The necessary death of Lewis Winter

by Malcolm Mackay

Paper Book, 2015

Status

Available

Call number

823.92

Publication

New York : Mulholland Books/Little, Brown and Company, 2015.

Description

"A twenty-nine-year-old man lives alone in his Glasgow flat. The telephone rings; a casual conversation, but behind this a job offer. The clues are there if you know to look for them. He is an expert. A loner. Freelance. Another job is another job, but what if this organization wants more? A meeting at a club. An offer. A target: Lewis Winter, a necessary sacrifice that will be only the first step in an all-out war between crime syndicates the likes of which hasn't been seen for decades. It's easy to kill a man. It's hard to kill a man well. People who do it well know this. People who do it badly find out the hard way. The hard way has consequences" --

User reviews

LibraryThing member maneekuhi

The title sets up the book perfectly. Not just in the obvious ways. Readers of crime fiction will immediately recognize this is about murder, cold-blooded murder. Premeditation. Probably not a crime of passion. "Necessary" implies calculated, business-like, an annoyance, a task. Why I make a big

deal about this is because of the unique way the narrator describes the action, and similarly how many of the characters, mostly Glasgow lowlifes, mobsters, bent cops, talk and think. There is generally less dialog here, more description. We are being educated, explained to, perhaps a bit patronized. Just as the mob bosses explain matters to their underlings. But the messages are clear. "here's what I want, here's what you need to know, now do it." (and I don't need to hear your advice nor opinions). This is hardboiled, somewhat noir, but that's so overused - even among noir books, "Lewis Winter" is unique, not just in its language, but tone, descriptions. These are scary people.

It's 322 pages, the first in a trilogy. This and other books in the trilogy have been very well received by critics. Lewis Winter is a low-level drug dealer; he has 5-6 runners peddling stuff for him. But Lewis is ambitious; he has a much younger girl friend and she has expensive tastes. Lewis needs more money to keep her happy. But in looking to build his little enterprise,he starts to step on the wrong toes. It becomes necessary to nip Lewis in the bud. Because their regular hitman is still recovering from hip surgery, the job is given to a free lancer.....No heroes in this book, but lots of very interesting characters. The author, Malcolm Mackay, introduces the cast in a two page summary upfront with a few sentences on each of the 20 or so people we'll be getting to know. Reminiscent of the character list at the front end of 1930's-40's movies. It's a fast read, tense, violent without being gory. I'll read the other two books soon. Highly recommended.

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LibraryThing member helen.mcbay

This is the best crime thriller I've read in a long time and from a debut novelist too. I highly recommend that you read this. Love the style of writing- highly original. Will keep you gripped throughout. I cannot wait to read the next book in the trilogy (out in July 2013). Read it!!

LibraryThing member ubermore

Gripping and tense yarn

LibraryThing member dbsovereign

1st of a trilogy about Glasgow and a hired gun. The style of this book is everything. Gritty, brutal and very realistic hardboiled tale of a job and the fallout. It is fast-paced and relentless.

LibraryThing member johnwbeha

Whoopee, this is the first in a trilogy, by a writer I'd never tried before and it is really excellent. The writing is sharp and taut, telling the story in short snappy sentences, introducing us to a cast of memorable characters who I look forward to finding out much more in books 2 and 3.

Glasgow's crime scene has been the subject of a few recent novels, but I doubt that any are as good as this. Really looking forward to more from Malcolm Mackay.

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LibraryThing member fizzypops

Outstanding debut in the Glasgow Trilogy by Malcolm Mackay. Dark, brooding Glasgow is the perfect setting for these gangland characters beautifully brought to life by Mackay. His staccato, rapid-fire writing style is ideally suited to the story he tells. There isn't the range of characters you

might find in another of this genre, but the depth is very impressive throughout. I devoured the second half of the book in record time and I can't wait to get into the rest of the series...highly recommended. Thank you, Mr Mackay/Mulholland Books.

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LibraryThing member ecw0647

Another case where I am reading an author's books backwards. While I read Every Night I Dream of Hell first, and for all intents and purposes, it could be a stand-alone, those who appreciate a continuation of characters might prefer to read this book and the two following in the trilogy first. In

the former, Jamieson is running things from jail and we see most things from the POV of his enforcer, aka "security consultant."

In this book, Jamieson is fully in charge but worried that someone is trying to muscle in on his territory. To send a message, it's necessary to eliminate, Lewis Winter, in an effort to smoke out the rival. POVs vary but are primarily those of Calum, his young hitman. We're also introduced to Zora, who plays a prominent role in EIDOH (don't you just love title abbreviations?)

Mackay has a different style of writing, a combination of narrative and stream of consciousness. It took a bit of getting used to, but was appealing in the end. Now, moving on to How a Gunman Says Goodbye the second in the series which follows the same characters, focusing primarily on Frank, the aging hitman.

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