Classical story of revenge, definitely known to all through a movie adaptation starring Michael Caine. Main character - Jack Carter- returns home after he finds out his brother is killed under very suspicious circumstances.

Jack is a blunt weapon and it wont be long after he gets home that he will attract the attention of the criminal underworld because it is not so common to have big-league criminal from London snooping around and digging up dirt in his home town.

Story is given through first person perspective, we follow Jack as he narrates the events and criminals he encounters as he slowly but surely follows the clues to the main culprit responsible for his brother's death. It is not a straight path forward mind you and Jack finds himself very often on the receiving end of shots and punches.

Not a single character in the novel is what you might call good guy/girl (exceptions being woman that leases a room to Jack, Jack's brother and his daughter). This is milieu of criminals and people living off the crime. There is almost not a single person here who might be redeemed in any way (Jack included).

Recommended to all fans of crime and noir stories. ( )

Highly influential British noir, and source for the brilliant (apparently) movie with Michael Caine that I've yet to see, Get Carter draws you into its tale of revenge and never lets go. Jack Carter is determined to find out who killed his brother, who died in a car crash with an unbelievable alcohol level. It doesn't matter that Jack and his brother Frank didn't get along, for which Frank apparently had ample reason as the story makes clear. Jack lives by a code and tracking down his brother's killers and the circumstances of how it happened is part of that code. Along the way, we are introduced to a very interesting set of gangsters, innocent bystanders (not that their innocence counts for much), and a few hangers-on who are in way over their heads. The story moves from one memorable scene to the next. The book has pretty much everything--violence, pornography, sex, you name it. It's a great read. So great in fact that the author was compelled to write two prequels. Why not sequels? Well, this book is definitely about burning bridges; let's just put it that way.

So far as the writing goes, it's very good. But Lewis is not a stylist on the order of Raymond Chandler. The writing's impact comes through the clear portrayal of a very brutal bunch of folks. Jack Carter doesn't come across as a hero to any extent--he's an intelligent thug, willing do do whatever it takes to get to what he wants--his disregard for the other characters' welfare is almost complete. And he doesn't care who he slaps around--male or female. I'll be interested to see how Michael Caine managed to play him. ( )

This is considered to be an iconic or canonical crime novel. In it we follow Jack Carter, who has returned to his northern English home town for his brother Frank's funeral and to find out how Frank could have died the way he did. A teetotalling careful driver like Frank does not down an entire bottle of whisky and then drive off the road into a gully. But Jack has to be careful, because there are interests in town that may be on his trail for raising these sorts of questions in the first place.

While the story itself certainly kept me reading (and I thought it ended on an interesting note), I did feel mildly sick by the end of it. Women do not fare well in Jack Carter's world, being routinely slapped around by friends and foes alike and exhibiting (sometimes highly) sexualized behaviour, which sometimes but not always keeps the men in their lives off their case. The violence feels bone-crunchingly realistic, and it's difficult to know whose side you should be on depending on who's committing the violence. Jack Carter as a narrator naturally demands a fair bit of readerly sympathy, especially when he comes up with deft turns of phrase (e.g. describing a thin-but-paunchy man as having a barrage balloon for a gut), but at the same time he commits acts that are hard to come to terms with.

The rating I've given is intended to reflect that I recognize the book's status in the pantheon of crime fiction but would not care to spend any more time with Carter, despite there being two more books in the trilogy that bears his name. I've also decided I probably don't need to see the movie. ( )

Just finished this re-issue yesterday and I have to say I was impressed. If you like your protagonists tough and pretty ruthless, then Jack Carter is your man. My advice: Read Get Carter sooner than later.

This book gets a well-deserved ( )

As a big fan of the original movie, and of hard boiled fiction in general, I was keen to read this book. Originally entittled "Jack's return home", Lewis' novel tells the story of a London gangster who returns to his northern home town to investigate the death of his brother. The story will be familiar to anyone who has watched the movie. What will also be familiar is much of the dialogue. To my surprise most of the classic lines in the movie were taken directly from the novel. The tight dialogue and the grim and gritty descriptions of a tough working class northern town and its seedy criminal underbelly, are brilliantly realized. The plot is pretty much the same as in the movie, although the locations are all different. The novel adds background to Carter and his relationship to his brother Frank which we don't get in the film. Lewis clearly had talent and it is a shame that the book doesn't get more recognition. This British crime thriller stands up well in comparison to its better known American counterparts. ( )