The Day I Died

Glen peters

Trailer for the book by Glen Peters The Day I Died

A crime novel that firmly dispenses with cliché to forge something darkly unique.

FT literary critic Barry Forshaw.

Summary-The Day I Died

By Glen Peters

Millions of tourists from around the world go to Goa every year to enjoy the fabulous beaches and multicultural mix of this former Indo-Portuguese colony. Some never return. This fast-paced thriller was inspired by real-life events that made sensational global headlines.
The teenage Ceri escapes from a small Welsh town to Goa to ‘find herself.’ Instead she finds herself being groomed by the Beachboys, who run the Sunset Lounge on Goa’s Anjuna Beach. Wanting to muscle in on the lucrative sex and drugs trade that mass tourism brings in its wake are the Ukes, a gang of displaced Russians from Kiev. While foreign tourists enjoy an intoxicated Hippie-style world of sex and sand, the Beachboys headed by Scorpio and the Ukes headed by Vlad fight for control of the turf. On the side-lines are the Banjara gypsies, a low-caste minority struggling for survival
Crossing gang lines, Ceri falls for Vlad’s son Igor, who is trying to distance himself from his criminal father. He woos Ceri with his poongi, a gypsy musical instrument. The Day I Died is a coming-of-age story in which Ceri and Igor must find their own identity. But as with Romeo and Juliet before them, the teenagers’ forbidden romance unleashes a spiral of murder and betrayal. With startling twists and turns, the action races to a shattering conclusion.

Thrilling and Thought Provoking

What a cast of characters! Ceri comes to Goa from a dead-end council estate in West Wales. The story is told in part through her first person narrative as she rapidly learns survival skills in a Third World setting. Her love interest Igor operates a criminal site on the Dark Side of the Web, but would rather be playing his poongi with the Banjara gypsies. Igor is trying to distance himself from his dominating father Vlad, a displaced Russian from Ukraine who has been scarred by the fallout from Chernobyl. No one is wholly good or wholly bad. Father Michael must reconcile his conscience with funding his orphan charity from the proceeds of crime. The gang leader Scorpion is brutal, but can also be seen as a patriot, fighting to keep Goa for the Goans. The corrupt police chief Braganza takes bribes from both sides. The journalist Roki is ready to do anything for a global scoop. Ceri’s conniving Mam is in the toils of a spurious Bhagwan. Although he only ‘book ends’ the story, my favourite character is Harpo, who is hilariously adept at running rings round the Welsh Juvenile Detention system. It’s a dark story, laced with sardonic humour.
Anne Garside

Book Details

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ The Conrad Press (22 Oct. 2021) • Language ‏ : ‎ English • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 352 pages • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1914913183