Jas Anderson, Dickson's anti-hero former Scottish police officer, returns for his third go around with Some Kind of Love. Dickson builds his world upon the previous stories in "Freeform" and "Banged Up" and continues the development of Jas. In some ways this is Banged Up, Part II - taking place a bit after the end of that book, building upon the relationship begun between Jas and former gay bashing cellmate Stevie. Now on the outside of prison, with the sadistic villain of Banged Up, Ian Dalgleish dispatched, setting the start of the new novel.
Dickson slowly builds his stew, allowing pieces to be added, and float around, and the characters to grow and continue to mix. Much of the first third of the novel is pretty much character development - the relationship between gay Jas and former gay-basher Stevie. There are a lot of threads dangled out there, and in good mystery writer fashion, Dickson slowly reveals more of the pattern as threads intersect. The time invested here pays off well, for as the book goes on, and rushes towards its climax, you begin to care very much about what happens to various characters. This is what sets the Jas Anderson novels apart with other very good mystery writers - the ability to create strong characters that you come to care about. I for one cannot wait for the next installment.
Again, as with all of Dickson's novels, you need to get into the lingo, written in street Scottish as it is. At first, it makes some of us foreigners have to work to get into the world, but I find that as I read it, I have to focus more on the dialog than in many other books, almost acting it out in my head. The end result is a greater appreciation of the writing that makes up a great story. A very enjoyable read, worth the time investment.
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