Literature often struggles to convey the intangibles but Patrick Hamilton manages to convince you of the mental condition that his main character George Bone is suffering from with his mind going 'Click' as he struggles to remember what he has been doing.All he can remember when he comes out of his periods of amnesia is that he has to kill Netta, a woman who is tormenting him with cruelty. But he keeps postponing the moment when he will carry out the deed and carries on a life of misery punctuated by bouts of unfounded optimism supported by drinking. The public house plays the function that the workplace would in other lives and leaning against the bar Bone, Netta and the others in the gang meet, dream, scheme and bully.Bone is always the butt of the jokes and the love, which he never hides, that he has for Netta is used to abuse and torment him. She takes his money and his favours ands constantly throws them back in his face. When he hopes to have a moment with her alone someone else is also dragged along and he is used as part of a scheme Netta has for trying to break into films. Because Bone knows an old school friend with connections with a theatrical agent he is in a position to be played for a fool. The climax comes in Brighton and a depressed Bone suffers his final agonies and triumphs before his mind clicks and he forgets them all.The final twist as the mid clicks with one final and devastating effect leaves you mourning Bone but also wondering just how the inter-war generation could get it so wrong. As their final minutes of peace were disappearing they were drinking themselves into oblivion with no ambition other than to court other drunkards or to find more money to keep buying the booze.

I have never read any Patrick Hamilton but i now feel i want to devour them all. I found this a truly compelling and atmospheric story, which at times was almost unbearably sad. Despite soliciting such great emotion, it was never sentimental, and told the story of George Bone with such clarity that as it said on the cover 'you could almost smell the gin'. Its a story thats hard to leave behind.

This book will have you sympathising with a murderer. You will find yourself willing the death of Netta and frantically reading the pages in hope of her downfall. At times infuriating because of the repetitive nature of George's thoughts and actions, this book is the one of the best offerings of 20th century fiction, brilliantly depicting the dark and seedy atmosphere of wartime London. The ending will leave you so numb you won't be able to read anything else for weeks.

If you are suffering from schizophrenia or are generally depressed or lonely, don't read this book. If you are stuck in a rut, drink and smoke too much and considering becoming a professional alcoholic, then you might learn something from this book. If you are thinking of trying something different and have never read any Patrick Hamilton, try Twenty Thousand Streets Under The Sky first, but do read this classic of pre-war London fiction that has a parallels with Patrick's own life.

George bone is infatuated by Netta, who is a small-time actress who can not get another job and spends her days being bought drinks by her group,apparently giving out favours to all except George. He falls in with this crowd and gets drunk every night, spending all his money on Netta.She is using people for her own ends, trying to get back into acting but has not talent,apart from using people. George also suffers from some kind of mental illness that is getting worse, and he forgets where he is and what he is doing,except he needs to kill Netta and her friend Peter. Set in Lindon in 1939 just before WW 2, it's a tale of loneliness and madness. Bit of a moral tale with a nod to Jekyll and Hyde. .