Framed

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I’m a total fan anyway, so I was ready to like this book; but I really do think that it’s right up there in the genre. But Frankie’s largely snooker hall-based alcoholism, and the lack of an attempt on Ronnie’s behalf to be any more subtle about the identity of the real protagonist is part of its charm. The books featured on this site are aimed primarily at readers aged 13 or above and therefore you must be 13 years or over to sign up to our newsletter. One presumes the elder Mr James would have preferred his lawyer end all missives with "fuck off you silly cunt" smeared in human shit, like a normal person.

There was even a reference to him putting on an event and getting some well-known players in, like The Rocket. The James brothers are the sons of a now incarcerated East End gangster, very much of the old school, and the victim is the fiancée of the son of a rival gang leader. Be advised though that there is a lot of bad language, but for me this made the story more gritty and real. We have Frankie's younger brother jack racing to Frankie's snooker hall, covered in blood, tipped off that the police are after him.I found myself coming back to it and wanting to get through to the next chapter to see what was coming next. It wasn’t great and it’s definitely not high literature, but it set out to do a job and succeeded at it.

I was driving home from work one afternoon, listening to my favourite sports radio station and the hosts were about to interview Ronnie O'Sullivan. What follows is Frankie’s quest to clear his brother’s name and find out who was ultimately responsible. There follows a Martina Cole-scented parade of ne'er-do-wells with filthy tongues and charming names. There is a clear autobiographical tone to Framed, to the point that it becomes nigh on impossible not to read Frankie’s mental commentaries in Ronnie’s voice. Ignoring the crime and solving thereof, it had a lot more going on around it which made it a very well balanced overall read for me.

Frankie was a likeable character and I enjoyed following him across London as he attempted to work out what happened and how his brother turned up on his doorstep covered in blood. If I didn’t know that Ronnie’s name was attached to it and I’d read it, I think it could have passed as any old mass market paperback. There is a wit and verve to Frankie's character that's just a shade above the lowest common denominator, and the depictions of his brother Jack as a queasily aimless stooge can be genuinely well drafted. We're talking names like Shank Wilson, Sea Breeze Strinati and, gloriously, family lawyer Kind Regards.

When this book debuted I was excited to read it, however for various reasons it sat on my shelf since 2017 until a few days ago when I got round to reading it.

And the result is a boring read as Frankie propels himself deeper into Soho's underworld without difficulty or conflict. Ronnie is interested in Buddhism, and was the first celebrity to endorse Jeremy Corbyn at the general election.