Biographical note:

Born in Manchester, England, Ted Lewis (1940-1982) spent most of his youth in Barton-upon-Humber in the north of England. After graduating from Hull Art School, Lewis moved to London and first worked in advertising before becoming an animation specialist, working on the Beatles’ Yellow Submarine. His novels are the product of his lifelong fascination with the criminal lifestyle of London’s Soho district and the down-and-out lifestyle of the English factory town. Lewis' novels pioneered the British noir school. He authored nine novels, the second of which was famously adapted in 1971 as the now iconic Get Carter, which stars Michael Caine.

Country of final manufacture:

US

Main description:

Published in North America for the first time—the final novel featuring Jack Carter (Get Carter, Jack Carter’s Law) has London’s slickest operator journeying to a Spanish villa to protect a wise-cracking Italian-American mobster.

Jack Carter is not thrilled when his frustratingly unprofessional employers—London mob kingpins Gerald and Les Fletcher—force him to take a vacation. Jack doesn’t like leaving the business in other people’s hands, but especially not to a couple of ponces like Gerald and Les. Still, the company villa in Spain promises sunshine and some time to plot his next move. Jack has been fooling around with Audrey—Mrs. Gerald Fletcher—and the philandering couple are plotting a getaway that includes quite a bit of the company’s funds.

Jack soon discovers that he’s on anything but a vacation. A cowardly house steward and a knuckle-dragging American gangster are already at the villa. According to the motley pair Jack has been sent to protect the American, who has turned informant. When the steward’s niece and then later Audrey herself show up, Jack is in for bigger surprises yet. And there are few things that Jack Carter hates more than surprises.

Ted Lewis provides a first-hand glimpse into the inner workings of British organized crime in the 1960s, where pornography and extortion are the coin of the realm and there no such thing as honor among thieves.

Review quote:

Praise for Ted Lewis

"He is an example of how dangerous writing can really be when it is done properly, and Ted Lewis’s writing proves that he never ran away from the page. Because with Lewis, the page was the battle.”
—Derek Raymond, author of He Died with His Eyes Open

“Ted Lewis is one of the most influential crime novelists Britain has ever produced, and his shadow falls on all noir fiction, whether on page and screen, created on these isles since his passing. I wouldn’t be the writer I am without Ted Lewis. It’s time the world rediscovered him.”
—Stuart Neville, author of The Ghosts of Belfast

"When it comes to dealing with your actual hard man, no one does it better than the late, great Ted Lewis."
—John Williams