Vice, Virtue and Villainy
by Bob Richmond
Debut author, Bob Richmond, has just had his first novel published, and what a corker. Vice, Virtue and Villainy by 78-year-old Richmond is a rip-roaring, fast-moving tale of gangs, drug-dealing, sex-trafficking and police corruption that doesn’t let the reader go until the climax of warring gangs and an exciting police shoot-out.
Police officer George Sumpson is in a murky police operation that sees him injured and out of the Force. Never one to let a good crime go unpunished, he is soon back in the fray, without gun or badge but with his beloved fiancée Josie and friend Gail by his side.
When Gail’s sister vanishes from a sleazy nightclub owned by gangster, Alf Robson, George is hellbent on finding her and along the way the truth about who actually shot him and ruined his career. And, of course, end the criminal activities of the gangs.
Richmond’s characters are likeable and real, his villains are stock characters whom we can easily hate (especially when body parts begin to show up) and his police a mixed bag of goodies and baddies. The story races along until, almost winded, we arrive at the denouement where everything is satisfactorily explained and sorted.
There are times when I was aware of Richmond’s ‘newness’ to the game of writing, especially the final chapter which I felt was unnecessary and merely there to stitch up and resolve the lives of the protagonists rather than further the story. Having said that, it is a brave, confident and well written debut and I look forward to Richmond’s second, and maybe third, book.
by Bob Richmond
Debut author, Bob Richmond, has just had his first novel published, and what a corker. Vice, Virtue and Villainy by 78-year-old Richmond is a rip-roaring, fast-moving tale of gangs, drug-dealing, sex-trafficking and police corruption that doesn’t let the reader go until the climax of warring gangs and an exciting police shoot-out.
Police officer George Sumpson is in a murky police operation that sees him injured and out of the Force. Never one to let a good crime go unpunished, he is soon back in the fray, without gun or badge but with his beloved fiancée Josie and friend Gail by his side.
When Gail’s sister vanishes from a sleazy nightclub owned by gangster, Alf Robson, George is hellbent on finding her and along the way the truth about who actually shot him and ruined his career. And, of course, end the criminal activities of the gangs.
Richmond’s characters are likeable and real, his villains are stock characters whom we can easily hate (especially when body parts begin to show up) and his police a mixed bag of goodies and baddies. The story races along until, almost winded, we arrive at the denouement where everything is satisfactorily explained and sorted.
There are times when I was aware of Richmond’s ‘newness’ to the game of writing, especially the final chapter which I felt was unnecessary and merely there to stitch up and resolve the lives of the protagonists rather than further the story. Having said that, it is a brave, confident and well written debut and I look forward to Richmond’s second, and maybe third, book.
Review by JA Harrison
Title: Vice, Virtue and Villainy
Author: Bob Richmond
Publisher: McKenzie Publishing
ISBN: 978-0-473-78618-2
RRP: $37.99
Available: bookshops
Author: Bob Richmond
Publisher: McKenzie Publishing
ISBN: 978-0-473-78618-2
RRP: $37.99
Available: bookshops
RSS Feed
