Download Payback djvu

I recently checked a list of the 20 best noir novels according to Janet Rudolph. Included with such well known writers as Chandler, Hammett, Cain, Thompson, Woolrich and Goodis, I came across Payback by Russell James and decided to give it a try.

In classic noir style, the protagonist must return to London after an absence of 10 years when his brother Albie is murdered. Wanting only to go back to his girlfriend and business in Munich, Floyd is threatened by Albie's underworld enemies and told he must pay back the money his brother owes. Rather than hastening his departure, this ensures Floyd will stay and fight alongside his mentally challenged remaining brother Ludo. As the author says, Floyd is "the kind of guy who, when he's confronted, hits right back. He's the kind of guy who doesn't shrug and look away. A hero, in fact."

Floyd had been successful in climbing out of his neighborhood, unlike brother Albie, and not able to convince his old friends that he is still one of them. "They are no longer sure who I am," Floyd recognizes at his brother's wake. "I drift uncomfortably among them , unsure what to say. I can't relax here. I don't belong."

But adhering to the noir code, Floyd allows himself to be pulled back into the lifestyle he had escaped. A downward spiral begins, a result of his strengths as much as of his limitations. He gets involved in the turf battle between local gangs as he tries to protect one brother while finding the other's killer. Floyd returns to old haunts and visits former friends. Initially, he can recognize how they have stayed the same as he has progressed ("All the time Jamie talks, he ducks and jabs with his head, like a loser in the ring...Though he does drag up a quip or two, he has forgotten how to make them funny.") The longer Floyd stays in London, however, the more his new life habits desert him. He notices that his very appearance is altering: "I see that I am beginning to look British again. I wear older clothes. My hair is tousled...My tan looks paler. Maybe it's the light. Maybe Deptford is absorbing me back into its inner city grey."

Back in the city, Floyd is ready for Payback.

The book is fast-paced and possesses strong action sequences. Its dialogue, characterizations and atmosphere all have a suitably noir feel. For me, this doesn't work as well in an English environment (as in the Robert Mitchum version of Farewell, My Lovely) but that may just be my prejudice (about a distinctly American fiction genre with a French name). Payback may be a notch below Cain and Woolrich but is well worth reading by fans of the genre.

This book was let down. Supposedly Ian Rankin, a great writer, highly recommends the author of Payback However, the author of this novel spent way to much time developing characters that for the most part I didn't have any interest in. The ending was great but the rest of the book left me thinking "where's the beef."