THIS IS THE MASTERPIECE MARK TIMLIN'S BEEN WORKING TOWARDS ALL HIS CAREER. THEN: Once upon a time in south London, three young men without a future decide to invent their own. The Sixties are starting to swing and Jimmy, John and Billy want the clothes, the pills, the music and the women. Through drugs, protection and armed robbery, they get most of what they want. But then Billy changes sides and becomes a cop and his days are numbered. NOW: Billy's son Mark is marking time. His father's killer is getting out of prison any day and Mark is going to be there when the doors swing open. A tour de force from 'Britain's greatest living exponent of noir fiction' (The Times).