The Last Llanelli Train

By Robert Lewis and Robert Lewis

Robert Lewis' debut novel is an instant noir classic - one part Eddie Shoestring to nine parts David Goodis. Robin Llewellyn is a private eye. More or less. Part time really, while he gets on with the full-time job of drinking himself to death on the mean streets of Bristol. He's one step away from the gutter when he gets one last case. A case that smells of money. A woman wants to set her husband up for blackmail. All Robin has to do is find a hooker to do the job, and collect his money. Then maybe he'll be back in the game. Or at least have enough to pay for another drink and another bet. If only life were that simple. The Last Llanelli Train drags the private eye novel into the 21st century and some very dark places indeed. Mixing purest noir with some very, very black comedy, The Last Llanelli Train offers an unforgettable portrait of a man at the very end of his tether.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1852428902
• ISBN13: 9781852428907
• Release Date: June 2009
• Publisher: Serpent's Tail
• Length: 216 Pages
• Weight: 0.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.8" x 0.7" x 5.2"

Customer Reviews

enthralling

In Bristol, England as he becomes middle aged, private investigator Robin Llewellyn drinks at the nearby pub whose regulars are losers like him. Alcohol allows him to sit in the present and not muse sadly how far he has fallen not from his dreams but with the firm he inherited and hide from his lack of a future. He once planned to be a cop, but settled on debt collecting and now earns money mostly exposing errant spouses as professional expertise at divorces has become his specialty when he gets work that is. Currently he owes an arm and a leg and a few thousand pounds to a vicious loan shark, who will soon demand remittance. Robin has a wealthy new client, Mrs. Dixon, who he plans to bilk for more than he is worth. She wants him to prove her businessman husband is cheating on her. Mrs. Dixon demands Robin do what he must to video her spouse with his latest floozy. He knows what he must do as he arranges a tryst between the husband and a hooker that he will film. The problem is to arrange and tape takes planning that denotes future; something Robin cannot do. Even he is aware that he is imploding, but cannot change anything even his clothing. Llewellyn is an unlikable sordid soul who is so sleazy that he fails to gain any empathy from enthralled readers even with one foot on a banana peel and the other already in the cesspool. The story line is fast-paced but almost irrelevant as in some ways THE LAST LLANELLI TRAIN is a character study of someone on the brink of self destruction. Told by Robin who is fully aware of what he is doing to himself but unable to think ahead of the consequences of his behavior. Sobering and gritty yet filled with a dark humor, readers will appreciate Robert Lewis' discerning look at a man slowly subconsciously killing himself. Harriet Klausner