About this title: Charles Prentice goes to Costa del Sol to spring his arsonist-murderer brother Frank from prison. Despite Frank's confession, Charles doesn't believe he did it. This thriller, which begins like a conventional mystery, eventually becomes a classically quirky and unsettling Ballard tale.
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Description: Good. Former Library book. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Counterpoint, 1998. 329 pages. 2nd printing of the 1st US edition. Hardback. Fine in Fine-dust jacket. Unread. ISBN: 188717866x Ballard stretches the taut canvas of his transgressive vision over the framework of an old-fashioned mystery. A British travel writer heads to the simmering Costa del Sol to untangle his brother's puzzling arrest for arson-setting off an explosive reaction from the local police, the seamy underworld of his brother's bar, and most disturbing of all, his jailed brother. read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Counterpoint LLC
Date Published: 1999
ISBN-13:9781582430171ISBN:1582430179
Description: Fine. No dust jacket as issued. FINE CONDITION, CLEAN AND TIGHT BOOK. SHIPS QUICKLY. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 336 p. Audience: General/trade. FINE CONDITION, CLEAN AND TIGHT BOOK. SHIPS QUICKLY. Cocaine Nights, F-Ballard, J G, Counterpoint LLC-soft cover, 1999. "When travel writer Charles Prentice arrives at Estrella de Mar, a resort town near Gibraltar populated primarily by British retirees, to find out why his brother Frank has been jailed, he's shocked to find that Frank has ... read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Flamingo
Date Published: 1997
ISBN-13:9780006550648ISBN:0006550649
Description: Good. **SHIPPED FROM UK** We believe you will be completely satisfied with our quick and reliable service. All orders are dispatched as swiftly as possible! Buy with confidence! read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Flamingo
Date Published: 1997
ISBN-13:9780006550648ISBN:0006550649
Description: Good. **SHIPPED FROM UK** We believe you will be completely satisfied with our quick and reliable service. All orders are dispatched as swiftly as possible! Buy with confidence! read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Flamingo
Date Published: 1996
ISBN-13:9780002241359ISBN:0002241358
Description: Acceptable. HEAVY ITEM. PLEASE E-MAIL FOR POSTAGE QUOTES OUTSIDE THE UK MAJOR SIGNS OF WEAR AND TEAR-VERY WELL READ-READING COPY ONLY SECURE DAILY POSTING FROM UK. 30 DAY GUARANTEE. read more
Description: Fine; Collectible. Stated First Paperback printing with full 10 number line. Excellent condition. Appears unread. No marks/underlines/highlights. Pages are clean and tight. Free deliver confirmation. Satisfaction guaranteed! read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Counterpoint
Date Published: 1999
ISBN-13:9781582430171ISBN:1582430179
Description: New. Clean, crisp & tight, never read. Bump on tail of spine. Dog ears p. 309-310. Scuffing. Books may have a remainder mark on bottom of text block. read more
"Set in a Spanish ex-pat community this a tense thriller written with sarcastic wit that explores to quote from the text , 'a social economy based on drug-dealing, theft, pornography and escort services from top to bottom a condominium of crime'.
Charles Prentice arrives in this strange community to discover just why his brother Frank, manager of the local sports club as confessed to a charge of murdering five people in a house fire! Everyone, apart from the local police, is so sure of his innocence that Charles decides to do some investigating of his own. His questioning causes all sorts of attacks upon him as he discovers a strong undercurrent suggesting that there are much more complex things of concern to the community than the death of five people! At first Charles is sickened by the behaviour of the residents he meets but gradually he is drawn into their world. The person who has the most disturbing effect upon him is Bobby Crawford the club tennis coach who changes Charles Prentice just like he did his brother Frank before him. So much so that he accepts his logic without fully understanding that he is becoming involved in a bizarre social experiment. A clever totally unexpected ending, though afterwards when I was still thinking about the novel I realised it was the obvious one, just that I had missed the hints!"
"It started out slow, but the more I read the more sucked in I became. The story centers around a man (Charles) who has come to visit his younger brother (Frank) who has been jailed. Frank is accused of murdering five people who live in the resort/retirement community that Frank owns. He pleads guilty but Charles (and everyone else) is convinced that Franks is innocent. So who really did it and why is Frank saying he's guilty? That's what the book centers around. At first Charles goes around interviewing the various personalities of the community searching for clues and motives. He soon gets sucked into the community's crazy happenings and is particularly enraptured by the tennis pro. The community seems perfect on the outside, with sports, arts, and civic organizations, but there is a MUCH darker side to it all.
I really didn't care what happened to any of the characters individually, but the world they were involved in was really interesting and I wanted to know more as Charles delved deeper and deeper. Likewise I didn't really care what happened to Frank, if he was convicted or set free. I really just wanted to know exactly what happened, which you do find out by the end. If you stick with it, I think you'll end up enjoying it. If you abandon it early, I can't really blame you."
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