Once again, I am extremely humbled by being chosen as a Readers First winner - thank you. To a bibliophile like myself, to be able to extend my collection of books is fantastic, and Readers First are enabling me to discover books that I may have missed!
Now the review.
The Secrets Of The Krays did not disappoint me. It was simply written, and simply laid out. No great elaborate build up to certain key events in the Firm, it was simply put. The shooting of Cornell, one of the Richardson gang members, was explained to you as if it had happened the evening before, and there you were, sat with John, and his friend Ian, in the Blind Beggers pub the morning after, having a conversation about it. The fact it happened 54 ish years previously, it still didn't warrant a huge build up. It didn't need one! It didn't need no build up in the hours, days and weeks afterwards, so why invent one now? They got into a car, drove to a pub, walked in the pub. Bang, he's dead. Let's go for a pint! The lesson....don't mess with the Firm.
Poor Ian, I think could have possibly been suffering PTSD because of it. He genuinely thought he had the only gun! Which he shot in the air. Unbeknownst to him, Ronnie had one concealed!
Poor John, sat outside in the car, knowing nothing of what happened! I know I shouldn't say 'poor John' he was after all involved with the Krays and the Firm. But read the book, you will understand why I refer to him as that.
Now! The murder of Jack The Hat. Well, he really annoyed the twins. Flouncing round the East End of London, bragging about his duplicitous behaviour towards the boys. No one deserves to die in any brutal way, but he thought he was God! John warned him....several times. Tone it down, they may say that they have forgiven you, don't buy into it. But Jack McVitie genuinely believed the twins were his friends and he was part of the Firm.
The saddest part was the murder of Frank Mitchell. There seemed no rhyme or reason to it. I am quite sure the twins would have had reason, but if they told anyone what they were, it never filtered down to John Dickson, so like him, your're left thinking 'why' yes he was a bad man, after all, he was known as the Mad Axeman, but read the section dedicated to him in the book, and you get a sense of feeling 'Well, actually, we're dealing with a man of extreme low intelligence, and to be honest any lack of pure understanding on the fundamentals of life. Rightly or wrongly that's my take on Frank.
I think ultimately, you either love or loathe the Kray Twins. But we're all fascinated by them! Even now!
Read the book, and be prepared for a few eye opening moments, and that's as far as spoilers go! The 3 murders were high profile. Relationship between the two's mother, is out in the public domain.
It's the Firm itself that makes you sit up and go 'What! No! I imagined........'
My only grumble, he could have added more photos.
Now the review.
The Secrets Of The Krays did not disappoint me. It was simply written, and simply laid out. No great elaborate build up to certain key events in the Firm, it was simply put. The shooting of Cornell, one of the Richardson gang members, was explained to you as if it had happened the evening before, and there you were, sat with John, and his friend Ian, in the Blind Beggers pub the morning after, having a conversation about it. The fact it happened 54 ish years previously, it still didn't warrant a huge build up. It didn't need one! It didn't need no build up in the hours, days and weeks afterwards, so why invent one now? They got into a car, drove to a pub, walked in the pub. Bang, he's dead. Let's go for a pint! The lesson....don't mess with the Firm.
Poor Ian, I think could have possibly been suffering PTSD because of it. He genuinely thought he had the only gun! Which he shot in the air. Unbeknownst to him, Ronnie had one concealed!
Poor John, sat outside in the car, knowing nothing of what happened! I know I shouldn't say 'poor John' he was after all involved with the Krays and the Firm. But read the book, you will understand why I refer to him as that.
Now! The murder of Jack The Hat. Well, he really annoyed the twins. Flouncing round the East End of London, bragging about his duplicitous behaviour towards the boys. No one deserves to die in any brutal way, but he thought he was God! John warned him....several times. Tone it down, they may say that they have forgiven you, don't buy into it. But Jack McVitie genuinely believed the twins were his friends and he was part of the Firm.
The saddest part was the murder of Frank Mitchell. There seemed no rhyme or reason to it. I am quite sure the twins would have had reason, but if they told anyone what they were, it never filtered down to John Dickson, so like him, your're left thinking 'why' yes he was a bad man, after all, he was known as the Mad Axeman, but read the section dedicated to him in the book, and you get a sense of feeling 'Well, actually, we're dealing with a man of extreme low intelligence, and to be honest any lack of pure understanding on the fundamentals of life. Rightly or wrongly that's my take on Frank.
I think ultimately, you either love or loathe the Kray Twins. But we're all fascinated by them! Even now!
Read the book, and be prepared for a few eye opening moments, and that's as far as spoilers go! The 3 murders were high profile. Relationship between the two's mother, is out in the public domain.
It's the Firm itself that makes you sit up and go 'What! No! I imagined........'
My only grumble, he could have added more photos.