Cal Innes matches wits (and fists) with a nasty bunch of neo-Nazis in British author Banks’s solid third novel featuring the down-on-his-luck Manchester PI (after Sucker Punch
). When one of slum lord Donald Plummer’s properties gets torched, Cal, who evicts families who can’t pay the rent for Plummer, risks his life to save a child trapped inside. This heroic act brings both Cal and Plummer unwanted media attention. When Plummer receives an anonymous threat on his remaining buildings, he suspects the English National Socialists, who are up in arms because Plummer rents to immigrants. Cal, who reluctantly agrees—for a hefty fee—to look into the group, soon discovers that the ENS may not be the only instigators. Angry student demonstrators stir up the already volatile situation by protesting Plummer’s unfair leasing practices. Prone to popping pills and knocking heads, Cal is a rough-and-tumble but strangely empathetic hero. (Mar.)
