Literary Lodge Book Group - Catch-up So, I've been busy over the last two or three months, getting my shop set and marking GCSE exam papers, and because of this, the blog has been a bit neglected.  I am going to making a few posts this week to catch up on everything I've missed, including today doing an round-up on the books we have covered in the Literary Lodge book group. Brighton Rock by Graham Greene Brighton Rock begins dramatically from the very first line: "Hale knew, before he had been in Brighton three hours, that they meant to murder him."  What follows is a tense and unsettling chapter in which Hale is chased by Pinkie's gang.  One of the characters Hale meets on his unsuccessful escape attempt is Ida Arnold, a boozy, but crafty woman who is best summed up by a line where she outlines her values: "Justice, an eye for an eye, law and order, capital punishment, a little bit of fun now and then".  Pinkie is initially portrayed as a monster