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Cocaine Nights

By J. G. Ballard

(23)

| Hardcover | 9780002241359

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Book Description

J. G. Ballard once again reveals his visionary mastery in this warped tale of the unexpected

The setting for Cocaine Nights is the Costa del Sol and the stylish resort of Estrella de Mar. Into the queasy beauty of this artificial environment steps Charles Prentice, a travel writer from London whContinue

2 Reviews

Cocaine Nights

Set in a Spanish ex-pat community this a tense thriller written with sarcastic wit that explores to quote from the text , ‘a social economy based on drug-dealing, theft, pornography and escort services from top to bottom a condominium of crime’.
Charles Prentice arrives in this strange communi ... (continue)

Set in a Spanish ex-pat community this a tense thriller written with sarcastic wit that explores to quote from the text , ‘a social economy based on drug-dealing, theft, pornography and escort services from top to bottom a condominium of crime’.
Charles Prentice arrives in this strange community to discover just why his brother Frank, manager of the local sports club as confessed to a charge of murdering five people in a house fire! Everyone, apart from the local police, is so sure of his innocence that Charles decides to do some investigating of his own. His questioning causes all sorts of attacks upon him as he discovers a strong undercurrent suggesting that there are much more complex things of concern to the community than the death of five people!
At first Charles is sickened by the behaviour of the residents he meets but gradually he is drawn into their world. The person who has the most disturbing effect upon him is Bobby Crawford the club tennis coach who changes Charles Prentice just like he did his brother Frank before him. So much so that he accepts his logic without fully understanding that he is becoming involved in a bizarre social experiment.
A clever totally unexpected ending, though afterwards when I was still thinking about the novel I realised it was the obvious one, just that I had missed the hints!

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Lindyloumac said on Sep 23, 2009 | Add your feedback

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Ballard takes a murder story on the Costa del Sol and turns it into a surreal nightmare. This is not one of Ballard's famed science fiction exploits, but any fan of his would enjoy this book. His language is inimitable and his characters evoke a strange otherworldliness, reminiscent of his great wor ... (continue)

Ballard takes a murder story on the Costa del Sol and turns it into a surreal nightmare. This is not one of Ballard's famed science fiction exploits, but any fan of his would enjoy this book. His language is inimitable and his characters evoke a strange otherworldliness, reminiscent of his great works like Vermillion Sands, The Drowned World, Concrete Island, and The Terminal Beach, among others.
Along with the superior and semi-autobiographical Empire Of The Sun, this is one of his straight stories. Or about as straight as Ballard gets.

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Ramnagel said on Jun 14, 2009 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback