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 david peace 'gb84' interview
 to access audio and video on collective you need real player.The Brit crime writer digs deep with his new novel, GB84. Dark times and dark memories are the stuff from which Yorkshire-born David Peace’s nightmare fictional landscapes are woven. “I think growing up when and where I did,” he explains, “the two events that dominated were the investigation and hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper, and the Miners’ Strike. They were both divisive. I think they created mistrust with the police and a kind of fear and paranoia within the community.”So, having gained a reputation as one of the most exciting, and decidedly noir, of a new breed of crime writers with his Ripper-based Red Riding Quartet, Peace has now turned his attention the 1984 Miners’ Strike, an event which divided the nation and left permanent scars on the pit communities of Yorkshire and elsewhere. “It’s called GB84,” he says, “because there was an organisation called GB75 which, in 1975, was set up by Far Right and secret service and army officers who were disillusioned with the way society was being run. GB84 kind of gives a flavour, because those self-same right-wing elements were still involved in undermining the trade unions during that time.”  Combining crime fiction conventions with historical fact, GB84 portrays an arcane world of conspiracy, corruption and violence. “I did see it as an occult, secret history. I don’t purposely set out to write bleak and depressing novels but it’s very hard to write a novel that’s true to the strike but that isn’t ultimately depressing when you see the legacy... just the brutality and violence that was used on both sides. So yeah, I think that was a very dark time.” Peace deliberately disorientates the reader. “It’s all written fast-paced, present tense. The events are coming at you as they did at the time. And I think - I know this sounds a bit odd - but sometimes I don’t actually know what’s going on.” Strange days indeed.
Michael Williams
GB84 by David Peace is out now, published by Faber & Faber.
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