Review: The Fix by Keith Nixon (4/5)

Thursday 12 June 2014

It’s pre-crash 2007 and financial investment banker Josh Dedman’s life is unravelling fast. He’s fired after £20 million goes missing from the bank. His long-time girlfriend cheats on him, then dumps him. His only friends are a Russian tramp who claims to be ex-KGB and a really irritating bloke he’s just met on the train. His waking hours are a nightmare and his dreams are haunted by a mystery blonde. And to cap it all, he lives in Margate.

Just when Josh thinks things can’t get any worse his sociopathic boss — Hershey Valentine — winds up murdered and he finds himself the number one suspect.

As the net closes in Josh discovers that no one is quite what they seem, including him, and that sometimes help comes from the most unlikely sources...

Part fiction, part lies (well, it is about banking) and excruciatingly funny, THE FIX pulls no punches when revealing the naked truth of a man living a life he loathes. This is a crime fiction novel with a difference...


Okay first off our main character Josh Dedman (really!) must be one of the unluckiest men I have ever read about. He is fired after £20 million goes missing from the bank he works at. He is then dumped by his cheating girlfriend. Both pretty bad right? Well then his boss, Hershey Valentine (just one of many fantastic character names) is murdered and Josh becomes the number one suspect. I went into this book with no huge expectations, just expecting an enjoyable read and I certainly got that! Josh isn't hard to relate to either especially for anybody that has ever had a nightmare boss, luckily I haven't but I could still empathise with him.


I really loved the character of Josh. Especially his outlook on life. At times I am sick of my own life, for a few years now things haven't gone the way I would've liked them to but I definitely wouldn't want to end up like this. The plot was brilliant and left me with no idea whatsoever of how the story would progress. Most people hate bankers, or at least have an opinion about them and this book pokes fun at them in a highly amusing way that I think people will really enjoy. Josh is a really easy character to like and I was rooting for him throughout the book whilst wondering what had happened to the £20 million and how it would all work out for him. Despite it being a bit of a satirical look at the banking word it's still a believable read with some realistic characters. I'm always intrigued by the City when I'm in London. It's like a whole different world within London with a fish market at bottom of it!

Nixon's writing was a highlight for me and reminiscent of somebody who has been published for years, not a debut novelist. Very descriptive and written in a conversational way that the book just went by super fast for me and was over before I knew it! It's a very comedic read and the comedy is brilliant and very, very funny. Lies, twists, turns and brilliantly created characters with amazing names (Claire Pigeon, Ian Culpepper, Mister Lamb), the book has it all. Nixon has also captured his settings incredibly well, especially the bits in Margate. Recommend this book to anybody regardless of what your usual genre of choice is. I will definitely be looking out for more books from Keith in the future.

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