Jack's Return Home

infobox Book |
name = Jack's Return Home
title_orig =
translator =


author = Ted Lewis
cover_artist =
country = United Kingdom
language = English
series =
genre = Thriller, Crime novel
publisher = Michael Joseph
release_date = 9 February 1970
media_type = Print (Hardback & Paperback)
pages = 224 pp
isbn = ISBN 0-7181-0730-6 (hardback edition) & ISBN 0-948164-06-9 (paperback edition)
preceded_by =
followed_by =

"Jack's Return Home" is a 1970 novel by British writer Ted Lewis, inspired by the One-armed bandit murder [http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/man-convicted-of-get-carter-killing-blames-kray-twins-405679.html The Independent] Man convicted of 'Get Carter' killing blames Kray twins] [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-557457/Ill-prove-I-framed-says-gangster-jailed-Get-Carter-murder.html Daily Mail online] I'll prove I was framed says gangster jailed for Get Carter murder, 6 April 2008] . An uncompromising novel of a brutal half-world of pool halls, massage parlours and teenage pornography, it was memorably brought to life in the cult film "Get Carter", starring Michael Caine as Jack Carter. The novel, like the film, starkly portrays a subsection of society living on the dangerous borderline between crime and respectability. The book was a major influence on the noir school of English crime fiction.

The book went out of print for many years and slipped into obscurity, but there was a resurgence of interest in it in the 1990s after the 1971 film adaptation, "Get Carter", gradually grew in reputation and was remade in 2000 as the critically panned "Get Carter (2000 film)". The book was republished in paperback under the title "Get Carter" by Allison & Buzby in 2000.

Plot summary

"Jack's Return Home" tells the story of an amoral, pitiless London mob enforcer named Jack Carter who returns to his small hometown near Doncaster (thought to be Scunthorpe, although the steeltown to which Jack descends upon is not specifically named as such) to investigate the mysterious death of his brother, with whom he had not spoken in years. Jack's presence in the town causes unease among the crime families, who fear that his snooping will interfere with their underworld operations. Everything from simple suggestion to brute force is employed to try to get Jack to leave, but he doggedly refuses, bullying his way through numerous attempts on his life to arrive at the truth, leading to a violent and ambiguous conclusion.

Film, TV or theatrical adaptations

The novel has so far been filmed three times, twice as "Get Carter" in 1971 and 2000, and as "Hit Man" in 1972.

equels

Jack Carter was featured in two sequel novels, both written by Lewis.
*"Jack Carter and the Law" (a.k.a. "Jack Carter's Law")
*"Jack Carter and the Mafia Pigeon"

Trivia

The first reprinting of the paperback which tied in with the film version was published under the title "Carter" (Pan Books 1971, ISBN 0 330 02620 8). All references on the cover of the book also refer to the film under this title.

Scunthorpe is not named in the novel but the location is fairly easy to identify from Lewis' description and Carter's train journey from Doncaster at the start of the book.

References