Breaking Dad by James Lubbock

Breaking Dad
By James Lubbock
Published by Mirror Books (April 2019)
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher

Publisher's description

Think you've got a dysfunctional family?

Meet mine.

For 18 years, my family lived a normal life in a respectable suburb…

Until one day, my dad gave up his successful career, and unexpectedly became Britain's most wanted crystal meth dealer.

This is our story. At times shocking, often unbelievable, and all 100% true.

My verdict
Breaking Dad is about a very unconventional - and dysfunctional - family. It reads like a work of fiction - but the story is true.

James Lubbock's father switched from being a quiet and successful businessman to being a crystal meth dealer, addicted to drugs and leading a bohemian lifestyle. So James had to become the 'sensible' one, trying to keep his dad's behaviour in check.

I first heard about the book in the Jewish Chronicle newspaper and was intrigued to learn more, especially as the family originally lived close to where I grew up, not far from where I live now. Most of the book is set elsewhere, but I still had a strong sense of understanding the family background - especially the Jewish references - and why the events would have been so out of character.

Breaking Dad is filled with humour and honesty. It's fun to follow, yet there's also a sense of sadness when you read between the lines. It made me laugh, cry and somewhere in-between. James Lubbock isn't afraid to share his feelings about events of the past. The book is written as if he's chatting to a friend in a pub - no holds barred.

I wished there had been longer to 'chat' as I would have loved a few more details in some places. But obviously there's a limit to what you can fit in a book. So obviously I did the next best thing, which involved Googling more... And that's always a sign that a book has been a fascinating read.

BEST OF CRIME with Jesper Stein

Welcome to my latest BEST OF CRIME feature, looking at crime writers' top picks, from their favourite author and fictional detective to their best writing tip. 

Today I'm delighted to welcome 

JESPER STEIN

for his Unrest blog tour

to share his BEST OF CRIME ...

... AUTHORS

Michael Connelly: the Harry Bosch series. From the debut The Black Echo (1992) to Trunk Music(1997). I love everything Connelly writes, his tight, fat-free style, his sense of plot and timing, his characters and way of showing things about them instead of simply telling the readers. The first six novels in the Bosch series is in my humble opinion the best crime writing around, with the most fascinating, understated and subtle antihero in modern crime.

... FILMS/MOVIES

Chinatown. The movie is a homage to the American noir of Hammett and Chandler and everything works: the plot is surprising, the location is LA at its best – for me, the definitive city of modern crime fiction – the actors, Nicholson, Dunnaway and Huston, all playing such convincing characters. And the dialogue is brilliant. Remember the final sentence which sums up the whole movie: “Forget it, Jake. It’s Chinatown.”

... TV DRAMAS

This is tricky, should I be patriotic and say Broen? The Killing? Or maybe Unit One? They are all very good Danish television crime series that I like, but actually I have to go to Sweden for the series that has inspired me the most: Beck. And although I like Peter Haber as Beck, it is his sidekick who makes it for me: the flamboyant, violent and sensitive bully Gunvald Larsson, played fantastically by Michael Persbrandt. A lot of his behaviour and attitude is in my antihero Axel Steen. Crime in television and books is not essentially carried by the plot but by the depths and complexity of the characters. And Gunvald is one of the best.

... FICTIONAL KILLERS

Hannibal Lecter. In Thomas Harris’ two masterpieces Red Dragon and Silence of the Lambs, Lecter is not really the main fictional killer, but he is a fantastic character even though he is a bit on the fantastical side. “I’m having an old friend for dinner” is one of the funniest and brightest lines that I’ve read. Lecter is probably the most copied fictional character in modern crime, but none of his successors comes close to his level. The only exception is Lars Kepler, who has a serial killer in The Sandman called Jurek Walter and he is really terrifying.

... FICTIONAL DETECTIVES 

James Ellroy’s Lloyd Hopkins from the Lloyd Hopkins Trilogy. He is one of the meanest antiheros of American crime fiction. He is an intelligent and manic workaholic, a sex addict, sleepless and plagued by nightmares and doubts; he identifies with the predators he hunts and breaks the law to reach his goals. His marriage is of course chaotic and he fights to keep it, he has three daughters and a rather unhealthy relationship with the youngest, Penny, whom he tells bedtime stories from his hunt of killers in order to make her ready to meet the evils of life. Another quote: “it’s a shitstorm out there, you know that, don’t you, Penguin?”

... MURDER WEAPONS

I go for the knife. I don’t like murder weapons or methods that are too complicated, so usually kill people in my books in the four ways we do it in Denmark: gun, strangling, blunt object to the head, or knife. The knife is good because it is not an easy kill: you really have to mean it if you push a knife into somebody, especially if you stab them more than once. I have spent ten years as a crime reporter at the biggest Danish national newspaper, and reality always exceeds fiction. So I’ll stick to the knife.

    

... DEATH SCENES

The opening scene of the first season of Broen. They put the corpse on the middle of a bridge over Øresund, so half of it is in Denmark, the other in Sweden – it’s a great move and a strong symbol for the whole series.

  

... BLOGS/WEBSITES

Wikipedia. The Danish police. Newspaper websites. If I need to research thoroughly I read books or meet people in real life.

... WRITING TIPS

One sentence at a time. If you feel you cannot get into a scene or if you suffer from writer’s block because of the immensity of what lies in front of you, break it down to elements like: What is the weather like? What do the surroundings look like? What time is it? How does it smell? Sounds? Noise? What is your point of view? What can your character see? What’s on his/her mind? How is his/her physical condition, feelings? Try to answer these questions in your writing and you’re already on your way.

... WRITING SNACKS

I drink black tea. A couple of litres in a day’s work.

About JESPER STEIN

Jesper Stein was born in Aarhus, Denmark. He began his writing career as a journalist and covered the Balkan war, and catastrophes in Africa. He then worked as a culture journalist for 10 years, interviewing lauded fiction writers, such as John le Carré, Ian Rankin, Jo Nesbø, Henning Mankell, Peter Høeg, Peter James, PD James, Ian McEwan, Margaret Atwood and Haruki Murakami. 

He made his literary debut in 2012 with Unrest – the first in the Axel Steen series. He has received massive attention for his sharp eye for detail, rich and innovative plotting and confident prose. Praised by critics as a writer who will keep readers on the edge of their seat, Stein has emerged as one of the most talented authors of crime fiction in Scandinavia. 

Find Jesper Stein on his Facebook page and on Twitter - @jesper_stein

About UNREST

Publisher's description

2007. On the streets of Nørrebro, the worst riots Denmark has experienced for many years see violent clashes between the police and far-left autonomists protesting the closure of the Youth House. Meanwhile, in a local cemetery, an unidentified man is found bound and murdered, his body propped up against a gravestone. 

Detective Superintendent Axel Steen is called to the scene, where all signs suggest the dead man is the victim of police brutality during the riots. But as the investigation progresses, Axel soon discovers that many people, both inside and out of the force, have an unusual interest in the case – and in preventing its resolution.Axel will stop at nothing until he’s uncovered the truth – no matter what. But as he tussles with his ex-wife, his boss, a far-left journalist with a grudge, the security forces and a well-known drug lord, the consequences turn out to be greater than expected... especially for Axel himself. 

Unrest was published by Mirror Books on 19 July 2018.

Look out for more BEST OF CRIME features coming soon.

Click here to read more BEST OF CRIME features.

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