It's Adrian McKinty's fault that I even entertained the notion of reading David Peace's Red Riding quartet. I got the whole set from Serpent's Tail a while back but so far I've only made it through 1974. As I said in my review, 1974 is a brilliantly written novel, it's dark, violent and fascinating. It's also quite an emotional investment. I've been a little afraid of moving on to 1977, and so have avoided it until now.
Here's the thing, though. The film adaptation (the quartet as a trilogy) is upon us. Part one will play on Channel 4 on Thursday at 9PM. I'll probably try to catch it on 4 on Demand, as I'd like the opportunity to pause and take the odd time out. What a month to go off the booze! I don't want to let the movie do all the thinking for me, so I've begun reading 1977 in the hopes that I can get most of it read before Thursday. I'm a good way through the second chapter, and I think this'll be a quick read.
But I imagine that even if you watch the films first, there'll still be quite some merit in reading the novels as well. A quick refresh in Peace's writing style for this series has me kicking myself that I didn't get around to it before now.
