Sharking

Sophie Stewart

At first I thought I was reading an amusing but ultimately boring story of Sloaney/druggies - a sort of twenty-something's 'Absolutely Fabulous', but then the humour became blacker and the reasons for the main characters' behaviour became clearer and the whole novel changed into something much more satisfying. Well worth the read.

Extract

So many, so similar, they had merged into nothingness. Calling ambulances to collect punters who'd OD'd one too many times. Staff becoming so terminally alcoholic they'd had to be thrown out of the club. Managers trying to molest you in the cellar. Staff-transmitted diseases. Comical wages that barely covered the cab fare home. Vomiting in the slop-trays. Police taking away the barman who'd been on the take. The clinical boredom of doing the same thing every night, listening to the same crap every night and thinking Oh God this is it, I've gone and fucked it.

Parallels