A Deadly Business by Lenny Bartulin

Publisher's Synopsis

Jack Susko is trying for a quiet life in his second-hand bookshop in downtown Sydney. It's more tin mine than gold mine, yet it's his and that's something. But when a wealthy businessman hires Jack to locate some books for him, life starts to get a little more complicated.

Soon he's up to his neck in family secrets, corruption and murder, plunged into a world he thought he'd left behind. Making a play for the businessman's beautiful daughter doesn't help matters. And as the bodies start piling up, Jack can't help but wonder when second-hand book dealing became so dangerous.

My Review of A Deadly Business by Lenny Bartulin

The debut novel by Lenny Bartulin featuring second-hand bookstore owner Jack Susko is a real treat from the opening page to the final gasp. Titled “A Deadly Business” (pub. Scribe Publications) it is set in Sydney and is part rollicking mystery/thriller with huge helpings of smartly engineered humour.

The day to day life of a second-hand bookstore owner in the centre of Sydney (behind the Queen Victoria Building for those who know the city) is hardly one that is filled with excitement and Jack’s normal day is no different. In fact Susko could best be described as a struggling loner who whiles away his hours listening to old-time jazz in his deserted store.

So when word gets around that there is someone doing the rounds of the city’s bookstores willing to pay big bucks for copies of the poetry works of obscure poet Edward Kass Jack leaps into immediate action to see if he can make a few extra dollars out of the opportunity. However taking the books to the client thrusts Susko deeply into the middle of a family dispute that threatens to get ugly.

With murder and shady characters around many corners plus a fierce rivalry with competing bookstore owners also trying to make a dollar or two, the drama begins to play out at pace.

With moments of revealing self-awareness Jack Susko is central to many wise-cracking scenes as he stumbles and bumbles his way through the story. He is not what you might consider your regular protagonist but he is certainly a guy with enough charm to make him likable and even recognisable in a few of his actions. Let’s simply call him naive with just enough street smarts to get him into trouble.

A Deadly Business is a debut novel that invites the reader to sit a spell and enjoy the show. Bartulin has an easy going style of narrative mixing the fast moving pace of the plot with a dry and witty tone. While you don’t exactly admire the main character you can’t help but be affected by his predicament. This is definitely a worthwhile novel that has me looking forward to more.