| I don't read many books that claim membership of a | | | | Smith, a quite incredibly vile piece of humanity from |
| genre. In my humble opinion, a work of fiction should | | | | Newcastle, of which I hope he is not representative. |
| aspire to create its own world, describe it, | | | | He's a successful young thing, a kind of nouveau riche |
| communicate it and then live in it. I want a book's | | | | moron, who apparently defines his identity by |
| characters to inhabit the events that are portrayed, | | | | surrounding himself with requisite items of designer |
| events that are clearly influenced by the character's | | | | consumption, clearly knowing the price of everything |
| presence, but which are also usually bigger than any | | | | and the value of nothing. He has everything, does our |
| individual's contribution. Wars don't exist unless people | | | | Donavan, but he is never satisfied. He wants more. |
| fight them. Crimes are not committed without criminals. | | | | There isn't a lot to endear us to Donavan Smith. He's a |
| Love stories are made by lovers and ghosts don't | | | | misogynist, and occasionally indulges in some quite |
| exist. | | | | bizarre behaviour in the bedroom. He justifies |
| For instance, in my own book, Mission, there are four | | | | everything with quotes from the Bible, a source of |
| wars, but it's not a war novel. There are at least three | | | | justification that was beaten into him by an abusing |
| love stories, but it's not a romance. There are several | | | | mother. He lets nothing get in his way. He has his ideas, |
| deaths, one of which is a murder, but it's not a crime | | | | knows how to achieve them and then ruthlessly |
| novel or a thriller. And then there's a character who | | | | destroys anything that might resist. In some ways, he is |
| comes back from the dead to haunt an old man, but | | | | quite creative. |
| it's not a ghost story or a fantasy. In short, it's Mission, | | | | But one of his conquests becomes an accomplice, |
| a novel set in Kenya. | | | | because she has inside information about that money |
| So I approached Ken Scott's crime thriller, A Million | | | | that went missing in the bank raid. He needs her and |
| Would Be Nice, as a reader unused to the genre's | | | | together they visit people all over the prestigious bits of |
| codes and forms. | | | | Europe, Paris, Cannes, London, the Costas, Newcastle, |
| Unlike general or literary fiction, I recognise that learning | | | | to pursue and realise their dream. And believe me, this |
| what happens in A Million Would Be Nice is one of the | | | | Donavan is nothing if not resourceful and he certainly |
| main reasons for reading the book. My review, | | | | has a knack when it comes to making things happen. |
| therefore, cannot reveal too much of the plot. Suffice it | | | | The story moves at a fast pace. Different characters |
| to say that there has been a bank robbery. It was an | | | | are drawn into the thread and many are inevitably |
| inside job and the scenario for its execution is carefully | | | | cast aside by Donavan Smith, our single-minded, |
| concocted and inventively created. The perpetrator | | | | calculating anti-hero. And that is as much as I will relate. |
| gets away with it and scarpers with the loot to live it | | | | A Million Would be Nice claims to be a crime thriller, and |
| up in Spain. | | | | a crime thriller is exactly what it is, fast paced, and |
| On an apparently separate thread, we meet Donavan | | | | packed with greed, obsession and ruthlessness. |