The Last Llanelli Train - Softcover

At times sordid, sometimes funny, occasionally bleak and sinister, this is a powerful if disenchanted journey, with echoes of Chandler, of course, but also of great mavericks such as James Crumley, Ellroy and Derek Raymond. Wonderfully misanthropic and sad, it's the sort of book that makes you look uncomfortably at the face in the mirror, for fear of recognising aspects of Robin in yourself (Guardian)

This thriller excels itself in sheer, grinding ill-fortune. Not one for the beach, but a well-written chronicle of a life gone seriously wrong

(FHM)

This debut from a talented young Welsh writer brings the detective genre bang up to date... an entertaining mix of classic noir with a twist of black comedy

(South Wales Evening Post)

A jet-black comedy... emulating and updating the vintage hard-boiled style of Hammett and Chandler

(Western Daily Press)

At times sordid, sometimes drop dead funny, occasionally bleak and sinister, this is a powerful, if disenchanted journey through the hard-boiled fields with echoes of Chandler of course, but also of great mavericks like James Crumley, Ellroy and Derek Raymond. Wonderfully misanthropic and sad, it's the sort of book that makes you look uncomfortably at your middle-aged face in the mirror, for fear of recognising aspects of Robin in yourself

(Maxim Jakubowski Crime Time)

Written like a cross between Bukowski and Chandler

(Evening Herald)

Riveting and exceptionally well written... dark, honest and guaranteed to keep you gripped (Buzz)

Lewis mines a buried seam in the national psyche with great subtlety and assurance... he is without doubt a writer of immense promise (New Welsh Review)

Has the requisite plot-twists, drama and sense of brooding danger and evil; as an anatomy of melancholy and addiction it could hardly be beaten (The Crack)

The Last Llanelli Train is Welsh Noir, a tour-de-force of squalor and desolation (Planet)

Robert Lewis' debut novel is an instant noir classic - one part Eddie Shoestring to nine parts David Goodis. Robin Llewellyn is a private eye. More or less. Part time really, while he gets on with the full-time job of drinking himself to death on the mean streets of Bristol. He's one step away from the gutter when he gets one last case. A case that smells of money. A woman wants to set her husband up for blackmail. All Robin has to do is find a hooker to do the job, and collect his money. Then maybe he'll be back in the game. Or at least have enough to pay for another drink and another bet. If only life were that simple. The Last Llanelli Train drags the private eye novel into the 21st century and some very dark places indeed. Mixing purest noir with some very, very black comedy, The Last Llanelli Train offers an unforgettable portrait of a man at the very end of his tether.