Yellowbellys, Austin Lee

 

Publishers: CreateSpace Independent Publishing

 

 

Pages: 262

 

 

Main Characters:

 

 Harry Winterbottom, Joanne, Martine

 A life of crime is a circle that is hard to break. This is especially true for Harry; who having just been released from prison and surviving cancer is hoping to get his life on the straight and narrow. However, fate is not on Harry’s side and when he is asked to become a police informer, Harry's life radiates back towards crime.

Harry becomes the head of the local gang in Barton; a town in Lincolnshire in the north of England. As the new leader of the gang, Harry has to deal with the problems left from his predecessor. The main issue is the rival Polish gang that operates in Barton. The Poles have started to smuggle weapons into England which they then plan to sell on to gangs in Italy and Tunisia. Harry’s gang manages to steal one of these shipments and plans to sell the weapons on for a nice profit. However, the Polish gang also has a new, ruthless leader; Kudron Overbury. Overbury is placed at the head of the gang by his superiors in Warsaw. He is tasked with getting back the stolen arms and is willing to do anything to achieve this goal.

Overbury has an obsession with killing Harry and has numerous cunning and violent plans on how he will do this, even using Harry’s family to draw him into a trap! But, will Overbury's obsession meet fruition or will Harry lead his gang and his family to safety?

I really enjoyed this book. I really liked the grungy feeling that surrounds the gang and the violence that occurs in the book. It really shows the extreme measures that Harry and Overbury have to take to secure their dominance in the town, which makes the criminal underworld in the book seem much more believable. I also liked the fact that the book was based in Lincolnshire. This is because I live quite close to some of the places the book is based in (like Whitby) so it was really easy for me to visualise many of the events in the novel and to some extent I could relate to some scenes in the book (which I loved!). However, I did feel that there were some editorial issues with grammar, but I think the story really makes up for this because it is fast paced and exciting to read!

All in all this was a good read that I really enjoyed! I would suggest this book to anyone who likes a good crime, thriller or drama novel and if like me, you live near the area the book is based in it should really appeal to you!

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