Looking for Mr Nobody by Sue Rann

Looking for Mr Nobody

Sue Rann

Set in Amsterdam this fast-paced thriller deals with an illegal drugs testing programme which is using street people as guinea pigs. The story alternates between the two main characters, Robin (female) and Jan (male) whose paths are destined to cross. I liked the speed of the narrative of this book and the zany, yet entirely convincing characters.

Extract
Christmas. Time of good cheer, generosity, love and peace to all men, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

Alternatively: Christmas - time of stress, isolation, mad debt and huge aching disappointments.

No prizes for guessing which scenario I was playing out. My wonderful plan of running away to Europe to become a penniless artist had mutated under the harsh light of day into a luxury I couldn't afford, except for the penniless bit. I managed that with no effort at all.

Any money I made went out faster than it came in, and social life was a roller coaster on the never-never. That's what cities are like; Amsterdam more so than most.

So when I got home from work a week or so before St Nikolaas, in a light-headed state somewhere beyond tired, to find that my apartment had been broken into, it was just the latest in a long-running series of indignities.

Parallels
  • Needlepoint by Jenny Roberts
  • Postcards from No Man's Land by Aidan Chambers
  • The Coffee Trader by David Liss