[ book tip by Ann Morgan ] Arriving in 1930s Brighton to pose as the Kolley Kibber for the Daily Messenger's holiday competition, the lonely and nervous Hale becomes aware that he is being stalked by a local gang. After desperately evading his murderers among the amusement arcades and seaside entertainments, he is caught and killed. So begins the most evocative and sinister novels of Graham Greene's novels, the superbly-crafted Brighton Rock.

At the centre of it all is the teenage gangster, Pinkie, who marshals his motley band of criminals with unrelenting viciousness. A Catholic who feels his retribution does not lie in human hands, Pinkie advances further and further into cruelty, until at last the net of the law tightens upon him, sending him spiralling to his death and the 'appalling strangeness of the mercy of God' beyond.

A study of complex characters in a very particular time, the narrative capitalizes on its setting, wringing every ounce of colour, tawdriness and sinister resonance from the seafront. The result is a saunter through the distortions and excesses of cruelty and religious fervour, as eerie and engaging as an electric sideshow playing on a dark, deserted pier.

[ book info ] Greene, Graham: Brighton Rock.