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psalmcat's review
5.0
I may have read this before, but it was fun. Bit difficult if you're not familiar with London slang, but I do like Cody.
zade's review
5.0
I'd never heard of Liza Cody until I read Maureen Corrigan's book, [b:Leave Me Alone, I'm Reading: Finding and Losing Myself in Books|104523|Leave Me Alone, I'm Reading Finding and Losing Myself in Books|Maureen Corrigan|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320446763s/104523.jpg|1654]. On her recommendation, I ordered a copy of this rather old novel, the first in a series featuring an unlikely heroine. Eva Wiley is a young, aspiring professional wrestler who wants to become a star baddie like Klondyke Kate, who was something of a sensation in the 1980s in England. Eva is homely, big, very strong, and more than a little damaged. Besides making the big time as a wrestling villain, her only goal is finding her long-lost sister, from whom she was separated by children's services years ago. She lives in a trailer without electricity in a scrapyard and works on the side as muscle for a Chinese gangster.
Despite her rough personality, Eva is a terribly likable protagonist. For those who've read the Burke series by [a:Andrew Vachss|36764|Andrew Vachss|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1325086991p2/36764.jpg], she is what Burke would have been before he got "schooled" by the Prof and found his family of choice. She's emotional and angry and impulsive and kind and reclusive and complex. Cody does an impressive job of depicting the mental and emotional processes of a woman whose life has taught her to trust no one and who yet longs for connection and direction. The London underworld she inhabits is very much a character in the book, as well.
For fans of Cody, expecting a variation on her Anna Lee character, this is something different. Lee was definitely a step forward in crime fiction, arriving on the scene as a strong, competent female detective at a time when such characters were rare (before V.I. Warshawski, even!) and she does play a small role in this novel, but Eva is of a different type. She's a wild card whereas Lee is disciplined and pulled-together. Just the same, if you don't expect her to be Lee, she'll reward you richly.
I can't wait to read the other Eva Wiley books. This is a character who grows, even the space of a single novel. I'm eager to dive into the next.
Despite her rough personality, Eva is a terribly likable protagonist. For those who've read the Burke series by [a:Andrew Vachss|36764|Andrew Vachss|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1325086991p2/36764.jpg], she is what Burke would have been before he got "schooled" by the Prof and found his family of choice. She's emotional and angry and impulsive and kind and reclusive and complex. Cody does an impressive job of depicting the mental and emotional processes of a woman whose life has taught her to trust no one and who yet longs for connection and direction. The London underworld she inhabits is very much a character in the book, as well.
For fans of Cody, expecting a variation on her Anna Lee character, this is something different. Lee was definitely a step forward in crime fiction, arriving on the scene as a strong, competent female detective at a time when such characters were rare (before V.I. Warshawski, even!) and she does play a small role in this novel, but Eva is of a different type. She's a wild card whereas Lee is disciplined and pulled-together. Just the same, if you don't expect her to be Lee, she'll reward you richly.
I can't wait to read the other Eva Wiley books. This is a character who grows, even the space of a single novel. I'm eager to dive into the next.
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