REVIEW: The Man on the Street by Trevor Wood (ARC)

The Man on the Street by Trevor Wood

Genre: Crime fiction

Read: November 2019

Goodreads

Purchase: Amazon

(publication date: 31st October 2019)

★★★ 3 stars

If you like gritty crime fiction, in the vein of Val McDermid, Stuart MacBride and Ian Rankin, then you will love this Newcastle-set debut by Trevor Wood.

Jimmy Mullen is a veteran of the Falkland's War suffering with untreated PTSD and is homeless. His time in the war saw him see some of the most terrible atrocities that have haunted him ever since. Now he drinks to escape, unable to cope with his life at home, but in reality it has become a life sentence. His wife could no longer cope with his moods, concerned for her own safety and that of their little daughter. His escalating erratic behaviour saw him land in prison.

Now he's on parole and hoping to sort his life out. But life on the streets in is tough, and while suffering PTSD he is still in denial. He hooks up with some other homeless lads and together they become their own dysfunctional family of sorts, looking out for each other.

Then late one night Jimmy witnesses something untoward - raised voices in argument, followed by a splash and then silence. Not wanting to draw attention to himself being on parole, Jimmy resolves to let it go - it's not his fight. But in the weeks following, he sees an appeal for a missing person...and his conscience intervenes. But Jimmy doesn't want to get involved; it isn't his fight. But the missing man's daughter, Carrie, needs the truth. And so Jimmy steps up and resolves to stop hiding from his past in order to help Carrie. While police fail to take the word of a "vagrant", Jimmy puts himself at risk and soon finds himself swept away by dangerous events. Has he bitten off more than he can chew?

Narrated in the past and present, THE MAN ON THE STREET is a crime novel with a difference. It's about a crime but it is also about Jimmy and his daily struggle with PTSD, a debilitating condition resulting in nightmares, flashbacks, erratic behaviour, uncontrollable rages and more.

While somewhat implausible to think that a homeless veteran suffering severe untreated PTSD could investigate the disappearance of someone he may or may not have witnessed fall into the Tyne late one night, THE MAN ON THE STREET is a gritty addictive read none-the-less.

I would like to thank #TrevorWood, #NetGalley and #Quercus for an ARC of #TheManOnTheStreet in exchange for an honest review.