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One of the things I didn't like was that the book does contain a fair bit of what I would consider to be unnecessary padding. Stuff that does nothing to set the scene or progress the narrative. Since finishing I have realised that this is not the end of the story - I believe it is part one of a trilogy - and I think that maybe the author wanted to end the story where her did and maybe needed an injection of word count to pad out this part? Speculation on my part, just my thoughts. Suffice to say, it could have been trimmed and would have lost nothing apart from having dragged in places.
White Riot by Joe Thomas | Waterstones White Riot by Joe Thomas | Waterstones
The plotting is tremendous and highly engaging, with a style somewhat reminiscent of David Peace’s Red Riding novels. The first in a proposed trilogy, which is a mouth watering prospect. Guardian Best Book of 2020 Irish Times Best Crime Fiction of 2020 Times Book of the Month Mail on Sunday Thriller of the Month The… A timely, powerful and gorgeously readable novel that represents everything that is good and important about the crime fiction genre' Irish Times 1978: The National… The writing is vibrant and rhythmic with the book difficult to put down to the point you find your eyes drooping yelling out for sleep. The power of Trade Unions, the police and the corruption therein, racism and the National Front are all explored throughout, but the book never weights heavy or gets too dramatic. There’s also the fun of real life musical figures littered throughout with Suzi’s boyfriend playing the role of fictional producer to many of them. The first part of a proposed United Kingdom Trilogy, White Riot is a timely, powerful and gorgeously readable novel that represents everything that is good and important about the crime fiction genre.One of the main things I will take from reading this book, and this is why I think it will do well and become an important read, is that comparing the 70s and 80s with the now, it appears that not much has really changed, and that's very sad. Declan Burke is an author and journalist. His current novel is The Lammisters (No Alibis Press) Declan Burke MyHome.ie (Opens in new window) • Top 1000 • The Gloss (Opens in new window) • Recruit Ireland (Opens in new window) • Irish Times Training (Opens in new window)
White Riot by Joe Thomas | Goodreads
This book started off well for me. I enjoyed the bit of a trip down memory lane that it took me on. Being a child of the 80s and interested in the politics of the era as I am. In 1983 Noble is sent to Stoke Newington where a young man has died in suspicious circumstances and he is tasked with investigating the death. Live Aid, July 1985. The great and the good of the music scene converge to save the world. But the TV glitz cannot disguise ugly…
A timely, powerful and gorgeously readable novel that represents everything that is good and important about the crime fiction genre’ Irish Times Gripping . . . Deeply moving . . . A love letter to London, seething with outrage, that leads you keen to read its planned sequels -- Mark Sanderson * The Times *
Joe Thomas | Hachette UK Joe Thomas | Hachette UK
White Riot is an electrifying novel of politics, the counterculture, and music as a powerful force. In Suzi Scialfa, Thomas has given us a pioneering character - a female journalist, forging her way in a man's world; you believe in her, root for her, want to hear more. I loved this book -- Laura Barton If you're interested in the era and specifically the music, politics, corruption and racism, then don't hesitate. I can't wait to read the rest of the trilogy. Ultimately, White Riot creaks under the challenge of integrating fact and fiction. Perhaps it’s asking too much of the form, but for a crime novel that is also cast as a critique of the silencing of the lived experiences of those at the blunt and brutal end of police and racist violence, the characters of south Asian and Caribbean descent are thinly drawn. Our servers are getting hit pretty hard right now. To continue shopping, enter the characters as they are shown I learnt a lot reading this book, and feel that the author did a superb job of blending real life events/ history with his fictional storylines. All the characters in this novel are interesting and engaging and I really liked how we switch from one POV to another frequently (something I don’t usually like in a novel but that worked SO well for this story, trust me)! The prose style felt fresh and unique and the pacing was honestly phenomenal. I literally flew through this book, I could barely put it down.
Customer reviews
Unfortunately the book feels like a generic police procedural, albeit with a sympathetic, left leaning political stance. None of the vitality or excitement of the music of the Punk era really imbues itself into the text, despite references to The Jam and other bands of the period. A lesser writer might simply employ Falk’s outsider’s eye to see things that the locals have overlooked, or grown too familiar with to notice, but Exiles is a story rooted in many different kinds of relationships – those of lovers and married couples, and fathers and sons, and old friends and unexpected enemies – the exploration of which gradually teases out the truth of what happened to Kim Gillespie. Falk is, yet again, an understated, pragmatic and wholly believable guide as he weeds out decades of lies and half-truths from childhood friendships grown knotted and poisonous. Police and thieves, punks and spycops. White Riot captures the raw energy of the times in spectacular fashion, evoking a visceral narrative of power and corruption." - Jake Arnott
Arcadia snaps up ‘supercharged’ London crime trilogy by Thomas
A timely, powerful and gorgeously readable novel that represents everything that is good and important about the crime fiction genre' Irish Times
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It’s written in an extremely unique voice - somewhat difficult at times , i did toy with not finishing it once or twice but I continued on to the end. White Riot is an electrifying novel of politics, the counterculture, and music as a powerful force. In Suzi Scialfa, Thomas has given us a pioneering character - a female journalist, forging her way in a man's world; you believe in her, root for her, want to hear more. I loved this book." - Laura Barton Hotjar sets this cookie to identify a new user’s first session. It stores a true/false value, indicating whether it was the first time Hotjar saw this user.
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