Taylor, The Guardian (UK)

“If the brilliantly written and intriguing Layer Cake is anything to go by, [Connolly] will soon be a name to whet the appetites of readers and critics alike.” –The Times (London)

“Once I’d read a few pages I was hooked. . . . Connolly’s style is fast and funny and just frightening enough to make you sit up all night finishing the book. Layer Cake could easily emulate [The Sopranos]’s success if made into a television series.” –Independent on Sunday

‘mission accomplished. One novel in, and Connolly has hit the jackpot, jump-started British crime fiction into the present. . . . Like good drug fiction, you’re given glamour and squalor, a voyeuristic thrill, and the bill.” –Uncut (Five-star rating)

“Connolly displays the same infectious relish for underworld argot as Elizabethan writers fascinated by rogues’ cant, and his ostensibly artless plotting is as rich in double and triple crosses as a spy thriller.” –The Sunday Times (London)

“An immensely entertaining read.” –The Spectator (UK)

“This year’s crime read should be J.J. Connolly’s Layer Cake.” –Mike Pattenden, The Times (UK)

“By far and away the best piece of crime pulp fiction either side of the Atlantic since Seth Morgan’s Homeboy and a Get Carter for the chemical generation.” –Paul Dale, The List

“J.J. Connolly has created the caper of the year . . . it’s fantastic.” –Bizarre

“A linguistic fairground, the characters chat with an authenticity that’s intoxicating. Wannabe geezers would look plumy next to these boys, and yet just a few pages in the language opens up like some forgotten playground.” –Pil

“Fantastic. The best crime novel I’ve ever read.” –Bruce Reynolds

Relax, work it out, stop holding your breath, cos if they had come for you, you’d be on the deck now, cuffed up and getting the old “you do not have to say anything, blah blah blah” routine.
‘sorry, Sir, you okay?” He’s genuinely apologetic. “Only we’ve had reports of a prowler in the area.”
“A prowler, you say, well well. And there’s only the two of you? Maybe you should call for some assistance.”
“We’re a bit stretched already tonight, Sir.”
“That’s too bad. I’ll ring the station if I see or hear anything.”
“Thank you, Sir. Good night. Be careful.”
“Oh, I will be.”
They carry on looking for the burglar in among the bushes and I go upstairs to weave that special kinda magic that turns two kilos into three.