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  • Location: Newcastle upon Tyne

The Prodigal

The Prodigal

Why a Booktrail?

2000s: Gritty organised crime drama

  • ISBN: 978-1514816691
  • Genre: Crime, Hitman/Gangster

What you need to know before your trail

Exiled from his beloved Newcastle sixteen years ago, Detective Sergeant Lee Jamieson is returning home in search of the teenage daughter he’s never met.

Lee’s new job takes him to Valley Park, an urban sink estate riddled with crime and drugs – the place where he grew up, and home to Micky Kelly, a notorious villain who is determined to climb the ladder of one of the city’s biggest organised crime syndicates.

When Lee meets Micky’s wife, Nicola, the last thing he expects is to fall for her, hook, line and sinker. But their relationship spells danger of the worst possible kind

Travel Guide

BookTrail Travel to North East England

 Valley Park Estate

The sink estate which features in The Prodigal is not real of course, but based on similar in Newcastle and other cities. Nicky examines the make up o f such places and the characters of the people who live there.

There is a stigma surrounding the inner city estates like this one. There is often a real sense of community in many of them but a sense that the outside world, the authorities especially, forget who they are when it comes to development.

This is a novel of gangster types and the local man who is now a policeman looking into crimes within his own community. He sees this place from every angle. The social depravation depresses him. The locals don’t trust the police and find  it hard to trust him who was one of their own. Now on the other side.

BookTrail Boarding Pass: The Prodigal

Destination: Newcastle Autor/guide: Nicky Black Departure Time: 1970s

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