asterope's Book Journey

Another year, another mind-boggling scandal in this country. This one involves a 19-year-old that unfortunately gets tangled within London's criminal underworld, resulting in his mysterious death. And what's worse, the Met totally bungled the subsequent investigation.

PRK is one of my favourite writers. Once again, his work is smooth, compelling and compassionate. Zac's story, his family, their grief and the backstories of the other players are all well-illustrated. The author gradually reveals the mystery in bits, but not in an annoying way. We experience vertiginous feelings similar to Zac's parents whenever a bizarre new detail comes to light, or someone's story doesn't add up.

PRK's non-fiction is so appealing to me because of its attention to detail. The book goes on various tangents of context and backstory. But it's never boring. Despite initially not knowing the connection to the main case, I was still hooked on whatever the author was telling me about. Eventually he does weave it all back into the narrative skilfully. And these tangents were necessary to fully portray the people who were involved in Zac's death, along with his family and their histories.

The depths of where this book goes are both astonishing and not surprising sadly, especially regarding corruption in the Met. That being said I didn't expect Micky McAvoy, key player in the infamous Brink's-Mat heist, to make several appearances. The connections and wider context the author chose to include were fascinating. Some of the more affecting parts for me were when I knew the locations involved. I've walked past the apartment building where Zac died many times without knowing (it's near the Tate Britain).

I really hope this book continues to shine a light on what a terrible thing happened to Zac and his family. The story wasn't made public until PRK published his first article on it. Naturally, he's doing a bunch of press here - I'm excited to attend a signing soon! I'll probably get my copy of Empire of Pain signed as well.