[The term 'the smoke' apparently is British slang for the criminal life.]
'Smoke' opens in 1963, on a dismal, dreary Spring day in London's East End. Archie Ogle, the city's crime boss, is surveying a construction site with Charlie Dance. Charlie is a fixer, a hard man, willing to do dirty deeds for his surrogate father Archie. When Archie, who is in declining health, steps down, there is a very good possibility that Charlie will inherit Archie's 'firm'.
But all plans are suspended when an 'accident' involving a crane and a wrecking ball dumps the side of a building onto Archie and Charlie. The former is seriously injured and at death's door, while Charlie suffers a broken arm and cuts and bruises.
Word quickly travels through London's criminal underground: Archie Ogle is an invalid, one facing a greatly reduced life span. The gangs and their bosses who, until now, have acknowledged Archie's sovereignty, begin scheming to take over control of all the rackets percolating in the alleys and bars and clubs and warehouses of the city.
Tommy and Jesse Troy, the debauched gangster lords of Bethnal Green, see opportunity in taking over Archie's gambling operations. Connie and Wally Harold, who run a crooked scrap metal business, have their own ambitions, which include eliminating the Troys. Eyetie Antoni, the Mafia's representative in London, longs to take over the drug distribution networks in the city.
As these and other organizations arms themselves for confrontation, Charlie Dance sets out on his own path towards retaining Archie's holdings. And with everything to lose, and much to gain, Charlie isn't holding back. Nobody involved in London's criminal underworld is prepared for what Charlie's going to bring to the table. And for him, there's no such thing as too high of a body count..............
At 555 pages, 'The Smoke' can't afford to be a slow read. Unfortunately, I gave up on the book just 85 pages in. This is because the author is so fixated on infusing his prose with a British gangster vernacular, (along with heavily purpled metaphors and similes) that the book is very difficult to understand.
Some examples:
'Glass of Bass and a ham on white. And Gawd have mercy on us sinners if it ain't Charlie Dance. Thought you was too high on the firm to trudge the cobbles to cop the subs.'
Charlie added whiskies to Flynn's pint and sandwich and paid with small change.
"What's the crack with the coffin ?'
*****
'He never was the cleverest yiddle on the fiddle. What do Antoni and Kosher think they're playing ? Ethnic Monopoly ? "You give me Greek Street and I'll swap you Leicester Square and two dozen used toms" ?'
'Ain't no laughing matter, Arch.'
'Ain't "Spot the Virgin", neither. I take it you've smiled at both sides and kept your khyber to the alley wall ?'
'Does it rain downwards ? Smooth Bad Alice first.'
*****
Bulstrode sank his beer chaser.
'Cotton's used us and blown us out as bubbles. He's done a deal with Buck's CID and rowed us out. We've opened the doors and they've slammed them in our faces. They can have the kudos for this train job, but that's where it ends for this kiddy.'
*****
Valetta simmered.
A furnace of marzipan buildings under a hot and white Sahara sky. Whiter than snow and hotter than sand. The noonday promenade in Kingsway had been a listless mill of bored soldiery and young Maltese, all too jaded to flirt or exchange the usual ribald banter.
*****
The manager's office was a warm womb of oiled teak with a splash of light over the partners desk. Tommy lounged in the manager's chair to be close to the Armagnac and ice. His cigar hadn't the class to travel the six miles from Bethnal Green, and his pomaded hair gleamed like a swash of petrified tarmacadam. Charlie leaned by the aquarium with a small Irish.
While I understand that hardboiled prose is necessary to impart verisimilitude to a crime narrative, wading through the content of 'The Smoke' was simply too onerous a chore for me. Perhaps UK natives can understand the vernacular sufficiently to make this novel engaging, but for me, 'The Smoke' is a firm One Star rating.
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