Shattered City: Becci Fearnley explores Mez Packer’s disturbing first novel

Mez Packer, Among Thieves (Tindal Street, 2009), ISBN: 9780955647628. £7.99.

Mez Packer’s debut novel, Among Thieves, opens with the voice of Jez, a ‘Cov Lad’ calling upon a contact to provide him with a much desired ounce of illegal drugs. The year is 1984, and Jez is one of three narrating characters who are about to become hauled into the feud of two ex-student drug dealers.

Pads, the second voice who narrates part of the novel, still harbours bitterness over an incident between him and Andy that took place at what is known throughout the novel as “the farm”. Determined for revenge, he takes advantage of Andy during a period of weakness, following two of his boys to Spain with the intention of stealing the fifty thousand fake dollars they aim to convert to legitimate currency. Things take an unexpected turn, however, when a young northern girl, Becca, is enlisted by Pads to help steal Andy’s money. Soon the two opposing dealers are competing for Becca, and Pads’ frustration and bitterness is intensified.

Intertwined with the two narratives of Jez and Pads is a third voice, that of Mehmet, a young Albanian man whose attempt to avenge his two brothers and dying father goes hideously wrong. He is forced to flee Albania, abandoning his family and the object of his desire, Aisha, in order to earn money to support those he loves. Gradually, Mehmet’s search for fortune brings him towards the vicious rivalry between Andy and Pads and the events that will change the lives and fortunes of all three.

Jez managed to impress himself upon me the most: Jez, who spent his childhood playing on the ‘bomb patch’ of Coventry; who grew up listening to his father and his brother’s racism and misogyny; whose mind cannot cope with the heat and the drugs, and who desperately wishes to please first Andy, and later Basil.

Jez’s memories of the shattered city in which he grew up, hiding unexploded World War II shells in a secret den, tattooing himself as part of an initiation ceremony into his boyhood gang, Das Bombers, and the way he is misunderstood by his father and brother make Jez the most intense of all the three voices. Although Pads’ sophistication and Mehmet’s family loyalty do make them interesting and readable voices, it is Jez with whom I fell in love.

With three voices so utterly distinctive from one another, and so honest and compelling in their narration, it is easy to lose yourself in Mez Packer’s novel. Three hundred and five pages make this a story deep enough to get your teeth into, yet compact enough to maintain a swift pace. There are moments when the strength of the plot begins to waver; perhaps Mehmet’s part in events is revealed too late? His narrative reads less assuredly than the other two, and there is a point toward the end of the novel where I began to get a little impatient with it. But these moments are rare and for the majority of the book I remained enthralled.

Despite the minor frustrations, this novel is exceptionally accessible, its plot fast and unpredictable and its characters wonderfully honed. For a debut, Mez Packer’s Among Thieves is competently constructed and well-developed; her next book will be one to look out for.