£5.99 – 1 899344 13 6
C-format (216mm x 135mm) paperback original

Smalltime is a taut, psychological crime thriller, set among the seedy world of petty criminals and no-hopers. Chris is an ordinary guy working in an off-licence in suburban England and living in the local YMCA. Both are just stop-gap measures, at least thatÿs what he tells himself. Then one day Chris is mugged taking the shopÿs money to the bank, and his life is suddenly turned upside down. As he sets out to unravel the identity of his attacker, he is drawn into the dangerous and seedy underworld of suburban London, whilst at the same time trying to make up his mind about the attentions of three women.

In this remarkable début, Jerry Raine shows just how easily curiosity can turn into fear amid the horrors, despair and despondency of life lived a little too near the edge.

"Smalltime offers a defiantly unglamorous picture of the hopeless, hapless way in which so much so-called professional crime is carried out." - Mail on Sunday

"Finely crafted... Raine could easily join the ranks of John Harvey and Michael Dibdin." - Publishers Weekly

"The first British contemporary crime novel featuring an underclass which no one wants to acknowledge. Absolutely authentic and quite possibly important." - Literary Review

?Jerry Raineÿs Smalltime carries the authentic whiff of sleazy nineties Britain. He vividly captures the world of stunted ambitions and their evil consequences.” – Simon Brett

Read an extract from Smalltime

About Jerry Raine

Also by Jerry Raine:
Small Change

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