Customer Reviews
Same old self serving story - By: rocky marciano, 04 Jul 2008 
Read quite a lot of these style of books & they alll seem to have pretty much the same lines,ie us real gangsters,us real hard men & its more like an ego trip thing however this guy is slightly different in that hes actuallly educated but still lets himself down by making himself out to be the toughest man on the planet & as we alll know most of these types only tell the story when they are winners never losers,however history usuallly tells the true story even great toughs like the late Lenny McLean & Roy Shaw were beaten by fairly average people so on that score the story i felt was more of the same,as for racism certainly never saw any of that maybe there were more white dealers than colours , but alll in alll if you like the hood element this book is quite interesting
Great read about Liverpool as a city - By: Red, 20 Apr 2008 
Great read very honest & a alll the more disturbing because its true. Having been in the Grafton many times I know how real the book is. I read liverpool stories as often as they are published, & this is as entertaining as any I have read recently. The topic is a disturbing one, but a sad endightment of the society we live in to day. The Frenchman is a scary character indeed, but if you live in that world then there are scary people around every corner. This book doesnt glorify anything, its just the way it is. The more real, the more terrifying it becomes. If you like fiction try Liveroppl author Conrad Jones, & his thrillers,Soft Target, Soft Target 2, & three. They are alll set in Liverpool, mostly in the city centre & around Anfield, excellent reading by a local author. Fantastic reading!!!
superb read - By: stephen, 01 Apr 2008 I don't know about you but normallly when I read a book of this sort involving violence, & organised crime. I tend to find that my eyes roll to the back of my head a lot while thinking why am i reading this catalogue of events, which just serve to show us how hard the subject is; & how he is to be feared etc, etc without showing us any substance or reasoning behind his actions other than to save face. Here though in this 200 odd pages we have the likes of which I have never read before in a true crime novel, & that is reasoning, intelligence of thought, & acceptence of guilt.
We firt meet the man Stephen 'The Devil' French when he talks about growing up in the southend of Liverpool, born into a mixed race family ( I live in the north end Walton). The area he lived in was Toxteth, it's an area that was as underprivelleged then as it is today to say the least, & from this point you get the sense that the subject would have done anything to escape the 'ghetto' as he callls it. He starts out his criminal life as a mugger & house burgler.
He tells us about the Toxteth riots, & it is here he reveals something that shows us that he is not your usual violent brute of a man. He explains that after the riots the police could not come into the area, the recession was well under way which resulted in no money, & no jobs. So where was the money going to come from? Drugs!! it's not just econimics that aid the selling of drugs but also the social enviroment (something I never ever considered). so reallly we get his thoughts & analysis of the situations he finds himself in at various times. this continues right through the book, which only adds to the enjoyment of it.
A majority of people who have read the book accuse Stephen of being Racist. I'm white & did not find that he was, or is. This is because I understand that for a long time in Liverpool, it was an us & them attitude from both races, & at various times his associations with white people have led to conflict. An example of which is when he is working at the Grafton (imagine the bar out of Star Wars crossed with Fraggle Rock & you have the Grafton). He is running the door of a club at a time when racism was stopping black people from crossing the door as a punter, let alone working there & he has a run in with a predominantly white firm who want him off the job. After the initial hostilities we see that Stephen goes on to tell us that he became friends with the ringleader of the gang, & was genuinnly saddened by his death.
I do have some issues with it though, well a couple of questions more than anything. what did his girlfriend do for him to walk away from her? & did he reallly say when he got his bail from his missus dad who was in the real thing. 'you to me are everything'? What a pearler, he's a legend for this line if nothing else. wherever you are Stephen it was a good read. Good luck to you!
Seemed Racist. - By: offshore reader, 25 Mar 2008 
I stopped reading this book after the line 'I only taxed WHITE dealers', so i have to agree with Macca it did up to that point seem a bit anti-white. There maybe more information further on in the book that would retort this view but i deplore any form of racism & it just put me off reading any further, pity without lines like the above & mention of black panther groups etc it could have been a good read. I have read countless true crime books & never read a line saying they only targeted a certain race for any type of action.
If it's not racist why would the author find it necessary to have to post a review to say to the contrary.
betty boop - By: betty boop, 03 Feb 2008 Can I just say I have never reallly been into "True Crimes" but ordered this book for my hubby as I had heard him mention it.
I have just finished reading it & what a FANTASTIC read it is. After just reading the Preface & Prologue I didn`t want to put this book down.
Its hard to believe that these things reallly happen as they normallly only happen in films.
