MISSION CREEP BY ANDY SINGLETON
Open Mission Creep a novel by Andy Singleton and plunge into the dangerous cynical mind of its anti-hero Roberto Antonelli and his darkly distorted world view. Roberto’s father is unknown and his mother is vague about which story he is to credit for his beginnings in the world..Is he the son of an Italian military man or the bye-blow of a local Yorkshire chancer.? His mother cannot or will not disclose. In typical duplicitous style, Roberto was once Robert Peckitt but “ in his late teens he modelled himself on a famously angry but superb local chef with a plain name who added an exotic ‘o’ ‘on to the end of his pedestrian Anglo Saxon Christian name and swaggered down to London to awe the glitterati’. ‘Robert also jettisoned the parochial Peckitt and “’elected to go forth as Roberto Antonelli after noting a passing ice cream van”.” In his early twenties an ongoing curiosity about the identity of his father became an all consuming obsession. Using papers he found amongst his late mother’s personal effects he discovered ‘A feisty Ligerian firebrand who she met whilst blowing her mind and parents’ budget on a student holiday in Italy could have been responsible” It is the time of New Labour optimism. Roberto ‘had also carefully acquired and lost ‘ a small portfolio of property. “He had lost his own pharmacy business when the lease expired in the same month as his wife filed for divorce” He narrowly avoided an investigation into his professional competence “ but no criminal charges resulted. Roberto sells the last of his property and sinks the cash into a very smart ‘supercar’ an emblem of his future life, flashy and useful for a swift getaway.
Stuck in poverty- stricken Bradford , Roberto develops a deep loathing for his confrères in the gradually deteriorating city the and even more profound contempt for their addictions; ( the account from often inebriated acquaintances interestingly illuminate Bradfor’s proud past - but none of this nostalgia touches the ever more cynical Roberto) he soon finds a rich seam of income by emergency cover for pharmacists - he judges their desperation for his services by the tone of their pleading and has a range of manoeuvres to ramp up his remuneration in response. Meanwhile his reflections on their needy private lives, their self inflicted illnesses and the skewed nature of the dysfunctional NHS are mordant “the intention was not to provide cheap mediation for greedy middle men” he snarls at his assistant on one of his locum jobs. But there is a darker side to Roberto that only gets more horribly intriguing as the book progresses. His ambition is sinister and limitless, he would never be a professor or academic but “ ‘Being a freelance alchemist beyond censure and peer review had its own attractions.” Roberto has begun to execute his pharmaceutical techniques to edit out individuals he does not like. Bradford and the Dales have become too hot. He moves to Cambridge where he reckons that his competent persona will keep him out of the picture .” Suave , calm caring health professionals are the last to attract suspicion’ But he reckons without the long arm of the law. The over worked detective in despised Bradford is on to him.
By the time I had read Mission Creep I had to admit it was one of the most powerful pieces of writing to cross my horizon in the past few months. It deploys a strong vibrant style and a voice that propels the reader on. The use of language is as sinuous as the the story telling.Here is a newcomer who has all the hallmarks of a really good writer. There is never a moment when you think “ I don’t believe in these people” - in fact it is such strong stuff I found it almost overwhelming.
This is a brilliantly written book - in parts too brutal for me. But Singleton is a new local writer of macabre note. Watch this space.
The ISBN number is 9781838395414
