| "The Brink" is a very
stylishly written crime thriller set in 1940 when Britain is at
war. John Riggs is a working class,
self-educated police detective trying to establish himself in a
class-ridden world. He's prepared to lie and to use people in order
to get ahead, but his increasingly problematic personal life - the
demands of his former girlfriend, his affair with the wife of his
boss, an ambiguous relationship with a young WPC, suspicions about a
foreign doctor at his lodging house...all these complicate his
professional activities.
When he
finds a body in a bomb-blasted house, and the victim is burned
beyond recognition, and there is a strong smell of petrol...he
becomes suspicious. And then he spots his
own St. Christopher medal lying there by the victim's hand....the last time he'd seen
that medal was at Alice's place...
The implications hit him; he
realises this case calls for some
serious investigation, some real detective work - for a
change.
Riggs wonders if he still
has it in him. He's spent years running away from his old friends so
he could make it.
Now, here they are,
lining up to nail him.
The war is getting
complicated, right enough.
|
