Brotherhood of Blades

October 24, 2011
Set in South London, Regan’s grim first in a new procedural series introduces Det. Insp. Georgia Johnson, whose experience as a teenage rape victim has fueled her rapid rise through the police ranks. In a dark alley, 19-year-old Jason Young, a reformed gang leader just out of prison, happens to stumble on Yo-Yo Reilly, head of the vicious Brotherhood of Blades, and his gang sexually assaulting Haley Gulati, the hated aunt of the girl Jason’s dating. When one of the thugs stabs Haley to death, Jason makes a fateful decision. The Brotherhood of Blades is believed to have killed a police officer, but fear of reprisals has stood in the way of sufficient evidence to make any arrests. Now, with Jason’s help, Georgia and her team have a real case against the gang. Former actress Regan (Dead Like Her) does a decent job of realistically portraying the brutality of life for the South London underclass.

December 1, 2011
Gangbangers battle bloodily in South London, but can any of them really win? The Brotherhood of Blades--knife-wielding young thugs in the manner of their vicious chief Stuart Reilly--runs South London. Once, the Buzzards under Jason Young had dominated this turf. But their doom was sealed when Jason was jailed and his gang systematically dismembered. In time-honored fashion, Reilly controls his territory with the iron fist of fear. Break a Reilly rule and you can expect to be hospitalized. Break a serious Reilly rule and you can expect enough broken bones to welcome death. When Jason's sprung, no one quite knows how his release is likely to affect the status quo, especially since Reilly has savaged Chantelle Gulati, the woman Jason loves. On emerging from prison, Jason vows to go straight, find Chantelle and drag her kicking and screaming if necessary away from the estates. But in his heart of hearts he recognizes the trap he's in. Jason's an estate boy, and for estate boys there are never more than two choices: "die young or spend your life in and out of the slammer." Enter Detectives Georgia Johnson and David Dawes, each convinced that Stuart Reilly is a cancer, each with a secret agenda, each certain that in the end all policing is personal. Page-turning stuff, this auspicious series debut is for readers who, like Regan (Dead Like Her, 2009, etc.), don't flinch from brutality.

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