next to." Ian Rankin fans who have not yet read Lewis will be pleased. (Sept.)