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Confidence

Confidence

by Ben Richards (Author)

  • Used

    Paperback 2006

    $3.79

  • Used

    Paperback 2007

    $3.24
Synopsis

Kerenza Penhaligan is a struggling actress: once feted as a future star she is now reduced to taking embarrassing bit parts in TV dramas and standing in for other, more successful actors at read-throughs. Wondering where her career has gone, unable to pay her rent, and with her self-confidence flagging, she struggles to keep sight of the boundary between right and wrong. When she steps in to break up a violent confrontation in a bar, Kerenza finds herself caught up in a twilight world of conmen and cheats, of dubious moral choices, and temptingly high rewards. She meets the enigmatic Evan, who offers her a different avenue for her skills - in which her acting talent ends up proving far more useful off the stage than on it. Kerenza soon learns, however, that there's no such thing as a victimless con...

$3.79

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2 in stock

More Information

Format: Paperback
 Pages: 288
 Publisher: W&N
Published: 08 Jun 2006
ISBN 10: 0297829165
ISBN 13: 9780297829164
Book Overview: 'The Mermaid and the Drunks' was picked for Richard and Judy's Summer Reads in 2004. It's huge success has enhanced Ben's already strong reputation. Think Douglas Coupland writing 'Hustle' Ben has taken a couple of years off from novel writing to devote himself to scriptwriting for 'Spooks' and 'No Angels'. In this new novel he combines the writing that has previously brought him stellar reviews with the skills he has learned as a TV writer: namely cracking dialogue, pacy drama and fantastic plotting. The success of 'Hustle' and 'Ocean's Eleven' and 'Twelve' shows that people are always intrigued by a good con: and this novel is full of them.

Media Reviews
'One part Brighton Rock's Pinkie, one part Catch Me If You Can's Frank Abagnale Jr one part Howard Marks (that's the Welsh part), Evan is the thinking girl's modern Mephisto...It's all as amusing and incisive as you'd expect from Ben Richards. Always an intelligent and competent writer...' -- James Flint GUARDIAN (27.5.06) 'London is full of good-enough actresses, most of them should really get another job. In Ben Richard's dirty city fable of one such girl, a second-rate actress becomes a first-rate liar through her Faustian pact with a nasty Welsh devil. Generously going against type in a modern morality tale, Ben Richards offers a tantalising possibility that in the end, truth and hope might just win through.' -- Stella Duffy 'London-based and contemporary to its core...a 'gutful of 'no-don't do-it' moments, but funny gay best friend Mark offers some light relief. Richards' philosophical musings on Blair, leftie liberals, morals and more are thought-provoking.' EVE (July) 'The real star of this witty, modern thriller is the London we love to hate, Richard's cynical eye capturing perfectly the infighting and distrust between different social groups. Richards builds up stereotypes to break them down with humanising touches - tales of loss or just glimpses of empathy...Confidence is a snappy read with an exhilaratingly dramatic ending.' -- Abigail Wilkinson TIME OUT (14-21 June) 'Ambitious and timely modern morality tale...[a] great idea.' MIRROR (16/8/06) 'In Confidence, Ben Richards looks at opposites - truths and lies, compassion and heartlessness, failure and success - and, for a gratifyingly long time, manages not to reach conclusions about them. Almost everything possesses duality...Richards's handling of these opposites and the well-paced narrative, with its regular arrival of fresh developments, make Confidence readable and enjoyable.' -- Simon Baker TLS (23.6.06) '[Richards'] screenwriting expertise is exuberantly to the fore in Confidence, which reads so much like a superior television drama that it may even become one. Stylish, well paced and up to the minute...A slick crime drama.' -- Carol Birch INDEPENDENT (26.6.06) 'The novel is the perfect showcase for Richards' formidable talents, matching the political bite he has often displayed in his novels with the knack of creating sharp, fast-paced narratives such as those he's given us on TV (Spooks and No Angels)...A sexy, tightly buckled thriller bulging with action and ideas, matched with authorial grace and, yes, confidence.' -- Matt Haig INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY (16.7.06)
Author Bio
Ben Richards was born in 1964 and has previously worked as a Housing Officer in London and as a University Lecturer (Birmingham University). He is a scriptwriter for 'Spooks' and 'No Angels' and he lives in North London.