In his previous fiction, as well as in his scripts for television dramas such as Spooks, Richards has combined trenchant political comment, a relish for the grittier aspects of urban life, and a wry – a morality tale with a contemporary twist – shows him at his most compelling.
Kerenza Penhaligon is a struggling actress living in North London and reduced to doing bit-parts in TV soap operas when she meets Evan, a good-looking but morally dubious character, whom she saves from being taught a violent lesson by local gangsters. When Evan offers her the chance to earn some serious money by using her acting skills in the service of his latest scam, she finds it hard to resist, especially as she is falling in love with the unscrupulous Welshman. What follows is an extended lesson in ethics, at the end of which Kerenza is left considerably sadder and wiser.
Entertaining as all this is, it is the details that make this novel so readable – from its hilariously convincing account of the tribulations undergone by novice actors and scriptwriters, to its crisply described London settings. If the story has a flaw, it lies in the implausibility of the central relationship. Kerenza is such an attractive and likeable character, and Evan such a charmless rogue, that it is hard to believe that she would consider risking everything for him. But such ill-sorted pairings do happen, it appears – and Richards makes an enjoyably edgy drama out of this one.
CONFIDENCE by Ben Richards
Phoenix, £6.99
Advertisement
Buy the book here for the offer price of £6.64 (free p&p)