Billy Rucker

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Created by Adam Baron

Here’s a new private eye writer I’ve just discovered who bears watching: his name’s Adam Baron, he’s British, and he’s written a few books about London private eye BILLY RUCKER. There’s a nice bittersweetness to them; a world-weary tone and an original voice at work here, tempered with a yearning compassion that feels a bit like Stephen Greenleaf or John Shannon‘s recent work (ie: Lew Archer with a life). The usual adjectives of noir and gritty are sprinkled throughout the blurbs, but in this case, they actually apply.

In fact, the baggage of Billy’s life is considerable. He’s a former cop, a shining star on the rise, when his brother was run off the road, most likely in his stead, by suspects in a case Billy was working. The attackers were never caught, and Luke, a once-promising writer and actor, engaged to be married, now lies in a coma.

Guilt-ridden, Billy quit the force, to take care of Luke, and inadvertently falling in love with Sharon, Luke’s former fiancee. Guilt, pain and a brooding, almost bruising sense of melancholy pervade the series, as Billy throws himself into a new career as a private eye who specializes in tracking down missing teenagers. Not that Billy will bring them home, or even necessarily tell their parents where they are.

“I used to, when I first started. But often a kid has run away from home because a father, or an uncle maybe, has been cruel. Or violent. or raping the shit out of them. Male and female. If they are under sixteen I sometimes tell the police where they are. If they’re in trouble. If they are over sixteen I don’t tell anybody. I just find them, photograph them, and if they will speak to me, tell them to think of their mothers and phone home. Then I send the photograph I have taken to my client and give them an honest description of how their kid is…

For this service I charge a flat rate of four hundred pounds, inclusive of update reports if I happen to run into their kid again, in the near to nearish future. I suppose I lose a lot of work this way (but) my reasoning is that kids run away for a reason…”

And so Billy wanders the streets of London, toting a camera, dressing down, talking to young ones, hanging out, occasionally spotting one of his lost children, counting on a combination of skill, patience and more than a little luck.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Besides writing the Billy Rucker series, Adam Baron writes for TV and radio, and is part of a comedy act with his two brothers, called (hold your hats) The Baron Brothers (oh, the hours of discussion and pints of beer that must have gone into that decision!). They appear regularly on the comedy circuit, and on The Paul Ross Show and The Lenny Beige Show on British television. Baron is also the author of the infamous short story, “The Man Whose Penis Made Him Locally Famous.” I’m sure his mother is very proud. He lives in East London.

EVIDENCE

  • ” I used to watch the news and wonder why parents of victims care so much about bringing the killer to justice. It would never bring their children back, would it, no matter what happened? How could it?” He stopped…and his eyes searched out mine for the first time, setting on me, fixed and hard. A bubble of outrage rose up through him, pushing its way into his voice. “But now all I can think of, the only thing, is the bastard, the fucking, fucking bastard who killed my daughter.”
    — Rucker confronts the bereaved father of a murder victim

UNDER OATH

  • “A classy and able thriller, with crunchy London back grounds.. the forecast for the series is excellent’
    — Philip Oakes (Literary Review) on Shut Eye
  • “Promising first novel . . Rucker is an intelligent , reflective hero, a man well worth keeping an eye on.”
    — Donna Leon (Sunday Times)
  • “Urban noir has arrived in London, and Adam Baron is one of its finest proponents.”
    — Independent On Sunday
  • “Everything you say is right, Kevin, but I found Hold Back the Night, after a great start, got awful soggy and overly tricky in its conclusion. Baron has to tighten up his writing a little, or he could become another Lehane.”
    — Duke Seabrook

NOVELS

RADIO

  • BILLY RUCKER PRIVATE EYE: SHUT EYE | Buy the audio
    (2004, BBC Radio 4)
    4 parts
    Premiere: March 9, 2004
    Written by Adam Baron
    Dramatised by Doug Lucie
    Produced and directed by Janet Whitaker
    Starring David Morrissey as BILLY RUCKER
    Danny Webb as DI Gold
    Adjoa Andoh/Li Leng Au as Sharon
    Ioan Meredith as Inspector Clay
    Also starring Edward de Souza, Matt Day, Declan Wilson, Rachel Atkins, Gbemisola Ikumelo, Caroline Langrishe, Nicholas Woodeson, Frances Jeater, Chris Moran, Damian Lynch, Harry Myers, Cherie Taylor-Battlste
  • BILLY RUCKER PRIVATE EYE: HOLD BACK THE NIGHT | Buy the audio
    (2005, Radio BBC4)
    4 parts
    Premiere: November 22, 2005
    Written by Adam Baron
    Dramatised by Doug Lucie
    Produced and directed by Janet Whitaker
    Starring David Morrissey as BILLY RUCKER
    Danny Webb as DI Gold
    Adjoa Andoh/Li Leng Au as Sharon
    Ioan Meredith as Inspector Clay
    Also starring Cheryl Campbell, Rachael Stirling, Harry Myers, Elizabeth Bell, Nicholas Boulton, Adjoa Andoh, Alison Pettitt, Vincenzo Nicoli, Alex Tregear, Martin Hyder, Susan Jameson, Hugh Dickson, Stephen Hogan, Peter Darney
Respectfully submitted by Kevin Burton Smith. Original post: 2001. Thanks to the Canadian Tire for the nudge.

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