Day of The Deal

Today is clearly not the day for reviews about 'nice' Christian subjects as this morning I wrote about Tabitha Suzuma's new book about incest and now Jason Wilson's tale of growing and smuggling drugs! "Day of the Deal" is a sequel to "Smuggling Vacation" written in 2008. "Smuggling Vacation" followed the story of Stan and Kaye, a couple who get caught up in an attempt to smuggle drugs into the UK. Unfortunately I have not had the pleasure to read that story, but it seems to have been fairly well recieved by many people as long as you don't include Khalid Mahmood MP!

So "Day Of The Deal" starts off by looking at the fallout from the first escapade and it seems that things have largely returned to normal for everyone involved. Apart from Stan and Kaye who have decided to take some matters into their own hands and have decided to start growing cannabis plants in their weekend home. Mikey, Stan's brother is also involved, but he's not terribly reliable and has a crush on the local librarian. Money is tight and a local dealer decides to ask Mikey for a hand with a shipment of cannabis, Mikey takes the job and ends up involving Stan without Kaye's knowledge. However they don't realise that they are being watched every step of the way by the police surveillance.

Someone looking at the style of the images may feel that perhaps this is a children's book, however this is most definitely for adults. There's almost a feeling that this caricature style which has something of Andy Capp about it should only be dealing with one liners and three frame strips. Yet the subject here is very serious with a surprising attention to detail.

The entire story here takes place in 24 hours and that helps keep some focus and makes the writing sharp, nothing is wasted here with the characters being instantly understandable without being too stereotypical.
Mikey who seems to come across as a bit of a lug in the early part of this story shows a certain shrewdness when it comes to planning the receipt of this shipment. Stan on the other hand seems to be totally put-upon, particularly by his partner Kaye. Kaye herself is incredibly jealous of anyone else who Stan may be interested in, such as a local barmaid who knows his choice of sauce for a meal! This relationship between Stan and Kaye is certainly the foundation for many of the funnier moments in the story. Mikey's infatuation but inability to do anything about it is also cleverly written and drawn.

This graphic novel definitely does help you come to a conclusion here that crime does not pay. While the characters may have got away with their adventures in the first novel, here they might not be so lucky. It is the build up to the receipt of the shipment, and the readers awareness (and the characters lack of awareness) that makes this an intense read. We root for the characters to turn around and do something else as we know what's happening, there are some moments of clarity from various characters leading them to make the right decisions. This book carries a serious message, albeit in a funny and stylistic way, but it's well worth reading.