About the book -- a novel which, according to Ken Bruen, “…tears off the page like a Mack truck spewing diamond prose of such finesse that you have to push back from the page lest you burn:”
Banks' entry opens:Stella Artois, Jack Daniels’, American Roulette and Caribbean Stud. Double glazing salesmen Alan Slater and Les Beale are on the town, doing what they always do: getting hammered and losing money.
It all kicks off when Beale trades aggro with some Chinese lads. As always, Alan’s on hand to pick up the pieces.
But he can’t manage it forever. Slater’s getting sick of it. Sick to his stomach. Beale used to be a good salesman and an okay friend, but since his wife left him, he’s become a bigoted, fat, falling-apart- at-the-seams victim of drink, paranoia and his own slavering greed.
To make matters worse, he’s about to lose his job. And Alan Slater’s about to have a road accident that’ll spell the end of his old life and the beginning of a brand new world of shite.
The Big Blind, the movie?Ray Banks is the author of The Big Blind (his debut), Saturday's Child, and Donkey Punch.
Okay, let's say I had it all my own way: The Big Blind would keep its northern British roots, that big Manchester rain and the grey concrete bleakness of modern trading estate Britain. If it ever made it to the screen, the visuals should make people think of wet dog - that's the best olfactory summary I can come up with. Maybe wet dog with the hint of stale lager.
For Alan Slater, our humble narrator and perpetually harassed double-glazing salesman, there's really no other choice than the De Niro of the Midlands ....[read on]
Visit Banks at his website and at Crimespace and MySpace.
The Page 69 Test: The Big Blind.
My Book, The Movie: The Big Blind.
--Marshal Zeringue
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