James Ward: Tales of MI7 #17: Ruby Parker's Last Orders 

Ruby Parker’s Last Orders is the final instalment in a limited series of espionage thrillers called ‘Tales of MI7’, written by me, James Ward. As usual, its protagonist is a spy by the name of John Mordred. Otherwise it’s about a Russian would-be serial killer called Pavel Nikolayevich Alikhanov, a nonentity who sees violence as a route to personal authenticity. The novel’s first sentence is designed to mimic the opening line of Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas: “as far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster.”