A Lot of Nerve

This book was entertaining and fun to read. A really good thriller that kept me hooked till the end.
It's fast paced, keeps on the edge and it's a lot of fun.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to Thistle Publishing and Netgalley for this ARC

A Lot of Nerve was a light hearted and delightful romp through the capers and adventures of a small time hoodlum, Mr. Jones, in present day London.

Easy reading: entertaining and fun.

I received this ARC from NetGalley and Thistle Publishers in exchange for an honest review.

It took until the last chapter to find the purpose of this book. It was interesting enough to keep me reading, but confusing. There isn't a good guy or girl in the book. No that's not true DI Hernandez is okay, but willing to accept bad means to a good end.

An entertaining romp with a small time crook in London. A quick fun read that kept me turning pages long after I should be sleeping.

* 3.5 Stars*

A Lot Of Nerve’ follows the antics of small time conman “Jonesy”. Here we have a bit of a Del Boy, wheeling and dealing in whatever goods happen to come his way. Out of necessity, he drinks in dark and dingy dead end pubs in the less salubrious parts of London - this is where he finds other like minded crooks looking to pass on, or purchase all manner of illicit goods.

His latest deal though, takes him into unknown territory, when he becomes unwittingly involved with some of London’s most feared gangsters as well as certain government agencies, and he’s not entirely sure which of them are the most dangerous!

Although Jonesy was clearly at ease knowing that his dealings were of the illegal kind, and given the fact that he has a complete disregard for the law, you’d think that he’d have little appeal to the reader, but actually he did have a really good side to him, and he turned out to be quite a likeable and interesting character.
For me though, the plot required that you suspend a certain amount of disbelief - and if you’re happy to do that, then you’ll discover a fast paced compelling read, and should there be a follow up, I would be happy to read further capers from Jonesy.

I enjoyed reading this book. It had a good story to it. It took me longer than normal to read as I started on Christmas Eve and just finished today,the 27th. It is my first book read by this author. I hope to read more books by this author.

I shouldn't call this a police procedural. In actual fact there is one British policewoman, DI Hernandez, and a slew of bad guys, almost too numerous to count. This book is for the most part written in the first person of Mr. Jones, who with his sweet old Auntie Mimi runs a bunch of scams and shady businesses out of a two room second story 'office' above a newsagent by notting Hill Gate tube station. We occasionally have a chapter written in the first person of various bad guys, or Detective Inspector Hernandez, as well.

Jones is not a truly bad guy - he fits about midway up the ladder of actual crooks and his scams and money laundering schemes are basically harmless. He has a knack for finding himself in the middle of deals, and as a middleman he shines. Unfortunately a couple of the very bad criminal bosses get him wedged into deals he is not comfortable being involved in, and he is able to use his knack in a meaningful way towards getting himself out of the line of fire. And with the help of sweet old Aunt Mimi and DI Hernandez he is able to keep himself alive....at least in the short term.

I received a free electronic copy of this British police procedural from Netgalley, Ian Mcculloch, and Thistle Publishing in exchange for an honest review. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me.

This is a very original story, and after reading a bit I thought it would be pure nonsense. I was wrong; it's not very plausible, of course, but it's very good entertainment, with a few funny points as well. Well written and great characters.

Jones lives to make a deal. Got something you need to sell? Call him. Aunt Mimi will take the message. He sees papers change hands for a big envelope of money and decides to get in on the action. Sometimes you do are not worth the money. When he gets involved in selling papers that he has no idea what they are, he is In over his head. This is one transaction, he may not survive. I received this book from Net Galley and Thistle Publishing for a honest review. The opinions are my own.

I was invited to read this directly by the publisher, but it was also available through NetGalley. I don’t normally read gangster novels but liked the sound of it, and it made a nice change from all the crime thrillers I’ve been gorging on lately.

Jonesy is a wideboy who makes a good living running various shady businesses and brokering deals amongst the London underbelly, without actually committing crimes directly himself. When he spots a suspicious transaction going on in one of his local pubs, he takes the opportunity to muscle in on the deal, not realising what he is getting himself into. State secrets are being sold, and MI5, having lost their inside man, ask him to infiltrate the gang in the middle of it to find out who the buyer is. Meanwhile another vicious gangster is forcing Jonesy to sell a batch of dreadful wine, or else... Wheeling and dealing is his special skill, but will he be able to play all the different villains off against each other long enough to stay alive?

This is a debut thriller by an author who is not the former frontman of Echo & The Bunnymen, as goodreads would have you believe. Told mainly from Jonesy’s POV, there are short chapters by other significant characters, which worked very well. Unusually for a gangster novel, there was no foul language, which may seem unrealistic but made it a much more enjoyable read for me (I must be getting old.) There was some humour, a smidgen of romance, some great characters, (loved Mimi and Terry) and obvious sponsorship by the makers of Horlicks 😉

It’s unclear whether this is a stand-alone or the beginning of a series. I for one would be keen to read what Jonesy gets up to next. My thanks to Thistle Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. A Lot of Nerve is available now.

I've been missing Lovejoy, the charming, roguish,, amoral character created by Jonathan Gash. So I was delighted to discover, 10% or so into A Lot of Nerve, that Ian McCulloch's main character Jones is a sunny-dispositioned scoundrel in the Lovejoy mold.

Jones isn't a bad man. He simply discovered that his best chance of success lies along the margins of legality. His skill set includes a slick opportunism and a flexible moral code. Well, somewhat flexible. He doesn't do violence, under any circumstances.

This book is not hilarious, but there are frequent chuckles provided by most of the characters in turn. It's not a thriller, but there are plenty of passages where the reader asks, "And how is he going to get himself out of this predicament?"

And one of the story lines, involving a detective inspector, hinted at the possibility of a series, and an offbeat crime-fighting duo that I'd be pleased to follow.

In the grand scheme of literature, this book is probably a true 3.5 out of 5. But what it does, it does so well that I'm rounding up 4 stars.

Thanks to NetGalley for an advance readers copy.

A Lot of Nerve is the story of Jonesy. He is a small time con man in London who operates several schemes. One day he gets involved in something that's a bit more than he expected. Jonesy now has some trouble with the mob. The story is entertaining but not realistic. It's not supposed to be plausible because if it were, this story wouldn't work. The character of Jonesy is very entertaining and engaging. I liked the story overall because it's light and fun to read. Thanks to NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

A lot of Nerve is probably the most consistently action packed novella I've ever read. The dialogue is crisp, the characters full bodied and mostly likeable and the action exciting.

The writing was really well done and the characters were so good I felt that I was there with them.

Jonesy seems to have a death wish, he is all over the place mixing it up with sharks and barracudas. He sure ain't no legit businessman, he is a con, a washer of all things, he is crooked to the bone. He is too smooth, way in over his head and walking himself into an early grave. But you know what I sort like this dude he is a bit brash in your face with it, he truly has a lotta nerve. Highly entertaining and full of intrigue.