I first came across Colin Burnett on the writing site ABCTales.com, where an early draft of Aldo’s first outing. ‘A Working Class State of Mind’ was available to read for a while. As I recall many members were stunned by the authentic, vibrant voice(s) in the writing. Most of us knew we really had seen the emergence of a real writer.
‘Who’s Aldo’, a sequel, is, if anything, even more impressive. Multiple narrators, including a convincing teenage girl, as well as Aldo and his two oldest friends, are utterly believable and easily distinguished.
Aldo and his ‘wee dug’ Bruce are more than pals, Aldo treats his pal like his only son. The Leith and Edinburgh gangland kingpin even credits him with making him a better person. Not by that much, but it’s something, or at least Aldo thinks so.
The novel’s plot is complex, peppered with a combination of double crosses and just slightly ‘offstage’ violence: although we are left in no doubt just how villainous Aldo has been as far back as his schooldays.
What a protagonist Aldo is. British Asian – though he’d not thank you for the British, as he’d prefer ‘Fae Leith’ even to Scottish, I have no doubt. From a hard-working family of restaurateurs, he is truly amoral. Of course, like all good gangsters, he adheres to a strict code – when it suits him, at least.
In addition to all this, the author provides a scathing description of the flaws and injustices of a welfare state that no longer merits capital letters, now that successive governments have more or less dismantled it. However, this novel is no polemic, it is sharp, pacey and funny.
Colin writes in East Coast Scots. Try reading his prose out loud, ensuring you pronounce the sounds as they are spelled. You’ll find it is a faithful rendition and no more difficult than reading something written in any vernacular language. I recommend this slice of Leith Life very highly indeed.
‘Who’s Aldo’ is published by Tippermuir Books and is available here
Ewan Lawrie, Writer 