A can of lager, a cigarette and a well-placed scratch. Thus begins David's day. Being a hard geezer on the Buckland estate ain't easy, but David has the crown. He's got the girls, sprogs, flash car and the meanest headbutt in Portsmouth. His days are filled with crime filled sprees to ensure his obese mother has her requisite fags, booze and curry. But even a thug like David has aspirations and his foray into drug-dealing is seen as a step-up. But through a serious of increasingly violent events, David's kingdom erodes, unravels and culminates in an explosive finale. With shades of Clockwork Orange and Trainspotting, new author Charlie Wiltshire gives an unflinching, and often times disturbing, account of life on one of England's most difficult estates. From the details of pulling gear' to the politics of cancer in underclass patients, Buckland Gap asks if society can ever be saved. Even from itself.
Our review of Pompey Geezer: Buckland Gap 1
Pompey Geezer: Buckland Gap 1, by author Charles Wiltshire, is a contemporary fiction based on the real-life depiction of a culture in Portsmouth, south England. It is a tough and challenging read because it walks the reader mercilessly and without apology, through the front door of the life of David, a twenty-two year-old street thug and criminal, who lives in the projects, government subsidized-housing, and whose entire existence is based on a criminal mentality that he, and others like him, are entitled. The level of hatred toward others, immigrants, people of color, even those from other parts of Britain, is difficult to fathom - but as one reads, it becomes painfully tangible and real that this is the state of our world today in more areas than just Portsmouth. Living in this sub-strata, where most of the people do not work, live on welfare, and where young girls starting at the age of fourteen and fifteen opt to have multiple children from fathers they neither care about nor will ever live with, just to be able to collect government subsidization in order to support their vices, drugs and alcohol, is not only sad, but horrifying to see that human beings elect to live this way. Buckland Gap is very relevant to our society and quite contemporary, as it discusses Brexit and the view of this welfare and criminal class who see the government as a betrayal and a system which does not care for them in spite of their refusal to work and support it. David is an angry man, driven by his uncontrollable rage and compulsion to impose harm on others, to steal, to abuse and sexually manipulate women, and oddly, if not even ironically, he never sees that any of the horrible things he does to others, is bad, nor does he ever feel any conscious empathy for another human being. He is the epitome of a sociopath, and in truth, this book is an open forum on the criminal mind and how people who refuse to work and contribute to society fall into step with this mentality of entitlement, those who gladly steal from others, who consider themselves to be respectable and even elitist and who hate ANYONE who is successful in life. This quotation serves to reflect the mentality of this brutal, lost and terribly misguided human being: "The anger was growing. He could not help wondering how long it would be before riots started. This brought a smile to his face; he was actually looking forward to the day when civil order broke down in England. He felt sure that the hard geezers like him would be in control then."
Review by International Writers Inspiring Change
All books in this series
About C.S. Wiltshire
Tell us about yourself …CS: My name is CS Wiltshire and I hail from Hampshire in England. My work experience is based around the IT industry but in my heart I have always wanted to be full time author. I love creating stories and building fictional worlds. My other loves in life are cooking, running and motorbikes.
IWIC: What inspired your writing …CS: I have been reading novels since a very early age. In my younger days it was mainly science fiction but as I matured my scope of reading spread into most genres. Now, I will read anything as long as the story is interesting. This is now my second novel.
IWIC: Is there a message in your books …CS: There is a message in Changes – Buckland Gap2. Everyone can change for the better. It may not be easy but if the desire exists then nothing is out of reach.
IWIC: Tell us about your new book …CS: My latest book is Changes – Buckland Gap 2. This book is a gritty and sometimes violent story of a young man, Steven Harding, who was trapped in a world of poverty, anger and despair. He ended up in prison where, thanks to determination and hard work, he started on a long road of change and hope for a better life. When he was finally released, the road for change became even harder as his family tried to draw him back into his previous life. Steven meanwhile, wants to study at university and start a new future. This is the follow-up to the hard hitting and controversial Buckland Gap and is a story of hope. We can all change. We can all take a better path, if we want. The story itself is set around a short period in the protagonist’s life during which he tries to set his new life in motion while avoiding the anger of his family for being gay and wanting to enroll at university.
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