Bahama Boyz

In the novel Bahama Boyz author Nick Hughes introduces us to an amazing story that starts in the East End of London in 1970 and, eventually, moves all the way over to the Bahamas.

And it's actually, Nick assures his readers, a true story.

Nick's family was a charismatic one and he somehow became a trainee croupier at the young age of 19 at the Playboy Club in London.

He quickly discovers that it's a time of glamour and a new time where being from a working class London background does not mean he is held back and he quickly finds himself in a lifestyle of glamour, excitement and sexual freedom.

The world is, really, his oyster and he finds himself working in the all-male Paradise Island Casino in the Bahamas. Which is where his lifestyle becomes even more frenetic and frantic.

Weird stories of what happened in the back of a taxi, an abortive threat by a midget gangster, who even wore a tailored Crombie coat, but who ended up with more than he had bargained for or feared, the Shetland Pony and... actually, I'm going to draw an end to this review, save to say that you really do need this book, especially if you are in need of a good, boisterous and slightly raunchy laugh.

It's published by Matador at £12.99.