Cocaine Nights

J. G. Ballard

Average Rating 7/10 (1 Review)

Five people die in an unexplained house fire in the Spanish resort of Estrella de Mar, an exclusive enclave for the rich, retired British, centred on the thriving Club Nautico.

The club manager, Frank Prentice, pleads guilty to charges of murder – yet not even the police believe him. When his brother Charles arrives to unravel the truth, he gradually discovers that behind the resort’s civilized façade flourishes a secret world of crime, drugs and illicit sex.

At once an engrossing mystery and a novel of ideas, Cocaine Nights is a stunningly original work, a vision of a society coming to terms with a life of almost unlimited leisure.

'Cocaine Nights comes at you like a conventional 'all-is-not-as-it-seems' whodunit. But all is not as it seems. Under the light crust of gentility lies a familiar Ballard landscape of sociopathic violence, transgressive sex and the inevitable pornographic web that lies in between... there is nothing quite like a J. G. Ballard novel.'

'Thrillingly wired… dazzlingly original.'

Review by Ben Macnair (010123) Rating (7/10)

Review by Ben Macnair
Book Source: Not Known
Rating 7/10
Living in a seemingly idyllic blissful state is not what it has cracked up to be, as the residents of the Spanish Coastal town Estrella De Mar find out.

They indulge in all manner of cultural pursuits, sports, and a fit and healthy lifestyle, but not all as it appears in Cocaine Nights, with the masterful writing of J. G. Ballard setting the story ablaze with all manner of eccentric characters, a deep, dark unseemly underbelly, and a resort rife with crime.

This is the world that Charles Prentice finds himself in. His brother Frank is the manager of Club Nautico, which has just burnt down, with five people trapped inside. The brothers do not have the easiest of relationships but Charles is there to help Frank in any way that he can. The police have been keeping an eye on the place, but Frank is under suspicion, even though he is an unlikely suspect, but wants to admit to being guilty of the crime.

As Charles finds to his cost, the travails of his brother are deeply linked to the Club Nautico, known for its nights of illicit crime, sex and debauchery.

Charles interviews all of the local suspects, building up a picture of his brother, and what he does on the islands, for the privileged few who have made it their homes. He finds that deep in the heart of Estrella De Mar there is one man who wants to keep things as they are, keeping the wealthy inhabitants busy, so they can keep paying for the privilege, but as Charles investigation continues, he finds him embroiled in, and attracted to, the life that the island offers.

At more than 300 pages, Cocaine Nights is an action-packed read, full of carefully drawn, colourful but believable characters, a storyline that makes sense, but looks beyond the likely to find what else might exist on the other side of it. J. G. Ballard is one of the more controversial figures in popular literature, lauded by critics and popular with readers, but his books are not the easiest of reads. They are intelligently written, with storylines that veer unpredictably along. The ending of Cocaine Nights is both fitting, and surprising. It is a book that delivers action, intrigue, and thrilling writing, and fits easily alongside Ballard’s other works.
Ben Macnair (1st January 2023)