Bent

A gut punching rendering of the life of Harold “Tanky” Challenor, a darkly troubled character who will let you get inside his head in this gripping novel steeped in London’s not so distant history and the events that shaped that era. I thoroughly recommend this one.

This is a tense and exciting read, keeps you on your toes throughout, a brilliant reimagining of the past. Must read!

Like's to think it's noir, it's not. Like's to think it's dark, it's just grim. Like's to think it's funny, it's definitely not, and if it is then what you are laughing at is a violent bully with a serious mental illness, bit like kicking the homeless then running away laughing.Really odd prose, littered with uppercase WORDS for no reason. And who speaks like that anyway? No sense of place, and the entire cast of characters are loathsome.I put me in mind of Filth by Irvine Welsh, but that does have a twisted morality about it, this is just empty.It is worth pointing out, the positive reviews on the front are all from people who receive acknowledgements at the back.....If I could have given it 0 stars I would have.

Bent is the story of Harold "Tanky"Challenor, war hero and "rule-bending " cop who terrorised criminals and planted false evidence in his crusade to clean up 60's Soho. Having already read Dick Kirby's excellent factual account of the "Scourge of Soho" I was interested to see how Joe Thomas' fictionalised view of the man compared. The answer is very well, not least as Challenor was a good friend of the author's Grandfather., and the book is very much in the vein of Jake Arnott's London crime thrillers set in the same era.The story alternates between Challenor's heroics during his SAS service in WW2 and the incident that saw him end up facing trial for conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. Given Challenor's abusive childhood and his wartime experiences it's little wonder he slipped into insanity and Thomas portrays all sides of an immensely complex man skilfully.I'd have liked the "army" part of the book to have continued to show that Challenor started to show his propensity for violence towards prisoners,P.O.W.'s in that case,and signs of being delusional before he continued both while in the police.That said I really enjoyed it,Thomas nails 1960's Soho perfectly, the place,the times and the characters.

I enjoyed this book, I grew up on these story As I'm Harry's neice, the war story's are all true ,he was a very brave man , I needed to learn what he was really like in his police days ,and i learnt some more history of those times , he was loveble, loved his mum and sister and all ways made me feel confident , his stories always seemed so glamorous,reading this book I now realise he was mad and bad,he was crazy and I am glad the force changed and stopped people like Harry , but I am still proud of him , you have to laugh at the things he got up to,give this book ago some of it will shock you .

Was a little disappointed by this book. The Challinor story is a rich one and author could have done much more with the source material available. Instead he chooses to dwell on two key incidents. That said I liked the cut and paste style and the clipped first person prose, even if it felt like a homage to David Peace at times.This isn't a bad book or poor read. I just expected more having read Thomas's previous books and being aware of the subject matter.There is still a great factional account of the Challinor story to be written.

Tanky is a fascinating character, the author does well to try and get inside his thought patterns. I enjoyed the book and will certainly read more from this author.The Soho scene is vividly portrayed and will ring a bell with many. I thoroughly recommend this novel.