The Bagman — Peter Lacey

Sixty-four-year-old Britisher Mordecai ``Maudie'' Morgan, currently out of jail, leaves retirement for sly nightclub owner Billy Buxton, who pays him to deliver cash to a partner in Majorca. The cash satchel explodes, however, and Maudie, having narrowly escaped death, swears revenge on Buxton. Back in England, Maudie and ``cover'' companion Maggie, along with dense but loyal ally Ronnie (``The Plank''), match wits with Buxton and other petty rapscallions. Sheared of any fluff, Lacey's journalistic prose leads unerringly to a violent, gruesome finale lacking any real emotional involvement. For most collections.