Wrong Crowd

A sultry novel in which an art thief finds himself out of his depth in a criminal maelstrom when he meets a beautiful woman with no past. When Claude meets Maxine in the Caribbean he falls for her. He does not expect he will start an affair with her back in London, then again he does not expect to have to call on the help of his old mate Spike, nor that will they become embroiled with Russian gangsters Vladimir and Grigory. But then Claude will do anything to hold onto Maxine. Peopled with thieves, hustlers, gangsters, gun runners and pimps, Wrong Crowd is a slick and action-packed ride into London's low-life. East End villains and the Russian Mafia collide in a fast-paced novel of deceit and criminal obsession that sparkles as it speeds towards its astonishing conclusion. Praise for Wrong Crowd "Wrong Crowd by Richard Godwin is a tense slice of international noir that oozes atmosphere." -Paul D Brazill, author of Guns of Brixton and A Case of Noir "An extended meditation on sexual obsession, deception, and violence." -T. Jefferson Parker, author of Full Measure and The Famous and the Dead "If you get into The Wrong Crowd then you're into the 'right book.' Richard Godwin is an author's author who never fails to deliver a cracking read, and this one is no exception." -Matt Hilton, author of the best-selling Joe Hunter thriller series "When you pick up a Richard Godwin book, you can be sure you're holding the work of one of the most daring and distinctive crime writers working today. He's also one of the most versatile... Godwin can also always be relied upon to introduce a single moment of violence that permanently sears itself into the mind, and Wrong Crowd is no different... Careful you don't miss it-tonally this is a Fulham Wolf of Wall Street, exposing the emptiness at the heart of excess. Another gem from Godwin" - Mike Stafford, nudgemenow.com "Once more Richard Godwin proves he is the only worthy successor to Patricia Highsmith. The Wrong Crowd is a deliciously tantalizing bit of dark psychological thriller that will make you think twice about whom you make friends with while on vacation. You won't want to put this one down for a second." -Vincent Zandri, NY Times and USA Today best-selling author of Everything Burns and Moonlight Weeps "Richard Godwin does it again! With the adroit skill of a seasoned writer that knows that human decency is just a fragile scab on a wound that harbors a violent world seething in sex, drugs, lust and death, Godwin introduces us to the Wrong Crowd." -Lou Boxer, Founder of NoirCon "Only Godwin. It's a phrase you'll use often when you get acquainted with the sensual and sultry atmosphere of this master storyteller. Wrong Crowd is some of his most accessible work, but it's one of his most textured and refined as well. Only Godwin can pull it off every time like that." -Benoît Lelièvre, deadendfollies.com "Claude meets Maxine knee-deep in the Caribbean and knows he'd do anything to make her his: anything. But keeping her means raising the stakes: cash, guns, gangsters and a return to his bad old habits. Will there be enough of him left to keep her by the time he's through? Godwin makes The Wrong Crowd lethally sexy-which makes this story just right." -K.A. Laity, author of White Rabbit "Don Juan meets the Marquis de Sade meets Kafka meets Jim Thompson meets Richard Godwin who gets them all together in one room and they collaborate on Wrong Crowd. It's a brilliant success." -Les Edgerton, author of The Genuine, Imitation, Plastic Kidnapping, The Bitch, The Rapist and others "With extraordinary writing, characterization, and storytelling, Godwin is truly one of our great writers." -Luca Veste, author of Dead Gone