Turf Wars

With a blistering start set in France's most notorious suburb, Capitaine Coste and his team find themselves at the sharp end of not only a major drugs war but a battle for the streets. The fact that they witness a murder on the notorious Malceny estate, is a precursor to a turf war about to erupt. 

Coste and his team initially believe that they will not have too much involvement in the murder but find themselves dragged into the investigation. Coste finds himself dealing with elderly drug minders, vicious teen killers and a mayor who uses crime to fund her political ambitions.  It is not clear if the people living on the estate will survive the war let alone the police.

There is not only a great sense of place but also of characterisation. Turf Wars can be defined by the cynicism of its main characters, the constant cycle of violence hidden under the shadow of urban decay. You also get the weariness of the occupants trying to keep their heads above water, of the battle lines drawn and of the constant daily dread. There is also the dirty-side of politics.

This is book is certainly for those who like their police procedural's with a sense of foreboding as the narrative is dark, gripping and exciting.

If you read the first book in the trilogy The Lost and The Dammed then you will welcome this follow-up. It does make you wonder how the author will top this with the final book in the Banlieues Trilogy. 

Translated from the French by Nick Caistor