You don't have to tell Artie about loyalty: he's protected his inheritance - the old fish shop on the High Street that was his dad's, and his granddad's before that, though he'd dreamt of better things; he's stuck by his mates even though they've got themselves mixed up with bad blood on the estate. And then there's Madelaine, his beautiful, sexy wife, who everybody said was too good for him. He wants to give her the benefit of the doubt, he really does, but all the signs are telling him otherwise, and he's certain that she is having an affair - so much for loyalty. Not he just has to prove it.
A brutal portrayal of urban squalor and poverty written is sparse, controlled yet wonderfully cinematic prose. The characters have a vibrancy and honesty that is impossible to brush over, and its disquieting black humour renders them utterly convincing.
