Painkillers - Softcover

Ings, Simon

Softcover

ISBN 10: 057513139X ISBN 13: 9780575131392

Publisher: Gollancz, 2014

Synopsis

A mysterious box that he cannot open is all that might save Adam's autistic son as they are plunged into a world of old corruptions and new terrors.

In PAINKILLERS, Simon Ings deftly teases out his knotted story that, with its many conventional elements, could have run a risk of overfamiliarity: sinister Oriental Triad gangsters, their even more sinister wives, a speedy Hong Kong with its ruthless Brit yuppies and its nightlife ridden with drugs, strange sex and violence. Shooting back and forth between a glamorous Hong Kong, in 1990, and a straitened London, in 1998, Ings sustains suspense by dropping hints but never telling enough.

Adam Wyatt and his wife Eva run a small café near Southwark Market. They bicker a lot, Adam drinks and visits to their autistic son Justin tend to go awry. But underneath Adam's drinking are secrets from their previous life in Hong Kong, when he worked for the Independent Commission Against Corruption and got in with some very dubious local society types; one of whom includes 'Call me Jimmy' Yao Sau-Lan, 'a big nasty man, in a big nasty suit', whose father just happened to kill Eva's grandfather. When Jimmy's widow and sons come calling, Adam knows he's in trouble.

About this title

Review:

In Painkillers, Simon Ings deftly teases out his knotted story that, with its many conventional elements, could have run a risk of overfamiliarity: sinister Oriental Triad gangsters, their even more sinister wives, a speedy Hong Kong with its ruthless Brit yuppies and its nightlife ridden with drugs, strange sex and violence. Shooting back and forth between a glamorous Hong Kong, in 1990, and a straitened London, in 1998, Ings sustains suspense by dropping hints but never telling enough.

Adam Wyatt and his wife Eva run a small café near Southwark Market. They bicker a lot, Adam drinks and visits to their autistic son Justin tend to go awry. But underneath Adam's drinking are secrets from their previous life in Hong Kong, when he worked for the Independent Commission Against Corruption and got in with some very dubious local society types; one of whom includes "Call me Jimmy" Yao Sau-Lan, "a big nasty man, in a big nasty suit", whose father just happened to kill Eva's grandfather. When Jimmy's widow and sons come calling, Adam knows he's in trouble.

The book's success lies in its handling of Adam's anguished love for his son, and the horribly convincing evocation of pain--both physical and mental--that tortures its hero and will leave some readers squirming. Oh, and make sure you lock up your dog tonight. -- Alan Stewart

From the Publisher:

An odyssey into a nightmare of corruption and violence.
‘Like Donna Tartt’s haunting, brilliant novel THE SECRET HISTORY, there’s a feeling of ‘‘this feels like it actually happened, but of course it can’t have done...Can it?’’’ ****SFX

‘Grim, gripping and unrelenting tale in which a neat and happy ending is simply not an option’ IRISH INDEPENDENT

‘Cinematically graphic yet deeply literate, PAINKILLERS offers a chilling ride into a hell both individual and universal’ ASIMOV’S MAGAZINE

About this edition

• Publisher: Gollancz
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 057513139X
• ISBN 13: 9780575131392
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 304