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2000s: To exit gangland, there’s a price to be paid
2000s: To exit gangland, there’s a price to be paid
Jig loves football and his dog, hates school, misses his dead granda and knows to lie low when his ma’s blitzed on the vodka.
He’s just an ordinary boy on the brutal streets alongside Dublin’s Grand Canal. Streets that are ruled by Ghost and his crew. And now Ghost inked, vicious, unprincipled has a job for Jig.
A job that no one can afford to go wrong not the gangs, the police, the locals, and least of all not Jig.
The underbelly of gang life in Dublin comes to vivid and horrifying life. It’s not the city view the tourist board are going to advertise anytime soon however!
On the mean streets which congregate around the City’s grand Canal – there are boys as young as ten – such as Jig – who are recruited into a life of vice, such are the conditions he lives in at home.
Streets that are ruled by Ghost and his crew. The city is in the grip of this powerful gang and the novel explores the reality of living under such fear and threat of violence
How do the police deal with such a criminal fraternity and how can it be dealt with if at all?
Tension is on the streets on each and every page
Well this takes you right to the underbelly of Dublin! Right to where the drug lords and their gangs hang out, guarding their patch. where the drug lords rule. They’ve got the fancy cars and strut around as if on a high-end fashion catwalk. No wonder kids in the area want to be like them so getting more youngsters to join their gang and ferry drugs around.
Jig and brother Maggot. Even that name made my skin crawl and that was before I read anything about them! Jig is headed down the same wrong path as his brother and sister Donna is already there too. Parents not much better. The scenes surrounding him and his family are very upsetting.
Jig is one of those who sees a way out. A way out….at ten years old. God my heart stopped beating for a second.
Suffice to say this book is not for the faint-hearted. There are heartbreaking chapters and even when the police get involved and seek to bring down the notorious gangs, the reading doesn’t get any easier. But it’s raw, gripping and punch full of emotion.
There’s many interesting characters, all broken and ruined to various degrees but there’s something about them, their raw qualities and interactions with each other.
This is gritty, dark, unforgiving fiction.
Destination : Dublin Author/Guide: Cormac O’Keeffe Departure Time: 2000s
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