Pocket Notebook - Softcover

Thomas, Mike

3.52

80 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0434020087 ISBN 13: 9780434020089

Publisher: William Heinemann, 2010

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Meet Jacob Smith. Your good-old British policeman. The sort revered around the world. But Jacob's no ordinary 'tit-wearing' beat bobby. He's a tactical firearms officer - a handsome, popular, financially secure specialist, no less. He's also married, with two children; a connoisseur of fine cinema, who also enjoys the occasional hit from his expansive collection of do-it-yourself 'art' DVDs (the latest of which was 'borrowed' from a flat during a drugs warrant); an amateur historian, with a keen interest in the Vietnam War. And he does like to keep himself in shape, hence the rather large steroid habit - and the even larger amount of money he owes to his dealer. And did we mention he's partial to women's feet? That the local shoe shop is his lap-dance palace? And the girlfriend, his little Christmas treat to himself, who's desperately trying to shrug him off now it's the New Year? Or what about his parents - do we really need to go there?

And now the his family and friends are starting to worry about our Jake ... and his police superiors are increasingly taking notice of the way he conducts himself. As you can see, Jake's a very busy boy. And his life is about to get a lot more complicated...

Pocket Notebook is the debut novel from serving police officer Mike Thomas. An angry black comedy, it follows Jacob's very public breakdown and subsequent fall from grace, all of which he meticulously records in his police notebook.

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Review:

"Stuns like a truncheon, grips like a pair of handcuffs, crackles with charge like a taser. Reading Pocket Notebook is like being caught up in a riot: exhilarating, terrifying - it has an unstoppable momentum." (Niall Griffiths)

"[This] arresting tale doesn't miss a beat...Jacob Smith has got a bad marriage, a penchant for steroids, a violent temper and a foot fetish. None of this would be particularly unusual if he was a villain - but, in Mike Thomas's debut novel, he's one of the policemen. And he's got a gun...This book is clearly written by someone who has seen coppering at first hand...In his anti-hero, Thomas has created a character who has been marginalised and brutalised, partly by frustration at being unable to make more of a difference...While Pocket Notebook might become cult reading in police circles, it certainly isn't about to become a recruit training manual. This is an enjoyable black comedy that builds to an exciting climax." (Independent)

"Pocket Notebook is most certainly not run of the mill...Amusing, in a very black way...entertaining...There's no doubt Mike Thomas can write very well indeed...he's come up with a cracker of a read...Needless to say, Smith is heading for an especially bloody end. It's who he'll take down with him that provides the suspense, and the horror." (Henry Sutton Mirror)

Book Description:

A darkly humorous tale of an out-of-control policeman experiencing a spectacular breakdown.

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