THE RACKETS

Thomas Kelly

Weidenfeld & Nicholson £12.99 Rel: October

Reviewed by Calum MacLeod

Set in the twilight area where politics, organised crime and union intersect, Kelly’s second novel makes a bid to be an ON THE WATERFRONT for our times.

Its backdrop is a New York where the established ethnic order is crumbling. The Irish neighbourhoods inhabited by Kelly’s blue-collar characters - Bradys, Dolans, O’Neils, Sweeneys and Murphys - are increasing taking on a Latino identity, Johnny Mac’s Bar a last oasis of Old Ireland in the New World. Even the Mafia is being squeezed out by a more vicious breed of gangster imported from Russia.

It’s a world Jimmy Dolan thinks he has left behind after moving from construction worker to political mover for the New York Mayor. However, he is soon to make a return when the press cameras catch him dumping corrupt union boss Frankie Keefe on his ass. Jimmy’s father, Mike, is making a stand as the honest alternative to Keefe and Jimmy’s actions turn what was already shaping up to be a dirty fight into a personal vendetta. Keefe has powerful figures on both sides of the law with a vested interest in keeping him in place and the contest turns lethal. Jimmy finds himself thrown into the contest and needing all the support he can get from his NYPD cop girlfriend Tara and best buddy Liam. Gulf War veteran Liam might not be the best person to have around in a delicate situation, not when he sits around his Mom’s basement reading "Soldier of Fortune" magazine and has a sideline in illegal handguns. He’s a guy who "is more than three-quarters the way down a slippery slope. And he ain’t got no breaks."

Kelly, a former construction worker and key member of the mayoral team, writes convincingly of the blue-collar workers and the corruption and compromise of those supposedly charged to look after their interests. As the situation spirals into violence, he disposes of a number of significant characters in a low-key manner which only highlights the bleakness of their fate, although he finishes the novel with a glimmer of faith.

His dialogue is gritty and natural with mordant black humour, but the prose between is flatly functional. Kelly’s first novel is being adapted for the screen by David Mamet and it is easy to see this going the same way, with the story pared back and meaty character roles for the actors to get their teeth into. Send a copy to Matt Damon’s production company quick, he’d be a shoe-in for Jimmy.

Worth checking out though as a different take on the American nightmare.